Day 4: Bricks, Bricks and More Bricks

Today was focused on the construction of the school addition. We completed knocking down all the interior walls. The Zambians have an excellent motivational technique. They tell us to knock down these two walls - then, once we finish and celebrate reaching our goal, they say, "Great! Now walk down these two walls!" So, we knock down two more walls, celebrate and then they say, "Knock down these two walls!" It reminds me of this backpacking trip I took in college. We took a wrong turn and ended up having to hike twice as far as expected. When our leader realized what had happened, he didn't let on that a mistake had been made but whenever we got restless, he would run ahead and then run back and say just one more mile - 7 miles later, we reached a campsite!

Since I'm pretty useless when it comes to knocking down walls, I spent most of the days moving cinder blocks from the front of the home to the back with a rickety old wheelbarrow. The girls and I got a pretty good system going of loading, pushing and unloading and switching off jobs every 10 minutes. I think this day is definitely going to count toward my fitness challenge at work!

Today was also bitter sweet because my favorite little baby - Brian - went home with his uncle and mother today. From the minute I met Brian - I loved him! If you are an "Office" fan, you will appreciate that this baby looked exactly like Stanley - right down to the skeptical looks up from his lab. Seriously, give this kid a crossword puzzle and he could fill in when the real guy is on vacation. Brian has always been a very sad baby - cries a lot - but has the cutest little smile when you can wrangle one out of him. I asked Sandra why Brian was always so sad and she said even when you are that small you can still feel sad about being abandoned by your mother. Brian's mother became pregnant with him when she was only 11 years old after being taken advantage of by an uncle. She delivered Brian at the age of 12 at a local hospital. Scared and unsure of the future in front of her, she complained of stomach pains and was taken down to the x-ray department. When she was left alone in the hallway, she jumped off her gurney and left the hospital, abandoning Brian at only a day old. The Department of Social Welfare then delivered Brian here to House of Moses and he has been here for almost 18 months.

A few weeks ago, a man arrived with a letter from the DSW stating that he was Brian's uncle and was free to take Brian home with him. Brian would have none of his uncle. He cried, then he screamed, then he kicked and threw a genuine temper tantrum. Sandra (the head of the House of Moses) convinced the uncle to leave Brian here for a few weeks and stop by for regular visits so that Brian would get used to him. The uncle agreed this was the best plan.

The next Sunday, the uncle came again but this time he brought a young girl with him. The young girl picked up Brian and cried almost as much as he did when he would not let her hold him. After a few minutes, they left again. Sandra asked the Zambian caretakers who the girl was. "That was his mother," they said. The girl wasn't much older than 13. Sandra explained that she had seen this before - although the babies are small they remember more than you would believe, inside they know that this woman has abandoned them and left them in this awful situation. Additionally, seeing the baby raises all sorts of feelings in the mother of failure and understanding of the implications of her decisions. "God is the only one who can mend these broken hearts," says Sandra.

The next Sunday (the day after we arrived), the uncle and the mother come again and Brian screams. This time Sandra is waiting for their arrival. She brings the uncle, the mother and the baby together and prays, "Dear Lord, you are the healer of all. Please mend this relationship between Brian and his mother. Give Brian the understanding to forgive his mother and embrace her in his life and give Brian's mother the ability to forgive herself as you have forgiven her. Amen." Then . . . Brian stopped crying.

He went home with his family for the first time every today, as he should have 18 months ago.