More Pictures

Our new baby—Innocent









Bridget in the peanut butter













Blessings & Siphiwe chatting

Assumptions

One of the biggest problems that I (Lisa) have is making assumptions about what people know, can do, etc.  Even though I know that most people living here don’t have electricity, windows or doors that actually close or running water which means no toilets, sinks, etc. I still make assumptions about their ability to use such things.  I have 8 nannies and I have trained them before they began working and have conducted more training since then.  I tell them that they need to use Comet to scrub the toilet, disinfectant to mop, dish soap to wash dishes, laundry soap for washing out diapers to name a few.  What I don’t realize is that most of my nannies don’t have toilets so they’ve never cleaned one.  They buy one very long bar of soap at the market and they use that to wash their clothes and themselves.  They have never used Comet, disinfectants or dish soap.  I didn’t show them how to scrub a toilet or how much dish soap to use for washing dishes.  They don’t have sinks so dumping food down the drain doesn’t concern them.  I don’t know how they bathe their babies but I know they have never used a baby bathtub so washing out the dirty diapers in the bathtub and then bathing a baby in it later (thankfully they did put new water in it) is the way they do things. 

I have to confess that the nursery was running for a few months before all this came to light.  I smelled disinfectant in the basin that we put our clean washcloths in that are to be used for wiping the baby’s bottoms during a diaper change.  I asked one of the nannies if she had put disinfectant (Lysol) in the basin.  She said yes she had.  She then proceeded to tell me that they also put Lysol in the baby’s bath water because one of the nannies with more seniority had told her to do it.  I guess they figured if it killed the germs on the floor it would kill the germs on the babies! That discussion progressed to her confession that she didn’t know how to use all the cleaning supplies either.  Needless to say, we had another training session on how to clean the nursery.  Because of the language barrier and no one wanting to admit their ignorance, they will always tell you that they understand what you are saying or doing. 

Another example is not making connections between open windows and mosquitoes and other flying insects.  They open the bathroom window to air it out during diaper washing but then don’t close it.  I always close it before dark but one night I apparently forgot.  The next morning the nannies complained about the number of mosquitoes in the rooms.  I wasn’t too concerned for the babies as they all have nets over their beds.  I have reminded them before about closing the window but it just doesn’t seem to connect. 

All this said, I think my nannies are doing a great job considering their own background.  I do have a few that have worked for mazungus (white people) which helps a little but I still have to explain things in incredible detail and it doesn’t always help.  I guess all my experience of training my children to do chores prepared me for training my nannies.  The difference is that I never assumed my children were capable until they were trained.  It is difficult to come into every situation that way as I want to treat them like adults and not children but I don’t think that is possible or at least not yet.  As we know “with God ALL things are possible.”

Lisa

Back to the Hospital and a New Baby

On Thursday, Loti (5 months) had a fever and was breathing rapidly so I took him to the hospital clinic where they diagnosed pneumonia and admitted him because he is under 1 year.  When Samson was in the hospital we were given a semi-private room but this time we were put in the general ward.  I’m not sure if it’s the smells, the mud all over the floor or being literally jammed into an open space with beds and people everywhere that makes me cringe.  I can’t believe that being in a ward surrounded by other sick children and a lot of their family members is better than just giving me the antibiotics to administer in a more sterile environment. It doesn’t seem to phase my nannies but I try to spend as little time there as possible. 

I was told that he would be there for 5 days but this afternoon (Saturday) Jared tells me that Monica is coming into the nursery with Loti on her back.  I am certain he is mistaken but sure enough there she is.  He was discharged at 10:30 (I’m sure they needed his bed) and gave my nanny a bottle of antibiotics with no instructions on dosage or length of time.  Thankfully we have a book that tells dosage and duration for specific medical conditions.  Anyway, she wasn’t sure what to do as I wasn’t coming back to the hospital until 4 pm and she couldn’t remember my phone number.  She took a minibus from the hospital to a place close by and then walked, in the rain, to my house carrying a suitcase, 3 plastic bags full of stuff and Loti on her back.  She said a Good Samaritan walked with her and let her use his umbrella. 

The fact that they discharged him early just reinforces my previous comment about treating him here especially since that they didn’t even finish his treatment but gave Monica the bottle to bring home.  I am going to propose that strongly next time.

On Friday morning we were called about a baby that had been taken to Rafiki Village.  Since Rafiki doesn’t take babies they figured it must belong to us.  So we have added a little 2 week old boy named Innocent to our roster.  His mother is mentally ill and was admitted to the mental hospital and they needed a place for him.  As usual, the ladies wanted a girl, but are happy just to have a new baby.  We are now at 8 babies.  Lisa

 

This is Africa

Yesterday Lisa was checking over our newest arrival, little Siphiwe, and found a bump and swelling in her ear lobe.  We pushed and probed and got out some pus, figuring it was some type of infected bite or something.  Today, after more pushing and probing, the stuff inside was seen to move (hmmm!!).  After showing Mama Chirwa (strong of stomach), she squeezed the little bugger out.  It was some type of maggot about half an inch long and quite alive.  It was probably a putsie fly or some other similar varmint.  Putsie flies lay their eggs on wet clothing and when you put the clothing on the larva burrow into your skin.  They will eventually mature inside your body and then break through the skin to get out which can be very painful.  If you hang your clothes outside then it is necessary to iron or put in the dryer as the heat kills the eggs.  This is why we put all our clothes through the dryer!

