Trip of a Life Time

2008-07-18T12:51:00.002-07:00

So we are home now. Its good to be home but I thought I would be way happier about it. I really miss Peru. We had a great experience their and learned a lot. My flight was good, it was great to see morgan, clay and nancy at the air port. It was nice to see my grandparents, it was nice to be in my bed and it was nice to have all the phone converstations.

thank you so all that sent me letters, it was sooo nice and such a surprise!!

thank you all for all you love, prayers and support! one thing i learned while i was gone was just how much i love you all! I knew i love you all a lot before, but this is time it was different.

I put some pics up here. The first pic is of morgan and I at Papa Wasis, the second pic is a morgan and a pack of bulls- not the same bulls that chased me, the pic

2008-07-16T07:00:00.000-07:00

so its my last morning here. I just finished b-fast and juice...yummy and now i am going to finish packing. it is quite here without morgan. It felt weird not to see her face this morning...saying time to get up...hahaha. unfortunately her first flight is finished by now, and now she waits for 10 hours unitl 7pm tonight to board her last plain.

Baline is picking me up at 11:30 to take me to the airport. my flight leaves at 3pm. I cant wait, but am very sad. I cant believe my time here in lima is over. It all went soooo fast. I very glad to be leaving on such a high note. I cannot wait to return. Praximo Ano....as I keep saying.

much love, see you all soon.

Lisa

2008-07-13T10:37:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MORGAN!!!!!! even though you are with me...hahahaha

Morgan and I are not reading each others blogs until we get home.....should make for some fun reading. We are interested in seeing the different perspectives.

Anyway, today we went to church with Ariclie. FINALLY it felt sooo good! it was a nice filler up!! hahaha. I feel sooo much better, (just like a cold), I think it is because I am in a place that feels like home. They treat us like their kids and love us so much! we saw steve and julie off at the airport, it was great to see them their! once again another filler up!

tonight we are going to pachacama (i think thats how you spell it, morgan is not around to ask) and tomorrow i think that Ariclie is taking me to the Gold Museum. should be fun! and we are finally home on Wed!!! we cannot wait to be home!!! see you soon!!

by the way...i am totally addicted to the empenada...especially the ones at the bakery!!

2008-07-12T19:25:00.001-07:00

Hi all!! we are here, safe and sound in Lima. I love Lima....I will post tomorrow. Talk to you all soon. Kisses.

2008-07-11T13:19:00.001-07:00

I have some happy and sad news, and i am not sure how to apply the feelings. Morgan and I are coming home. This was not an easy choice to make, know that but our time has come to come home. We have both been pretty sick with pneumonia and have not been able to shake it.

for a while we were confused as to why we were sent here. why did it all seem so easy and perfect for us to come here. I think what is the craziest part is that we did have a great experience here. after hours of crying and processesing we know why we both came together. you see, some challenges that plague us in our everyday lives are very similar. Here we were forced to confront these challenges and start the processes of overcoming them. This was the hardest journey, experience, you name we have ever had to endure. I know that we are different people because of it. I feel that we are better people because of it. Its weird how after such a short amount of time; your life, feelings, personal being can change so much. I guess all it takes is one moment....ONCE... :-)

Morgan and I are doing much better both physically and emotionally. I could not think of someone better to share this experience with. I am sooo glad it was with her. We were sooo good for each-other, it is apparent why we both went on this journey. I will be forever grateful for the experiences and memories that we will share. I love you! Thanks for everything Morgan!!

It was hard to say goodbye to momma, pappa, the staff and kids but as i was saying goodbye a huge part of me was already feeling better. I began to feel connected again. Connected in every sense of the word, to my person, to home, to the compound, everything. I am happy to be coming home but know that i do look forward to coming back next year. to lima and to cusco. I have much of this city to explore and look forward to sharing this next experience with all who can come.

Today we are in cusco...which I love....and tomorrow we are in lima. I cant wait to be with the new family i have their. they are all sooo freaking wonderful! plus we will be one step closer to home...and the bakery (in lima)...hahaha. we will be in lima for 3 days and i return on the 16. i love you all. thank you for your comments e-mails, support, and love. we could feel it here trust that!

see you soon
hugs

2008-07-06T08:39:00.000-07:00

First and most importantly to all the birthdays i missed and to all the birthdays yet to come this week..

Cough cough....happy birhtday to you all happy birthday to you all happy birhtday to Monica, Jenn, Janceece, Donny, Jeff happy birthday to you.

there are a couple more later this month but i am hoping to post by then.

Hello all!!

things have been going pretty well so far. today we all went to church, to be honest i cant wait to find another church to worship in one sunday. I could use some up lifting. I like attending a different church but it would be nice to feel a little more connected.

work on the grounds is very hard, and never ending. I have sooo much respect for mamma and pappa. they are the mom and dad and are here every day, all day. they have so much love for all 37 of these children. I dont think i could do it. for 2 months yes, for the rest of my life, i am not sure.

I am doing well, was a bit sick but am much better. thanks to Morgan. I know that most of you know this already, but she is an amazing person! she took very good care of me...:-)....not sure what i would do with out her here. Though, Morgan is a bit sick as well now but she too is doing better.

we are doing well! love you all very much

2008-06-30T17:30:00.000-07:00

So today was great, horrible, then great again. We woke up got the kids off to school and had the rest of the day to ourselves. Morgan and I cleaned our room...which we both think had not been cleaned since 1986....wow....dirty!!! It felt sooooo great to get the place all nice.

