Piñata time
Singing happy bday to the boys
Dancing with host moms
Wednesday, April 6, 2016
Discharged!!!!
Our boy has been discharged. Whew! A huge thank you to his parents for making sure everything that was needed was provided quickly and seemlessly!! Great teamwork.
Here is a video of what the hospital looked like:
Tha actually hospital is open like a motel with the patient rooms located off open balconies.
Visitor after last night's party
Today the student went to class. At 3 the host moms will drop us off at the US consulate general for our briefing then the bus will take us to volunteer, another full day!!!
Tuesday, April 5, 2016
Happy birthday Omar, Marcus, & Jordan
Before we arrived to Mexico we planned to celebrate Omar's birthday today. Since two of our boys, Marcus & Jordan, had birthday's the day before we left for Mexico we also celebrated their precious lives. Our network of host mother's planned the details and boy did we have a good time. We danced, busted a piñata, played musical chairs, eat, sang, and we had the best time ever. Here are some pix.
Female chaperones host mom. We miss you and Culbreth!!!
The piñata
Musical chairs
Love them to pieces
Happy birthdayOmar
Happy birthday Marcus!
Happy birthday Jordan!
Here are pix of the boys and their host moms!
DAB! Host mom is dabbin' on 'em!!
Mr Blackmon & Mr Swann's host dad
(Mr Swann was still at the hospital with our patient)
Our hospitalized traveler is missing from this pic
Female chaperones host mom. We miss you and Culbreth!!!Host mom to the seniors (12th graders)
Host mom and grandma with the boys!
The videos that I have are amazing, but I need wifi to upload them, and there isn't wifi at the hospital. Our patient's surgery went very well. He has a metal plate and 7 screws in his ankle, he will be on crutches, and will be discharged tomorrow at 11am.
I'll get the videos up tomorrow. I promise they won't disappoint!!
Morning class and off to surgery
Last night Mr Swann and I spent the night at with our hospital patient. At about 9am I left them to shower, change clothes, and eat.
After that I ran over to the school to make sure the boys were ok and just to show my face. Dr Malik, Ms Stiggers, and Mr Blackmon were holding it down at the school so I just gave all the boys hugs and returned to the hospital.
Open air hospital pic from last night
Patient being wheeled into his room
Injury
X-ray
When they took our boy away for surgery it was about 3pm and he was in great spirits. He even made a little video for his parents reassuring us that he'd be just fine.
ms Stiggers even showed up to the hospital room with 3 of the boys to show their support.
Monday, April 4, 2016
Broken ankle
As soon as we arrived to the community center for our volunteer service, the boys happily jumped out of the van and started tossing around the football. Within the first five minutes, we heard screaming, one of the boys jumped to catch the ball and came down wrong on his ankle. His ankle was broken. Immediately Ms Stiggers was down on the ground with him holding his hand... This is why I call her "BossLady", Dr Malik was directing people to get his leg elevated, Mr Swann was moving people from around him, our bus driver called an ambulance, Jose Luis came out of nowhere and started helping elevate the ankle, the police patrol was on the scene right away... Everyone went into motion and to be honest I was just kind of stunned... unsure of what to do exactly. Thank goodness for the other chaperones. Eventually the ambulance came, I translated for everyone. Then hopped in the ambulance with the student. I asked Dr Malik and Mr Swann to stay with the students. BossLady and Jose Luis followed us in his car.
Although it took hours to get his xrays done, the surgeon arrived relatively quickly, and he will operate tomorrow at 2pm. He immediately twisted his foot back into place and wrapped it up. That instantly made me feel better. The whole time I was in contact with his parents.
Dr Malik and Mr Swann made sure all the kids got home for dinner. Later on Mr Blackmon and Mr Swann came to the hospital to bring the students' belongings. Right now I'm on the couch in the students hospital room, Mr Swann is in the lazy boy next to him. His operation will be tomorrow at 2pm.
The other 3 chaperones will take care of the kids in the morning. Then ms Stiggers will come here with me for the operation. We still have a surprise for the students at 3 so we will all move around to be present for everyone.
Monday morning
Today the temperature was perfect but it was overcast. We got a ride to school from our host mother because we went to the laundry mat to get our clothes washed. The kids got on buses to get to school a few were a little late but not their fault..
The laundry mat is not like in the US. It's more like a low cost dry cleaner, when we pick up our bags of clothes tomorrow, our clothes will be perfectly washed, pressed, and folded. This is one of my favorite things about Latin America.
While the kids were in class Mr Swann and I made our daily run to Western Union. Dr Malik & Ms Stiggers held it down at the school. A few boys say that the diarrhea is starting but it's not too bad for now. I'm keeping an eye on them so no worries. They are all well, here's a lil video of them leaving classes to head home.
But before leaving leaving one of their teachers sang a song for the class and demonstrated his singing skills... Pure talent!
The host mothers had a secret meeting today... I'm not opening my big mouth to tell you what it was about but it's a good thing. These ladies are a force of loving ladies who are spoiling the kids with food, love, and affection. I appreciate the network here who've welcomed us into their homes, classes, and lives with loving open arms.
The Stiggers are here & Gran Plaza Mall
When the bus dropped us off in front of the school after the Cenotes. We were all ready to go home but not to stay home.
I send everyone home with the promise of a later outing. As soon as the kids got on their buses, we went to get Stigg and his mom from the bus station which was right next to the school. Since Ms Stiggers will take Tanya spot at our host's house our host mom came for her and we all returned home together. Stiggs host mom came to get him to he could live with his two long time buddies, Kaleb and Marcus.
Once we got most of us ate dinner and had about an how to relax. During that time I talked to Sophia, the leader of the host moms and she used their "whatsapp Chat group" to organize all the host moms. We decided that they would take the boys to a different nearby mall to meet up with me and the chaperones... while they hung out at a restaurant. We met at 7 and the mall closed at 9. So he boys had two hours of walking around and meeting friends their age. It was pretty cool watching them get around in Spanish. I don't have pictures of them but I will try to get some of the boys to text me be picture they took of themselves.
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