Two Weeks In

Have I really been here over two weeks already? Goodness! Anyways, here is what has been going on:

Grace Home Purple:  I’ve kind of adopted the group of girls in the Grace Home Purple apartment as my own.  (Angel and her best friend are in this home). For a little over a week, I considered the possibility of moving in with them and being their foster mom. I've wanted to have 8 adopted children for a long time; however, considering being a full-time mom-like figure to 8 girls with disabilities between ages 3-14ish, was terrifying.  A foster mom is greatly needed, but I don’t feel led to take that role at this time.  So, I’ll continue to head over to their apartment at 6 a.m., help them get ready for school in the morning, and then do my day of OT work.  I was a little stressed/confused during this decision making process, but now, I’m glad I’ve decided to stick with doing primarily OT—it’s what I love to do.  If you want to help furnish their new apartment, go here: http://www.schindia.com/Special-Projects/equip-a-foster-home/

Cleaning:  Sometimes I’ve planned my day to be full of OT treatments, and then things change.  Like, getting a cold and losing my voice for a couple days. So, instead of going and faking energy and trying to yell when all that comes out is raspiness and 12-year- old-boy-like cracking voice, I’ve been deep cleaning the volunteer apartment and extinguishing our four ant colonies.  After day two of cleaning for 9-10 hours, I’m so thankful my roommate puts up with my Bollywood tunes blasting through the apartment--and I’m ready to stop washing rugs and towels that other people used and get back to my 6 a.m. routine with my girls!

I am an OT:  I passed my board exam, in case you missed that little awesome piece of news.  So, I am officially a registered occupational therapist or OTR. To make that even more real, voice-cracking me got to Skype Mizzou and joint-lecture on international OT with one of my friends. (Really, it was just us talking about what we're doing and how awesome being overseas is, but lecturing sounds much more sophisticated).

OT Kid update: The day prior to getting my board results, I got Jamila (a 2 year old with cerebral palsy that affects only her left side) to eat two entire cookies with her left hand—picking up the small pieces that fell to the ground and everything!  A week before, I had begun wrapping her right arm with ACE wrap for a couple hours every day, so that she would have to use her left arm for things. (She previously just ignored that arm). The first time she ate a cookie with her left hand, she could grasp it if I placed it in her palm, but when she dropped it, she’d just put her face to the ground to try to grab it with her mouth.  Yes, it was funny, but no, not functional.  :) Her quick improvements make me very excited about everything I am going to get to do here!

Beach Day at Bay of Bengal:  A team of volunteers took some kids to the beach, and asked me if I wanted to tag along.  (Of course!)  I also brought Naomi, one of my Grace Home girls with Down Syndrome, since I wanted to bond with her a bit more—and that’s easier to do away from her 7 sisters. It was really fun, even though she wouldn’t go anywhere near the water!

 

She is precious, and I greatly enjoyed our time and her cuteness. The waves were beautiful, and I am so glad to live within 30 minutes of the ocean.  I guess I was able to finally get that lifelong wish, Mom.  Now we’ll see if I ever get a dog….

Prayer: A friend's father passed away this past week, and I just ask that you pray for strength, wisdom, and peace for Liban and his family.  He has been such an encouragement to me since I met him at the beginning of this year, and although I can't "do" anything for him right now, I can ask that you just cover their family in prayers.

 Skype:  I have always had difficulty keeping in touch with people when we lived in different places. Email and facebook are great, but talking on the phone is typically a dreaded experience for me, and I'd much rather just hang out in person.  But, when I decided to go live in India for a bit... meeting up for dinner or your coffee and my smoothie just isn't possible.  My goal is to Skype at least two people every week, so that I don't just miss out on your lives and those relationships.  Anyways, whenever any of you grandparents or aunts or cousins or friends and definitely whenever you nieces and nephews want to talk, please let me know because I'd love to!

Ok, guess I should go put on some knee-and-ankle-covering pants so I can take out the three bags of trash...  Enjoy wearing shorts, America. :)