La Sonya

Oh my word, Friday night was SOOO much fun. Paula, the youngest sister, started trying on all her old dresses and it soon turned into an AMAZING night. We (all the women)got into the festive spirit and put on a little fashion show of dresses through the ages :O) Enjoy.

Here’s the account of the Christmas I spent with L’Esther. We arrived and they ushered us in. The kids were chomping at the bit to eat so we could open presents! It’s tradition! (there are lots here: Grandma and Grandpa D, their 3 daughters and their families= Roberts-5, Paula-1, Sexton-7 and me :O) I love it, we all have tiny gifts with our names on it that they put at our plate so we know where to sit and they change each meal. After we ate we all sit in the living room and the youngest kids pass out all the gifts. Then each person has a pile of gifts. We go in a circle and open one gift at a time. It lasted awhile but was fun. Esther made me parasite cookies. They were in three shapes with names of our parasites on them; Wallaby, Parker, and Parliament. Funny! After all the gifts are opened they bring out plates of treats- cookies and fudge. The next morning we woke up and we gathered yet again to open the stockings. Esther got some book for Christmas that looked good so on Friday I

Praise God I had no problems flying yesterday. I even was able to get on an earlier flight, that get this- left earlier and because of delays was able to arrive a bit later than my original flight was! Esther’s family. It was sad to leave my snow of over 3 feet. Esther and her brother, Matt, picked me up in Seattle, Wa and the 3 of us crammed into her dad’s little truck. It was remenicent of Tchad :O) Once we arrived at her Grandma’s house introductions were made and once again it felt like everyone knew me and I them. I love hang’n out with Esther, we always re-tell our crazy stories. Then we laugh and laugh. I think if I had a sister she would have been like her.

Shh, I feel gross today. My sinuses are killing me. I think I found a bit of a cold laying around and I picked it up. I woke up at 1 and took some drugs then again at 8 when I got up and showered. Then I really got sleepy from all the drugs and slept again. Right now I feel heavy still.

I went for a walk yesterday by myself. It was fun. I took the two dogs with me. I sat in a giant snow drift, burrowed a bit, ate snow and my favorite was just standing there and listing in the silence. It was quite moving for me to hear the voice of God in it all. I went for a walk again today. I went down to the pond and had to make my own path down there! It was so beautiful. I sat in the snow and called home to Dad and Mom.

Well this morning at 3am Liz flew off to loma linda, ca. She was crazy sick the whole time. I was glad to be able to sid with her and hold her while she threw up. But it would have been nicer to goof off with her. I guess I'll just need to go visit her in Loma Linda.

Yesterday I played in the winter wonderland. Liz's uncle brought his 4 wheeler to play with. So Kyle (Rachel's husband/ Liz's younger brother in law) and I went out and drove aournd a bit. Then we came back and hooked up the tobagan! Shew'ey! Way fun! I got really cold. Then after lunch and x-mas exchange we all went out, Rachel, Kyle, the 2 younger cousins and me. 3 on the 4 wheeler and 2 on the sled. It started to snow again so it was a bit painful to be ridding the sled, lots of frozen eyelashes. We played outside for at least an hour. Good times. Meeting all fo Liz's family was great fun too. Her aunts paid me such nice compliments. One said she could see manerisems of Liz in me. The other one said that I was like one of the family. All those movies and pictures and stories and answered phones helped us all to get to know each other. One of her cousins was looking thorugh the foto album Liz made her mom and looked at me and said I looked a lot different. I think

I made it safe and sound. No plane delays, no lay overs! I've entered a winter wonderland. The plane was flying over the mountans covered with snow and we started out desent. As we entered a cloud, I thought to myself when I leave the cloud it will be like waking up in a Christmas card. Sure enough I've woken up and here I am! Liz's family is great. They are all fun and caring. Friday night was very relaxing. Liz and I have been catching up and sharing stories. I'm sure we will relive a few over the next few days. I must say, it's colder here than it EVER was in Tchad :O) I'm learning so much about snow! If it's really cold, below 32`, the snow is fine and light and not compactable for making snowmen. If it's really, really cold it can't snow at all! Below zero = no snow! I went to church yesterday the snow was beautiful. There's a large section of no trees, so there were miles of white, rolling hills spotted with colourful houses and cars. I enj

