In November Teleza and I visited the Netherlands. Teleza had been suffering from very bad teeth for a long time due to severe vomiting. The urinary medication she needed after her open heart surgery made her very nauseous, which resulted in a lot of vomiting. In addition, she has been given a lot of antibiotics, which is also not good for the teeth. The acid from the vomiting really affected her teeth and at the end of October she started to get inflammation in her mouth. After consultation with the heart surgeon in the Netherlands, it was decided that she had to come to the Netherlands as a matter of urgency. And so we sat 2 days later on the plane, without Diana and Mary. They just had school and therefore had to stay in Malawi, but the girls did a great job. It was her first time 2 So weeks without me were pretty exciting for all of us, but luckily we were able to make video calls every day.
Teleza had surgery and they have 8 teeth need to be removed. Fortunately, they are still milk teeth, so new teeth will come through in a few years. At least she is now out of the pain and a lot happier again. The stitches in her mouth have now dissolved and she can eat with the teeth she still has left. It was very exciting how her heart would hold up during the surgery because the last time she had a cardiac catheterization her heart was having a really hard time after the anesthesia. Fortunately, things went a lot better this time, her heart has been able to strengthen over the past year and has remained in its normal rhythm during and after surgery. With pain relief we were allowed to leave the hospital the same evening. Quite a relief.
After quickly buying some birthday presents for Maria because we were in the Netherlands for her birthday, we boarded the plane back to Malawi a few days later.
Afriana huis
We currently have 19 children in the house and it is a pleasant bustle. Of the 19 children are there 7 under the age of 1 year.
What does a day look like with us?
At 4.30 o'clock the babysitters get up. They have half an hour to prepare everything before waking up the kids. At 5 o'clock in the morning they start bathing all the children. A babysitter does it all 19 children in bath and another babysitter dress them. The children who go to school immediately put on their school uniform. The third babysitter is in the kitchen preparing breakfast. Bread with tea for the older children and a healthy maize and soy porridge for the younger children. While the older children eat their breakfast, the babysitters are still busy bathing and dressing the younger children. At 6.30 o'clock the first gardener is here and he brings the children around 6.45 hours to school so that they can 7 hours at school.
At 7 hours the babysitters come for the day shift. Because many children go to school in the morning, they have time to fold the laundry, to clean and change the beds. The youngest children are outside a lot in the morning and go around 9.30 – 10.00 to bed for a morning nap. Three babysitters take care of the kids while a fourth babysitter starts cooking lunch. Every afternoon we eat nsima (a kind of corn dough) with beans, eggs or fish and green vegetables.
At 12 hours, the children come back from school and are picked up by the gardeners. When they get home they change so the babysitter can wash the school uniforms for the next day. The children eat and the younger school-aged children (especially the children of 3 year old) then go to bed for a little nap.
The babysitter who cooks immediately starts preparing the evening meal after dinner. In the evening we always eat rice with meat.
The other three babysitters are with the children who play at home in the afternoon. We have a trampoline, swings, climbing frame and a playhouse. It is a pleasant bustle here in the afternoon with regular crying and arguing. round 3 hours, all the children take a bath again. They are often very dirty from playing outside and because it is difficult to bathe them all before going to bed, we do it around 3 o'clock. During the day we have four babysitters while in the evening/night we have three. The small children wear washable diapers and it is nice to have them anyway 2 to bathe once a day. At 4 o'clock the babysitters come for the night shift. The children get a snack and are allowed to go 4 watch a movie if they want. When it is very hot they play outside. Then around 5.30 o'clock it's time for dinner and around 6 hours the youngest children go to bed. round 7 hours the older children go to bed. The babysitters make sure the house is clean and then go to sleep themselves and hope they don't have to get up too often during the night.
Despite the fixed pattern, no day is the same for us. And that's what makes it so beautiful.
