One of the rooms in the hospital. This is the "before" picture.
This is one of the operating rooms in the hospital.
The maternity ward in the hospital. No medical equipment--just mosquito netting. 
The entrance to the hospital.
Bill and Dustin painting the first room you saw in the pics.Hello everyone,
Last weekend, our family drove to Fungurume (the mine site) in order to do some volunteer work in the local village. The project was to clean up and paint a local hospital. This hospital was smaller than most doctor offices that we go to in the States.
Before we began painting we had a short tour. You cannot believe that people were actually coming here for care. The rooms were tiny and disgustingly dirty. Everything smelled like urine. Operating tables were covered in dirt and dust, though not due to lack of use. Small pieces of fabric covered doorways; there were no actual doors on any of the rooms. People waiting for appointments waited in chairs outside of the hospital. We were able to peek into the maternity ward, where new mothers lay on beds covered with colorful blankets (this was one of the rooms that had already been renovated by Bill’s company). Their babies were on beds next to them—not in cribs or bassinettes, but on regular twin sized beds. In another room down the hall, a doctor was performing surgery (a mother giving birth via C-section). Here we were, getting ready to paint, and just down the hall, a woman was giving birth, paint fumes and all. Throughout the tour, I did not see one room that had a sink, or any kind of running water. Can you imagine going into surgery without even doing a simple act like washing your hands???!!!!!
After the tour, we set to work, cleaning and painting. Jensen and Dustin were the only 2 kids there, but they painted right along with the rest of us.
During breaks, the kids gave out candy and pencils to the local children, while I took pictures. The local kids went wild! Jensen and Dustin were completely surrounded. At times, I couldn’t even see them, as they were buried in the throng of children. They couldn’t hand things out fast enough. It was actually quite overwhelming, and I thought the kids would be scared. But they handled themselves quite well, despite being pushed, shoved, and grabbed by the local kids. Later, Jensen blew bubbles for the kids, and this was quite the sight to see. She would run with the bubbles, and all the kids would follow her, like she was the Pied Piper. Jensen also had a chance to hand out some baby clothes to the new mothers for their babies. This whole experience really had a great impact on Jensen and Dustin. They both said they wanted to use all the money they had saved (to buy things for themselves) and instead, buy things for these kids. Jensen went home and immediately got on the Oriental Trading website looking for things to buy for the local children.
Later, we visited a local school that Bill’s company is also planning to help renovate. The classroom, which holds 102 children at one time, was probably less than half the size of classrooms in the States (about 20 x 27 feet). There are no desks or chairs; the kids sit on brick lumps that are built into the floor. All that is in the classroom is a blackboard, and not even the black shiny ones that we have. It looks more like a piece of stone that can you can scratch words into. I know that Bill’s company is building desks and seats for the classroom, but I’m not sure what else. It’s sad because anything that is given to the school needs to be locked up because otherwise it will get stolen.
Because Bill’s company has done so much work in the village, they said it was okay for us to take pictures, so I went crazy taking pictures. The whole time I’ve been here I’ve been wanting pictures of the local people, and the way they live. Well, I finally got some! The local kids were really cute because at first, they were a little shy about me taking pictures. But after I took the picture, I showed it to them on the camera, and they thought that was so cool! After that, they started posing for me! One of the pictures that really had an impact on me was of a young girl (definitely no older than Jensen) with a baby on her back, the same way that all the women carry their babies. I was hoping that it was a sibling she was carrying, and not her own baby.
I think I’ll have to make this blog entry into 2 separate ones. I can only load about 4-5 pictures at a time onto the blog, or else it takes forever to load. So, I’ll do a separate entry that will just be pictures.
Well, we leave tomorrow on vacation (it’s our Spring break, even though it is Fall here). We are going to Mozambique, a small country on the East coast of Africa. We will be going to one of the small islands of Mozambique, called Bazaruto Island. I will write all about our trip for my next blog entry.
Hope everyone is well! Our time is flying by here. Before we know it, we’ll be back home for a visit! We should be back to AZ about the beginning of July, so just 3 more months!
