Sunday, December 13, 2009

Hey guys!

I made a slide show for a church presentation. For you guys who were not able to be there I thought you might enjoy watching it. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a happy new year! Thanks again for your prayers.

love janna

Friday, December 4, 2009

Processing It All

Hi guys!

Well its been over a week since I have joined you back in the States. I really meant to write this sooner but I was waiting for a picture that I wanted to include - which I'll show later. So the flight back was interesting. We definitely missed our last flight from Atlanta to Indianapolis. We got off late from Johannesburg and then we hit a 170 MPH headwind that caused us to be late. We knew we were pushing our limits anyway since originally we had 2 hours to go through customs, immigration, get our bags, and recheck them through U.S. security =) Praise God one of the my friend's moms works for delta. She had all 19 of us booked on a new plane in an hour. We were still literally sprinting to our next plane but we all made it through just in time. We got in around 11 so all in all we were only 50 min. late. When we got home we seriously felt like celebrities since there was like a tunnel of people with signs, balloons, flowers, cameras flashing everywhere, and a lot of screams - lets just say I really enjoyed it =)

Thanksgiving around my house was great! My parents had us stay here to kind of ease me back into culture - which was a very good decision. That week though we got our Christmas tree which is always a huge event in our house, went to see Blindside ( a movie all 5 of us agreed on and liked - which is about the 3rd movie in my entire life this has happened), and of course went to Hacienda =) I had a tv/talking marathon with Liz since we both have the same favorite show and she waited for me to come back to watch it - so we had 10 episodes to watch in 4 days and we talked for hours so I could get caught up on ALL the details of her life. I definitely helped Ben apply for college! Apparently he couldn't do it without me =) Ben makes me laugh harder than anyone I know so that was just fun! Thanksgiving was good, really good =)

I quickly had to switch gears and head back to school on Sunday for Meetings all day Monday! The nursing department, the global studies department, the history department, and the academic affairs department all wanted to meet. It was a long day! We all went through a bit of culture shock just in the cafeteria trying to get lunch. I sat down and my friend sat next to me and said, "Are you shaking?!?!" and I was like O yeah!!!! It was just a lot of people all at once that we weren't used to but we definitely were laughing as we watched each person from our group come to the table and just give the biggest sigh!

Tuesday was such a blessing! We took a break from culture and just went to the professor's house who took us. We watched a movie that was in Africa, had a Mexican lunch, and then told our funniest story that only they would truly understand! I was laughing so hard I was crying! It was a time of rejuvenation when it seemed like life just stopped =) After that though we went back to school and definitely went to the IWU/Bethel basketball game, which was something I really missed at school! Wednesday was finals - we will see how all that turns out, hopefully well =) Then I had lunch with a great friend and then came home.



Over this week there have been so many emotions. Now that I am done with school and just kind of reflecting I am processing a lot of things that happened on this trip. I am so much stronger than when I left, in so many areas. This trip was a blessing and I would go back again in a second if I had the opportunity available. The people in Africa have such a different view on life - passion comes through in everything and I mean everything they do. I really do miss seeing that!

Overall, I haven't felt any extreme culture shock - driving I think has been my biggest problem =) Different side of the car and on the a different side of the road kind of through me for a loop especially on black Friday! I have been missing it though, I keep having more and more dreams about Africa which I find to be great - Its a little gift while I sleep!



I did/do have an overwhelming sense of peace though when I left Africa. We were walking out of the Johannesburg airport and I saw this sign.....



I just truly felt God telling me that this was His promise to me. I have had a lot of prophecies about Africa in my life. Some were fulfilled to the fullest while I was in Zambia, some though weren't and I know that God has more for me! So seeing this sign helped me so much in coming home. I knew it was time and it has been good being home =)

Thanks to you guy's encouragement and prayers I never felt homesick the whole time I was there. I can say I was one of the few in our group who came away with out feeling homesick. This was a huge issue because then I could take each day and each opportunity God gave me to live it and minister to the fullest. This also helped me as I walked onto the plane because I knew I loved, cried, talked, laughed, and listened to everyone I was supposed to!

The whole time I was there I experienced every word of this passage so I just wanted to leave you with it! Again thanks for everything you have done for me over this whole chapter in my life. I can never express how wonderful it was, but I will keep trying. I know my parents have me scheduled to speak in church in 2 weeks so for some of you - pictures are coming!

love
janna
A Time for Everything - Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Mbubo

Hi everyone!

Well I am sitting here at 11:30 PM finally packed and with pretty much all my homework done! It's a miracle =) We are leaving here tomorrow at 8 AM for Livingstone. I am going on my safari Friday morning and going to see Victoria Falls that afternoon. Shopping again all day Saturday and church on Sunday.

Every one's bags only weigh like 30 pounds but somehow after leaving all my toiletries, 1/2 of my clothes and 1/2 of my shoes they still weigh 48 not really sure how that works but o well!

Just keep me in your prayers tomorrow - I have a lot of good byes to say. There are have been a lot of tears all around going on this guest house lately. But I just keep thinking that I have done everything that I came to Zambia to do! God has worked in mighty ways and I could not have asked for more.