It's funny because where I come from the now melts the next day. All Sabbath my heart had a small fear/sinking feeling that it was gonig to all melt away. (not that over 2 feet of snow can melt in one night) I saw it dripping from the iceicles and was down hearted. Never fear I was reasured by those around me that it would not melt away because was still quite cold outside. In fact it snowed last night again. The winter wonderland is continuing! Haza! To me it feels like I could make an object lesson out of this. God is what North-West snow is to a girl from the South. To me I have had a sinking fear the first few days that all this magic would just disapear. I was afraid that it would be gone the next time I looked out this window. I was worried that I would miss it all. But I was judging that on my past experience of snow in the South. Not snow in the North-West. I also have judged God based on past expereinces with people who are not GOD, where they have let me down, hurt me and

good golly this is going to be a LONG flight. 4 1/2 hours to get to Vegas. Then a couple hours to fly north to Spokane, Wa. Plus a three hour time difference. I'll get there hopefully at 3:30 or 4 Washington time, but 6:30 or 7 my time. . . a LONG day. It'll be worth it :O)

Nashville airport. The first leg of my journey. I got up at 4:15 am in order to be at the shuttle by 5:15 am. *Note to self* there is a time difference between Nashville and Chattanooga. Ugg. I could have slept in longer. When i passed the Collegedale temp sign it said 62`. No coat needed here. Liz called me last night to make sure I don't have any cancelations because of snow. She also told me it was okay to stop praying for a white Christmas. THey have more snow than normal . . . 2 feet! I'm not quite sure what to expect. I went to Colorado for a week my sr year in high school for our ski trip, but that was almost 10 years ago. Will I get really cold? do I get top lay in it? I can't believe it! Last year this time I got cold in the 60` temp. We all sat around sweating in teh American House dreaming of a white Christmas and now it looks like I'll get it! I can't wait to see Liz, it's been 8 months. That's a long time. So much has happened, dreams have chang

We road on the Southern Belle for 2 hours then walked accross the bridge to Coollege park and rode the Carosel. I rode a dino! It was quite fun.

I sit here waiting the last 15 min until I need to go out to the bus to be a beautiful sponsor at the Christmas Ball here at GCA. I am all dressed up waiting. Waiting for a prince charming, waiting for my time to come and be all that I was created to be. I look amazing and am all doll'd up in my thrift store dress that makes me feel like a princess. It's so poofy I'm not sure how I'll sit in the bus, but I like it that way. Tonight is my night to feel lovely and enchanted. If by chance you are out by the Southern Belle in Chattanooga, Tn you might see a raident beauty around, it'll be me. Feel free to say hello. Sincerly, the Belle of the Ball.

I fell asleep last night tired and content. I was on supervision for recreation. I found myself dribbling a basketball. It must be a long time since I had done that because I don’t' remember it being so hard to bounce :O) Then I started up a game of knock out with the kids. It was noble of me to 'purposefully' get out first so everyone else would feel comfortable . . . But I did improve somewhat. I got a few swishes while playing. And in the last game we played I even made it to the last 3 people! Must have been a bit more than chance right?! I never was that good at basketball but I enjoyed myself and I'm sure I was some what entertaining. I hope I was at least able to boost some basketball self-esteem. *this is dedicated to Emily Leftler the Andrews Cardnal player

When I picture Esther I picture a girl standing in the African sun with the warm wind blowing on her. She is wearing a red and white skirt with circular patterns on it and a blue shirt with strips. Ahh, the look of an African Student Missionary. This last weekend I was up at Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska and when I saw her for the first time in 6 months she was wearing jeans, a jacket and a stethascope! Esther in America!! Wow! I had one of the greatest weekends in a LONG time. I got to hang out with Esther and tag team stories. We were at a potluck and some how we got on the story of the ruptured bowl where we gave a butt-load of ketamine and had to operate on him twice, and he still died. It felt good to tell a story with someone there to tag-team tell it with. If I fogot something she would mention it or if I remembered something she didn't I would stick that in there. Who cares if people were listening more or less because of two story tellers it was theraputic for us to t

I can't believe what has happened to me in the last week. When I took this job I was excited because I was going to be learning a lot about working with youth, going on trips and growing spiritually and mentally. I didn't realize how much I was going to be growing until Pastor Don told me about the newest meeting I needed to attend -the Elders meetings. I had known it was going to be a growing year when I started going to the church board meetings. Those were something that I had always wanted to be a part of but never knew how to. But the Elders meeting was a BIG one. To me this is a big step spiritually. It is me taking a stand and saying I choose to follow Jesus and I choose to be an active part of this church - the Seventh-day Adventist Church. So I went to my first meeting a week or so ago. I was a bit lost as to what they do at those meetings, and I felt very young and inexperienced. But you know what? I loved it. I was a part of something bigger than myself and I was an

