update :)

Life has been so good. I can’t believe the date. And that my ticket home says JULY! How did this happen? How did it creep up on me so fast? It can’t be!!!!!! I’d stay here forever if I could. I’ve started some SERIOUS work lately and it’s been so much fun. The cow has arrived, a new house has been built for a widowed woman and her two young children (pictures coming soon), the school is looking incredible, my nutrition program is up and running – what else can I say? Life is good in Shibanze. Yesterday I spent a couple of hours making soymilk from soybeans (obviously) with about 20 locals. I have been trying to promote soybeans for feeding children that are malnourished so I thought I’d try my luck in making some milk from them. It was completely successful and now the women really believe that I know how to cook! We mashed up the beans, squeezed out the milk, boiled it with some sugar, added an orange peel to take away the bean flavor - and VOILA – nutritious soymilk. We had lots of babies present to be the guinea pigs and they actually drank it! I was pretty impressed with it all! Then we used the leftover and added tea leaves and that was also delicious! Now that it went so smoothly, every Friday until I leave we’ll be meeting in the school kitchen to make something else from the local foods that are available. Good times! Today I made a trip to visit the house we built… and with me I brought three beds, some kitchen and other household items, some used clothing, 3 chickens and lots of fun. We had about 50 kids gathering around to see what was going on and even the smallest of the smallest were carrying something to the new home. This woman is always so sad looking and today… finally, she had the biggest smile out of everybody on her face. I can’t wait to visit next week and see how she’s organized everything. I know it’s going to be amazing. I wish I could build a new house for every hurting family in that village but small steps are also a success. Like every time I write, there is always bad with the good. I’m now working with three mothers and their young children because in all seriousness, these kids are on their way out of this world. I’ve never seen such severe malnutrition. How do you tell a woman what to feed her child when she doesn’t even have enough in her pocket to buy a single egg? It’s a real struggle and something that kills me every day. Sustainability is so important but how do I stop from reaching into my pocket and giving her enough for the next week when it’s so little to me… These are the things that I don’t allow myself to do. In the long run it’s not beneficial to our program and it’s taken some time for me to realize this. We need to encourage these people and teach them. If everything is given with no lessons learned, we are in fact leaving them worse off than when we found them. It’s the most difficult thing for me to remember each and every day. I’m seeing each of them three times a week to go over food diaries and come up with a plan for their ‘shambas’ (kitchen gardens). I have two children with severe marasmus and one with severe kwashiorkor. Both of these are diseases caused by malnutrition. All of them are over one year but none have even taken their first step because their bodies are so weak. To look at the oldest one who is almost 2 years, you would think she was 6 months. It’s a horrible thing to see. They can’t even cry in fear of me. It takes too much energy. I’m making it my own personal goal before I leave this place to get some results out of these babies and get them HEALTHY! I know it’s possible… so the only thing left is to DO IT. Last week I found a young girl sitting in on one of my women’s group meetings. She was holding a baby of about 1.5 years so I just assumed she came with her mother. But then I saw her breast feeding. It was hard at that point to concentrate on the lesson I was teaching. I tapped her on the shoulder on their way out and asked to talk to her. I found out she is 16 and her child is almost 2. Her mother was the first of three wives for one man but her father had chased her mother away 4 years ago. The next two wives beat her every day. One day she visited Shibanze where an older man promised to take care of her if she went to stay with him. Now she’s ‘married’ with a child at such a young age. Because she had a baby so young, you would think she was about 11 or 12 years as her body never got a chance to finish growing itself. When I talked to her in our small school office she started crying and told me that she was constantly running to her grandmothers home because her husband beat her so badly. After a short time she would only end up returning because her grandmother had nothing to give her. How do you not cry when you hear something like this? It’s a horrifying reality in rural Africa. It’s the only hope for a young girl motherless and starving with her young siblings. Unfortunately… what they hope to achieve out of marrying is not what they get. The good news is that I have a friend in a nearby community with a project that I want her to get started in. He has a small sewing school which caters to young men and women who never got to finish secondary school. This way they can at least learn a new skill so that they can make a living in the future. On Monday I’ll go to visit the place with her. I’m hoping to find a family that will take her and her young daughter in while she does sewing school. The problem is that there is no money to fund all of this. So… if there is anyone out there that has been considering sponsoring a child through an organization this would be a great place to start. She needs just a small amount each month in order to have food and shelter for her and her baby while she completes this year long course. Please let me know if you want to help this girl. I can get you into contact with her through letters and pictures and I promise you she’s someone we can’t lose hope for. She’s the sweetest thing and I can’t stand to see her continue on the path that she’s currently on. Back in the village, I have to tell you about the strong connection that's been growing between me and these people. I don't know how to put it really - but it's amazing. I can walk down the road and hear a child shouting "Habari Amanda" (How are you)... and it's awesome to have so many poeple knowing my name now. The woman are always overwhelmed with joy to see me and beg me not to leave. I've gotten so many offers from them to marry one of their many sons... it's just crazy! They promise me that I'll have a very nice little mud house right beside theres and that we'll make Ugali together for the rest of the days to come. It sounds tempting, but I think I'm going to have to pass. But honestly, I don't know how I'm going to leave this place. My last day is going to be the most difficult day of my life so far. I can recall other moments in my life that I thought were definetely the worst at the time... but nothing is going to compare to this. I'm planning a party and putting together a slide show so I just need to find a generator and an overhead projector (wish me luck!) so that I can show these people why I love them SO MUCH! So, I will leave things there for today. Within the next two days I will be posting pictures of the house we’ve been building and you are going to LOVE IT! ADIOS FOR NOW and see you in Canada SOOOOOON!