Sweatin' it in Swaziland

Hello Hello Everyone,

I first want to apologize for not being in contact sooner with you all, I’m not 100% yet.

I have had different people SMS, email, voicemail etc.. asking me if I’m back home yet? So yes, I made it back safely and I am now finally all unpacked and still going through 2 months of mail. I have turned the electricity back on, internet, phone, exterminator, and all the necessary house stuff and I keep wondering how will I ever get through all the mail. I’m still adjusting with the time and have been waking up at 3:00 am dreaming that I am still in Africa until I glance around my room and realize I’m not. I haven’t been eating but once a day because I don’t have an appetite, but hopefully that will change soon.

I need to say a huge THANK YOU to all my faithful and loyal patients who have waited patiently for me to come back and work on their beautiful smiles. I missed taking care of your mouths so much (sounds weird I know). It’s been nice coming back and seeing some of you already and catching up!! I have had some changes to my work schedule at one of my offices that I thought could be a disaster, but it has all worked out for the best in the long run. Just apologizing now for the office having to call and reschedule some of your appointments with me. You know I will never forget the day I told my father I was going to Africa by myself to volunteer on orphan children...well lets just say he was not that keen on the idea. But he did come around quickly once he heard my voice over there and knew I was safe. But I will never forget the 2 questions that immediately came out of his mouth when I told him; 1. What about your patients and 2. What about your dog Trotter? “Is that really fair to any of them to be gone that long Melissa?” Wow my father knows me well and knew just how to get to me. I confidently told him don’t worry I have arranged a friend of mine to substitute for me and Trotter will LOVE the California weather by the beach. So with that said I just want you all to know I appreciate you patiently waiting upon my return for your dental services, it really means a lot to me!

Sometimes you don’t realize what you have until it’s gone. I now understand that life is what you make it, and it’s all about your attitude, commitment, and determination on how you want it to be. You know I once heard from two wise and knowledgeable people (my mom and dad) that good things come to those who wait!!

So I have immediately hit the mountains and started hiking/running the mountains and it feels so good. My heart started fluttering as I laced up my shoes and had proper exercise clothes on and headed up the mountain because it has been awhile. This time I decided to not put my IPOD in my ears but to just listen to the nature and enjoy being in the outdoors. Change...I have decided that change from the norm or routine of life is good and sometimes necessary! It was a nice change to listen to all the birds and possible rattle snake noises (joking). I can’t believe how BEAUTIFUL the weather has been and I was in shorts and a tank top just soaking up the sun as I was running. I decided after my first mountain run that I wasn’t in too bad of shape after 2 months that I signed up for a 10K race in 2 weeks. Call me crazy, but I love my running!! The weather was even so nice this past weekend that I went swimming in my pool on Sunday and Monday morning I sat outside on my patio watching the sun rise over the mountains. WOW someone has a funny sense of humor with the weather right now, but I love the sun so I’m not complaining. I guess my skiing/winter sports days are going to be limited this winter.

I know I told you all that I would let you know a date that I would be speaking and doing a “show & tell” of Africa. I am still arranging the details of that and will keep you all posted, I promise. I think it will be easier for me to do one in Scottsdale and another one possibly in Buckeye and then people don’t have to drive as far. I’m thinking it may be an evening the week before Thanksgiving, I will let you know.

I am leaving this weekend for Chicago and will return EARLY (4:30 am flight) Monday morning in time for work. Partners In Action and Bulembu Ministries have asked me to fly out to Chicago and speak on behalf of Bulembu Ministries Orphanage at a job fair at Trinity Christian University to try and recruit volunteers to go over to Bulembu.

So I hope everyone is staying healthy and hopefully I will see you soon!

God Bless,

Melissa

P.S. I posted some pictures of the finished Bulembu Bakery that I spoke of in the last blog!! And just a few pictures of some of the beautiful animals I saw on the safari!!

Well I think I wont write a weather update anymore, because every time I get excited about the sun and beautiful days the next thing you know the clouds roll in and it rains the next couple of days! Yes, I did have to wear my long john’s again and sleep with a hot water bottle. The only advantage of the cold weather is that I don’t have to do my hair on those days and I just wear a “beanie” to work. I wonder if I can get away with that in the states??