Then came time for us to walk down and pick up the kids. there are two preschoolers...as the kids approach us we grab there hands and walk them home. Morgan and I both asked about the preschoolers but were assured they would be home. So we continued on our way...when we reach home we were greated with, donde esta christofer Y maria...at that we turned around and walked down the hill. Morgan took off, nicki went in the other direction and I stayed where the road split. That was the crappiest feeling ever...two little kids lost...and a search party out for them...and I had to stay at a split road...hahaha. Then further down the hill i see the best sight ever...morgan walking up the hill with both kids. Morgan found them asleep at the school with no supervision. No one was around. It was soooooo scary. Poor morgan, she was in shock for about two hours, honeslty she thought they were dead. They are both very very sick. the most disturbing part was that no one really thought that this was a big deal. that hurt.

the kids were found, the room was cleaned, lunch was done, and home work started. Morgan and I went into town for dinner and to pick up some amoxicillan for the kids. OH MY GOSH!!! we had the best dinner, (next to the dinner that doris made for us)

It was sooo good that I will quote grandma Gloria and say ¨you can always tell the sign of good meal when it is followed with a hearty belch!!!!¨ and it was sooooo good that when Morgan belched I could taste her dinner. which was triple huevos, queso Y jammon, with garlic dipped frys and gralic bread. I had a personal pizza...which was totally amazing!!!

Sorry to say this grandma and grandpa.....but i also had the best beer ever!! i saved the bottle wrappper to scrapbook it was sooooo good.!!! light, cool and yummy. Morgan and I had a great bonding meal. we laughed we burpped and now we type. Such a great life and experience....hahaha. Highs and lows....mountains and valleys. all good things.

I love blogging by the way....its nice to just type. (thought i would say that).

kisses

2008-06-29T11:53:00.000-07:00

thanks Jazz for the spnaish posts!!! hahahaha...I get almost all of it...but not all. I will come back in a couple weeks and read them. hahahaha. Thats the best, i fall out laughing everytime i read your post.

So the kids totally have my heart. They really blow me away. Last night Morgan and I stated to watch a movie with the kids before they went to bed. We were totally exhausted, and all i could think about was wanting to go to bed. Then i look around the room at all these kids and i thought to myself. I love you.

these kids...you would never know their backgrounds if you had not read about them first. their resiliency amazes me. I look forward to their hugs and saying good morning to them.

morgan got the best picture today of the kids playing with our hair....and us with a look like....please no lice...hahaha.

we went to church this morning, then walked around the market, its been a pretty good day.

talk to you soon...kisses and love

2008-06-28T16:09:00.000-07:00

¡Hola! everyone! so yeah things were crazy, then great. First when we landed in cuzco i thought oh the air is not that bad....HAHAHAHA until i started moving!!! then i could not breath....how does george lopez say it...i have a pain in my chess and i cant breff...hahaha.

the adventure at the airport was quite fun...we were somewhat forgot...hahaha...but all is well, the owners daughter who lives in cuzco came down to take us home...to the sunflower. I have funny video of morgan running around the airport trying to get warm. it is very very cold. the drive to the sunflower was amazing. i have never seen anything like it. our taxi driver pulled over so we can take a picture of the urabamba river friçom up high.

We arrvive at the sunflower and let me tell you. Muy Bonita....very beautiful. We met nicki along the way to the sunflower, nicki is another intern here who leaves on july 30th. We arrived just in time to take a quick nap and pick up the kids from school. The walk to pick up the kids is about .5 (I cant find the slash thing on this computer) miles down the hill from the sunflower. The walk back up the hill might not have been the best idea on our first day in cuzco.....WOW!! my chest felt so weird. I told my self next time i will take quick breaks so i can catch my breath until breathing becomes a little easier. After the kids cam home from school, they had lunch. Which is soup and some sort of rice or pasta. I had the soup and went to bed. the altitude had gotten to me (i know not very good english) so morgan and I took another nap, and basically did not get up again until dinner. I did not go to dinner rather I stayed in for the rest of the night.

Today: Today, i really got the chance to meet the kids. I know you are not supposed to pick favs but I cant help myself. they are sooooo freaking cute and loveable. They are amazed at how tall I am....they keep running up to me and marking where they land on my stomach. Its very funny. After breakfast we walked down to the river to wash clothes....which took about four hours. it was a moment I will never forget. by the way there is wild bull here. hahaha. your walking down the street and there is a bull taking a nap. you just walk around. yeah...

after clothes were hung, the kids ate lunch. I really love these kids. Morgan and I met with Leo who is in charge of the place to go over what he would like us to work on over the next month. on the way down the hill to make this post I was standing in the street when I hear MOOOO MOOO BERR MOO i look and see like 7 bulls running....really not far from me... I say MORGAN!!! and try to run to her thinking....hmmm running not a good idea...but i wanted to get behind the gate...it was very funny, after the fact.

Thats all I have for now. I am very sleepy, my mind wants to sleep...hahaha.

Talk to all soon
Miss you lvoe you!

2008-06-26T11:03:00.000-07:00

Hi all I do not have much time to post. But tonight will be our last night in Lima, we leave tomorrow for cuzco and the orphanage!! we are very excited to reach this point in our journey! OH MU GOSH!!!! Lima is amazing, I love the people and the familia!!! Pchaca is amazing! Quispes are rad!! and love them sooo much!. Morgan and I are running through Lima trying to see as much as we can....she is a very good tour guide. My spanish is actually pretty good! hahaha I am very good at saying "yes" :-)

2 months to go!! and many more amazing experiences to have! God Bless you all!

I will write a more detailed post in a couple of days. Becuase you all know i have soo much to share hahahahaha :-). I am in love with this place.

Lisa

2008-06-23T19:00:00.000-07:00

Hi guys! I cannot believe this is happening again! I am so blessed, we are so blessed. Tonight, actually in about 4 hours I will be heading to the airport with my dear friend morgan (as seen in this picture: we are making bread! Morgan is sassy :-) )

Some how God has made it possible for us both to be with some very amazing people. Our lives will forever be changed becuase of this trip!

Thank you, you the one reading this for all your love and support. Thank you for being apart of my life. I love you very much! and I look forward to sharing this journey with you. Please e-mail me and keep me posted with whats going on here :-)

God Bless!

dreams really do come true!