This is a picture of Busi - She gives me a huge hug everyday she works - She is the one who calls me her sister. We had a thank you banquet so this is from that but I am definitely not looking forward to this goodbye!
I can't wait to see of all you though! Keep praying! Mbubo ;)

love

janna

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Starting to Wrap Up

Hi guys

Hope you all are doing well!!!! I have had some great experiences this past week. I did Home based care visits and orphan and vulnerable children. With home based care we visited individuals who had AIDS and assessed their condition and if they had enough food. Before we assessed everything they sat down with us and told us their entire story. How they contracted AIDS, who else is their family has been affected, and how they are even treated in the community because they have AIDS. It was very emotional listening to all this. For the orphan visits we took time to go to these children's houses and make sure that they were receiving adequate care. When an orphan gets placed in a home it puts a severe financial strain on the house. We make sure there are mosquito nets are in place, and there is a toilet, and a good water supply. This was very humbling for me as a "wealthy" white person to sit there and ask them all these questions. Some of the girls really enjoyed these I preferred the home based care instead because I felt like they were more willing to share and it was more of a ministry opportunity to just sit and pray and encourage. With both of these days we took a good amount of food to each of the homes we went to. We did 4 the first day and 2 homes the second. Here is a picture of one of the homes receiving the food with one of the leaders who took us out. It was an experience that I will definitely remember.



With starting to wrap everything up we have started our long long long list of good bye parties and thank yous. There are two girls who work in the guest house where we stay and they are like sisters to all of us. I have been so encouraged with them and have enjoyed their hugs, laughs, and company so much A group of us invited them over for a movie night so this a picture from that.

For the big thank you parties we divided into groups. My group was in charge of saying thank you to the entire World Hope International Zambia staff. The night before we baked 92 cinnamon scones. The first batch was a little salty =) but we got the rest of them down. We served tea, coffee, scones, mango jelly (which is my favorite kind of jelly), and chocolate twirlers to put our American spin on it. They really enjoyed it and we did not have one scone left. Part of that was though the younger guys decided to eat 9 each. Here is a picture of our group serving the staff after morning devotions.

I guess we started a trend. After we said thank you to the staff they decided to throw us a surprise party one afternoon. We had popcorn and cake and they just went around the room and each of them said their favorite memory or how we made an impression on them. This was true Zambian style since they each took time. It was a really good time filled with laughter and tears but very encouraging. Here is a picture before we all played volleyball =) I am getting pretty good at volleyball it is so fun!

The orphanage that I have been going to is run by Germans. There are two German girls that live at each of the three oprhanages. We invited them over to play dutch blitz. It was a lot of fun. I have gotten pretty close to Sara who I am sitting next to in this picture. I love dutch blitz so it was such a blessing and a great time!


So as you can see we have a lot going on - So I still have a lot of papers. Hopefully my 10 page research paper will be done by tonight - that is the plan =) Continue to pray for all of us as we begin to try and leave this amazing place that we love. Last night we had a foot washing service just to stop and serve each other. With us serving everyone else it was time to serve each other. It was an emotional but powerful time of prayer, worship, and reflection. We leave the guest house here Thursday and we will go to Livingstone to visit Victoria Falls and have a Safari and different things like that to end the trip kind of on a touristy note. We will be there Thursday through Sunday and then our Plane leaves on Monday at 1 PM which is 6 AM your time. So one week from tomorrow. Continue to pray for our last week as we have a lot more good byes to say and a lot more tears to come but we know that God has been so faithful in this season in our lives and we are so grateful for the time that we had.
love
janna












Sunday, November 8, 2009

LUSAKA

Hi everyone!

So i will be seeing most of you so soon! I leave here 2 weeks from tomorrow. Lets just say this trip has flown. This past week I went to Lusaka the capital city of Zambia for 5 days. That did not help slow down the trip at all. Went so fast! We were busy as always but I expected that =) We are always so busy!!

We left on Wednesday for Lusaka and its about a 4.5 hour drive from here but its all paved so it was really nice and we were very blessed to have an air conditioned bus. We had some seminars and guess speakers when we go there but Wednesday was pretty standard.

Thursday though was not! =) A lot of us were definitely taking pictures of buildings that apparently we were not allowed to have - so the police found us and took us to the U.S. Embassy. I am serious!!!!! So they made us go through metal detectors and then they took our cameras and deleted those pictures. It was not funny at the time but now its pretty hilarious. One of the highlights of the trip though happened that night when we went to a community school for vulnerable children. When they saw our bus coming literally 300 kids were running and chasing after us. I pretty much was tearing up. They were so happy. I love getting off the bus and having both of your hands instantly grabbed by these cute amazing little kids. We walked through a pretty poor village and reached the center where they were singing and dancing. Here is a picture from the school



We had some really great experiences as a group that let us just unwind and get out some stress so here is a picture from a dinner we went to - It was so good I didn't know what to order so I just had the waiter pick something - I am glad he knew what I would like =)


The next day the highlight was we went to a hospice. When we walked in there were school age children again who were welcoming us by singing - Remember a hospice here is a place where people go to get well from AIDS. Anyway then leader said we were going to go see the children - well we walked into this room filled with about 40 or more cribs of these babies. They were all orphans and they just reached their hands up and craved to be held. It was definitely a sight that you see in books and I wish I could had taken pictures but we weren't allowed and we didn't want to end back up at the U.S. embassy =) Here is a picture though of a billboard in Lusaka - These billboards are definitely making some statments, a lot of them were pretty powerful against the fight of AIDS!


