Sour Wine Gums are sooooo yummy.

At the beginning of July I only had 2 bags of sour wine gums so one for July and one for August. I managed to wait until yesterday to open my August bag. I am pretty impressed with myself. They really are a very good candy. 

Last week I started volunteering in the afternoons at a place called Casa Jackson. It is a hospital/home for severely malnourished kids. There are only 7 kids right now but they have room for a lot more. There is a nurse present all the time. And the kids eat pretty much every 2 hours, even through the night. They drink a fortified milk for the snacks and something more substantial for meals. 

There is a lot to work on developmentally with these kids. One little guy is almost 4 years old and I think he was 24 lbs. when he came in 3 weeks ago. He doesn't talk. He makes a noise like a bird, kind of like the sea gull noise that Drew Barrymore makes in the movie Fever Pitch (it is a good movie if you haven't seen it). He also doesn't walk by himself. And there is a 2 1/2 year old (they think he is 2 1/2-was found on the street) that walks but is very short and doesn't talk either. They all have pretty severe stats. in terms of weight and height etc. 

So I am trying to work with them the best I can. Most of the volunteers have no training so mostly play with the kids and love on them. Which is good but they have to work on other stuff. The almost 4 year old was pretty fussy when I first made him walk but quickly went from 2 handed help to one hand. Then yesterday he walked by himself! I was so proud of him and gushed all over the place to let him know how great it was. He walked about 6 feet to the wall and 6 feet back and as I was watching him come back I could see his little legs just a shaking with all the exertion (kind of how my legs shake after I rock climb!). But I think he was excited about it. He just needs to practice to build strength. It won't take long. The speech is another matter. He has said a few words, he repeated "boca" (mouth) the first day I was with him. But the next day refused to talk at all. I tried! Yesterday he was better. I praise him all over the place when he says a word and he responds well to the attention. His comprehension seems fine. He just needs to practice his words as well. I am not a speech therapist but I hope to help him a little at least. The 2 1/2 year old also responds well to the attention when I praise him for talking. So I will keep at it with them. I hope to go 2-3 times a week in the afternoons after class. 

A funny thing happened at Casa Jackson. There was only one other volunteer and myself there yesterday. We took 4 of the kids up to the playroom and I took two up at once. They only weigh about 25 lbs. each. When we were getting ready to go downstairs I said to the other volunteer (she is 21 and has been there almost 2 months I think) that I wasn't going to take both at once as they had been hitting each other etc. She said to me that is was better if I only took one at a time. It was safer that way. HAHA! I am pretty confident with my baby handling but I didn't want to insult her so I didn't say anything. I had a good laugh in my head though. 

Last week I also went to visit the school of the nurse I wrote about a while ago (she has the school for kids with special needs). I went with Amy, she is an occupational therapist there and has been working there for 7 years (and she is my age. Well, she is in the '30' range but only about a year or two older than me. But I am still in my 20's!!!!). It ended up not being a normal class day for the kids so I basically just toured the school and they left early. We went to visit a couple of families in their homes. The school is in a small village outside of Antigua. I had gotten so used to being here that it surprised me again when we visited the houses. I had seen it before so it shouldn't have. But next week there is a group coming from England to hold workshops and presentations for 3 days about handicapped kids and integration. So I will go to those and I am looking forward to it. What I would like to do there is help tutor the kids one on one outside of the classroom. Some have physical handicaps, some have mental handicaps and some have learning disabilities. So it is something I have no experience in but I am excited to try it. 

Watching the kids practice their songs (they were doing dances to songs to prepare for the group that is coming) I ached again to work more with handicapped kids. My wish would be to have a kids home here for kids with mental and physical handicaps. That is not where I am feeling led right now but maybe later. I pray that that is in God's plan for me. 

I am trying to be better at updating this. And now I am finally doing fun things that I can write about!

Oh, and last night I was talking to a friend from home. She has twin girls who just turned 2 almost a month ago. She let me say hi to them quickly (they are talking so much more now!) but then she had to go to put them to bed. I got a phone call about 20 min later from Amy. Jocelyn was crying and sad and Amy was cuddling her and asked why. She said because she missed Nomi. AHHHHH! So she felt better after talking to me. But then I was crying because I miss them so much. And I didn't think they would really remember me enough to be sad. Amy shows them my picture and talks about me so that makes me pretty happy. When I go home to visit they will be almost 3! They will have changed so much. Abby will too (she is 4 now) but I know she remembers me and will still be my friend when I get there. :) 

So missing people from home remains my biggest complaint. But I don't feel lonely. Finding more people to hang out with and more things to do. And my friend Taraleigh is coming to visit me in Sep. and that will be fantastic! 

Have a great week everyone!