Here Fishy Fishy!

Saturdays are such a blessing.. a day for relaxation, yet fun! We went to Choma today to shop in the markets! Like the markets we've been to before..basically there were lots of chitange material (cool patterns), soccer jerseys, paintings, small crafts, etc. The booths in the market are all very close together where if you stop at one booth, the owner of the booth next to it will start trying to make a sale. It's pretty interesting.. eye opening to someone of a different culture. We spent the day looking around and shopping for various items for our list of people to buy for. 

We met for lunch at The Museum of Choma. Dr. Weaver bought rotisserie chicken with french fries for all of us.. with ice cold cokes! We sat on a blanket out in the grass on the museum grounds while we devoured our food. It was delicious! After lunch we walked through the museum...some pictures of it and the town of Choma are below.

Before driving back to Kalomo we went back to the market area so a few of us could get last minute things that we had seen and really wanted to purchase. It was short lived and we were back on the bus headed to the Namwianga Mission in no time. It was an absolutely wonderful day.. with beautiful sunshine.. a perfect day off!

After dinner, Reagan (Dr. Weaver's daughter) taught us all some of the techniques to infant massage and identifying sensory issues. This will be a significant tool to have while working in the havens, but when we return to the states the benefit of having these skills are endless! 

Okay..let's answer questions:

Samar... we strengthen the child's suck reflex by doing repetitions of buccal rubs, labials, and c-stretches. Please research Beckman exercises.. these are the techniques Caroline Martin came and spoke with us about in the pediatric dysphagia seminar at the end of the semester. By progress documented on the development of these babies has proven these techniques work; they are such a small addition to your therapy, but the benefit is huge! 

Rebecca, on our off time after therapy (monday-friday) we usualy take showers as soon as possible...to have hot water! Then around 5pm we meet for dinner..the remainder of the night usually consists of playing games, blogging, face-timing with people back home, or something of that nature. However, we have a song (in tongan-the Zambian native language) we are working on each night with Webster, one of the night gaurds. We are attending a church out in Kasibi next weekend and we are asked to perform a small musical number for them. SO we HAVE to practice! Also, some nights when we are able we like to have movie night out on the veranda using a projector and screen..popcorn and coke are usually enjoyed as well! It's a lot of fun..especially after a hard week of therapy. Most weekends (like today) we go to the local towns to go shopping in the markets..which is a world of its own. It truly has been an eye-opening experience. The last few days of our trip, once we have left the havens (sad day), we will be staying in Livingstone to do last minute shopping go on a safari, sunset cruise, and have high tea. It will be a lot of fun and we cannot wait to share all of our experiences with you and of course show you pictures! Miss and love you all!