If you can't tell what it is - it is a little girl and it says sex with me does not cure AIDS - This is a big social belief in Zambia.

We had a free day so I got to go shopping for souvenirs on Saturday. Bartering is really hard for me!!!! I got a lot of good stuff but o wow!!!! I don't know how many times I was told I was the winner of the day and I just kept thinking that that was not a good thing =) O well I got everything that I wanted at least!!!

On the down side our prof. and another girl on the team got really sick. Our prof. Pam got malaria and the other girl Kara had some intestinal problems. We had to leave about 7 hours earlier than planned because they needed to have IV fluids. If you could continue to pray for them that would be great!

Thank you guys so much for all the encouraging emails, notes, and comments I have really appreciated each and every one of them.

I will be home soon!!! Please keep praying for a great last 2 weeks. I am going to the orphanage tomorrow that I went to last week - It was really good but really hard. They call me Auntie Janna. This one little boy got really attached. When I left for lunch he was screaming - when I came back I wasn't even through the gate and he was sprinting towards me - and when I left he wouldn't even go to the workers. I had to have someone else take him because it was too emotionally hard for me! I am excited to go back tomorrow though and see him.

I'll write again soon - I definitely need some breaks from all this homework - I HAVE SO MUCH!!!!! trust me wow!

I'll leave you with a picture of Eunice! I absolutely loved her! I met her on a village visit I did. I sat with her under a tree probably for about an hour and we just worked on animal noises!!! She had "oink oink" down in no time - She is beautiful!!!


Love you all

janna

Sunday, November 1, 2009

I Hate the dentist!!!!!

Hey Hey =)

I hope everyone had a great week! I had my last 2 days at Zimba mission hospital this week - it was really good. I did have a stretching experience though =) If you guys know me really well you know that I HATE one thing very much and that is the dentist. Well this week I was sent to the dental clinic. As soon as I walked in the dentist/chaplain was pulling a tooth with massive plyer like things. Lets just say I was not watching too much! My partner kept telling me to sit down hahah but I am just not a fan - It was really interesting to watch how they do things and yes it was better than being the patient but still was very hard for me =)

Also this week I got to visit a real 6 acre banana plantation, it was soooo neat. The women who worked on the plantation came running dancing and singing to welcome our group. After receiving a tour they cooked us a great lunch and just expressed how encouraged they were that we came! Again these people are so grateful for things that I would never think of!

The weekend was spent doing a lot of homework - We have a ton of papers due in the next couple weeks! I have definitely been glued to my computer. Church today was absolutely amazing though! I went to a different church than I normally do and I really enjoyed it - kinda felt like I was home for a week =)

I will try and post again this week because on Weds we leave for Lusaka which is the country's capital city and won't be returning back to our home here in Choma until very late Sunday night. Tomorrow though I am supposed to be doing home visits again out in the bush so if they are anything like they were last time I will definitely have some stories for you!

Keep praying for our safety here!!! We have had two interactions with camel spiders in the last 24 hours. They are the biggest spiders and the fastest ones I have ever seen. If you are curious you tube them - you will be shocked. Lets just say I was standing on a chair definitely screaming but not as loud as the rat I almost stepped on the other day =)

Love you all
janna

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Everything Possible Happened this week!!!!

Hi Everyone!

So this week - all i can say is WOW! We have done so much and it has been so diverse each day. A group of us were laughing last night when we were talking about what we did each day, just seems kinda crazy some times but in such a good way!
Monday - I had a great opportunity to do some home visits on patients who were discharged from hospice. I went to the bush of Africa. It amazes me as we are driving because one of the women was yelling from the back to the driver to turn here - except there was no road to turn on. I have no idea how they keep things straight! We went to five different patients huts - 5 patients took us 9 hours that's how far away we were. Not to mention we had to hike to some of the villages because there was no road at all =) Anyway my favorite was a lady named Lizzy - she was in her upper 80's. All 8 of us crammed into her little hut, and she would not start until we were all sitting on blankets and stools. When we all got settled she sat in silence looking at us and then said, "look at all these beautiful children of god who have come to visit an old lady like me." She went on and on and I was seriously holding back tears. She was so grateful. She asked what she could give us to pay us for our trouble so we replied a song. She sang such a pretty song to repay us. Later she asked us to read her a passage from the bible. We read Matthew 5 the beatitudes and as we were leaving she said that the verse made her so much stronger already. She was so sweet and I can say I will always remember Lizzy.