day three Originally uploaded by dreams with faith Done. We finished. It took us all three full days to get everything accomplished but we did it! We had to replace 6 windows, tear up rotted floor, put in air vent, new fan, remodel bathroom, new wood paneling, mud ceiling, paint ceiling, paint roof, tear out and reinstall soffet, with a group of untrained students. And praise God we did it! The kids were great! We worked really hard all day today and finished up with the soffet and windows as the sun was slipping away. I think that helped us move faster because it was cold without the sun! Everyone on our sight worked really hard and did their part. I’m very proud of them all. Especially those guys I worked with yesterday because they didn’t even seem tired of me yet even after I made them work so hard to get the paint off yesterday! Speaking of those kids they crack me up. They have come up with some great nicknames for me. A favorite is Chappy, which I must say sounds cool

paint where? Originally uploaded by dreams with faith What a day. I was more focused on a job today. I was helping Chet with the outside crew by supervising Robert and Oscar and random others work on the back wall. Oh, man we were working on it most all day long. We had to hammer up the boards for the trim and then we had to paint it. But the guys got a little paint on the wall when I wasn’t looking. (as if I could have stopped it) So we had to work hard to get that off so we wouldn’t have a green spotted wall :o) We used a tooth brush on it and it seemed to work. I figured after a day like today they would be tired of me. . .we’ll see tomorrow. Recently my heart has been burning with different job ideas. Do you understand what I’m saying? When you get an idea in your head and you feel so passionately about doing that for a living, helping people, traveling the world. Doing something you love. Ahh, my heart pounds and burns and yearns for those jobs. I’ve been thinking about

Maybe I should explain real quick what Appalachia Mission trip is. It's a trip that Pastor Don has been doing for 20 years this year. It has followed him to each school he has worked at, hence the reason we have 4 schools that come from all over. We have Madison in TN, Columbia Adventist Academy in Washington state, Georgia-Cumberland Academy (GCA) in Georgia and Collegedale Academy in TN (while he never worked there we've been working with CA for a long time). These kids pay a small amout of money for gas to come and help people fix up their homes. It's a great mission trip because this way they can learn how to help people, learn confidence in working with their hands and meet students from other schools. I love the whole idea. I think it's great to teach kids these things.

day 1 Originally uploaded by dreams with faith Appalachia Mission trip, 20th edition. I've finally come :o) I've waited a long time to go on this trip. Way back when Andrea and I were first roommates our sophmore years in college. While I might not be building anythying here I'm learning and growing. Today I took a lot of pictures of the progress. My feet hurt, the boots I just bought so I'm wearing them in - the hard/fast way. Maybe tomorrow they won't hurst as much! It's funny because hile I am on a mission trip I'm still in my native country - but at lunch today we went to a gas station to eat our lunches so we could go potty, we're redoing the one at the house, and the sign in the womans restroom staited that I must put all toilet paper in the trash not in the toilet! I thought I was in America. . . We also took up the floor and there were 9 layers of lynolium and 1 layer of carpet (on top)! The second to top layer had newspaper from 1980, but the b

i sat in on a spanish class today. i had heard they were doing spanish skits and i wanted to watch. i remember doing mine in spanish class with ms hamels, back before i knew how to speak spanish. in the class after watching the dynamics of the students and then the skits i felt like reciting part of the movie never been kissed when at the end she is making the conection that no matter what year it is kids are the same and there are the same kinds of kids in each generation. the ones who are super smart, don't care about grades, can get away with anything, jocks, pretty girls, and the average slide by without being noticed kind. as i was watching the students i found myself looking to see who was the modern verson of my best friends from the year 2001. and i found them. they were there right along with the rest of my classmates. in the movie the character was 25 years old going back to highschool undercover to do reserch, while i'm not going undercover i am 25 and i'm workin

so this is me with one of the sweetest little girls i have ever met. she was a little muslim girl who was there with her family taking care of a family member. it's always hard to tell who belongs to who. she just loved us SM's. she'd see us at one end of the hall and unlike any, ANY other chadian child she would run, not walk or skip but RUN to us and jump on us just like a child from north america. normaly small children would be afraid of us at first, second, third and even forth meeting. not her. i loved those few days she was there with us. if you get a chance please pray for her health and family. pray that she stays healthy and doesn't get malaria. her odds aren't high. 1 in 5 children will die from it. please pray.

so saturday night something happend here at GCA that has never truly happend. i was late getting to football mania because the chaplains office had been at a youth workers meeting at camp cohutta for fri night at Sabbath. so i was a few min late to the girls game that i was supposed to be 'coaching'. really i was the head cheerleader for the night ;o) you know me. any way as the evening wore on it slowly dawned on me. i fit in . . . i am happy here . . . i like working here, this is fun! So for the first time since i got here I think i finally really felt good. and I was glad. and it was a good weekend.