2007-08-07T00:53:00.000-07:00

hey guys, so i leave paris tomorrow...and come home shortly. its werid to think how fast a month and a half has gone. though i feel totally out of the loop with news and stuff. I have had such a great time and have had ,any life changing moments. I look forward to seeing you all...I am really going to miss paris...it is truly something special.

2007-08-05T09:01:00.000-07:00

OH MY GOSH PAIRS IS AMAZING...!!!! It is the ,ost beautiful thing i have ever seen. tonight we are going to some fancy place for dinner and wine...i cant wait to tell you all about it and show you the pictures and act out some very funny lisa moments. the first thing i saw in pairs was the louve, pyramid...yay dan brown and you know i took a picture in front of it like tom hanks... i have been planning that picture for over a month. when we saw paris i was filled with so much emotion i sarted to cry, i did not know what else to do. I cant believe i am here, and i cant believe i will be home soon. Love you all. Kisses

2007-08-04T10:49:00.000-07:00

so I only have min type. Which is very hard because the computer keyboards are different here. hahaha, we just got into paris and we are going to hit the city for a little come back tonight and really go at it tomorrow. the RER which is a subway was very inti,idating at frist but I think I got it....THANKS U.M....okay only min left...love you

2007-08-02T13:04:00.000-07:00

hello from switzerland...thats right...we had a slight change of plans. We arrived in brussles yesterday, walked around and literally saw most everything. Unfortunatly our hotel was not in a ver nice area. We both felt pretty uncomfortable and decided to go visit with her aunt who lives in switzerland. It is BEAUTIFUL here, please dont worry about the change of plans everything has worked out well. We will be staying here for the next two nights, and will be in paris on the 4th. Cant wait to come home...boy this has turned out to be some trip....hahaha. Love you all.

2007-08-01T03:03:00.001-07:00

So we are all finished with Amsterdam...Holly you were right! the first day was amazing, the second day was really cool and our last day was cool. In the end we were ready to move on, and see other things. Its weird to think about this kind of life style, I could not live here. Its weird to walk down these streets and thiink back to the war...its really sad because there are reminders of thee war every where. I have really enjoyed my time here, yesterday was great. We save money by taking food from the breakfast at our hotel, we find a park and each lunch...its really cute. We did not make it back in time last night to catch our shuttle to our hotel so we had to take a taxi.....do you know what they use for taxis around here??? Mercedes, and bmws....what the heck....its weird. Okay off to Brussels....talk to you soon.

2007-07-30T04:48:00.000-07:00

Wow! what an amazing couple of days. Yesterday as I said we went for a walk in the town. We took the train into the city. YOu should have seen our faces...there was no way of hiding that we were tourists. It was like we walked into another world....really...we did. everyone is sooo tall and beautiful here. when we stepped out of the train station it was if the world froze and we looked around in amazement. It sorta feels like you walking down main street at disneyland. there were so many things to see, we just got lost walking the streets. It was sooo great! we stopped of at a couple of shops, went to a museum, and stopped for a quick bite of pizza. (side note) it is now our goal to make sure we eat pizza in Brussels and Paris, if this is accomplished then we would have had pizza from around the world!! cool huh! Anyway, back to the pizza shop. We were sitting in the front of the restaurant, that is open to the outside but somewhat in closed by glass...(3 glass sides...front completely open.) It over looked a canal, across from the canal were beautiful buildings, it started to rain, and rain pretty hard. When the rain left, guess what else appeared.....a beautiful HUGE rainbow...I have never seen a rainbow like this before. It spanned across the entire city, guess what was even better...you could see where it ended...thats right! I have pictures. We were in complete aww...what a great way to welcome you to a city. we are sooo incredibly lucky...things have been working out so well here...gosh! I feel like someone should pinch me and maybe Ill wake up.Today we went to the Anne Frank house...it was pretty intense to touch the wall paper, and the Windows...walking behind the bookcase that separated the front house from the back, and thinking that once that door closes you are stuck here for the next two years, only to be caught...words cant describe that feeling. The rest of the day we will be walking around the red light, have dinner and go home. Tomorrow is the Van Goh museum and Heineken factory.
Love you all.

2007-07-29T04:34:00.000-07:00

Okay, I made it to Amsterdam. I am now 9 hrs ahead of CA. SO what a crazy experiance...first please know I do not know how much I am going to post here becuase it is 5 Euros to use the internet for 15 min...CRAZY i know....I am not in africa any more....but it must be said that the internet here is faster than any internet I have EVER used...BEAUTIFUL!! So I could not sleep on the flight here to many thoughts and writting in my journal. We took a nap when we got to our hotel, which by the way is crazy nice. We took a shower, which felt weird. I am so used to cold showers that a warm shower felt really HOT!! so I took a slightly cold shower. We are off to walk the city and have some fun :-)...I wonder what it would have been like to come here without having gone to Africa first. I wonder if I would have appreciated it as much as I do now.

3 min left....gotta go...post again in a couple days....love you all!!!

I really miss Africa...it is truly beautiful!!

2007-07-28T03:00:00.000-07:00

This is the morning of my last day in Africa, I leave tonight at 9:00pm. I am cherishing every last moment I can, enjoying the smells, my bed, the people I am really going to miss it here. I am doing much better this morning than I was last night. I feel that I was able to let go last night and today I am just trying to hold on to any new memory I can create for myself.
I have had my highest highs and lowest lows (mountains and valleys). I am leaving a part of myself here and bring back something new. I look forward to sharing my pictures and stories with you all. Thank you for all your comments, e-mails and support you have helped me through some tough times. Africa is truly a special place, and I look forward to the day I can come back.

Love me

p.s
next time I write I will be in Amsterdam.

2007-07-24T14:56:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Dad! Love you!!

