Fadwa

Only five minutes from our lovely Ifrane is a tiny shepherding community called "Tarmelot" mostly without electricity and completely without running water. Two-year-old Fadwa who lives there was recently diagnosed with CP - a form of brain damage. With no physical therapy anywhere close by, Rachida and I decided to start going out there to see how we could "help" a few months ago. Armed with our "Helping Village Children with Disabilities" book, we looked at the pictures and tried exercises with our cute little patient. I'm sure our technique would make a true physical therapist turn green, but Fadwa puts up with us any way. (Rachida is now getting proper training, so we'll start again with Fadwa when Rachida is done and actually knows what to do.)

Fadwa is the happiest child I have ever met. She thinks everything is completely hilarious. The girls love to perform in font of her for the reward of Fadwa's admiring giggle. She tries everything we ask of her with a smile. Her favorite thing to do, as you might guess, is rolling on the big ball!

The first time we went, Fadwa's sweet mother wanted to know if she should try to find a walker for her. I looked around at their one-room house . . . unstable cupboards, open fire (her brother was burned a few months ago), open door, sloping rocky terrain . . . and told her that a walker was not necessary!

In October of 2006 Fadwa's little family got robbed because they lived a little removed from the other homes. What on earth there was to rob, I'll never understand. These people have next to nothing. For two hours the house was pillaged, the husband beaten severly (and later hospitalized), the older daughter almost raped (she ran away and got help), and baby Fadwa thrown onto the floor, hitting her head. The mother was tied and not allowed to help her screaming child for all that horrible time.

We helped the family as a church after that and they have moved closer to their neighbors. It is unclear if Fadwa had CP before this incident or not. She was less than a year at the time and progress charts and percentiles are rarely followed here. Whatever happened, the reality is that she has a life-long condition now.

But as we sip our hot mint tea and eat our milwi (fried bread) when we are done, I think about her lovely family, their supportive community and Fadwa's own little joyfully triumphant spirit. There is much hope for this little one!

Fightin' Mennonite

A few weeks ago, Katrina came home and announced, "I'm tired of fighting!" Of course, I just had to know more.

It turns out they were doing "la lutte" in PE which is a form of Greco-Roman restling. Katrina beat all of her fellow first graders, all the second graders, and was working her way through the third graders by that time. Apparently her teacher was having so much fun watching Katrina, that she was saying, "Here, fight this one!" and the class had turned into a Katrina vs. the rest-of-the-kids spectacle! Over the course of several weeks, Katrina tied one boy and beat all the rest of the students in the three grades (17 kids).

Since the school started out in such a disorganized fashion, they have only just now added PE. I truly think that this is part of what has turned Katrina's year around academically and socially. It seems like everything is clicking for her at least partly because she feels success and can get all that energy out!

I think it's funny too that she said fighting Mohammad Ali was easy - of course, it does help that this one is quite a bit smaller than the famous one!

Pet Peeve

Relax, I’m not going to celebrate Valentine’s Day by listing the annoying things Gerald does. Good grief, the guy is practically perfect – his main issue being that he doesn’t use enough exclamation marks when he writes!!!

No, my pet peeve is with the movie industry. Being a sucker for romantic movies, I have noticed an annoying trend. All two hours of the movie are usually spent in the couple’s pursuit of each other or their separate lives leading up to the first meeting. Once they have finally figured out they love each other, the credits come up with the cheesy love songs.

So what does that say? Once someone falls in love, that’s the end? Why do they stop at the fluffy stuff? Why is it rare to see a movie where a married couple goes through life’s ups and downs together and end up stronger and more in love?

When I taught, one of the paraprofessionals told our students she and her husband were celebrating 20 years of marriage that day. “TWENTY YEARS???” exclaimed one, “I didn’t know you could be married that long!” Another time I was telling my students how my brothers teased us at our wedding. The students assured me I could get my brothers back at their weddings. I told them I couldn’t, because they are all married. Then my student said, “Well, just wait until their next marriage and do it then!”

Since that time I have realized over and over how blessed Gerald and I are to be surrounded by examples of rich, long-lasting marriages – Mom and Dad celebrated 50 years, Gerald's parents had their 40th anniversary this fall, our friends Barb & Dennis just celebrated 40 years also (how’s that for a Vegas marriage?), Stan (my brother) and Diane for 27 years and on down the line.

Almost 13 years ago (on February 19) Gerald proposed to me in Lawrence, KS. In Hollywood thinking, that should have been the end of the movie. But no, this show has only gotten better, stronger and sweeter over time. Now that’s love!

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you!

Pictured – Gerald faking surprise at seeing his birthday cake after church on the 18th of November.

Moving on

Last fall I wrote that I was concerned about two sisters and now it's time for an update. Here we are picutred in Ron and Laurie's home for a Christmas party in December. I'm the pale one in the middle in case you didn't figure that out...



Fatima Ezzahara (left) got married this August (see August entries for details). Expecting to join her Moroccan husband in Germany within weeks of the wedding, she got a cruel surprise when she found out from the German embassy about a new law requiring her to pass a German competency test first. So off she went to Rabat for a three-month intensive German course (which included unhelpful vocabulary for Muslims like memorizing German beer names) and took the dreaded test in December. Although almost half of the students failed, she passed it third in her class of 180. I'm sure brains and a lot of lovesickness motivated her! The very next Saturday she left for Germany to join Farid and is happily settled there now.