I miss Bere. As much as I wanted to go . . . I miss the lifestyle so much. I feel like I'm cheating by having so much. I miss baithing in my dumb bowl and squating to go potty. I miss my famil. I miss the drama of surgeries and life. I miss mowgly and walking home and wistling for him to come. I miss the open air. I miss Hans, Esther and oh I miss Liz. I miss talking to Wendy and cooking at her house. I miss not really caring what I wear. I miss the comfort of scrubs! I miss my TB patients even if I didn't always feel needed, I miss them so much. I don't want to move on and foreget yet, I want to hold on to the knowledge. But what do I do with it? How can I use it? Where will I take it? Trust and wait on God. Sigh. I did learn that didn't I? Yes, I'll wait. The funny things I do. I have found myself tonight sitting by my open back door with all my inside lights off reading by the sunlight as it fades into the sunset. I find myself not useing my ac at all but instea

Well here I am in good ol' Calhoun, Ga. I've almost finished opening all the boxes that have been shut up for more than 12 months. I've had my own little Christmas as I opened them back up and discovered forgotten things. And then I've been a litle sad as I have to close them back up because I am living in such a small place (dorm room with my own bathroom). But who am I to complain I have electricity and running water!! I am getting integrated into the world of GCA (Georgia Cumberland Acadamy). To break me in I went with the youth to the All Night Lazer Tag event on Saturday night. Yup that's right we stayed up ALL NIGHT long playing lazer tag. We started at 11pm and ended at 7am. It was fun, crazy, tiring, and adventurus all at the same time. We played several games all around 30 min each. There were games where we were teamed up or ones where we had to tagg all the other people and games where you just had to survive and be the "last man standing". I en

To talk French again. . . I didn’t expect to speak it so soon or to a native French speaker in America really. But I’ve found myself talking out lour in French to no one but me just so I could hear it and keep it fresh in my mind. Then last week Jean-Jacques was here. He’s the camper who last summer taught me to count to 10 in French. When his mom camp to pick him up I talked to her in French. It’s so nice to be able to communicate in French. It’s still a little hard to believe that I can communicate by making those sounds :o) The bets part yet though has been yesterday. I knew that some people from the European Union were coming. I only knew that one of them spoke French and it was French from France. So when Jeff radioed and asked me if I wanted to meet the visitors and practice French I was ecstatic. I was even more excited when I found out it was four people who speak french not just one! They are all from France. One lives in Georgia and works at a sister camp, Camp Cohutta, but t

Camping! I went camping! We packed up stuff for an overnight- me, my log sleeve t-shirt, hoodie, blanket, nalgine, sleeping bag, and I was wearing a tank top, swimsuit and shorts. Who needs more it’s only 1 night. We packed up some food from the kitchen as well purposely forgetting plastic wear :o). It added to the adventure of it all. We canoed out to the gold mine, about 1 mile away. The water was so nice and smooth, I loved it! I am a canoeing girl to the core. We get out there and gather wood for our fire then I get started building it. I only used 1 match :o) Matt Heartman helped me (but I did the main work he just gave me some twigs to burn). So we built it from team work BUT I did the initial start up. I then went swimming – it was beautiful out, clear sky, big moon. Amazing. I brought microwaveable popcorn with us and a big pot to cook it in. While we were on shore eating supper our camp ranger doubted the ability to cook it, simply didn’t think it could be done. Well you know

Well I am definitely back at camp and I’m sure it’s going to be a great summer! Adapting to western life hasn’t been too bad. There’s times when it’s harder like yesterday getting re-certified for CPR. The dummies were laying out on the table right next to me and memories came flooding back. Like the memory of the first woman I felt medically involved in helping to heal. I remember just standing there holding her IV Dextrose bottle so it could drain in to her veins. All the while watching James, Dr Bond, and others fight for her life with CPR. I watched them stand on the stepping stool so they could do the 30 chest compressions to every 3 bag breaths. I remember praying because I couldn’t help do the CPR and I remember helping to prepare her body after she died. I remember the fist time I personally had to help bag a patient, a small child and being so scared and not really knowing what to do. I remember Dr Bond telling me I could stop because there was nothing more we could do and w

Here’s what happened on my first Saturday after arriving in the United States of America. I was waiting for Andrea or Stan to arrive at Sabbath School as I sat out in the hallway of Collegedale Seventh-Day Adventist Church. Just getting ready for Church that morning had been a bit of an ordeal, I had tried on a favorite dress of mine from when I came back from Honduras. But I didn’t know where the shoes for it were and I looked good in it, which is what I was hoping for. The only problem was I didn’t feel comfortable in it. It was a bit different than what I was used to wearing in Tchad. So I changed at the last min to a skirt and shirt. As I was sitting in the hall thinking the blue prints for the new middle school that the church is building in Collegedale is big and silly, Kristi and Joel camp up. I knew Kristi and Joel before Tchad but Liz had been much better friends. I had spent the last nine months looking at pictures of their wedding on Liz’ screen saver along with lots of oth

i can't figure this out. so sorry about the four hundred blogs that are the same! ugg.