So how do you say goodbye? These people let me into their lives, and then we developed relationships. I love them so much. I have never felt the weight of the word goodbye like I am feeling it now.
E-mail is not the same, I am going to miss the friendships I have made here.
E-mails do not have a voice. Every tear that I shed feels sooo incredibly heavy. I have never experienced this kind of sadness before. I am not sure how to deal with it.
My roomie was trying to cheer me up today, and she read a passage to me from one of the books I brought with me. It talks about relationships and the kind of energy you put into them, and if they burn up like a star you will never find your way back to that kind of relationship again. At least I can say that the relationships I have created here are something of great substance.
I am really at a loss for words right now. I will type again tomorrow...I hope.

2007-07-20T12:48:00.000-07:00

So yesterday another one of my clients was transfered to another hospital because our hospital does not have the tools necessary to help her. I am not sure if I ever told you but there is no medical equipment in this hospital. Anyway her name was Mensa Bertha. She was 62 years old and absolutely beautiful. She was in the hospital because she had stomach surgery. She was discharged the 2 weeks ago but did not leave because her incision had not healed properly. I am so excited I have pictures with her so you can all meet her. When we took our picture I showed her what it looked like on the display screen and she started laughing. I asked her why she was laughing and she said, you are so white and I am so black. It was very funny. I told her I was going to miss her, and that I wished her many blessings, she grabbed my hand looked at me and started to cry. She said "you are so beautiful, thank you" She said it in Tri which made it even more special because I knew what she was saying. I started to cry, we hugged and I left the room. She was great, I am going to miss her.
It is weird to think my time here is coming to an end. I am not ready to leave, but I am looking forward to Eroupe. How do I say goodbye to my friends that I have made here. It so sad to think about, and very hard to type because it makes me cry. I am going to miss this place. Where did all the time go. Tomorrow I am going to Kumasi, I am really looking forward to that.
Love you all!

2007-07-18T11:46:00.000-07:00

So our internet has been down for a couple of days, which was probably a good thing because I needed sometime to think how I was going to make my next post. I feel like every time I post I am always saying, “today was the most intense day ever” and the statement is true for that moment in time. Please understand as my days progress here things change, and man! Yesterday was the hardest day ever. There are three of us from my group that work with me at my internship, and it was the hardest day for them as well.

Let me start out by saying that this last weekend was amazing. It felt like I was flying, walking above the rain forest. Its funny today at lunch (Lebanese food…very good) we were discussing how there is no way to explain to people what it is really like here. How do we describe smell, and all the fine details that surrounds us, even pictures cannot fully grasp it all. I was looking through my pictures the other day and though to myself…well it’s a nice picture but that’s not what it really looks like. Back to this past weekend, first off I can’t believe I did since I am somewhat scared of heights. Half way through the 3^rd and most shaky bridge I was thinking…how am I going to do 4 more of these….and looking down was a sure no no. Its so amazing…I did something that there are only 4 of in this entire world….in the entire world…how blessed am I (I find myself saying this a lot these days). Check it out…http://gorp.away.com/gorp/publishers/consintl/gha_kak.htm

http://www.123rf.com/photo_759751.html

This is the bridge I walked on…there are 7 of them….cool huh!

Okay so back to yesterday. How do I even start to explain it. We took 2 abandon babies to the osu orphanage. On of the babies Georgina we thought was about 9 months old when she came in. She was with us for a 2 weeks, she was severely malnourished and had not reached critical developmental stages. She could not lift or hold her head, roll over and many other things. She had bed sores all over her back, and if you went to hold her…approach her she would scream. She was obviously left alone and God only know what else. Since being with us, Elena one of the interns I work with has been able to warm up to her and Georgina was able to build a trust with her. It was a very beautiful thing to watch. Georgina was able to support her head and roll over and sit up…in 2 WEEKS! What resiliency we as humans have. In looking over her medical chart before we took her to Osu the nurses stated MILD MALNURASHED CHILD>>>needles to say this really pissed us off! Did they not see the same child that myself and the rest of the department saw. The nurse in the children’s ward…really are something else….they do not touch the children..they want the children to be scared of them…that is how they think we need to teach them to obey rules…its ridiculous…grrr. Watching this child go from Elenas hands to the hands of the aid at Osu was gut wrenching, and we all lost it. The aid came out and told us…”don’t worry, she will be okay just like the other children here.” This does not help much since the other children there are also not attended to, and the children that have mental disorders are left in a room on mat in which they sit or lay all day (if you cant get up to do something or walk around then you are left).

GOOD NEWS because of the work that Elena did with her, the doctors think she is now 1yr 6mnths. Love, was the name of the other little girl (4 days old) that we left at the orphanage, she is in good health. Its so hard to have a baby taken from your arms like that.

Then we drove home 3 other women because the hospital needed them to leave because they needed the beds. These woman cannot pay their bill and there family has not come to get then, and there is no way for us to contact them. So we drove most of them home. Vida is a 16 year old girl that just had her baby. The father refuses to take responsibility, on the way to her house which was about 1hr away from the hospital, we saw her aunt walking so we picked her up. Once at Vidas house her family came out sat her down and immediately started yelling at her. They were saying that she sleeps around, and just so many horrible things I cant believe someone would EVER say to anyone. Some of the staff I work with took the families side, and when Erika (another intern from my group) went to talk to her, she asked one of the staff to translate. “would you ask her how she is feeling and if there is anything that she needs me to do, does she feel safe staying here”..to which she got … “Oh, she is just ashamed of herself as she should be.”… Erika said “I don’t care what you think, I care what she thinks…now please ask her!” It is always a struggle here, Social Work here is more of case management and not therapy….and its hard for social workers her not to judge or put their own thoughts and beliefs into every situation.

Then we took Esi home. This was supper hard for me because she lives sooo far away we could not take her to her house, we took her half way and dropped her off at a bus station. A FREAKING bus station she is still sick, 7 months pregnant and scared.

