August 26, 2008 (written by Jason)
Adventures of the Field Vets!
So this week Janeen and I felt like we needed yet another challenge in this road that has been our Peace Corps experience. Actually it was our cat that felt like we needed this experience. You see Tau, our cat, likes to go out at night and carouse with the ladies. Not a problem on most nights but Thursday of last week he came home with a huge gash on his belly.
The sad part was that I didn't know that it was a gash. I just thought that he might have cut himself or something. It wasn't until the following afternoon that Janeen discovered the disgusting truth. He cut himself pretty bad. The cut was about an inch long and it was pussing and being all gross. I thought that the best option at the time would be to super glue it shut. I remember hearing a radio program about how it was originally invented for that.
Well needless to say that did not work. It sure made a mess of his fur though. Got all caught up into one big knot. It was at this stage that we decided that we should stitch. Before we left Jeremy Ramsey gave me about 15 minutes of training in sutures. Using this knowledge we thought that it would be best to attempt that.
So that is what we did. Janeen held the cat down as he squirmed and cried and kicked. I went in with some suture kits that Jeremy provided. It was pretty awful. The stitches we not so bad but the skin in which they were going into was pretty tore up and so I had to go higher than I would have liked. It was not an experience that I wanted to repeat.
Unfortunately that is exactly what we had to do the next day. The rest of the super glue failed and we needed to finish the job. So again Janeen held the cat till her hands cramped and I stitched the cats stomach back together.
It is just another story that I can tell at those job interviews I hope to have when we return home in just a few months time. Which reminds me 100 days from today we fly home. Crazy right.
All the best
Jason
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Kitty Update- August 23, 2008 (written by Janeen)
So have I told you that neither Jason nor myself have ever had any training as veterinarians? Well we have not, surprising I know. Jason came home last night and had the brilliant idea of super-gluing the cat's skin back together. He had all our friends (we had other PCVs over for dinner last night) convinced that actually super glue was invented for medicinal purposes and this was bound to work. Well it sorta worked. We glued the skin together and covered it with gauze and an ace bandage, which unfortunately the cat took that off. We examined the area again to find that there was still a small area that needed to be glued together. We tried once more to glue it together, this time upsetting the cat causing him to run from us. He immediately started licking the area and in doing so, ripped open the skin again. Then it was actually bleeding and quite a mess. We were able to glue part of it back together before going to bed and again we put the gauze and ace bandage on him. We also gave him some ibuprofen in cheese to ease the pain. He managed to get the bandage off in the middle of the night. We put it back on and when we got back from town, it was off yet again. We cleaned the wound and put some ointment on it. There is still a section that needs to be glued back together, but we wanted to wait until the ointment seeped into the skin a bit. Since we've been home he has been rather lethargic and has thrown up at least 5 times. It is so pitiful. I am a little afraid of having children because I feel so terrible for the cat. Imagine how I'd feel if my child was in pain!
The good news is that he is still walking around (with less energy than normal), still eating, and still using the litter box. Either tonight or tomorrow we will try one more time with the super glue. I just talked to my parents on the phone and they said that in the olden days people used to stitch it themselves. I guess we could try that, but that makes me a little queezy. At least with super glue the process is over quickly. Plus, I'm not sure we can get the cat to stay still long enough for stitches.
So that's the story with the cat. Tonight Jason made an awesome dinner. We got some special ingredients: bean sprouts, bock choy and tofu. They were fresh at the Chinese market this morning. Its always nice to get some good variety.
Well I've typed two blogs in two days. Don't get used to this-- on Tuesday my students write compositions. I'll try to remember to post some examples of student work so you can understand my situation!
The good news is that he is still walking around (with less energy than normal), still eating, and still using the litter box. Either tonight or tomorrow we will try one more time with the super glue. I just talked to my parents on the phone and they said that in the olden days people used to stitch it themselves. I guess we could try that, but that makes me a little queezy. At least with super glue the process is over quickly. Plus, I'm not sure we can get the cat to stay still long enough for stitches.
So that's the story with the cat. Tonight Jason made an awesome dinner. We got some special ingredients: bean sprouts, bock choy and tofu. They were fresh at the Chinese market this morning. Its always nice to get some good variety.
Well I've typed two blogs in two days. Don't get used to this-- on Tuesday my students write compositions. I'll try to remember to post some examples of student work so you can understand my situation!
Friday, August 22, 2008
August 22, 2008 (written by Janeen)
Hello everyone! This has been an eventful week. All my students wrote a test (the one that is easy to grade- reading comprehension and grammar) on Tuesday and I am just about finished up with those.
Next Tuesday they will write the one that is not so fun to grade- the composition and letter. Though,I do have one less class now. There are some new teachers in training and my form B language class was taken away. They were really upset, but I think they are OK now. I still teach them literature and see them twice a week. Jason and three other PCVS (Becky, Sasha, and Anne Marie) are doing workshops about
libraries. This morning they met with my teachers. It was good because they were able to reiterate some of the things that I've been saying and I think it helped my teachers with ideas of how to run the library once I am gone. We even had some of the students come in for a short while when they talked about care of books.
