Yesterday, all four of our fifth grade classrooms went skiing at Highland Hills, leaving poor me behind. Since I had no fifth graders to work with, I was sent up to Christina's kindergarten classroom. It has been rumored throughout the building that there is NO classroom as bad behavior as Christina's. Kate's is close, but Christina always wins hands down!
Understand that when we had recess quadrants last year during Covid protocols, I had Christina's kinders. We had not only developed a strong working relationship, but a friendship. I was looking forward to the challenge!
I walked in to her room, telling her I was there to help ALL DAY. She smiled and said, "They just need to be experienced in order to be believed."
She was right! There were good moments, there were fun moments, there were challenging moments! I read to kinders, I dressed kinders for recess, I did math with kinders. Let's hear it for "Tiny Tumblers" rolling down the mountain!
She so appreciated my coming up to help her. And I left so thankful that I do NOT do kinders all day, every day!
"(Put in any third grade names here) are eating blue snow!"
I run over to the third graders who were being accused of eating blue snow. Sure enough, there was blue snow there.
"It tastes like blueberries!"
"It's so good!"
"Do you want some?"
"Um, NO. And you shouldn't be eating it either."
"Why?"
"We don't know where it came from. We don't know who poured it there. We don't know if the person who poured it there had any contagious diseases - like Hep A or Hep B or Hep C . . ."
"What's Hep C?"
So done with the arguing. What happened to students who would stop when an adult said 'no'? I gave them the correct answer:
This morning, as I completed my 2600th swimming mile at the Y, I began to wonder, "How far have I really gone?"
Well, I've now swam further than the length of the mighty Mississippi River - that's only 2320 miles.
And I've gone further than Duluth to the Atlantic Ocean which is only 2342 miles.
I haven't quite gone from New York City to London - that's 3462 miles - and I'm over 800 miles short!
But then I found it . . . I've now officially swam the distance from San Diego to Honolulu - or at least I will be there very soon! That's 2608 miles. Give me just four more swims . . .
A funny thing happened yesterday that makes me thankful for the relationship we share. The kids' birth mom, Allison, sent me an email saying she had been invited to share her story of why she is not a "typical birth mother" at a video taping at our agency, New Life Family Services, on March 19.
Seriously, we got the SAME EXACT email, but where her email said "typical birth mother" ours said "transracial adoption". Sam and I are slated to be taped next Saturday, the alternative date given.
As Al and I sent messages back and forth, we were like, "Hey, maybe NLFS would like to tape us together! That would be kind of fun!" So we sent a message to our post adoption social worker who responded today with "we would love to do a triad video with the three of you sharing your stories". That would be Allison, Micah and I. Our taping will be right after Allison's on the 19th. To God be the glory . . .
I have become a bit of an "earring snob", or maybe "earring collector" is a better term. I have earrings from every country I've been to except one (the Faroe Islands) and I have earrings from friends and family - I love them all!
Yesterday, I wore my Dominican Republic earrings to work and lost one. I was heart-broken because they are irreplaceable. How do you search for one tear drop earring in a playground covered with snow?
My sadness turned to joy today I walked up to the lunch counter and saw my missing earring! A teacher had found it yesterday in the lunchroom and it was put out with lunch today hoping the owner would claim it! I was so happy I could!
Volunteer crew wave flags as the Africa Mercy arrives in the Port of Dakar, Senegal.
The long-awaited moment finally arrived for our patients waiting for
surgery in Dakar. Our crew lining the Africa Mercy decks were full of
emotion as they strained for their first glimpse of Senegal.
Tuesday, February 1st marked a very significant milestone for Mercy Ships patients and partners across the globe. As promised, the hospital ship Africa Mercy returned to West Africa, bringing hope and healing as she docked once again in the port of Dakar, Senegal.
This return follows a turbulent and challenging few years for every
nation. Particularly in countries with middle- to low resources, the
COVID-19 pandemic led to overwhelmed hospitals and declining access to
healthcare services.
In the wake of the pandemic, the nation of Senegal was left with a
strained healthcare system and its people with limited opportunities for
surgical care. With fewer than seven physicians to treat every 100,000 people, the global pandemic not only took resources and capacity, but also the hope of many patients given surgery dates on the Africa Mercy.
During the early outbreak of the pandemic, Mercy Ships made the difficult decision to sail the Africa Mercy from Senegal several weeks earlier than planned.
Having been given dates for surgery, many patients had to battle
concerns they might never get the help they had come so close to
receiving.
But Mercy Ships made a promise to the country of Senegal. A promise
to provide hope and healing and to return to those in need of safe
surgical care, now more than ever. In February, after much research,
planning, and collaboration with the government of Senegal, it was time
to return.
The return of Mercy Ships is a promise made and now fulfilled, giving
more than a thousand patients back the hope they thought lost.
The Africa Mercy arriving in the Port of Dakar, Senegal.
While the ship may have left during the pandemic, Mercy Ships never
did. Thanks to a strong partnership with Senegal’s government and
Ministry of Health, Mercy Ships has continued standing shoulder to
shoulder with Senegal during the pandemic, partnering to provide
vaccination programmes, providing vital medical supplies such as
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and supporting the Ministry of
Health’s campaign to provide cataract surgery to more than 100 local
patients.
Members of the Mercy Ships Country Engagement Team remained actively
at work in the country, with one Senegalese team member making thousands
of phone calls per month to keep patients updated and connected during a
time filled with uncertainty. During the last months of 2021, the team
traversed thousands of miles across the country to revisit formerly
scheduled patients and arrange their next appointments on the ship.
Now, hundreds of patients hold appointment cards to see the surgical staff on the Africa Mercy and
receive a new date for surgery. Over the coming weeks, the hospital
onboard will again come to life. The wards will fill with children and
adults recovering from lifesaving or life-changing surgery. The onboard
pharmacy, laboratory, rehabilitation, and outpatient rooms will live out
their purpose as patients go through the journey to healing. And the
operating rooms will become spaces for not only transformative surgery,
but vital medical training.
