hospitals.

Hello again! Well here I am. The time has come. I am now the only volunteer at Beautiful Gate. This is pretty much the first time since I have gotten here that it has been this way. AND the next group of volunteers isn't coming until October. That is kind of a long ways away. Oh well. More kids for me :) hahaha

On Wednesday, I was able to ride along on a Baylor run. Baylor University started a hospital in Lesotho and it is now pretty much run by all Basotho people. I was a bit nervous because I didn't really have any idea what I was getting myself into. All I knew is that I had to bring food because it could be a long day. I arrived at one of the baby houses in the morning and was handed a kid and sent to the van. Sweet. Easy enough. All the rest of the house moms and kids eventually piled in too and we were off. The hospital was only on the other side of Maseru so thankfully it wasn't too long of a ride for the antsy kids. When we got there, we piled out of the car and entered the hospital. The first thing I noticed was how nice the facility was. It was one of the few places I have been into Lesotho where I thought, "I could pick this place up and put it in America and it would fit right in." The waiting room was packed. Lots of kids and lots of parents. About 15 minutes after we got settled in the waiting room, all the hospital staff came out into the waiting room and everyone in the waiting room stood up. I had no idea what was going on so I just followed and stood up too. Then EVERYONE started singing. Of course it was in Sesotho so I had no idea what they were singing. I didn't know if it was rude to just stand there and not sing so I opened my mouth and started signing "watermelon, watermelon" hoping that no one was listening too closely. After the song finished, a man that worked at the hospital said a little speech (in Sesotho) and then a prayer. Though, I didn't realize he was praying until the end when he said "Amen." Everyone then sat down and all the staff went back to work. It was the oddest thing and I wondered if they do that at every hospital in Lesotho or just at this one? I don't know, it was an awkward yet beautiful thing. :) The rest of the time I stayed in the waiting room with the kids that were done or had not yet been called while the house mothers went in the rooms with the kids. The house moms were trying to get me in the room with them so I could experience that, but just with how the timing worked out with what kids were called, I ended up just staying in the waiting room which was fine. While I was waiting with the kids I noticed a few things that don't normally happen with the states. First, everyone just holds each other's kids and kind of just passes them around. It was the strangest thing and I was so surprised that the mothers were so trusting with strangers. Also, everyone just leaves their purses and bags in the waiting room. Again, they are very trusting. Last, there is no such thing as "personal space." People sit nice and close and even if there is not room for another person on the bench, they make room. Overall it was a pretty interesting experience and I might even like to go again if they need extra help. I would love to get in the rooms with the kids to see what that is like!

On Wednesdays here at Beautiful Gate at 3PM we have a little service called, "Time With God." The staff takes turns leading a devotional and we usually sing some songs too.  I am not always able to go because of the feeding program but this week the nurses said I should go. I went to the chapel and took a seat and a few minutes later it started with some songs. I usually just clap along since they are usually all in Sesotho, but they are such pretty songs and I hope I will eventually be able to learn some of them. After we got done singing, Beautiful Gate's driver started his devotional. He spoke in Sesotho so I just waited for the translator to translate like he usually does. After a few minutes of no translations, I looked around and realized I was the only one here who doesn't speak Sesotho. I just thought "oh well" and figured it didn't make sense for them to translate and have it go that much slower just for one person. Only a few seconds later one of the office ladies yells across the room, "Paige! Come sit by me so I can translate for you!" I was caught off guard and so I quickly said "okay" and crossed the room to sit by her. She then translated the whole time for me and the devotional was very beautiful. The whole time I kept thinking how sweet it was of her to do that for me. She didn't have to. I could have just sat through the whole service and clapped along with the songs to be respectful, but she went out of her way to make sure I could hear the word of God that day. I am learning that that is just how people are here at Beautiful Gate. They will go out of their way to make you and the kids feel well loved. I love that because I am pretty that was what Christ was like when he was on earth.

Some people have been asking me what a normal day looks like for me. And really, everyday looks a little different. So here is my normalish day schedule.
7:00AM- get up, make breakfast, do my devos
7:30AM- start making custard and oatmeal for the feeding program that day (at the beginning this is when I would get to my house but I found that when I got there at this time they were all just getting on the potty so there was not much to do until they got off AND doing it earlier in the morning means missing less playgroup time later)
8:00AM- get to my house and help them get ready and dressed and such
8:30AM- head down to play group with all the younger kids that don't go to school but can still walk
9:00AM- start feeding program with one little boy that doesn't go to playgroup. I usually stay and play with the babies in that house or I go back down to play group when I get done feeding him.
10:00AM- snack time at play group and I feed the other 4 kids on the feeding program
10:30AM- tea time in the chapel
10:45-11:45AM- play group time outside (if the weather is nice)
11:45AM- kids go back to their houses for lunch (I stay and help feed the kids in my house)
12:30-3PM- the kids take a nap so I get a bit of a break
3:00PM- the kids go to playgroup and I go around to do the feeding program again
4:30PM- kids go back to their houses for dinner (I stay and help feed the kids in my house)
5:00PM- I go home and journal or read or blog :)
6:00PM- dinner with the Guerinks (Anita is an AMAZING cook:)
and then we just chill and watch movies or play games or something until I am tired and then I go home and go to bed  :)

Last week me and Elijah had a Pirates of the Caribbean movie marathon. We set up the projector and everything in my living room because his sister's couldn't watch it. We tried making popcorn twice and burnt it both times! We ate it anyways and washed it down with some apple juice  :)

Said goodbye to the England group on Wednesday morning. What a fun group! They will be missed. 

RAD painting skills 

We also said goodbye to these 3 girls who are from the university that have been helping at Beautiful Gate for one of their classes. They are all such sweet girls who always look so classy :) 

peace and love.

 (this never gets old)