On our way home we witnessed a bicycle accident. Our professor jumped out of the land cruiser and started assessing him. After a while she decided that he needed to go to the hospital. We loaded him in the car and then realized we all could not fit in there with him. Soooo we ended up staying there on the side of the road. That does not sound like a big deal but 5 white women sitting on the side of the road causes quite the scene. We got the funniest looks, stares, and laughs. It was so funny! They eventually came back for us and we headed home. We had no idea we were going to be gone for 9 hrs we thought it was 4 so we had 2 granola bars to ration out the whole day for 5 of us. It was pretty funny! Below is a picture of the 4 of us who got to go! This was at the beginning of the day when we were fed and awake =)



Tuesday - I went to Dr. Jains down town but only for a couple hours because I had so much homework to do.
Wednesday - Was filled all day with class. I actually had a really bad headache on Wednesday. Luckily I was only really dehydrated and just had to drink 8 water bottles to get rid of it. I was so happy it was not malaria. Side note - A total of 5 girls have had it now - Keep those prayers coming =)
Thursday - we traveled to Chikuli to visit an herbalist. It was an interesting experience. However within like 5 min of talking with him I very quickly realized he was a witch doctor and not an herbalist. When he started talking about his ancestors visiting him in his dreams to show him the "special plants" i was like ok........ So yeah most of that visit was spent in prayer to say the least. On Thursday we also went to a hospital in that area as well as a nursing school. i love going to the nursing schools here - Its neat to see what their schooling is like compared to mine.
Friday - Was the start of independence weekend!!!! Friday night we went to a beauty pageant put on by the rotary club. The lady who is in charge of our guest house is the president of rotary so we had front row seats. It was so funny! A lot of surprises, a lot of shocks, but I haven't laughed that hard since I have been here. A funny thing that happened though was we were told it started at 7 and it was a pretty large event. When we got there at 715 there were no cars there. We walked in and no one was there. At 830 the M.C. for the night gets up and tells everyone thank you for being on time. We were like ok.... Some things are still hard to adjust to around here and time is definitely the biggest one! The event also was soooo long =) We left at midnight and it still had another 2 or 3 hours. When they host an event they really host it!

Saturday - INDEPENDENCE DAY - I am so glad I was here to celebrate independence day. It was such a neat cultural experience. We went downtown and saw a ton of African dancing, singing, dramas, and speeches. When we came back to the house we had a HUGE feast waiting for us. Independence day around here is like 3 or our holidays in one. They count down and have a dancing celebration at midnight like new years, they have actual independence day, and finally its like a thanksgiving feast. It was pretty neat!!
This is a picture of all of our Zambian outfits for independence day! you can't really see mine but don't worry i prob wear it at home - its pretty comfy!!!


Later that night it was my turn with Keri and Lauren to do activity night. Every Saturday night some of us lead an activity so we can all relax, bond, and laugh! We did an award night and it was so funny! It turned out much better than i thought!
So yes as you can see SO BUSY today has been homework since the minute I got home from church. I have a lot due these next two weeks. Tomorrow I am off to Zimba for my last clinical rotation there. If you again could remember me in your prayers that would be great

Here are two pictures of the Zambian dancing at the independence day celebration! They are all school kids since each school did a dance for the event!

I hope you all have a great week! Keep the updates coming - love to hear from all of you
love
janna









Sunday, October 18, 2009

Japan In Zambia?!?!?!?


Hi Everyone!

I hope you all have had a great week! Thank you so much for all your prayers lately I have definitely been feeling them. This week we had two more girls get diagnosed with malaria but now knowing the symptoms a little bit better they caught it early and were just able to get some take home prescriptions. So that's an update on our "team health"


After getting back from Zimba we had a lot of class time to do - So Wednesday and Thursday was filled with lecture BUT Friday was absolutely amazing! We have a couple of miles down the road from us a school for the deaf, blind, and mentally challenged. It is the only school for these kinds of children in all of Zambia. We went on Friday for a tour and to set up some times for doing clinicals there during our last 5 weeks.

I was so impressed with it! The school has about 210 students. These kids are absolutely amazing! The head master was showing us medals that they won at the special Olympics and the awards their choirs have received. He showed us where they live and how there are staff that do checks on them 24 hours a day. I was so encouraged when I was there! To see that these children have such amazing opportunities was a huge blessing. Since it went so well on Friday we were invited back on Saturday!

Saturday they were having a huge program. One of the teachers who works with the deaf children is actually Japanese. She coordinated a group of Japanese from the Country's capital to come down and provide a culture day for the children. There was dancing, drum playing, fashion shows, they could get their name written in calligraphy, singing, and so much more. It was also neat because the teacher had certain groups of the children to sing and dance.

One of the highlights for me was to hear the blind sing a song while the deaf children danced to it. They coordinated it by having a child play the drum that way the blind could hear it but the deaf could watch when he was striking it. To see this up close was beyond amazing.

The best way to describe this is with pictures so I am going to post a couple for you =)


This was in in one of the blind classes - They were learning brail, it was really cool to watch!



These were the girls in one of the deaf class rooms - I just loved watching the teacher sign and having them sign back - They were all so precious!

This girl just kind of came up and started hugging me! She just wanted one I guess but she just stayed like that for like 3 minutes =) I was so glad one of my friends snapped these pictures! She was in the mentally challenged class but I definitely found her on Saturday as well!

