And then a carnivorous monkey leapt through my window and attacked my cat

Ok, before I get into all kinds of medical supply information and updates on the kids, breaking news: at ten o'clock last night, what I assume to be a monkey because there are no other reasonable candidates LEAPT through the bars in the window (4 inches by one and half feet, maybe?), aggressively attacked Paka and ripped out large patches of fur, leaving no scratches but huge dirty streaks through her fur like really dirty hands had been, well, ripping it out. I heard horrible yowling from the next room, opened the door expecting to see another cat, instead saw a flash of white as Paka STREAKED past me into my room and a flash of brown/black fur as something else leapt out the window. Poor Paka took me ten minutes to find, in my own room while I was calling her name, because she was so freaked out she was cowering behind a curtain. Obviously I spent most of last night comforting her and/or rolling over on her in my sleep. Poor Paka. She seems a little better today but still pretty jumpy, and I can't say I blame her. The moral of the story is, a carnivorous monkey leapt through my window and attacked my cat. At one point last night I suspected accidental LSD ingestion, but the fur tufts remained in the morning as evidence that I didn't hallucinate the whole episode. Just when I think I can handle whatever this country wants to throw at me, THIS happens. What the hell, Africa?

Ok, onward and upward.Good news on the medical supplies front: A huge shipment that had been held in Tanga for about six months finally arrived from Global Health Ministries in the US, which included quite a few items on the list. So the updated list looks like this:

Medical Supplies

Used laptops of any description or vintage (Thanks to those who have already offered, we can still use more!)

Stethoscopes, preferably Litmanns 

Forehead or ear infrared thermometers that take AA or AAA batteries

Children's vitamins with iron and Vitamin D (Taken care of!)

Medications - particularly diabetes, hypertension, and antibiotics

Braces, particularly ankle and knee (thanks Dory and others!)

Microscope (thank you!)

Colorimeter

Glucometer and other diabetic testing supplies

Field stain

Water bath machine

D/C kit

Lab tiles for blood typing and Widal tests (glass tiles with six circles)

Urine test containers (pref plastic)

The reason it is crucial for the hospital to have good facilities was brought home hard this past week, as literally over 50% of the orphanage has had fevers, coughs, and others symptoms that have primarily turned out to be malaria. Poor baby Frankie was so bad he was in the hospital for two days - he is out now, but still has to go to the hospital every 6 hours for injections of antimalarials, since the oral medication apparently wasn't strong enough with his bitty immune system. It was really tough for me to visit him without thinking constantly of Reziki, who was the last kid I saw in the hospital - three hours before he passed away. Thankfully, Frankie is doing much better, and hopefully he will be back to his normal smiley self in a few days.

IV pole to the right

Meanwhile we've had a rash of an even more serious medical condition - spontaneous male child pregnancy. Yes, a whole flock of our babies have decided that the time is right to become fathers, despite our pleading with them to wait until they hit puberty. Alas, all for naught.

The proud father

Andrea and his daughter, Mama Jacob. A grandparent already!

Meanwhile, Zawadi has taken a leap in the direction of healthy toddlerhood, and I couldn't be prouder. Ladies and gentlemen, presenting.... drumroll please... Z's first thigh roll!

Thunder thighs ahead!

I know it sounds silly, but she was so incredibly tiny when I arrived - look at some of the videos here - and I'm thrilled.

Ok, that's it for the important stuff - now here's your daily dose of obscenely adorable.

Baracka the Cirque du Soleil clown

Aaaand my favorite picture of all time. PS: Maureen, you're a girl. Sorry.