At home last night we had our processing groups in which our professor asked us. “what do you think about the attachments and boundaries that you have created” He asked us this because we were all very upset, physically and emotionally drained. I replied to him by saying, its not that we have created unhealthy attachments or boundaries because when we are with out clients we are very professional. What is hard for us is the injustice of this whole situation. We are supposed to trust this system, we are supposed to use this system and not change it. We have seen how the system lacks and affects all individuals from infant, child, young adult, adult and elderly. It’s hard for us to hand over babies to a system that is lacking in so many ways. How are we to accept this and move on. That is what is hard, yes we will miss our clients especially these ones because they have taught us so many things, but what is hurting us is something much more than the attachment.

You know those “Save the Children” programs that we see on TV, what I am seeing here looks much worse than what is shown on TV. Children and families sleeping in the open, with palm leaves as a roof, and yet when we show up, we are asked to sit and share something with them. It is such a beautiful thing.

When I came home from work today, I washed my face and looked in the mirror, and I am telling you the person looking back was someone I had not seen before. You something that is so wonderful and nice, when the trotro drops us off after work we walk back to our rooms, on the way back to our rooms there is a woman who sells fruit and bread. Across from her is a little store where I can buy some bottle water and other necessities. So today, on the way back I bought a pineapple a loaf of bread 3 bottles of water and a newspaper (I feel really out of touch with the news….no one watches the news around here…I feel really out of the loop). I really enjoy my walks home from work stopping at the fruit stand and talking with all the individuals that pass buy. After a hard day it really lifts my spirit. THE BEST THING!! After that when I reach my room, I change my clothes grab my face wash and head to the bathroom in which I was my face. Man!!! Its soo refreshing, it really is a beautiful thing! Well I ranted on way tooo long in this, I miss you all and love you very much! I hope you are all doing well, blessing to you all.

p.s.

I hope this all made sense…I don’t re-read my posts…I don’t have enough time to do that.

Abenea J

2007-07-15T12:34:00.000-07:00

This was a crazy weekend.

Yesterday we went to Kakum National park. I cant wait to show you the pictures!! I walked on 7 bridges that are about 150 feet off the ground. The bridge itself is only 12 inches wide...and swings...there are only 4 of the in the world!! what a crazy feeling it is to do something that there are only 4 of in the entire world!!!
then we went to this hut restaurant...we did not eat...we went to see the alligators!! I touched one!!! very scary!! but very cool. I am living on the edge man!! I am a risk taker!!

Today I have a cold so I stayed home, cleaned my room and slept.

Talk to you tomorrow
hope all is well, and the those of you who are getting ready to leave for MP5 are getting excited!!

hugs!

2007-07-13T10:06:00.000-07:00

Some interesting things in Africa.

There are so many people selling things on the streets that you could basically do your grocery shopping on the way to work. People sell apples, cookies, drinks, bread, sugar cane, dog leashes, clothing hooks, hangers, adapters, cards, water, cheese, chips (plantain's), toilet papers, soap, sponges...the list goes on and on. They walk up and down the streets, risking their lives (and I really mean risking) to make a living. Before I leave I am going to ask one of the ladies to teach me how to balance all that stuff on my head ( I am also going to ask them to teach me how to put a baby on my back).
You cannot use your left hand for anything. The left hand is the hand you are supposed to clean yourself with so offering that hand to someone is considered rude (I have a hard time with this one).

I went to the children's orphanage on Thursday, how I wish I could have taken pictures. These kids are so beautiful. I dont know what it is, I mean the kids in the US are beautiful, but there is just something so extraordinarily special about these kids. We also went to the jr. correctional facility ( I will have to tell you about that when I get home...but it was crazy, and very sad).

I wish I could express in words what I am going through, and what I am seeing but I cant (I am hoping to do much better when I get home). I dont feel sorry for these people, nor do I feel sad for them because for the most part they are happy (they dont know different). Maybe I feel sad and sorry for myself, that I never truly learned how to have this level of happiness when I "have" less. Really I dont think it is even about material things, the haves or the have not's, I am not sure what it is about but there is just something here that is so much different and special. I am not sure I will ever know what it is, but I know that I will forever feel it.

2007-07-11T14:53:00.000-07:00

Vivian- Thank you so much for your comment, I think it is great that you want to help. I was planning on coming home and sending a bunch of stuff over to them. In the weeks to come I will post the hospitals address with a list of things that are needed. I really appreciate your support! thanks :-)

Hello all, Today was one of the most intense days I have had yet. In my previous post I spoke of a woman who needed her catheter changed (which it was), she fell into a coma last Friday, and died this morning. Its really weird, I have never had a client die on me before. I also went to physical therapy with one of my clients who had a stroke which has affected her left side. I have never NEVER heard a woman in so much pain in my entire life. It sounded like she was being attacked. She held my hand so tight as the doctor was moving her leg screaming "ABENEA SEWA!!!, SEVER PAIN!!" she repeated this over and over again, looking into my eyes and crying. I assured her that she was doing good, and that i was proud of her but it was really intense. I go back to my office and one of the other interns had a client die on her today as well. Both families were very upset and needed our attention. I cant help but wonder, would these people have died if they had the proper medical equipment? I am mostly numb right now. I can still hear my client screaming my name.
I need sometime to myself to process all this, and it is hard because there are people everywhere. Today the interns and I went out to dinner after work, which really helped. It was good to get out and walk around. I was so involved with her family, and now I will never see them again not because I was saying goodbye, but because she said goodbye. I just realized in this profession that I have chosen for myself, since I do want to work in a hospital I am going to have a lot of people die on me. These people will die when the are ready, not when I am ready SO I guess I am going to have to learn how to deal with it.