This is an awful picture of me but the joy on her face is so priceless I thought I would share it with all of you! As you can see it was such an amazing and rewarding experience! I loved Saturday as well but you are going to have wait for those pictures - Its amazing I got this many =)

I will definitely be posting on later this week - There are a lot of exciting things going on this week. Today was yet another amazing day!!! Tommorow is going to be good as well as Wednesday =) So be ready for another post!

Thank you all for continuing to keep me in your prayers =) I am so thankful! I hope you all have a great couple days until I talk to you again!

love

janna

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Half way

Hey guys

Well I am officially half way through my trip - honestly i don't know how i feel about. We were just talking about the other night how when we go on trips it feels so good to come home! The staff who works here has now become friends. I can't even explain it but its amazing!



Anyway UPDATE =)

Thank you so much to all of you who prayed for Alyssa who got malaria. She was admitted to the hospital for 3 nights but now she is doing pretty well. She is still really tired but she is keeping food down and is looking much better.



Monday and Tuesday it was my turn at Zimba mission hospital. Monday I was placed in the male/female ward which is equivalent to like a medical surgical unit. I really enjoyed it a lot! One reason why I enjoyed it was i got to start my first IV and i got it =) Yay for me - this is a pretty big deal in nursing school =)

I did have a rough case that morning. One of the patients had menningitis and ended up passing away that morning. Its hard to do much when the nearest venitlator is 5 hours away. Even though it was hard I was ok. I had so much fun with the ladies in the female ward. Every time I gave them anything they would say, "Thank You Janna Peterson!" Definitely warmed my heart the next day when I heard they were asking for me.

Tuesday I was able to see 2 minor surgeries. It was not anything major. I was able to watch the removal of some absesses. It was interesting though to see how they do surgery in other countries. Since I have seen surgery in the states it was good to compare and contrast the different environments.

Also on Tuesday I was in outpatient. I have talked about outpatient before where it is kind of like an emergency room situation. I loved it on Tuesday - I get to see so many interesting cases! There was one that was really hard but with God's help I was able to get through it. Overall I was much encouraged after this trip. So again thank you so much for your prayer.

Today and tomorrow are filled with class time, but on Friday we are suppossed to go to a special needs school. It is the only school in the whole country geared towards these individuals. It is suppossed to be really good so I am praying that the schedule will go through.

Here is a picture of me and my clinical partner Keri. God placed the two of together from the begining. It has been so great to be able to witness and process everything with her. It has been so helpful with everything. We are both very grateful for eachother. This picture was right before we saw the couple of surgeries.

Well have a great week everyone

love janna

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Chikankata

Hi!!!



I hope you are all doing well - I hear its starting to get a bit chilly. Well don't worry about me it is still over 100 here =) This week has been busy again! Monday I was able to go to a Doctors office in town here and be able to help out and shadow him. He is a brilliant Indian man who has been here for 33 years. He had everything in India and was wealthy but gave it all up to come to here and serve the Zambian people. He said I never had to work in India and had everything, I come here and work everyday and have nothing. I really learned a lot from him about nursing and about life in general.



On Tuesday I was able to go to a hospice here in Choma. I did not think I would like it because I was thinking of what a hospice would be like in the states. However, here it is not where people go because they are dying. It is mainly for people who are suffering from HIV/AIDS but they come so they can get back on their feet and learn to manage their disease. I really really enjoyed it. The people there just need someone to talk to. I was able to sit with two ladies for over an hour and was just able to sit and encourage them. People here have amazing stories and they open up so easy. It shocked me when I first got here but it is kinda nice how people trust you completely in ten minutes. Anyway we ended the conversation by talking about pizza. They wanted me to teach them how to make it. Even though I have never made a pizza from scratch I worked my way through it =)



Wednesday was a powerful time. As a group we did devotions for the staff here at World Hope. We talked about Romans 12, had a worship time, and did a skit. I was able to be a part of the skit. I did not think it would have the impact that it did. At the end though the lady that manages our guest house said she had leave quickly because she was so touched she was crying. To get a response like that was really moving. They were so grateful!



Thursday and Friday we were able to go to the Salvation army hospital in Chikankata. It was about a 4 hour drive away for us. I was so impressed with the facility and the staff. I spent one morning talk with the midwifery students. I was laughing all morning. Thursday I was in Maternal Child Health and was able to help out with some prenatal exams - I am getting pretty good at locating everything =) That afternoon I was able to help out with family planning, this was also very interesting for me to be apart of.



Friday was amazing! I was placed in outpatient which is kind of like an ER. I was helping out the nurse at first. All the patients come and line up and then the nurse takes all their vitals and writes in their charts what is wrong and determines where they need to go next to get the proper treatment. At first the nurse was translating and I was recording. Then all of the sudden we got SUPER busy so the nurse wrote out 2 pages of Tonga phrases since most of the patients there were from the villages and did not speak English. For the next 2 hours I spent completely butchering Tonga but I DID IT! i was able to converse with them and figure out what was wrong - It was a very stressful situation but so amazing. I loved it!