Things are definitely in fast forward here with my time coming to an end and it’s actually been super crazy this week. I have had 3 random adults in the village come to the house, knock on the door and ask for me. I have no idea or clue who they are, but they seem to know me. They have all asked me to clean their teeth and have said they will even pay me. I really wish I could but I’m already seeing extra people at the end of my scheduled day to those that I have already promised. I kind of had a feeling that once I saw one adult it would probably lead to many others asking. I can’t describe the feeling of sorrow and shame that I feel when I have to turn people away. I have been working some nights until 6:00pm I did see an 80 yr. old man the other day that lives in a village an hour away one way and I could not turn him away. He was in tooth pain and I extracted 2 huge teeth from his mouth that day. (picture attached) He was so sweet and precious and told the hospital staff that he showered and got ready just to come visit the “lady doctor”.

I have attached some pictures of me holding and feeding “Sibusiso”. He is just so little and they said that the reason they named him “Blessing” is because the hospital where he was born doesn’t have equipment and technology to handle pre-mature babies especially 2 months early only weighing 3lbs. I spent about 4 hours on Saturday just holding him and taking care of him and he is so precious. The ABC House is very special and dear to my heart that I am going to help contribute toward their cause from now on. I think I told you last week they currently have 23 babies and that’s maximum capacity for them. The ABC House is run and operated solely by a husband and wife (Gerry and Robyn) and is not a government funded orphanage at all. I was there last weekend during feeding time and you can not believe the amount of milk they go through for all those babies. They use cloth diapers for all the babies because it would be far too expensive to buy and use plastic like we do back in the states. This is the couples personal home that they live out of and have converted all the bedrooms into 4 different nurseries. They have some pretty amazing stories that I will tell you all when I get home! If any of you are interested in learning more about the ABC House you can go to www.abcministry.org.za

I wanted to show you a picture of the little boy playing with his toy truck. The kids all have these toy trucks that they have made out of wire and are pretty cool. They don’t have yellow plastic Tonka trucks, they have these wire ones that they have made themselves! I’m telling you, life is simple here and I think I may have a hard time adjusting to the busyness and fast pace life that I once had before I came here.

I thought I would also include a picture of the orphan homes and what Bulembu looks like. The picture of the different colored homes are some of the BMS (Bulembu Ministry) orphan homes and some of the village workers homes that BMS has provided for the people. Something exciting that has happened this week is they finally got the bakery built. They had an individual donation come in for all the bakery equipment and just needed to get the building built. It’s been a neat project to watch over 2 months because I walk past it everyday back and forth to the clinic and home. I have some before photos of the building and now the final bakery up and going. That was a huge need that the town was very much looking forward to because one of the main staples that Bulembu feeds all the children are Peanut Butter sandwiches. They order bread 3 times a week from town that gets delivered here and now they can make it here locally and provide bread for all the children. They are also going to sell the bread for anyone in the town to buy. We got to try one of the first loaves that came out and it was still steaming. The butter quickly melted into the soft bread and the loaf quickly disappeared between all the roommates.

I also included pictures of the bike race from last week and a picture of the children with the horses doing their therapy.

I had my going away surprise party and they really got me on that one. I was with Nicole and we were doing some last minute things around the village and delivering spinach some lady hand picked for the children's homes and I came home to a house full of people. It was so nice to see everyone for dinner and desert and it was also sad saying goodbye. Everyone just keeps asking me when is my return trip????

This will probably be my last Saturday blog for you all but if you are interested in more pictures and stories I believe I have had 2 people offer up their home for me to come and do a type of slide show “show and tell” of the trip and I will get that organized when I return home and will email you all the details of where and when.

Thank You again for all your love, support, advice, encouraging words, prayer, and wisdom that I have received from many of you! You have all made this experience even more special for being in my life and encouraging me to be here. I hate to admit this, but now that I’m here and I absolutely LOVE it here, it’s going to be hard going back now for many different reasons.

Last week I spoke of life lessons that I have encountered and learned while being here, well one that I forgot to mention is that I have learned to Love. To Love in a way that I have never felt I have loved before. Agape Love is what I have experienced!! You can give without loving. But you cannot love without giving!

So goodbye for now until I return to the states and you all can email me on my normal cottongirl7@yahoo.com account when I return because I wont use the africa gmail when I return.

I also want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my cousin Cenna, and Stacey and Happy late Birthday to my bro-in-law Bryan!! Sorry I missed your Birthdays but hopefully you all got your cards I sent!!

God Bless,

Melissa

Exodus 9:16 NIV