A Day in the Life

Goodness, time flies by fast here.  Maybe you are wondering what I’ve been doing? Maybe not, but let’s pretend you were.

My days begin somewhere between 6 and 10 a.m. Lately, no matter how exhausted I am, or what time I go to bed, I have a really hard time shutting off my mind when it comes to brainstorming on life and what I can do for these kids.  My solution? Turn off my mind by watching episodes of comedies on Hulu through my Mizzou VPN.  (A sincere thank you to the university for letting me continue to use this beyond graduation after sucking my life’s earnings over the past four years).  And then I fall asleep listening to the Barfi soundtrack around 2 a.m. 

If a miracle happens and I am up and motivated to wear pants instead of shorts by 6, I go to Grace Home and help my little schoolgirls get ready for school.  But now that they have a foster mom, I guess things will change and I can stop feeling guilty about sleeping through my alarm!  I then go to Faith Home and work with some babies and toddlers on motor skills—using the hemiplegic side, weightbearing, improving range of motion, etc.  Soon, I hope we’ll be ordering some Neoprene fabric so I can make soft splints/gloves to help prevent deformities and normalize muscle tone.  

Then, I take my daily break for lunch, which often includes cooking, laundry, and/or researching OT treatments and interventions.  Soon, Telugu classes will also fill this time of day—thankfully—because I will be so much more effective when I can better communicate to ayahs and kids!

Later in the day, I might teach English online (I still have a couple of my Korean students, and this helps cover daily expenses). And then I go hang out and love on my eight Grace girls, while simultaneously doing some good ol’ behavioral therapy.  Add to that typing classes with the older schoolgirls for an hour or two before and after dinner, and then (if I feel like I have energy for it) singing songs with my cuddly Grace girls, and tucking them into bed.  An auto ride home later, I chat about the day’s events with my roomies before curling up with my laptop and poor wifi connection.

Overall, it’s a pretty satisfactory, pretty busy schedule.  But, it’s India, so things rarely go as planned, and this past week I spent more time with walls than I did kids.  The schoolboys are getting ready to move into their new Truth Home, and so I designed, sketched, and have been helping paint murals so that their home looks nice and spiffy and boyish.  My artsy self has had the most fun time working in particular on the cricket-themed room, but there is also a space room, a “transportation” room, and an animal hallway. Hopefully we’ll complete it soon, and move-in day will be sometime this week! 

After finishing painting, I’m going back to being an OT—while simultaneously preparing for that far-off day when I have my own adopted children.  Yes, (Insert fake excitement here) it’s going to be potty training time!!! Having not so much success with my older girls due to inconsistency, I’m first focusing on Chelsea, a two year old, and we’re going to try the 2 day intensive methods taught in OT school.  In the next post, I’ll let you know the results of this method and whether or not it’s a bunch of bologna or not!  Beware that if I succeed, I might make a small business out of it when I come back (hopefully only for a visit?) to the States next summer!   The bigger challenge, unfortunately, is working on the toileting skills with the school girls who have been potty-trained on/off throughout the years.  Prayers for that are extremely welcome!

I also just ask that you pray for SCH as a whole--that the moves and transitioning of children to their new homes will be smooth, that there will be transparency and unity among the community of staff and volunteers, and that we will be following both His plans and His timing both individually and as an organization.