Today was filled with homework. I am going to the Mission Hospital again Monday and Tuesday so I have a lot to catch up on before I go. It definitely helps though living in a house with 15 other nursing majors who are all in the same boat. There are not as many temptations not to do homework like there are on campus at IWU.



Well I will let you know how it goes next week at the hospital. If you could pray for emotional protection that would be great. I learned a lot 2 weeks ago but it was still really hard to get through. I am hoping for a more of an uplifting time. However, God will have me where I need to be.



Thank you all so much!!!!!!

love janna

P.S. I changed my profile picture. This is Ivy she is a girl from a village behind our compound. She is very quiet but so full of love. I was sitting on the ground playing with some other children and she came running through the field and just fell on my lap. She always seems to find me - but i am definitely not complaining =) She has found a place in my heart!

Thursday, October 1, 2009

What a week!


Hello from Zambia!
Muli buti everyone? That means how are you - Anyway this might get a little long so grab a cup of coffee. The Internet was down most of the week here and when it was working I was actually on a couple of trips so i have a lot of updates for you =)
Last semester at IWU i took a short term missions class and the professors that i took it with are actually here in Zambia about an hour away. So last Sunday they invited us all to their home and for a Youth Rally. This was a great day. First of all she was such a mom to us - she made us AMERICAN lasagna from scratch and chocolate cake and then had 16 beds made up for us so we could all enjoy a Sunday nap. It was truly a taste of home for me =) After spending time with them though we went to a youth rally which was so cool. In a one room church there were 500 youth and all 20 of us plus the pastors/leaders of the church. Needless to say it got a little warm but it was worth it. As in any African church they always want the visitors to go up on stage and introduce themselves and then sing. They love it when you sing - especially since that is so prevalent here. Well everyone was going down the line introducing themselves and they just kind of all were staring and then i said "Hello my name is Janna Peterson" and all 500 started screaming and clapping =) I was a little taken back but it was really nice - I was laughing pretty hard. I guess there is a famous musician in the country that is named Peterson so that gives me a pretty nice advantage =)
The Pastor who spoke at the youth rally talked about hidden sin and how it has a way of coming out. He had an altar call and there was a pretty good response - It was definitely a blessing to be apart of. After we shook every person's hand they wanted to give us a tour. This was at a boarding school so all the youth actually lived on a campus. So i was able to see all the dorms, school rooms, and the clinic. We are going back again soon so I am very excited.

This Monday and Tuesday i was able to go to Zimba Mission Hospital. Every other week i will be going there for some clinical time. This was a very hard experience for me actually. I learned a ton but I definitely need God's straight to get through it. On Monday I worked in ART which is anti retro viral therapy which is basically all AIDS patients. They came in and I gave them their monthly physical to see how the disease was progressing. It was very emotional to screen all these people who were dying. One of the patients that came in was very critical and actually ended up passing away that afternoon.

The next day my instructor decided I needed some uplifting patients so I was placed in peds and OB. Well then one of the girls died that morning so i was trying my best to comfort the mother as she was grieving. Then in the afternoon we had a lady who was pregnant get rushed in by ambulance who was in labor. We put her up on the table and started an assessment. Within 5 minutes we realized that there were no fetal heart tones. For the next hour I was helping the mother give birth to a child that would never take a breath. This was another extremely emotional experience. One of the parts I completely disagreed with was because the mother did not speak any English she did not know that her baby was already dead. They did not tell her till everything was over.
To get the full affect of this you have to understand that Zambian women do not show emotion. To see the mother who lost her daughter that morning sobbing was a huge deal and then to hear the mother who lost her baby sobbing was very rough. Even though this trip I did not advance too much on my nursing skills I definitely advanced on my comforting - to sit with the mourning and just pray with them. It took me about 2 days to recover emotionally from all this but I have processed, prayed, and had long conversations with God.

Today we went to another hospital clinic that was about 1 hr and a half away. I was again assigned to the prenatal area of maternity. The patient I was assigned to was a 16 year old girl named Florence who was having her 2nd baby. I was able to do a complete head to toe assessment on her and to check the fundus height, feel the head, and listen to the fetal heart tones was an encouraging thing after Tuesday. I also had to give her a tetanus injection since it was that time.
God works in mysterious ways in Africa but I am learning as I go. He is so faithful and ever present. I have been flooding my soul with worship music and giving my patients to Him as I go because the burden is too much for me and I am not meant to carry it. This is an amazing and straining experience but I am definitely falling in love with this country more and more each day. My theme song for this week is entitled I Need You - the lyrics are below and hope they speak to you the way they spoke through me!


I am frail, broken easily
Without fail, my strength keeps failing me
All alone, I'm powerless
To lift myself from the pit that I am in

I need You, Jesus
I need You,

Jesus From Your throne in heaven's light
Descended down into my broken life
To right the wrong, to make a way
To bear the load that I deserved to bear alone

I need You, Jesus
I need You, Jesus
I need clean hands I can't,
You can I need You, Jesus

On the cross on our behalf
The Son of God bore the Father's
wrath
And by His blood, the scars and pain
The perfect Son, took the fall and took our place
In His grace and unfailing love
The risen King gave His hand to us
To lift us up, from the pit
And set our feet upon a rock that ever stands
On my own I've tried and tried
To save myself, to fill my life
But the more I do the more I find
That I need You, I need You, I need You
FINALLY =) a couple of pictures for you
This is a picture of the Peds ward at Zimba Mission Hospital
This is a picture of one my patients for the day. She was full of joy - She didn't understand any English but we were laughing despite everything that was going on around us. She had a fractured leg that is in traction under the blanket.