2007-07-10T15:40:00.001-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEFF AND DONNY!
Monica- I did use an umbrella...lol...and I was still sopping wet.
The people on the bus...had no umbrella...hence...how did they get on the bus dry?
I am not sure how to process all that I am seeing and doing. So many things have happened it can be a little over whelming at times. As far as work goes, I am having the greatest experience. I love working at the Police Hospital, and I am having a great time with the ladies.
I am little sad because next week I will be transferred to the children's ward (there is a reason I want to do social work with Adults and not children) I think this transition will be hard for me.
It's almost as though I don't even know what to say in these posts. I am going to tell you about my client Esi
Esi is 18 years old. Be has a 2 year old child and is pregnant with
her second. She is in the hospital because of anemia. She was
supposed to receive three blood transfusions, currently she has received 2. These blood transfusions were donated bye the pastor of her church. She cannot afford the third transfusion so instead the doctor was supposed to give her inferon (I think that's how you spell it). Apparently this drug is supposed to elevate her blood levels...(I don't know, im not a doctor...lol). This was supposed to happen on Thursday and she was going to be discharged. On Fridays I attend lecture all day, so I do not go into work. Yesterday, I go to do my rounds, and Esi is still here. You cannot be discharged from the hospital unless you can pay your bill, or get it waived from the social service department. Esi cannot pay her bill, and the social service department cannot waive her bill because her case has not technically reached our department. SO I ask Esi if she received her shot, and she said no. I went and looked at the medical chart and noticed that she did not receive her shot because she could not afford to buy her medicine. SHE NEEDS THIS MED, she is pregnant. I go to the pharmacy and they do not have the drug. I go into the city, pharmacy where I know they will have it and purchase the drug for 18,000 cedi THAT IS ONLY $1.80. I happily return to the hospital with the drug (which is for 5 days, one shot on Monday, wed, and Thursday) and bring it to the head nurse with the instruction that this needs to be given to Esi right away. I was assured it would, and left for the night.
TODAY- I go to make my rounds and ask Esi once again, did you get your shot and she said no. I look on her night stand and see the drug 3 vials placed next to her. I ask the head nurse at the time what happened and she said "I don't know I was not working last night" I ask her to give Esi the shot now please (I was very nice about it...really). She told me I will, I said okay and left. About 30 min later, the shot still has not been given; I go outside and ask..."PLEASE. Can you give her this shot now; I would like to be here to make sure she got it." To which they said "I will, give me one hour." I said okay, thank you THANK GOD it did not take an hour. ESI FINALLY got her shot. WELL, I go and tell my supervisor about what happened, and he was very upset. Now Esi has to stay in the hospital until Saturday, one shot today, Thursday and sat. I tell my supervisor my concern that I am afraid that she will not get her shot on Sat, I w3ill be here to make sure she gets it on Thursday but what about Sat, and how if someone forgets to give her the shot on Sat, how will that affect the series of shots? SOOO he took me to see the Department Matron the person who sees over all the nurses to discuss this issue. He asked me to sit outside the office while he explained the situation. OH! By the way my supervisor is the Chief of the hospital (like the head person). After about 15min he comes out and asks me to come into the office. I explain the situation to her and she tells me "you students that come from over seas need to understand that this is how we do things here. My nurses are very good, and are very capable of administering a shot" ..."Madam, (that is how you address women) please, I know this of your nurses they are all very good and have helped me in many ways, I am just concerned with this situation." "Well, you don't know what happened Esi may have had her child visit, when the nurse came to give her, her shot so there for Esi was not in the bed when the nurse came bye. I will go down and talk with Esi, and make sure she knows she cannot leave her bed.
Please, you don't need to worry Esi will be given her shot." With that my supervisor and I left the room. I asked him if I was disrespectful in anyway and he said "no, I was very impressed with you, you did well. I asked you to come into the office because she did not believe me when I told her what happened, and gave me the same attitude that she gave you. That is just the way she is." Also on a side not, Esi when you look at her skin she is very pale, when you look at the inside of her eye lids, they are white, not red...I mean white...like a piece of paper.
SOOO...I guess I don't need to worry about Sat.
This is just one case....I have 4 others just like it. We went to the pharmacy the other day to buy medicine for a child with typhoid, it was $7.00. It kills me that these people are stuck in a hospital
because they can't pay a bill that $75. I try to be positive in most
all my posts because it is easier to type the good, when typing the bad I have no idea where to begin because there is just so much.
This hospital has no machines in it; people are in comas with no IV drip and not hooked up to anything. We found the first machine today in the children's room....it was a ventilator. The people sleep on mats that are less than an inch thick, on a metal bed that you may find in a jail. Sheets are not changed, catheters are not cleaned...
(I had to ask for someone to change a catheter for someone because ....well...let's just say it needed it). They really do, do the best that they can with what they have, but they don't have much. The nurses were excited to get a box of scissors today...really...no lie.
I hope I make sense right now...its really hard to chose what to type about because I could be here typing for the next 3 days if I wanted.
By the way, if you are a criminal, you don't get anything, you are ignored. The nurses in the children's ward do not touch the kids.
Elena (an intern with our group) is in the ward right now and she was telling us today that the nurse told her that "you want them to be scared of you so they will listen." There is a 9month old baby abandoned baby who cannot lift her head yet because she has had not contact, stimulation or anything so she is not reaching those developmental milestones.
It's a lot to take in, but I am having a great time and I really feel like I am doing something important here. I really can't wait to tell you all about it. I am sorry if my grammar is bad, and my punctuation is not in the right place....lol...I am tired.
Love you all
Me Do Wo Pa (I love you very much)
Ochina (until tomorrow/ goodnight)
Abenea Sewa (my name.)

2007-07-07T11:13:00.000-07:00

Dancing last night was so fun!!! I ate something like fufu (a dough kinda like a pate used to sop up food, when eating you do not use a fork....your hand get very messy....but fun) but it was not fufu, it was like a thick Masa (if that is how you spell it) it is made out of corn meal...I did not like it because it was very tangy.
Couple of things I have learned...
Mosquitoes love me....I have 31 bites, and have been named by my professors as queen bite.
Deet- Which is a deadly poison used to spray on the body to prevent the bites of mosquitoes is good for the following...taking off nail polish...burning holes in clothing...and skin....lol. (for those of you who dont know this already...DO NOT LEAVE DEET ON YOUR SKIN FOR MORE THAN 8 HRS!!!!! and do not, and I mean do not REAPPLY! this means you spray your skin at night....take off in the morning, then spray your skin again....do not spray at night and spray again in the morning!!!!)
Reading labels is always a good thing!