Jason went to the bank this week with the builder and his principal to withdraw the money for the new building. It was a frustrating day because they spent 3 1/2 hours being given the run around at the bank.
We had a pretty eventful Wednesday night. One of the teacher's windows were broken, students run a muck and it was complete chaos at night study. The full version of why & all the aftermath is about 2 pages typed and it is not a very uplifting story, so I don't want to post it on the blog. If your interested- email me and I will email you the whole story.
We are approaching the three month mark of coming home. With that said, packages should no longer be sent. We of course have LOVED & enjoyed everything sent. Now that we are thinking about coming home- we are also thinking about what to do with the things we have accumulated. Up until now we have been putting up letters
on our walls, and we pretty much wallpapered the entire room. Sometimes the cards have fallen down and we just recently decided that at this point we'll just leave them down, and not put up new ones! We would still appreciate some snail mail, but now that we have internet- its not as important!
We're basically wrapping things up and preparing our minds to go back to the states. I did almost cry at assembly the other day because I enjoy the days when the songs are lively. It makes for a happy start of the day. So I got to thinking that I would miss that and I would miss the students and then I got teary eyed. I had to put a stop to that though because I had to make an announcement and I didn't want to be crying as I told the students to collect their ties at short break!
Anyway, we miss you and are counting the days until our arrival--104!
Right now I feel sick to my stomach. Our cat has had an abnormal bump on his stomach since we've had him. We think it might be a hernia or something. It doesn't seem painful and we don't really have the means to take him to a vet. Anyway... last night he cut the skin off the edge of the bump and now part of his innards are exposed. It is so sad to look at him because he moves so gingerly and you can tell he is in pain. We still don't have the means to take him to a vet. Jason is in town right now at a workshop. When he left this morning, we knew he had injured himself, but didn't think that the skin was fully removed. Jeremy taught Jason how to suture before we left. Maybe when he gets home, he'll attempt that. I'm just sitting here, trying not to think about it because when I do I feel so helpless and sad. I mean I know I was going to have to say good-bye to him in a few months, but this almost seems worse. I mean if Jason can't suture him then what do we do? Would euthanizing him be better than letting him get sick? I really don't want to be thinking these things! :(
Next Tuesday they will write the one that is not so fun to grade- the composition and letter. Though,I do have one less class now. There are some new teachers in training and my form B language class was taken away. They were really upset, but I think they are OK now. I still teach them literature and see them twice a week. Jason and three other PCVS (Becky, Sasha, and Anne Marie) are doing workshops about
libraries. This morning they met with my teachers. It was good because they were able to reiterate some of the things that I've been saying and I think it helped my teachers with ideas of how to run the library once I am gone. We even had some of the students come in for a short while when they talked about care of books.
Jason went to the bank this week with the builder and his principal to withdraw the money for the new building. It was a frustrating day because they spent 3 1/2 hours being given the run around at the bank.
We had a pretty eventful Wednesday night. One of the teacher's windows were broken, students run a muck and it was complete chaos at night study. The full version of why & all the aftermath is about 2 pages typed and it is not a very uplifting story, so I don't want to post it on the blog. If your interested- email me and I will email you the whole story.
We are approaching the three month mark of coming home. With that said, packages should no longer be sent. We of course have LOVED & enjoyed everything sent. Now that we are thinking about coming home- we are also thinking about what to do with the things we have accumulated. Up until now we have been putting up letters
on our walls, and we pretty much wallpapered the entire room. Sometimes the cards have fallen down and we just recently decided that at this point we'll just leave them down, and not put up new ones! We would still appreciate some snail mail, but now that we have internet- its not as important!
We're basically wrapping things up and preparing our minds to go back to the states. I did almost cry at assembly the other day because I enjoy the days when the songs are lively. It makes for a happy start of the day. So I got to thinking that I would miss that and I would miss the students and then I got teary eyed. I had to put a stop to that though because I had to make an announcement and I didn't want to be crying as I told the students to collect their ties at short break!
Anyway, we miss you and are counting the days until our arrival--104!
Right now I feel sick to my stomach. Our cat has had an abnormal bump on his stomach since we've had him. We think it might be a hernia or something. It doesn't seem painful and we don't really have the means to take him to a vet. Anyway... last night he cut the skin off the edge of the bump and now part of his innards are exposed. It is so sad to look at him because he moves so gingerly and you can tell he is in pain. We still don't have the means to take him to a vet. Jason is in town right now at a workshop. When he left this morning, we knew he had injured himself, but didn't think that the skin was fully removed. Jeremy taught Jason how to suture before we left. Maybe when he gets home, he'll attempt that. I'm just sitting here, trying not to think about it because when I do I feel so helpless and sad. I mean I know I was going to have to say good-bye to him in a few months, but this almost seems worse. I mean if Jason can't suture him then what do we do? Would euthanizing him be better than letting him get sick? I really don't want to be thinking these things! :(
Monday, August 18, 2008
August 19th, 2008 (written by Jason)
Hey all! So good to hear from so many of you regarding our newly acquired internet access. Yes we are probably more excited than you about it and are really looking forward to more consistent communication with many of you. As many of you know, we will be coming home in about 4 months time and it would really mean a lot if you would send us e-mails, wall postings (Facebook) and comments on our blog. It is really encouraging to hear from you and we love reading every little note or diddy.