Last but not least this is what I get to see every night to remind me that God is so present in even some of the toughest parts of Africa!

LOVE YOU ALL

- janna

Monday, September 21, 2009

Chubby Bunny

Hi everyone!

Sorry I have not written in a week - we had a lot of orientation still. We needed to learn all about the different programs that World Hope conducts before we could take part in them. So this week is when we are going to be doing food distribution. I am actually going tomorrow so I will be sure to write about that later on this week. I am really excited for this!!!

I am definitely getting much more confident in Zambia. I have been to the market a couple times. It is about a half hour walk one way and we can go anytime we are free in groups of 4 or more. I really enjoy going to the market - the first time I went everybody was shouting "Mugua" and I had no idea what that meant so I just kept walking and feeling a little embarrassed but NOW I know it means white person! So I just turn around smile and wave and they seem to enjoy that =) Sometimes I think I surprise them that I understand what they are saying =) I am getting much better at the language. I can say: how are you, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, thank you, no, and I can respond to all the greeting questions. Not too bad for a week!!

Last night though was an amazing experience! There is a couple that are missionaries here for World Hope and they have a house in our compound. Last night they invited some kids over from the near by village to have a bonfire. We roasted marshmallows and played chubby bunny. Sounds good right? Well the amazing part was that they had never had marshmallows. They were laughing so hard because they were so sticky and sweet. They couldn't figure out why we were telling them to say chubby bunny but they laughed any way. Then at the end of the night the missionaries had the glow in the dark wands that you can make into necklaces. Well they definitely had not seen them before. So we played Frisbee with the glow in the dark rings. I was laughing all night long! It has definitely been my favorite night since we have been here. Below are a couple of pictures from the night - Enjoy!!!

I'll try to post more pics of Africa in general but it takes about 20 min. per picture - You will def. see all of them when I get back =)

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Welcome to Choma!

Hi everyone! So I finally made it here after 3 full days of travel. It took 3 flights and a 4 hour bus ride. Thank God that everyone including myself had all of their luggage arrive safe and sound. The 15 hour flight was great for me. I slept 10 hrs and watched 2 movies so I only had about an hour of down time which was spent eating dinner and waiting in line for the bathroom. Definitely can’t complain =) The bus ride however was a little well lets just say bumpy. We were on a nice road and then our Zambian leader Maureen said, “OK we are heading into the real Zambia.” This is the moment I truly realized I was in Africa. I began to see the huts made out of straw and the children running up and down the street and putting huge smiles on their face because we are white. Everyone here is so grateful that we are here in their country. The people keep saying, “out of all the places in the world, you chose to come to Zambia.” These people hardly have anything but they serve us with such passion. I feel bad because after a meal to tell them you enjoyed it you are supposed to leave food on your plate. The people barely have enough to eat but I am wasting food to say thank you. Their faces light up every time they collect the plates though.

The guest house that we are staying in is absolutely gorgeous. I mean yes it is Africa so there are a good amount of very very big bugs =) I showered for the first time with a spider but at night my mosquito net is keeping all of them out. I actually like sleeping in a mosquito net it makes it very dark and just feels like I am protected more. Even though it is just a net it feels like my own little room. I am in the super dorm so there are ten girls in my room. We each have a set of bunk buds so we are sleeping on the top with the mosquito net draped from the ceiling and then all of our clothes are on the bottom bunk.

When we arrived the World Hope Staff had made us an authentic Zambian meal. It was amazing chicken, green beans, and their staple food nshima. The best way to describe nshima is play-dough consistency made out of corn meal that does not have a taste. We use it to roll it into balls and then that is our silverware – I finding it really fun to eat with my hands =) After dinner we unpacked, showered, and went to bed. I slept so amazing. I didn’t wake up once – I actually haven’t slept that good in a while so I have adjusted to the time difference quite well but they say it might hit me tomorrow since I have had no complaints.

Finally this morning I went to church. In my group there is a total of 18 students. We were divided into 3 groups to attend one of the three churches here in Choma that we will attend the whole time so that we can become connected and serve in the church. Mine is called Shampande and it is in a compound. The building is pretty nice but the people are amazing. People in Zambia know how to do a couple things very well. The first one is singing. The singing in church this morning was absolutely beautiful and powerful all at the same time. I swear every person in church had an amazing voice. To hear it fill the church was an incredible sound. The second thing they know how to do is pray. Finally, they definitely know how to make you feel welcome. We had to go in front of the church and introduce our names and how excited we were to be there. There is definitely no blending in here =) They welcomed us and then at the end of the service every single person got in a line to greet us and welcome us. I am struggling with the greeting a little bit because I can’t look at men and older women in the eyes and then I have to do this curtsey thing while doing a fancy handshake and speaking in Tonga (native language, English is the main language though). They found it funny but they loved that I had no problem laughing at myself with them. So I’ll get it down eventually. Church though did last from 9 AM until 2 PM so lets just say I am glad I go to a church with backs to their pews.

