A Life Changing Weekend!!!

How do I describe or put into words this weekend...well I will attempt it; It all started on a wonderful weekend camping trip to Bilene, Mozambique. As we were driving in Swaziland still, off to the left we saw a huge elephant just walking slowly, and that was pretty amazing! Then I first had to get a temporary visa at the border and that all went just fine with no problems. As we were getting ready to actually cross the border about 13 guys ran up to the window quoting different exchange rates for their currency. At this point good thing I wasn’t in charge of changing the money over because it was all pretty confusing to me, and David almost got ripped off until he told the guy he owed us more money. We arrived at the destination and you could hear the water/waves rolling in and it was quite beautiful. They had to deflate their tires on all the vehicles first before driving into camp because the camp accommodations were literally right on the beach! We played all sorts of games on the white soft sand beach all day like cricket, soccer, etc... and went jet skiing as well. Oh and one of the many highlights of the weekend was catching a huge sail fish in the deep ocean off of a jet ski. Yes, a jet ski and NOT a legitimate deep sea fishing boat. We went out to sea on the jet ski to troll for some fish, possibly Tuna and also to see if we could spot some Whales. Sure enough we dropped our lines and about 30 min later I noticed we had a bite. So I picked up the rod and started to reel it in but the fish was too large and I couldn’t fight it so Barry took over. I was nervous about falling into the ocean and then 45 min. later Barry finally reeled it in. He took one good look at it and said we need to release him because he is just too beautiful! Oh and if that’s not cool enough I forgot to mention that we saw 6 Whales jumping, making noises, and blowing all around us. On the last day we drove into Maputo and stopped at a Yacht Club Restaurant and I had prawn curry and prawn cakes that were delightful. The price of seafood is crazy cheap and only cost $12.00

Camping in a tent on the beach and catching Sail fish off a jet ski-”PRICELESS”!!

We made it back across the border to Swaziland and we were now on the Bulembu dirt road back home and the 3 of us were the first ones on to the scene of a rollover accident. It was a Bulembu marked bakkie=truck with large 40 gallon water bottles dispersed all over the road and two bodies laying on the side of the road as well. One guy was holding his chest and coughing a lot and the other guy was bloody all over and not moving. So I immediately got on my cell phone and rang for the ambulance and nurse that I work with everyday at the Bulembu clinic and my phone wouldn’t connect. Then I grabbed the mans cell phone and made the phone call out. All I could do was think I just need to talk to someone, then I finally got it together and realized we were the only ones on the road and I needed to help this bloody man. So I quickly ran back to the car and grabbed a towel out of my bag and rubber gloves and tied the towel around his arm to stop some of the bleeding. His index finger was totally torn off and a ligament was hanging and the other fingers were badly mangled. Blood was coming out of his ear and head and many other places. I had the guy lay down because now he was confused and his body was starting to shake hard because he was going into shock. As he laid there on the road he kept looking up at me saying please don’t let me die, I know I’m dying now. He said can you please help me get out of pain. Then he asked me about 20 times what my name was and said please don’t let me die. I felt so inadequate and helpless and all I could do was say positive words and tell him he wasn’t going to die. I then asked the man if I could pray with him and he said yes and that was good. Then we waited about 30 min until the ambulance got there and it felt like the longest 30 min. of my life. I started to step away when the paramedics got there but he yelled out and said, “No please don’t go, don’t leave me I know you will save my life” So I just placed my hand on his shoulder and told him I would help place him in the ambulance but that it would all be OK. My other 2 friends kept their distance because they couldn’t handle the sight of blood they said and did a great job of picking up all the heavy water jugs to clear a path for the ambulance. The one gentlemen was released from the hospital the next day with minor injuries and the other guy was released on Thursday and suffered a concussion, lacerations of the skull, and his other fingers survived.

I am doing well, learning a lot, and keeping an open mind. Had a GREAT week of weather with sunshine and blue sky’s, it was divine! Great work week as well and I just love seeing the children smile.

The ABC infant orphanage just got a new baby in on Wednesday that is only 2 weeks old and tiny tiny because he was born 2 months early. His mom was a rape victim and she was only 13yrs old. His name is Sibusiso which means “Blessing”. He is so cute and just sleeps all the time.

Thursday evening the Swaziland Frontier Bike race came through Bulembu and that was the ending point for that leg of the 3 day bike race and my roommates and I were volunteered to help serve beverages to the racers. I tell you, never a dull moment here and constant activities. They host this race once a year and it’s an intense mountain bike race going up all those steep steep hills for a total of 3 days. Watching them Friday morning go up the hill past the Hospital inspired me to get back into my cycling when I get home and can’t wait to hit the gym hard!!

I can not believe how fast the time is going and I can say that I have learned many life lessons. I have seen things and met people I will NEVER forget and have learned the true meaning of THANKFULNESS through my time here. It’s really weighing heavy on my heart this week of leaving and it seems as though I have just developed some awesome relationships, learned the language more to better speak it, and have settled into the kids lives more. I will be completely sad to say goodbye! I’m excited that I was able to serve, share, and just being flexible to whatever, has been a good feeling. Flexibility is a must in Africa because things don’t always go as planned and they even have a saying over here that I hear used at least 3 times a

day. It’s called T.I.A which means "This Is Africa".

This is the wish I always wish,

The prayer I always pray:

Lord, may my life help others

It touches on the way.

Matthew 5:16

Hope everyone is doing well,

Melissa