It rained here the other day...it was so beautiful!!! i have never seen a rain like this ever!! it was the most amazing thing. Walking in this rain to the trotro (about a mile) was not so beautiful! I only wonder how all the Ghanaians that were on the trotro were completely dry!!! they would not sit next to use, and looked at us funny!!!!! I really dont understand how they did not have one drop of water on them...

Hugs!

2007-07-06T09:54:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEN!!! sorry it is a day late but i could not sign on line last night.

Africa is so great. A couple of us met this band "Gouda" it means destiny. They are really cool, they practice everyday from 2-5pm right where the trotro drops us off. I will bring home their CD, Today i started to give "lessons" one of the guys wants to learn how to read music better, to I am teaching him on his "flute" I cant remember the name of what they call his flute. It is so great! Oh! My Ghanaian name is Abenea (Tuesday born-female) (George your name is Kofi - Friday born male, you say it like co-fee)
work here is great (well not great, but I am having a good time and enjoy working in this hospital) I am working in the womens ward. So far I have met 3 beautiful ladies, I wish I could take pictures of the inside of my work place. This place is lacking in so many ways and needs so much. we are so fortunate to have the hospitals we do! Remind me when I get home that I have the funniest story to tell you all about the "theater" ....very embarrassing but very funny!
Tonight we are going salsa dancing FUN!
I think we should have trotros in the US.
The money here converted to something similar to the US dollar, interestingly the Ghana dollar is stronger ( I guess) than the American dollar. for $100 U.S. I get 92.00 GH or 920,000 Cedi. things are still way cheap here though (for the most part). Catch you all in a few!!

I dont know the correct way of spelling this so I will spell it so you all can say it.

may-pay-woo (the woo is pronounced like woo-(tang))- Meaning I love you!

P.S.
I am doing well speaking the language here, Ghanaians love to see us try, we laugh and have a good time, then they correct us...haha...but it is fun. It is so much easier to learn a language when you are in a place where everyone speaks it.

2007-07-03T13:35:00.000-07:00

So last night a when I was taking a shower it dawned on me how much stuff I have that I don't need. That stuff does not make me happy, it is my family and friends that make me happy. Its weird to be taken away from your comfort zone, and all the "things" that we use as coping skills. Even using this computer is a coping skill, and the fact that I even have the ability to use this computer makes me so fortunate. I look at all these people around me, I see them smile and greet me with open arms and know that, that is what happiness is. some of the Ghanian's while they may be poor financially are rich in love. I am so much more blessed and fortunate then I ever thought or knew.
Today was a great day, I started my internship at the Police Hospital. Our county hospitals look amazing compared to here. One gentleman has been in a coma for over a month and is not hooked up to anything but a drip. The kids, while in a cute pink room have nothing to do. Everyone sleeps on old metal beds with a thin mat. My job is to visit with everyone in the hospital, make sure they are given the correct med, and that they are getting what they need. Next week I will be shadowing someone who does HIV testing and counseling which I will eventually take over.
We went out to dinner with one of our co-workers, he took us to Osu market and ate some of the most amazing fish. Cars here dont care if the hit you, you are to move for them, they do not stop for you (some nice ones do). People honk, and honk and honk. Interestingly each honk has a different meaning and you can tell what each is for. Definitions are as follows- Get out of my way! MOVE CAR, come on your holding me up! coming through, I am going to hit you if you dont move! if you are walking and hear a HONK and a PSSST from the window that means one of two things- Hey your cute! or you want to buy!
I really love it hear, I love the people, I love the life and I love the environment. Hey you know what the greatest thing is! when you cash $100 you get 920,000 Cedi, that is almost a million!! I have never had 900,000 anything...lol...a 20min cab ride = 2.00 and if you eat in town a nice meal is about 4.50 to 5.00. Ghana just changed their currency though, it is now like the American dollar, so what was 20,000 cedi is now 2.00 GH which equals $2.00. I hope I am not missing anything, and that I make sense when I type because I am about to go to bed. If you have any questions please ask.

Goodnight/ Morning
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JANEECE!!
<3