Rachida (right) has been through a lot of hardships inculding 12 surgries for colon conditions - most of which were mistakes. She has since been told she should have had only 3 surgeries for the same amount of help. Her sickness (chrones?) struck when she was a teenager meaning she never finished high school and here there is no way to complete your education once you have 'aged out.' So her possiblities for a meaningful job in a land of high unemployment were basically nil. Until, that is, we finally talked a wonderful center for the handicapped into accepting her for training a few weeks ago. Ecstatic at the idea of having a future and fulfilling the dream of hers to help others overcome their handicaps as she has hers, she is ready to begin a new phase in her life.

I helped Rachida move to Meknes (1 hr away) yesterday. She brought with her 1 carry-on size suitcase, a backpack, two blankets and a pillow. I took her to a large store in Meknes and told her to get what she needed because the apartment she moved into with another girl is almost completely empty and cold. Although she was moving, she only got a tiny little mattress and barely had anything in her cart while mine was loaded with one month's worth of my own shopping! I actually tried to pay, sneak out to the car and return to get her stuff, but she caught me with all my stuff and joined me in line. Sigh!

Anyway, she should have started her new training a few minutes ago and I'm so excited for her! Please pray the trial period will go well and that she will be able to stay on and get the full two years of training. Thankfully for us, she has only moved an hour away.

Fatima Ezzahara and Rachida have both been wonderful friends and we miss them already, but are thrilled the future is much brighter for them now.

The evils of cold

(I had this entry done several days ago and then mysteriously lost it - hopefully it works this time.)


I know, I know - those of you in North America are nodding your heads. Cold is starting to feel evil as your harsh winter continues.


But that is not the kind of evil I am talking about. You see, Moroccans have quite a fear of cold and attribute all kinds of problems to it. Here are some examples:


1. Moroccans do not let their children get cold. Often dressed in 4 or 5 layers - top and bottom half, children waddle off to school barely able to move and are forbidden to shed any layers while there even if they are sweating. Parents are sure getting cold is THE way to get sick.


2. Because of this, we often see long-sleeved shirts and jackets being worn in the middle of summer.


3. And because of that, I often get kindly reprimanded for not having enough clothes on my children even in warm weather.


4. On a warm September day, I did some water experiments outside with a group of children. One of the little girls got her outer layer of sweaters wet. The next day, her mother made it very clear to me that the girl was coughing entirely because I had let her get a little wet. The girl has never been back to our house since.


5. The Moroccan word for "toxin" is the same word for "cold" and Moroccans often take a spoonful of pure honey each day to cleanse their bodies of the "cold."


6. When I was having tummy problems, I went to see the doctor and asked her what she thought the cause was. "It's probably because it's cold outside" she offhandedly answered. I expected such a response from many - but from a doctor?

7. Moroccans are also very concerned about eating anything cold. They keep their refrigerators on high temperatures so that pop, yogurt, milk and meat is nice and lukewarm. Ice in a drink is unheard of and considered ridiculous. A common way to store dairy and meat is to keep items on shelves and not refrigerate them at all. This explains why we often accidentally buy sour milk (only one place in Ifrane regularly refrigerates milk) and is also the reason we avoid all meat in the summer. It is even common for butchers with refrigerators (not all have them ) to turn their fridges off at night in order to save electricity.

8. When our refrigerator was at 53 (12) degrees, we had a terrible time convincing our maintenance guy to replace it. He thought it was perfectly fine!


9. One cold, snowy day the girls were happily eating snow when a woman swooped in, whisked the snow out of their hands, and gave me a five-minute lecture on how eating something cold is dangerous. Luckily I didn't understand most of what she said so I'm not too worried. A mintue later I asked her why she wasn't wearing gloves. "Snow isn't cold for the hands!" she declared as she took off my gloves and dipped my hands into a snowbank to prove her point. I guess frostbite is OK.


10. A year ago, the daughter of a friend of mine had a high fever, was vomitting and had blood in her stool. My friend's family informed her that the sickness was all her fault. Why? Because she had fed her daughter cold grapes!


Interestingly, most Moroccans are not concerned about washing their hands with soap, kissing children in greeting right on the lips, washing dishes in cold and soapless water and sharing glasses. When we go out to eat, the waiter rarely brings us each a glass - it's usually one or two per table. When children come over to play, I hide the girls' cups because inevitably kids come into the kitchen, take a swig of the nearest cup and continue on their jolly way while I helpfully hold out new cups to them - always too late. One day we saw a man drinking a coke. A policeman came up to him, took the coke out of the man's hand, took a gulp and returned it with thanks to the man. Some friends of ours say they carry one water bottle in the open to share with all who ask for a drink, and hide their own bottles in their bags. One day a friend of mine came over to visit. She took a cup out of the cupboard, filled it with water, took a drink, and returned the cup to the cupboard. At least I didn't have to put it away :)


So now you know - stay away from cold grapes. Oh - and before you go - may I have a sip of your coke?