Week two

OK, sorry for the lack of blogging for those of you who check daily....my deepest apologies. Life here has been quite hectic and stressful for the past few days especially.

Many of you know that Renata is very sick. Before her parents left last Tuesday, her mom mentioned to me that Renata had a swollen gland, typical of the way she gets a cold. By Friday she was tired and said her neck was sore but she made it through the day. A flu was going around campus so I assumed this is what she had picked up. By Saturday evening, her neck was very stiff and swollen plus she was in a lot of pain. Her parents called to ask if we would take her to the hospital to check for malaria as they had been in Africa just weeks before. After not sleeping most of Saturday night, she and I went to emerg, where the doctor took X-rays and decided it was a muscle issue. The meds prescribed didn't touch a thing so Monday, the school nurse took her back for most tests (MRI and CT scan) plus blood work. Something showed up there that indicated an infection in the lymph gland on the right side so they started a strong antibiotic IV plus painkillers. So far, the swelling had reduced a bit but after four days of antibiotic drip, we were expecting a lot more. I just got a call that she's being admitted to the hospital, which means that where I will be spending my night more than likely.

In the midst of this, we are having serious issues with another new student in our dorm which is requiring lots of meetings, emails with parents and counseling with the student. I also woke up sick with a cold yesterday and am nursing that along with feeling very exhausted. And today, we are getting a new boy to fill our empty male spot so we will start over teaching the guidelines and expectations to him. Thankfully he's in grade 12 along with Kaleb so hopefully the young Mr Archer can pick up some slack from his parents who are feeling the crunch.

Junior class sponsorship is also a big commitment but really one that we are quite enjoying. The class elected their executive and they are all great kids that we know quite well and appreciate. The selling of candy everyday after school does take time from other activities so we have to be fairly on top of things each day to make sure we have time for the hour and half that requires.

But in the midst of all this, we have managed to do some maintenance in our dorm to get things functioning well and have been able to keep up with the insane amount of laundry we have in this hot, sweaty climate. Our daily lists keep growing but in truth, some of those things can wait indefinitely til we have time and energy.

Kaleb and Annie are both doing well. Kaleb is loving his journalism class so far - although to be honest, the hard work hasn't begun yet! Annie is fitting well into high school life and we are very thankful for a teacher who insisted on a change in her schedule to accommodate her needs.

The community here at Dalat continues to be an awesome place to serve and having Lana here is a tremendous blessing to us personally and to our dorm staff as well. She has laid the law in all the dorms this week and kids are really drawn to her outgoing personality and no nonsense way of life.

This is a long post but I'm not sure when I'll get time to post again considering the needs of the students. Thanks for everyone's prayers and encouragement across the miles. We love and appreciate you all!