2007-07-02T04:24:00.000-07:00

Okay, Finally I can post...Yay! So let me start out by saying that Ghana is absolutely beautiful! everything is so alive and full of energy.
July 28th-
Our first flight which was for about 10 hours was great. We flew KLM and on the back of every seat was our own tv, in which we had a our own remote control. We could watch movies, listen to music, create our own music play list, and play video games. It was really cool. So I watched 3 movies (which most everyone did). Since most of you know I cannot handle scary movies, I figured this would be a great time to watch them because I am not going to be alone for the next month, so I watched Zodiac, Number 23 and because I said so. The last movie was not scary. SO we land and wait 6 hours in Amsterdam. THIS WAS THE COOLEST FLIGHT EVER!! about half way through the flight, all of a sudden everyone gets up and has a party, some women gave me there babies to hold and it was kind of weird but very cool. The woman that I sat next to on the plane, said that her uncle was a doctor at the hospital I am going to work for. She gave me his name, and then she invited me and my friend to her house so I think we will be going to see her next week.
We landed in Ghana at 9:00 their time on June 29th. As soon as we landed out plane windows fogged up and we new i was going to be humid. I would say it sort of feels like that one part of Hawaii that rains all year round ( i cant rememember at the moment what part that is). Now that I have been here a couple of days I am pretty much used to it, and it is really not that bad.
We arrived at the university and there was a mix up with our rooms, so now we are staying in a hostile which really is not that bad, I just had to buy sheets, pillows and toilet paper.
The next day (June 30th) we took a tour of the city and went by all of our internships. I cant even tell you how excited I am. We also went to W.E.B. Dubois house which was really great, we got to see his thesis which was amazing. From there we went to Kwame Nkrumah memorial center. He was the first president of Ghana, and those grounds were great. Then shopping at the pavilions of Ghana.
Yesterday, July 1st (HAPPY BIRTHDAY MONICA!!!!!) which is usually our day off, our supervisors came down to introduce themselves and tell us what it is like to do social work in Ghana. Remember when I told you that Ghana is absolutely beautiful, that goes for the people as well. I have never seen so many beautiful people ever! so I say this because my supervisor is absolutely gorgeous (one of my professors said....I am going to have to look out for you huh!..I said...no...then the woman professor came up to me and said...your lucky and laughed, and then reminded me I was there to work...LOL...) okay now that, thats out of my system...lol...last night we walked around the campus which is huge!! i mean huge! off in the distance we heard a bunch of people singing and banging on drums, so we walked over. Turns out it is the end of a womens retreat, they invited us to stay and visit with them. We met these two students who were studying to be doctors Ernest and Kwame. They taught us how to shake hands correctly...which is much more fun then the American way. We ate some red red and egg (sooooooo good) all the food here is soooooo good! Red red is like a spicy rice with red sauce. we came back to the dorms and waited for the water to get turned back on, took a shower and hung out until 4 am. I am having a real hard time adjusting to the time change. I get tired in the afternoon and want to stay up all night.
Because Ghana is trying to save energy every other day our dorm's electricity is turned off, when this happens our water is turned off too. I can tell you that when I shower out here it is the most amazing thing and feels soooooo good. The water is cold, but man it feels good.
The people are soo loving, I have never been somewhere that is filled with soo much love... not to sound reduntant..but ...I love it!! Okay i think thats all for now...I will post again in a few.

Dad or grandma .... what day was I born....I want to find out what my birthday name it.

much love!

2007-06-30T06:18:00.001-07:00

Wow! I am here and it is the most beautiful place in the world. I dont have much time to talk, i only have 16 min, and it took 15 min to sign on. i am safe and having a great time, the people here love to party!! our flight over here was a non stop party, it was so fun! we drove by the place i will be working and it looks really cool. okay sorry for the short post, i have sooo much to say I wont be able to post again until Monday because the power will be going out tonight and tomorrow. Love you all, and I will give a much better post later!

2007-06-28T01:49:00.000-07:00

Okay so I am about to make my first blog entry…Yay for me! So before I begin there are few things I must tell you first.

1. Yes, I know am in graduate school, but my spelling and grammar are awful! (while I appreciate spell check and use it often it should not be used as a learning device…dictionary what?). Please try to ignore the embarrassing mistakes.
2. I am sorry if I make you say to yourself “what the heck is she talking about?” I tend to jump around.
LASTLY
3. I like details…..sorry.

Now that that’s over, and if you agree with the above terms then please continue reading.

I thought that I would write about the 5w’s that led me to where I am today.

Who- My name is Lisa Valentino I am in the MSW (Masters of Social Work) program at Cal State LA. After receiving my B.A. I tried my hardest to find a job, but couldn’t. I was advised to go back to school, but the thought of another 2 years in school seemed like a daunting task so I decided to pursue something different. Needless to say the next two years of my life seemed like they were missing something, I was not happy in my job a needed to make a change. I applied to three schools (I swear I thought I forgot how to write a paper, and to write 10 pages on why a school should accept me..well…10 pages about myself….really I had not done that much and was not that interesting) and accepted the first school I heard from. This was the greatest thing that I could have done for myself.
I have always been one to grasp any new opportunity I could get my hands on. Cal State LA has provided me with so much. The past year I truly feel that I have accomplished so much. I was working for the greatest company ever, located in south central, El Nido Family Centers. Here I counseled teen moms, taught a job preparation course and gave a grief and loss training. But I the most exciting thing happened about 2 months ago. I took a trip up to Sacramento for a Lobby Days Event in which I was able to meet with our state senators to discuss new bills that would possibly improve our state. It was so great to advocate like that for something that you knew could affect many people.
And now, I am about to embark on another journey/ chapter of my life….I am going to Africa!!!

What- (what what in the…naw…oh! Never Mind…haha ;-) ) you read me right…I am going to Africa, and on the way home I am stopping in Amsterdam, Brussels, and Paris.

Where- I will be staying at the University of Ghana, located in the city of Accra. I will be working at the Police Hospital in the City of Accra, but I am not sure what I will be doing. I will post about it.

When- I leave in 7 ½ hours…..I have butterflies….lots of them…and they are multiplying!!!
Why- I get asked this question often…why? What, you have to pay to go…why? I have to say…why not? This trip is not about going on a vacation, its about learning something new. I am going to Africa, to do work, live in a different culture other than my own. How cool is that! I think one of my professor said it best when he said “ you all are going to have an amazing experience. You will get to see what its like to live with less, and work with less. Maybe you can learn to provide more for someone with less.” How many people can say at such a young age that they are going on a trip of a life time (nice plug for my blog…huh!) but that is what I am doing. I feel like I am living a dream. We are not going to Ghana to provide the people of Ghana with the “right way of doing things” like many people do. We are going to Ghana to learn something different than what we know, and the only thing that I will provide is my love.

I want to thank everyone EVERYONE for all that you have done and keep doing for me. Its sad to say, but I cant believe it has taken me this long to know and say, that I have the GREATEST LIFE ever! I am so fortunate and blessed. I truly mean it from the bottom of my heart, when I say that I love you all so incredibly much, words will never be enough to describe what you all mean to me. Thank you for all your love, help and support I truly admire, respect and appreciate each of you. Faith, hope and love…its all you need.

Okay well…I will be back on Friday or Sat night it all depends on if we have electricity or not.

Hugs <3

africa ( toto )

2007-06-26T20:05:00.001-07:00

So I could not decide which video to put...so I put them both..:-)

Bob Marley - Africa Unite

2007-06-26T19:57:00.001-07:00

2007-06-16T14:31:00.000-07:00

hello