home sweet home too Originally uploaded by dreams with faith 19/5/08 home. That's where I am. Since I got in on Thurs I've been going hard core. Since I woke up at 5ish in Paris thurs morning and I change time zones I didn't go to bed for 24hrs. I didn't even sleep on the plane. I tried. Due to being in "steerage" (furthest back reaches of the plane) the engines were loud, then I was just so excited my body was reacting as if I had dranken 6 pots of coffee. So I ended up watching 3 movies. They got better as the flight went on. 27 dresses, The bucket list, and Dan in real life. I also had a headach but thank God it wasn't as bad as it could be. Right after the plane landed and I stopped beingn noctious, I went text msg crazy. My dad said by the time he got home from work an hour our so later I was at 10$ in fees. Opps! (but don't worry now I'm unlimited) It was so great to speak English to people and not feeling bad for not talking French

The day was a long one because the plane didn't leave until 11:15 so there's wait. We (the Dentist, Dr Ekvall, and his Asst, Monica and Esther and I) were picked up at 8ishby Levi, Andre and Deighbe.THen Ann and Rich met us at the airport. We finally all said good bye and Ann and Rich went with us to the final good bye gate to makes sure we all made it okay. ON the way to the airport I sat in the back of the truck with Deghiebe for my last good truck ride like a missionary. Once we had passed the last gate there was another guard to check my ticket and passport and again for the almost last time I was asked about marriage to a Tchadian man and why I hadn't chosen one. . . I guess now that I'm back I'll have to get used to not getting any marriage proposeals. . . The people checking us in didn't even really care about our luggage weight! But I'll have you know I was technically under. Once in the waiting room we FROZE!!! Esther and I had to put on all we

I can't believe I've been back in the states for a week now. It feels like I've been here much longer. I had a whorl wind two days in Collegedale then I drove down here to Dadeville, Al where Camp Alamisco is. I've been here since then. Things have been going alright, I'm trying really hard to not talk to much about Africa. But it's been hard. It's where I've been the last year how can I not talk about it. I think when ever I've got an overwhelming desire to talk about Africa, wheather it be fun stories or rought ones' I'll come and write it out. Then if someone wants to read it they can. peace out hommie.

three headed dragon2 Originally uploaded by dreams with faith I miss Liz and Esther. When you are used to seeing someone everyday and all the sudden you have to stop cold turkey it's hard. It's amazing how close you can get to someone when you fight for them in prayer and when you go through illness and stress together. I went to Africa to work and I ended up gaining two sisters. The three headed dragon is what Hans would call us sometimes when we were traveling and getting on his nerves. Don't worry Hans, we'll still come visit and be your three headed dragon. :o)

i am sitting here in an internet cafe in segunto, spain. this is the first time i´ve had such amazing access to the world wide web. only now i´ve seen what i´ve missed out on. i think this is going to be hard. i have best friends who´s weddings i´ve missed, i´ve got friends who are pregnant, i´ve got best friends who´s hair was cut shorter than i´ve ever seen it and she looks amazing, i´ve got friends who are no longer in college, i have friends who have their masters, i have friends who are in love or have been hurt. i missed it all. i´m afraid that i will just be so saddened like i am now that i missed it all. i don´t even recognize them in the pictures. my pulse started racing when i looked at the pictures of all my friends gathered around the bride and groom and i was off in some foriegn country. i hope this transition doesn´t hurt to much. i´m scared! please help me if you see me in the states and can tell i´m a bit lost. ease me back into your life. i don´t want to stay seperated

