Note: My life in the States quickly resumed to the busy normal that is my life and blogging about my time at New Day and SFCV was put on the back burner. I apologize for the lateness of this entry and I thank you for reading. Much needed medical supplies, diapers, infant formula, as well as educational materials were purchased with the financial contributions from generous brothers and sisters. Thank you, thank you for all your prayers and support!
By His Grace,
Angela
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Friday January 21st: SLOW START… I woke up with a sore throat and cough =(, spent the morning resting in the apartment, and worked on finishing up the training material for Lillian. Elaine spent the morning in the preschool, modeling ways to incorporate speech and language activities within the classroom. The staff learned that by modifying activities and setting up the environment, the children’s speech and language skills could be enhanced.
In the afternoon, I went to New Day and participated in what Wendy termed, the first IEP (Individual Education Plan) meeting at New Day (for Hannah and Jenna). Many team members were present: Hannah and Jenna’s foster parents, the preschool teacher, the speech therapist, Wendy, and the home tutors. We had a productive meeting, with everyone leaving the meeting on the same page, and with a clear idea of how to proceed forward with Hannah and Jenna’s education.
Saturday January 22nd: REST DAY 1… Elaine and I woke up real late, sometime after noon. We google chatted with each other for about 15 minutes in our separate bedrooms, before we emerged, giggling as we came out. Oh, what technology does to us.
We went into the village for breakfast(?), split a jianbing 煎餅(“yummmmmie”), walked around the village, and popped into the different shops. I bought a few children’s books with Chinese characters and pinyin with the hopes that I would learn a bit of Chinese. We spent A LOT of time in the supermarkets checking out the snacks, the baked goods and of course buying them too! We spent the entire day in the village, stopped off for dinner at our usual dumpling place, headed back to the apartment with dinner in hand, spent the evening eating snacks and watching movies on my “large”10 inch screen netbook (as compared to Elaine's 9" screen netbook)..
Sunday January 23rd: REST DAY 2: Elaine and I attended a BICF service and then went to the Great Wall.
Monday January 23rd: WRAP UP DAY
Elaine woke up feeling sick and rested in the apartment. Boy, she and I are such weaklings!
The medicine helped to alleviate the cough but I was feeling fatigued. I had a final meeting with Wendy, L-ST and Grace. It felt great to review all that we had accomplished in the two weeks. I provided them with speech therapy resources to serve as a foundation for their continued work with the children. I also offered to serve a consultant and have regular skype meetings with them. I had a sense of closure but also a great deal of sadness because I wanted to spend even more time at New Day, to develop friendships with the staff, and to spend more time with the children.
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| Left to right: Grace, Lillian, Wendy, and me |
Tuesday January 24th: TRANSITION DAY
New Day celebrated Spring Festival 春節 in the cafeteria with dumpling making, performances, and hanging out time. It was a great way to end our time at New Day and it was almost like having a party for our departure (keke).
As we left the New Day grounds and the apartment I called home for two weeks, I couldn’t help but shed a few tears. I was grateful for the amazing experiences but so sad at the thought of leaving and the uncertainty of when I would return. We were all quiet during the car ride from New Day to SFCV…
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We arrived at SFCV, first greeted by Stevie and then by Clay. I felt like I was returning home =). Clay even prepared the same room I had stayed in last year. After we dropped off our stuff in the rooms, Elaine and I got to work and met with Laura (speech therapist) and Dr. Ana, while Clay spent time with Jeff and gave him a tour.
For dinner, the three of us went to a local restaurant to eat. The food was yummie:
But… the electricity went out in the middle of dinner, so we had a ‘romantic’ candlelight dinner (LOL):
SFCV: January 26th to January 28th
Over the course of three full days, Elaine, Laura, and I assessed ten children. Elaine also gave Laura a training on cleft palate assessment and treatment. Though our stay was short, we accomplished a lot! It definitely helps to have three speech therapists present!
We made the obligatory stop at Walmart to purchase diapers and formula:
On our last night, the Moodys treated us to dinner:
I had the wonderful privilege of bearing gifts to the children from Team JAMES members:
In His Service,
Angela
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