Many of you have asked about how my projects have been going and in a nutshell summary “GREAT!!” The community really rallied behind the project and gave a 110% to it. A laundry list of improvements got done in just 3 ½ weeks.
We repaired broken floors in 2 classes.
Added or expanded floors in 2 classes.
Repaired ceilings in 2 classes.
Repaired and painted roofs or 2 buildings.
Added and fixed a sidewalk.
Painted the outside and inside 2 buildings.
Repaired broken windows.
Replaced 4 old, broken doors.
Added steps to the 1st grade classroom.
Cleaned up the school grounds.
Mended broken flower garden plots.
Built play areas for all grade levels.
Dugout the foundation area for a new building.
And provided temporary employment to almost 30 community members.
It is really a dramatic difference that has been made at the school and would not have been possible if not for the generous giving of all of you! You have made this school something that the students, teachers, and community can be proud of. As the saying goes here “We give you hands”.
But that is only phase 1. Now we are moving onto the next element in the school improvement project. This is the building of a new building altogether. A whole bunch more of you contributed to this project and we were with the help of Friends Of Lesotho we were able to get the entire $8,500.00 here. I deposited the check on Friday and we are going to order materials this week on Wednesday. It is going to be close but we are pushing for the buildings to be up in less than 3 months. We are going to be building 2 new buildings. The first will be to small classrooms to get the standard 5 class out of the chicken house and into something more befitting of children. The second will be a small office for the principal and deputy to share and use when hosting district officials and dignitaries and for storing textbooks, heaters and other school equipment. Neither building will be overly elaborate but they will be nice and functional.
You will also notice that I have posted some new pictures and a few YouTube videos. These are just some random things that I have seen whether at school or on vacation. The descriptions by them should be enough but if you have questions on what they are, please feel free to comment.
Hope all of you are happy and healthy. All our love.
Jason and Janeen
Friday, August 15, 2008
August 15th 2008 (written by Janeen)
Well we are back in Lesotho and have been for a few weeks. This is the first time we have had internet access for about a month or so. Today I have looked at Mike and Heidi’s engagement photos, pictures of Drew, and photos of Rachel & Kevin’s wedding. All that reminds us that we’ll be home in just about 3 ½ months! We are so excited!
Here is the short version of our vacation update: It was WAY too much driving. Of all the days we were gone, we only had 3 days that were not spent travelling. We did get to see a lot; the dunes in Namibia, the Okavango Delta in Botswana, Chobe National Park in Botswana, etc. Even though I was coming back to the immediate start of school I was happy to be in one place for a while! J
We’re back in the swing of things. Jason is working on a playground now as the last phase of his remodeling project. He just got the check for the building project deposited today. So next week they’ll get started building and hopefully we’ll see the finished project before we leave! Anyway, the kids are LOVING the playground. He’s built monkey bars, 2 swings, and is in the middle of building a fort-like structure. The kids are staying after school to play, which he says they never do.
Next week is when my grading starts. They write course works before their quarter exam (which is Sept 17th). Once 3rd quarter is over there is a short break (Sept 26-Oct 6). Once independence break is over, I don’t have to teach ½ my classes anymore because they write the national exams. The final exam is Nov. 7 and that won’t be as bad to grade because it will only be ½ the normal work load! It seems that time will just fly by.
That is the short update. We hope everyone is doing well! Miss you and love you lots!
Here is the short version of our vacation update: It was WAY too much driving. Of all the days we were gone, we only had 3 days that were not spent travelling. We did get to see a lot; the dunes in Namibia, the Okavango Delta in Botswana, Chobe National Park in Botswana, etc. Even though I was coming back to the immediate start of school I was happy to be in one place for a while! J
We’re back in the swing of things. Jason is working on a playground now as the last phase of his remodeling project. He just got the check for the building project deposited today. So next week they’ll get started building and hopefully we’ll see the finished project before we leave! Anyway, the kids are LOVING the playground. He’s built monkey bars, 2 swings, and is in the middle of building a fort-like structure. The kids are staying after school to play, which he says they never do.
Next week is when my grading starts. They write course works before their quarter exam (which is Sept 17th). Once 3rd quarter is over there is a short break (Sept 26-Oct 6). Once independence break is over, I don’t have to teach ½ my classes anymore because they write the national exams. The final exam is Nov. 7 and that won’t be as bad to grade because it will only be ½ the normal work load! It seems that time will just fly by.
That is the short update. We hope everyone is doing well! Miss you and love you lots!
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