Well folks this is it. Esther and I have been hanging out here in N’djamena for the last few days living in limbo, between the western world and the world of Bere. I’ve been antsy to move on and yet at the same to enjoy the slow life here at the house. But tomorrow whether I am ready or not we move on. . . Our itinerary for the trip is as follows: Sunday: leave N’djamena, Tchad, Africa Monday: Arrive in Paris, France in the early am. Rent car and head out to Valencia, Spain. Tuesday: Arrive in Valencia, Spain and stay with Esther’s friend, who lives near the beach. Wednesday-Thursday: Hang out near Segundo the Adventist school. Friday: Head up to Geneva, Switzerland. Saturday – Tuesday: hang out with Cristina in Geneva area. (She’s one of the short term volunteers who was here) Tuesday: Drive back to Paris. Wednesday: Hang out in Paris till we leave on Thursday. Thursday: LEAVE AND ARRIVE IN AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well this is it. There’s just tomorrow left here in Bere. Today I went to give the TB meds and Anatole already was. So no hospital work for me today. So I came home to get started on my henna. I’ve hennaed my feet :o) I’ve wanted to ever since my good friend Terri Lynn had hers done when she left Mali after a year there. So my ama volunteered to do it for me. It’s a long process, hours of just sitting. But I’m rather glad for it. I get to sit here with my famil for 5 or 6 hours. What a great day it will be. So I’ve been sitting here remembering things like the time I played in the field with all the neighbor kids teaching them fun American games. Or the time my famil was trying to teach me/ask me if I wanted to shower. Or the night we danced out under the stars. Je suis eh bloque. I’m blocked. Another memory of a drunken proposing fisherman. Really couldn’t ask for a better last Sunday.

I had a great 25th birthday! Bonnie, our only female horse gave birth sometime before 7 am on the 22nd of April, my birthday!!! It’s so cute! I took a picture of it then Esther emailed it to James and Sarah. Sarah called almost right away so she could get the scoop on him. Then in the evening Hans, Monica, the dental asst, and I went to visit Levi. He’s the chofure (driver I hate spelling French). It was so nice; we ate beef, rice, my fav salad –cucumbers, tomatoes and onions. We drank tea and milk; hmmm it was all so good and relaxing. A lovely birthday dinner. Then for our party we went down to Bendalay to eat raspberry crumble and salsa with chips. The raspberry crumble was a backpacking meal that Liz donated for the party. We played African pictionary where everyone wrote 5 things to draw from Tchad. We had a blast. They all chipped in to buy me an Arab dress made in the market. I love it! I had no idea that that was what they were going to get me. I love it, I just need to go get

It’s one week till I turn 25. Whooow. Where’s all the time gone? 25. We pick checkpoints in our lives when we’re kids – 16 drive, 22 be cool in college. 25 – what did I think I’d be doing at 25? I thought maybe be studying in Spain or just finishing my long college career. But I’m pretty certain it never crossed my mind to be here in Africa fighting for the Light of God to shine here. Guess what I’ve just done? One week before my 25th birthday I’ve shaved my legs for the first time in over 7 months ;o) It’s easy because I wear no shorts only scrubs and skirts. On the chance that Liz did see my legs she would comment that it was good I shaved, when in fact she just couldn’t see my leg hairs! I was just blessed with soft, light, fine hairs. Thank you Jesus! 3 Weeks and I’m in Europe with mom! Think of the fun we’ll have! I’m so glad she’s able to come after all. I’ve always wanted to travel somewhere like this with mom. She’s going to love it! One month from today I’ll be on my way

0600 (Saturday) went for walk with God and had diarrhea 0700 rush to house to use restroom 0715 fell asleep on couch 0900 go to Sabbath School 1000 leave before Sabbath School is done and realize I don’t feel so good 1200 Temp: 101.1 F 1300 lay on Ann and Rich’s couch in Bendalay 1330 scale says 165 1500 eat stew 1520 poop stew 2100 want to die I feel so bad 0023 (Sunday) discuss with Esther and Liz possible treatment options (assuming I have Geardia) and ability to still go to N’djamena 0430 wake up again at house with fever (oh so hot) and diarrhea 0530 decide officially to not go to N’djamena. Hard choice but there’s no rest stops on the way 0853 dozed at Ann and Rich’s 0900 scale says 160 0959 understand better the ruthless evilness or geardia or whatever it is I have 1000 temp: 100.5 F 1315 shower in real shower, wash and shampoo hair, ahh 1426 eat two pieces of toast 1500 poop toast 1510 scale says 160 –barely 1835 temp 98.0 F 1900 Took two Tylenol PM 0300 (Monday) w

Days are ticking by! I was really ill on Monday. I’m assuming it was heat stroke from my afternoon activity with Liz and Esther. I had an awful migraine. I could barely stand to open my eyes all day. I took meds all day but they didn’t help. I should have been guzzling water but that was making me nauseous and I was fighting fever all day too. So all day I would rotate from the middle room to sit on the shower and spray my legs, arms , neck and head with water to sitting/laying by the toilet to laying on the couch in the living room because there was more airflow. The only time it didn’t hurt was after I slept and didn’t move but one I moved it was done for. Then around 7pm Liz gave me Tylenol PM and boy did that help. I was out like a light and woke up in the middle of the night with no pain! Yesterday I felt tired and a bit of a throb, today the same thing except not as bad unless I turn a certain way.

