Today we got to sleep in!!! Yes, that’s right, we slept until 9! Ok, scratch that, our alarm was set for 9 but we were both up by 8:30. It’s weird to think that even when we are tired from such long days that our bodies still force us to wake up early because we have become so accustomed to it. It’s also sad that 9 is what we consider sleeping in – gah. Anyway, we had a super relaxing morning because we decided to skip going to the office and our first p.e. session of the day wasn’t until noon. We made omelets and toast and just chilled in the kitchen doing some work on our HIV/AIDS final report which we are planning on giving to Sport In Action as a workshop.
When we got to Munali the kids were already outside with the peer leaders and the two new Ideals students who are taking over from the last group. This session was the last one for this Mumana class before their exams. This specific class was also one of our favorites to work with. They are the grade 7 class, and we had a great connection with them as a group and with certain individuals from the very beginning. It made us both sad and a little excited to think that this was going to be our last p.e. session ever – sad because it’s a reminder of how fast our trip has gone and because this was such a great class, and excited because sometimes we really just hate doing p.e. sessions. Our favorite peer leaders were there today and we all just played fun games with the kids and then took pictures with them at the end. They all wanted to get in photos with us, and shake our hands, and give us hugs when we left.
The rest of today played out like Tuesday with us going to Tionge for HIV/AIDS. Today was treatment, gender differences, and an extension of prevention. Chrissy had done it yesterday at Chipata so today was my turn to use a banana to demonstrate how to use a condom. Of course the kids found this hilarious, but they erupted in laughter even more when I got out the female condom. With that one I couldn’t really show how to use it, so I just gave what I thought was a pretty good explanation. However, a girl still asked, “how exactly do you put it in?” I paused, wondering how else to describe this and hating the awkward situation I was in, and then said to just stick it up your vagina. I could have used more a slightly more pleasant phrase but that hadn’t seemed to work before. We finished up our session a little early and I rushed over to practice as Chrissy went home to get ready to leave for the hospital. She was going to work in the maternity ward again, and hopefully get to help deliver some more babies tonight!
Only 3 of my boys were at the court when I arrived, and they were playing pick-up with some older kids. I told them that since there were only a few of them here they could choose whether they wanted to just play with their friends or do drills with me. The boys who weren’t on the team kept saying “come on, let’s just play!” My players looked at each other, nodded, and looked back at me and said “drills.” They had big smiles on their faces and I can tell that they just love to learn because they want to get better. It makes me so happy to see that they enjoy practice this much and makes my job much easier because they are so motivated. A few more boys, as well as and coach Timo, arrived shortly after and we had a fun practice. Then I went over and coached the senior team. Today we focused more on shooting, some offenses, and a 1-2-2 half-court trap. I wanted to prep them for what they will be playing in their game this upcoming weekend. I also finished up talking to the players one-on-one to find out what their personal goals are for the season. I explained that it’s important for them to set goals and list they ways they will achieve those goals. By having it in writing they will be able to see if at the end of the season they succeeded. This tactic is something that I learned from my high school soccer coach and have since never forgotten how important it was. I’ve noticed that the team doesn’t have much confidence and I’m working my hardest to improve it in the little time I have left with them. That has become my personal goal.
While Sarah was kicking butt at coaching basketball, I went home to prep for day 2 at in the maternity ward. Our experience at the hospital was a little different tonight. Instead of visiting several mothers throughout the hours we were there, we spent most of our time with one woman. She was the first woman I met who seemed to really want her baby. While she was quite young, only 22, Ireen had a diploma in Human Resources, a husband, and a job. She was actually ready for a child.
Ireen was a great patient. She was smart, attentive, cooperative, and completely hilarious. She asked for explanations, instructions, and help from the doctors, nurses, and Ivy and I. She asked questions and didn’t blindly accept the doctor’s decisions. It was really refreshing to be around a woman who reminded me of my girlfriends at home.
She was in her first pregnancy and had a really difficult time delivering. It was hard to watching her struggled for so long, but the doctor (also completely hilarious, very experienced, and very smart) insisted that she would deliver without any additional help (like a vacuum, forceps, or c-section). Eventually, Ireen did deliver a very big and healthy girl. She was the first mom that I saw actually cry with happiness at the sight of her child. And she’s totally a woman after my own heart: almost immediately after she delivered, she asked me to put her bag of French fries next to the heater to get warm because she was so hungry. That’s going to be me, without a doubt.
We followed her baby into the room to be cleaned off and weighed. She was so beautiful and immediately entertained us by poking her little pink tongue in and out of sight. Ivy and I were in love. We carried her back to Ireen so she could see her “miracle” as Ivy likes to say. We asked her how it felt to officially be a mother. She said it was impossible to describe and the most amazing treasure of her life.
In Zambian tradition, the husband gets to name the baby. There’s no input at all from the mother. Learning that kind of pissed me off (Ireen didn’t seem happy about it either). If I carried a baby around for 9 months, gave birth without painkillers, and heard my husband say he was naming the baby without any input from me, I’d tell him to get lost. That’s putting it politely. Again, sorry future husband.
Ireen invited us to go visit her house next week, meet her family, and see the new baby, of course. She said she’d always be grateful because we gave her the courage to deliver the baby. We were so touched and said we would absolutely call her next week and arrange a visit. It was really nice to make a new friend, especially a new friend with a super adorable baby girl haha.
No comments:
Post a Comment