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Monkeys Galore But No Monkey Business - Joytown Day 4


Data runs went so well today! It was a joy finishing up with some of the same high school students from yesterday as they already knew the flow of the wheelchair skills tests. Ms. Rispin came over at one point and commented that the whole team seemed to be much more calm and peaceful today, that we were finally settling into a routine and realistic picture of the (doable) work ahead of us.

We had another "man down" today as Momma T stayed home sick after throwing up all of her breakfast. This makes the third day in a row that at least one member of the team has been taken out of play due to sickness: first Matt, then Connor and now Momma T. I think we need some prayer to nip this weird wave in the bud. Also I could use some prayer against the unidentified bugs that are turning my ankles into a buffet line...

A blessing from the past couple days has been the morning devotionals with the Joytown Bethany Kids therapy staff. One member of the staff will usually read a passage, share a small message on it, ask for contributions from the group, and then pray. For my Gen Bio pals back in the States: you think Dr. Baliranie's devos were powerful? Wheew. The last two mornings we've finally made it in time to open up by singing hymns with the group (in English and Swahili) which has really helped set the tone for the day. One therapist emphasized the fact that our job is to love and that the only thing that will last in this world is the work we do for love, and since God is love, the work we do for God.

I am also figuring out more of a routine here that will allow me to have specific "down time" and decent amounts of sleep (I'm talking like a full 8 hours!). The key is setting a hard deadline for the end of the day at Joytown and committing to actually packing up and getting to the van at that certain time. Ms. Rispin emphasized this pointing out that we could work round the clock at Joytown and there would still be more we could do; there has to be a deadline between research and rest otherwise the team burns out after week one.

Today was one of the first days where everything seemed to flow. Especially the "down time" after getting home from Joytown school. I sat outside in the setting sun, enjoying the Kenyan nature in our conference center's gardens and wandered the grounds with the team as Connor pointed out as many of the resident monkeys as he could see. Some of them were baby monkeys and I just about died from cuteness overdose when I saw them perched on tiny branches or clutching from the underside of their mother's belly.

On that note, I'm going to take advantage of the futbol-free night and hit the hay. 

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