Well that’s my update. I hope you are doing well. The plan is to start classes on Tuesday because on Monday we have more orientation with World Hope as well as going into town. The experience here has already been phenomenal and it has only been a day. Can’t wait to keep the updates coming =)

Love
janna

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Orientation and Lift Off!

K guys this is it - I mean I am down to hours now! If this doesn't make sense I am apologizing now. I had meetings all day today and I am soooo tired. Tomorrow is even longer filled with many many many more meetings and we as a group are being prayed for in both chapel services.

I wanted to give you guys my flight itinerary so you could all be praying for me! On Thurs I leave Indy at 2:40 PM. Then I leave Atlanta at 8:25 PM. Not really how the time difference works but then I will be landing in Johannesburg, South Africa the next night at 5:30 PM. We will then be staying in a hotel until the next morning when our last flight leaves at 11:05 AM and will finally land in Livingstone at 12:50 PM on Saturday! It will be a very long trip but so worth it!

I hope you all are doing well I can't tell you enough how grateful I am for each and everyone of you! I couldn't be here with out you. Just continue to lift me up in your prayers, I can use every one of them.

Love
Janna

P.S. the next time I'll be writing I'll be there =)

Friday, September 4, 2009

A bit of a visual


This is a picture of our group that is going to be traveling - a couple are missing but I thought I would give you a visual =)

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Luggage, Luggage, Luggage

What a week!!!! Last Saturday I finished up work for the summer and decided to take this last week off to fully focus on getting things together for this trip. It was a really good decision. Everyday has been spent shopping and then returning those items and then sometimes even re buying them!

For example... my luggage situation has been a little crazy. About a month ago I decided to get a head start and buy my luggage. I really liked it - I thought it was so pretty and big enough to fit everything I needed. Well it was a little too big. I received an email this week stating the allowed dimensions and it was WAY too big. So I returned luggage set number 1. Then I bought a nice blue set that was smaller and much lighter. I bought one bigger suitcase and one a little bit smaller. Well when I packed them tonight they were too heavy, so I returned set number 2. Finally tonight I returned to JC Penny to get hopefully my last set. They are two smaller suitcases but everything fit and they are under the weight limit by about 5 pounds which is great =)

It has been a crazy week but if you caught what I said - I am pretty much packed which is soooooo exciting =). I have been getting emails each day with different things to bring so I am sure I am not done but all my clothes and things like shampoo are sealed and ready. In fact ONE week from exactly right now I will be on my long (about 16-17 hrs) flight from Atlanta to South Africa. Things are getting so close which is so exciting.

Prayer requests for this week -
1. If you guys could pray for my health that would be great - some of my team members are coming down with some sickness. I am healthy now so we are believing it stays that way
2. Final details to all fall in place - especially the packing =)
3. Finally just for God's peace to just fill each step of this last week - some days my nerves are a little high and I can't believe this is actually happening but then He reminds me how amazing this is going to be

Thanks for everything guys - hope you all are doing well!

love janna

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

The Journey So Far...

HI EVERYONE =)

I wanted to thank everyone so much for giving me the love, prayer, and support that all of you have sent my way. It is a pretty amazing feeling to receive the support that I have been getting. I thought I would take this time to catch you up to speed so far on how I have gotten to this point of going to Choma, Zambia - which by the way is 3 weeks from tomorrow!!!

When I was a sophomore in college I was in nutrition class and we were given a project to help raise money for the organization World Hope International. It was a small project but we ended up raising a good amount of money so Joanne Lion came to our class about a month later to accept the check in person. When she was there she was telling us all these amazing stories that occured at their branch in Zambia. Then she ended the presentation by telling us how she wanted to partner up with Indiana Wesleyan University (IWU) to start a study abroad program. I remember from that distinct moment that God was telling me that I was going. I ran back to my room and told my roommate that I was going to Africa! That is where my step of faith began.

Since then it has a been a long application process. Several applications, several emails, several questions. Right before Christmas break this last year I did receive an official acceptance letter congratulating me and letting me know that I was for sure going. Since then it has been a very accelerated road to get where I am now.

I praise God for all the support that I have received!! My plane ticket was completely covered with some left over for my passport and even some for my luggage. He continually is reminding me that I am called to go and that exciting things are waiting.

I have had this week off from work so I have been making a lot of lists and crossing things off one at a time. I am finally set up on Skype so that I can keep in touch with my family while I am there. The shopping has begun as well - I have a total of 10 skirts so I think I only need two more. It is really a challenge to find long skirts below the knees in a lot of different colors that are going to be comfortable in the hot weather =) Things are definitely moving along though and it has been such a smooth process. Everything is just lining up and it is totally because God's hand is in it.

Once again I just want to thank you all - all of you have made such a major impact on my life over the years and it has been such a blessing. I am going to try my very best to keep this updated so that you can experience this journey with me. I look forward to sharing this with you!

Keep me in your prayers
Love always
Janna