So much for my goal of writing everyday for at least 15 min . . . My last month here in sunny Béré, Tchad. Moving on. I’m still working on believing it my self! I guess I’m allowing myself to dream more and more about returning home. I’ll be stepping off the plane in Atlanta, Georgia on May 15 at 6pmish. I hope to then stop by Taco Bell for a bean burrito then I plan on stopping at McDonald’s for a vanilla milk shake mmmm, sounds good doesn’t it? My ticket home has been changed and I get to stop in France for a few days. It’ll be Esther and I who leave first. We’ll be escorting Dr Eckvall and his Asst with us to the airport then they’ll go on home and L’Esther and I will explore France a bit with my Mom! We’ll be going from Paris to Geneva because that’s where Cristina, one of the short term volunteers who was here for 6 weeks lives and she’s invited us to her house to visit. My goal is to relax, explore the country side, relax, climb the Alps, relax, get my hair cut by a Frenchmen, re

Dusk was here and I was awkwardly chatting with two men who stopped by my compound to . . . I guess talk to me? Not sure, but I welcomed the interruption of someone from the hospital arriving asking me to come to the bloc de oporatiour to help with an operation. What a way to start the Sabbath, with a Friday night surgery. It was an intense operation. His stomach was septic we had to do several bowel reconstructions, which cuts out dead intestines and puts it together again. The intestines were blown up like a balloon. To bad he waited several days to come in. To bad it was a roasty toasty OR that didn’t have AC, only a regular circulating fan, and was filled with 1 surgeon, 2 assistants, 2 anesthetists, and 1 circulating nurse and 1 sick person. It was all caused by appendicitis. The surgery was long for many reasons. The guy was a drinker so we gave a whole lot or ketamine to knock him out and even then he was tense. We kept finding more bowls to fix. When putting the bowel back in

When I sleep outside on the mat in our compound I think Mowgli (my dog) assumes we’re having a sleepover at his house since he’s no longer aloud in mine. He used to sneak in my hut at night and when I would come home late he’d be inside when I opened the door. But then we went to Cameroon and he would still go in my hut only then he’d be stuck! So he got in trouble with Mathieu! Anyway now with the heat we have moved out of doors he’s happy again. I’ve rolled over to see him looking down at me waiting for me to pet him, I’ve woken up to him eating something that stinks. Last night I woke up and we were sharing my pillow then I woke up later and my legs were his pillow then again later we were mashed side by side. He’s a good dog and our sleepovers are fun!

I’d been afraid recently that when I got to camp I wouldn’t be the same. I was afraid I’d be tired all the time, that I wouldn’t be able to be in charge of programming the way I should and that because of being here I wouldn’t care as much. It’s awful being tired like that at camp and I was/am afraid I will be. Liz had wanted to have a VBS for a long time because we’d been sent so much stuff for kids but it’s seemed like recently I haven’t had the drive or passion to help with it. Everything just too different and I’m already so tired all the time. So she worked with Noel, the terrorist turned hospital chaplain. It was decided that we’d go down to his house to have it. This meant we’d have to walk down to Bendalay and back every night. The first night, Monday, was a big culture shock. A camp prog dir I have my ways of doing things and taking over if things get out of hand and chaotic. Well this was so far out of my league and comfort zone that I didn’t say one word, especially because

“Love the Lord your God, and love one another. Love one another as He loves. Love with strength and purpose, and passion and no matter what comes against you. Don’t weaken. Stand against the darkness, and love. That’s the way back into Eden. That’s the way back to life.” -Redeeming Love pg 462 This was a very humbling weekend. I read this quote on Friday night with big plans to love people the following day. Have you ever tried to do that? It seemed so simple in theory but I’m afraid I didn’t do so well in practice. We had been invited to our friend’s home on Saturday evening. It’s a home where three of the nurses live. They’re friends of ours that we’ve visited before. I found out about the invite while waiting to go on the platform at church. So mentally in my head I started planning on it. During the late afternoon Liz, Esther, and I started out on a small adventure to a HUGE tree I’d wanted to climb for awhile now this tree is exhausted. It’s your

What seems like a long time ago I wrote about dead fish handshakes. Well those fish have been rejuvenated and there is no such kind of handshake anymore. There have been mornings when I’ve been in the greeting line after worship and my hand has been rung out to dry. It was squeezed so hard. Then somehow it got to be a jolly good joke with some of the nurses and other staff to see how hard they could actually squeeze Sonya’s hand! The dead fish I once complained about have long since “passed away”. I guess that means I’m welcomed here as a friend. Even if I do have to revert to kicking Deighbe’s shins to let go of my hand that he’s squeezing to death!