 

 

Andy

 

It's a Girl !

Today we picked up another baby and it’s an 8 month old little girl named Siphiwe (Sip-E-way).  As you can imagine my nannies are very happy that we have another girl as she is going in the room that Leya was in.  I have to admit that it was fun to pick out girl clothes for her to wear from all our donated clothes.  We are now at 7 babies with room for a few more.

Her mother died a few months ago and her father is from Zimbabwe and currently living there.  Her grandmother had been caring for her but is sick herself due to being HIV positive.  She is still adjusting to the nursery and not too happy about it.  Her cry isn’t the soft cry of the young babies we get but the scream of a frightened baby. 

 

            Lisa

 

 

Holiday Letter

For those of you that aren’t on our email list I thought I would send this Christmas letter to the blog minus the pictures.

 

Greetings in the name of JESUS

 

Last year’s Christmas letter to our friends and family ended with these words, “We will keep you posted on our little adventure and Lord willing, next year our Christmas letter will be from Africa.”  This holiday letter is being written in Africa as we moved to Malawi in June. We have been in Malawi for almost 7 months now and we are still adjusting.  We have had many trials but know that we are doing what God has called us to do.  He never said that obedience would be easy and actually tells us that we will experience trials and persecution when we do follow him.

“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.“ John 16:33 

“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:  But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.”

 1 Peter 4:12-13

In the midst of our trials God has always been there with us.  He has said that “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee” and He hasn’t.  Only when we have taken our eyes off Him and His promises have we struggled.  We’ve experienced a myriad of illnesses since coming here—colds that won’t go away, repeated bouts with stomach flu, malaria, pneumonia, strep throat.  Through it all we have to stand on His promises.

“The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.”  Psalm 37:23-24

We opened our crisis nursery for orphaned infants in our home in August and received our first baby August 28^th.  Currently we have 7 babies that we are caring for, ranging from 2 months to 20 months of age.  We have experienced sorrow and joy in our nursery-the death of one of our babies and the soon to be adoption of little Leya. Our goal is to return these babies to their families if they are able or find a foster/adoptive home for them once they are no longer in a crisis situation.  This is a challenge since once the babies are here the families want us to keep them and Malawians don’t generally adopt someone outside of their family.  Please pray that God would open hearts and minds of people here to care for one of these babies.

I wish I had room to include the pictures of these babies when we got them.   Bridget was abandoned by her mother and was malnourished.  Mphatso’s mother died of AIDS and at 5 months was the size of a 2 month old.  Blessings mother is a blind beggar in town that can’t provide for him, Loti’s mother died when he was 2 months old; Samson was born premature and his mother died after childbirth. Leya’s mother died after childbirth too.  Gift’s mother is a mentally ill woman who can’t care for him.  We consider ourselves privileged to be a part of these little ones lives as each one are precious in the sight of Jesus.

We are praying about the ability to open a house exclusively for the babies that is separate from our home which would require someone to oversee the day to day operation of the nursery (Malawi anyone?).  In addition, we would like to provide on-site training and support to families of these babies to assist in returning the babies home.  In order to do this there are many things that must come together for it to happen.  All these plans are really in the hands of the Lord and we will continue to seek His will in this ministry.  Please pray for wisdom for us, health for our children and the babies, strength to carry on in the midst of trials, that the hearts of the Malawian people we meet will be changed and that through it all God will be glorified. 

 

From our family to yours we are wishing you a Christ filled holiday season and a heart to serve Him in all you do.

The Langdons—Andy, Lisa, Jared, Kris, Matthew, Andrew, Sarah and Alina

 

 

Disappointment

In my last update I mentioned that we had found a family for Samson.  Today we contacted Social Welfare so we could discuss adoption with his biological family.  We were told that since he has a “strong” father (even though he isn’t in the picture) that he would not be able to be adopted.  Apparently the courts would not allow an adoption of a child with a father who “could” support him even if he is unwilling.  That is why so many children are in orphanages and not in families.  We are now starting to see the reality of orphans and the difficulties in adoptions. 

We had to break this news to the prospective family.  We had told them from the beginning that we didn’t know if he could be adopted.  Just like most adoptive parents, they had hoped for the best. They are very disappointed but I believe that God has a plan for Samson too.

Tomorrow Andy is going to discuss all our babies with Social Welfare about their futures and their adoptability.  This will help us to plan for their future and not make any assumptions like we did with Samson.

 

          Lisa