Last weekend, our family drove to Fungurume (the mine site) in order to do some volunteer work in the local village. The project was to clean up and paint a local hospital. This hospital was smaller than most doctor offices that we go to in the States.
Before we began painting we had a short tour. You cannot believe that people were actually coming here for care. The rooms were tiny and disgustingly dirty. Everything smelled like urine. Operating tables were covered in dirt and dust, though not due to lack of use. Small pieces of fabric covered doorways; there were no actual doors on any of the rooms. People waiting for appointments waited in chairs outside of the hospital. We were able to peek into the maternity ward, where new mothers lay on beds covered with colorful blankets (this was one of the rooms that had already been renovated by Bill’s company). Their babies were on beds next to them—not in cribs or bassinettes, but on regular twin sized beds. In another room down the hall, a doctor was performing surgery (a mother giving birth via C-section). Here we were, getting ready to paint, and just down the hall, a woman was giving birth, paint fumes and all. Throughout the tour, I did not see one room that had a sink, or any kind of running water. Can you imagine going into surgery without even doing a simple act like washing your hands???!!!!!
After the tour, we set to work, cleaning and painting. Jensen and Dustin were the only 2 kids there, but they painted right along with the rest of us.
During breaks, the kids gave out candy and pencils to the local children, while I took pictures. The local kids went wild! Jensen and Dustin were completely surrounded. At times, I couldn’t even see them, as they were buried in the throng of children. They couldn’t hand things out fast enough. It was actually quite overwhelming, and I thought the kids would be scared. But they handled themselves quite well, despite being pushed, shoved, and grabbed by the local kids. Later, Jensen blew bubbles for the kids, and this was quite the sight to see. She would run with the bubbles, and all the kids would follow her, like she was the Pied Piper. Jensen also had a chance to hand out some baby clothes to the new mothers for their babies. This whole experience really had a great impact on Jensen and Dustin. They both said they wanted to use all the money they had saved (to buy things for themselves) and instead, buy things for these kids. Jensen went home and immediately got on the Oriental Trading website looking for things to buy for the local children.
Later, we visited a local school that Bill’s company is also planning to help renovate. The classroom, which holds 102 children at one time, was probably less than half the size of classrooms in the States (about 20 x 27 feet). There are no desks or chairs; the kids sit on brick lumps that are built into the floor. All that is in the classroom is a blackboard, and not even the black shiny ones that we have. It looks more like a piece of stone that can you can scratch words into. I know that Bill’s company is building desks and seats for the classroom, but I’m not sure what else. It’s sad because anything that is given to the school needs to be locked up because otherwise it will get stolen.
Because Bill’s company has done so much work in the village, they said it was okay for us to take pictures, so I went crazy taking pictures. The whole time I’ve been here I’ve been wanting pictures of the local people, and the way they live. Well, I finally got some! The local kids were really cute because at first, they were a little shy about me taking pictures. But after I took the picture, I showed it to them on the camera, and they thought that was so cool! After that, they started posing for me! One of the pictures that really had an impact on me was of a young girl (definitely no older than Jensen) with a baby on her back, the same way that all the women carry their babies. I was hoping that it was a sibling she was carrying, and not her own baby.
I think I’ll have to make this blog entry into 2 separate ones. I can only load about 4-5 pictures at a time onto the blog, or else it takes forever to load. So, I’ll do a separate entry that will just be pictures.
Well, we leave tomorrow on vacation (it’s our Spring break, even though it is Fall here). We are going to Mozambique, a small country on the East coast of Africa. We will be going to one of the small islands of Mozambique, called Bazaruto Island. I will write all about our trip for my next blog entry.
Hope everyone is well! Our time is flying by here. Before we know it, we’ll be back home for a visit! We should be back to AZ about the beginning of July, so just 3 more months!
Cheers!
Laurie
P.S. More pics to follow!
2 comments:
Awesome pictures and what a great experience for the kids. I am so impressed with their desire to serve others. Great job! We are moving to San Diego this summer, but maybe we can see you before we leave? More later, Memri
That looks like quite an experience for everyone. That is just wonderful that you all went to help. I am glad you are all well and taking part in your interesting surroundings. Take care!
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