March 22 Hello my name is Sonya and I must be PMSy because I am grouchy. I don’t want to help anymore. I don’t want to be called at random times to work in the OR I just want to leave. Since Thursday I’ve worked a whole lot in the OR. I enjoy being exhausted but I don’t enjoy not getting to do my plans. I definitely couldn’t do this if the girls weren’t here. Here’s a confession. I want to be sick because then I wouldn’t have to work. I could be here and not worry about anything. It’s bad I know. I might have malaria, but who wouldn’t be exhausted with all this working, my stomach only hurts a small little bit, nothing to out of the ordinary. But I’ve felt bad before and didn’t have it. Plus part of me wants to be really sick. Help me Father. I am sorry I just want to run away. I just want to be miserable, why? I’m not real sure. 26 March It might not have been that long since I last wrote but it feels like ages. Both Mowgli and Petit Chen have been sick. Mowgli first then Petit Chen,

Friday we visited 3 schools. A large elementary school with such cute little people it made me want to teach again. Then a high school with over 1,000 students all ranging in age from 13 to 30. (hold on while I get on my soap box) The part that makes it hard to understand is that after high school they can take an entrants exam for university. But it’s a very hard test and sometimes/ most of the time it’s more of who you are and not so much how much you know that gets you in. so if they don’t go there what do they do?? This is just one of hundreds of high schools in Tchad. So they can do great things with education but what do they do when they’re done with school? I guess open a business – sewing, mechanic, ect or teach. Sometimes inside I’m afraid that education is a waste. I guess it never is because education kills ignorance and can help self esteem, and encourage a better, healthier living. (Okay, I’m done) The third school we visited, all on the same dirt road, was the Adventist

We arrived here last night after a very eventful day. . We left Béré a little after 800 hours for a long hot trip in the back of our hoptial truck. We stopped in Kelo to give a shout out to our favorite postmaster – Papa Jacob. He’s so funny, I told him we would be leaving in 2 months and he asked me if we would send him anything. I just assured him we would. He also asked Esther if she was feeling better and if she was strong, which of course she is and has been since Christmas. But he wasn’t convinced then. At least he let her take the boxes by herself this time. I’ve noticed that every time I live in a foreign country I always develop a specials relationship with the mail people. I guess it’s because they are my only connection to home – my connection to the outside world. After we got the mail we headed out for a hot journey to Pala, then on to Lere. From Béré to Pala the five of us westerners sat in the bed of the truck. It was us 4 SMs and Stan. It was definitely crowded in the b

With Stan’s arrival came a long awaited present from Andrea. It was a video she had put together for me. She originally sent it the day after Christmas in box that has yet to show it’s face around here. The video included things from all around Southern and a whole hoop-la of friends from back there. Right away when Stan gave it to me Saturday night I watched it. It was lovely, it was so fun to watch the people I love back home! I laughed I cried I was moved :o). I think even if most everyone didn’t know the people in the video, they enjoyed it too. Secretly I had plans on watching the video at least a couple hundred times before I would be tired of it. Since I had known about the video I had talked about it to my famil back at my hut. So the following night I got out the corn kernels and onion salt to whip up a batch of popcorn with my famil, cooked over a coal fire in a wire basket (the thing they always use for cooking) then we all sat down together and ate popcorn and watched a mo

23/2/08 What will life be like when I get home? We haven’t had internet now for 22 days. I have no idea what’s going on at home. I’ve only talked a bit to my parents, Andrea, and now Alexa. But what about the daily lives of my friends? What’s been going on? We’ve got this theory here with the SMs the longer it takes you to reply to emails the less people reply to you, hence less and less emails. It’s also making the planning process for going home, planning my work at camp and working on options for work or Grad school after camp. Life outside of Africa has come to a standstill. Life inside has definitely not come to a standstill. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4/3/08 Can’t believe it’s already the 3rd month of the year! Next month I’m 25! Since so much has happened in such a short amount of time I am going to tell some back stories. This one is from Friday Feb 22. Stan’s coming! Tonight we went to the Béré welcome sign

Editor's Note: These are several blogs that were all written in February and part of March when there was no internet. No guarantees they're in order... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***News update*** Rebel forces are 400km outside the capital. They want the Pres to come out and fight in the dessert. They’ve been reinforced with all sorts of weaponry from Sudan. Here’s where it gets tricky. Sudan is in support of the Tchadian rebels and they are because Tchad is in support of the Sudan rebels. (They’re from the same tribe as the pres, Dibie). So basically they (Sudan and Tchad) very well could be at war with each other! At least I’ve gotten to talk with Andrea. Mom or Dad hasn’t been able to get through yet – I sure wish they could! But I have a feeling we won’t be using the internet for quite a while. I have always wanted to go to a refugee camp and work in a war torn country or a war zone and now it looks like I just mi