Vision

I want to thank the volunteer who brought these green sheets and left them prior to my arrival at Cradle of Love. There were many bed linens left for our use and I am very grateful. I don’t think I could have fit one more thing into my luggage!! Apart from that, please note the pile of tissues laid out on my floor. I’m not sure, but this picture may represent a bad night! I could not have made it through the last couple of days without the use of this fantastic little product. I’m telling you, its magical. MAGICAL!

If I ever was going to endorse a brand, Alka-Seltzer Plus FLU would be the one! Oh my goodness. I only vomited once, but I had SEVERE body aches, congestion, cough, runny nose, and headache. I think that I have a nasty sinus infection. And unless you have ever had that to the extreme, you have no idea how bad your body feels. However, I managed. I will say that in the middle of the night/morning (its 4:30 a.m. as I am writing this) I got very frustrated and threw down my empty bottle of cough syrup. Its from England and it tastes NASTY. But in a pinch, it will do the trick. Well, my frustration of being unable to sleep due to cough and congestion got the best of me and I tossed it to the floor. ITS A GLASS BOTTLE! But as you can see from the picture, its still intact. Amazing.

Anyway, I will only be here at Cradle for a few more days and then I get a little reprieve. We had an American family volunteer here this summer and they just returned this week to see about adoption of one of our babies. In a twist and turn that can only be the hand of God, the family and extended family of this baby agreed to the adoption and in a matter of three days, the adoptive family had acquired the advocate, social services, proper housing, release of child, and consent to adoption and was given permission to start foster care of this child! Unfortunately, they came this week on a fact finding mission. They never dreamed that they would find the family, get consent, find an attorney, get physical custody, etc., etc. SO, they have returned to the states to finish up some needed business and have asked me and another volunteer to stay with their baby here in Tanzania while they finish up at home. Me and another volunteer will rotate every few days caring for this child. We would not normally step away from our duties here at Cradle. But this family has been so instrumental in assisting us with some of our needs here at the baby home, that it seems like a small sacrifice to make. We have three new long term volunteers arriving from Germany next week so our help will increase and we couldn’t be happier!

Here’s our baby girl who will hopefully have her adoption finalized in a few months.

On a side note, please pray for our director here at Cradle of Love. She has arrived home from her three month vacation in the states. People from the outside look at all of our pictures here and see the cute baby faces and the semi-modern facility and think that we have it pretty good here. And in many ways, we do have it good for living in a third world country. But the reality is that life here is not easy. Yesterday alone, we lost power three times, were without water for over an hour, had two babies vomit on volunteers, had to drive a half hour or more into town just to buy formula and diapers, technology that didn’t work (and no clear way to fix it as WE are the repairmen!), and foliage in bloom that sends allergies into high gear. And again, that was just yesterday. I haven’t discussed the bush babies that climb through the dog door and scamper around the kitchen eating everything in site! Or the dirty market you must parade through only to haggle for the simplest price. To anyone on the outside, not living it everyday, its seems exciting and a fun challenge. But to those who do live it everyday, and to our director who has lived it for years, its gets so exhausting. And it will make anyone struggle to come back. I mean, in our apartment, we have electicity but it won't seem to work in every room! And I know in the big picture, that seems petty. But its frustrating when we’ve had an “electrician” take a look at it several times. Its right within our grasp of normalcy, but not! Because this is Africa. Its a tease. You get so close to normal life, only to have it constantly interrupted. Africa reminds you that there is an easier life out there… but that easier life isn’t available to you. And for someone who has lived it for so many years, it will wear you down. So again, please pray for her to be able to connect again with the mission and to be able to press through the struggles. Because peace in a life like this is sometimes hard to come by. And WE ALL need some prayers.

~Shae