Spring Breakers

I don't know about you, but my Facebook feed has been inundated with spring break photos!  The calendar has declared that it is now officially spring and last week we joined a lot of our friends by pushing 'pause' on our routine and got out of the house (and the village) for a change of scenery for a few days!

standing on an Ottoman-era bridge an hour and a half north of our village, Monday, the day after Easter (a national holiday here)

Last week we were treated by a visit from our fellow WGM-ers, Robyn and Joy!  Based in Nairobi, both had conferences/continuing education "in our area" that allowed them to stop by Albania on their way!  How cool is that?

Tuesday we took them up and over the mountain pass to visit Darshen where we had a little Easter program for the children after school.

We brought candy-filled plastic Easter eggs.  Reni was thrilled to have the job of hiding.

He got creative in his hiding spots -- we had a very small space in which to hide them -- it had just rained!

As you can imagine, the hunt was short, but fun!

Then "Aunt Robyn" (a pediatric nurse practitioner) got out her stethoscope and otoscope and set to work checking ears, noses, throats, eyes, hearts, and lungs!

I wish you could have heard the giggles as these kids were checked out while their classmates looked on.

Darshen has no local nurse to consult.  If anyone needs to see a nurse or doctor, they have to come up with the $2.50 for the round-trip van ride to Tirana.

Aside from a few waxy ears, everyone got a clean bill of health!  Then the ladies started coming.

Oh!  And one little one not yet in school...

Then down the mountain to see Xhesi...
A washout took out an old stone wall...

Friends from a variety of organizations pitched in to renovate a new living room and bedroom for Xhesi... She goes back to the States in August for a one-year, post-surgery check-up.

The next day we accompanied our friend Mira on her rounds.  Below is a follow-up visit for a little one recovering from a virus.

The little one in red pants was suffering from an ear infection...

Then a stop at our village clinic to give an injection to another little one...

We also had the benefit of a coaching session with Joy.  She left us with a plethora of resources to comb through for future ideas here in our village as well as Darshen.

Thank you, Robyn and Joy, for blessing us with your visit!  Thank you for letting us share a little bit of our lives in Albania with you and thank you for sharing of your gifts and expertise with our neighbors!