Team Report from April 2017:
Team members: Jamie and Jolinda Lengacher
Team goals: Jamie - Board meeting, missionary and staff support
Jolinda - Sponsorship pictures, missionary and staff support
Jamie - I was able to spend each morning with my good friend, Dan Jacobs, WGM missionary serving at the Baby Centre. Dan recently returned to the field after losing his wife unexpectedly in January. Each morning we shared coffee and talked about life and the Baby Centre. Dan and Dana's daughter, Hope, often joined in on the conversation. Or just crawled up on my lap to sit awhile.
I was also able to spend time with the director, Manu. He will be installed "officially" as the director in July. But he has been serving as director during Dan's absence from the field to now. We discussed some of the issues he was having and tried to come up with solutions. I mainly tried to encourage him that we were behind him and would help him in any way necessary for him to be successful.
The board meeting was long, but the outcome of the decisions made I think will be good.
Jolinda - I spent most of everyday either in the nurseries or out in the play yards. There were 70 babies residing there, so it took quite a bit of time to make sure I took a good photo of each to put on their sponsor cards. I tried to take time to hold, cuddle and play with the kids for at least a little bit each day. I brought a 5.7 group photo from the 10 year Anniversary in October 2016 for the staff. If they were there, I also had a photo of each caregiver or staff member with their gift bags. They seemed to enjoy them and were very thankful. I told each of them again, how much we appreciate the work they do there. I also tried to ask questions about each baby and their development.
It rained every afternoon, so that made it a little more of a challenge to get outdoor pictures. Very few videos were taken this time as we had so few days there, and limited time to take pictures. I do believe I was successful in getting some good sponsor card pictures.
The first morning, I spent time in the infant nursery. While there I was able to hold Priscilla, although I couldn't really tell I was holding her! The nurse came in to check on her and weigh her. I was able to go back and observe and the report was good - she had gained .2 kg. That may not seem like much, but she came in at 1.8 kg! This made her current weight 4.4 lbs.! She is a fighter and we pray her health continues to improve each day.
I spent one morning with Millie and her daughter Melinda. Melinda was just starting to pull herself up and walk around things. She really liked Millie to take her hands and walk her around the room. We talked about life and she helped me identify some of the little ones in my pictures.
On Wednesday, while Jamie was in the board meeting, I heard that Brian David was going to go home with his new family that day. It was raining quite heavily and I never did find his parents. I think they were in one of the offices or something. I finally did see Brian with the nurse, Joyce. I asked him if he was going home with his momma and daddy today. He said "yes" and wore the biggest smile I have ever seen. He acted very grown up and mature about the whole situation. When I talked to Irene, the social worker, the next day, she told me that as soon as his mom and dad came he went up to them and said "Ok dad, let's go home!" After finalizing details and praying over them, they did go home. They called back the next morning to let Irene know that Brian had slept really well and had woken up very happy to be "home".
