A Good Day with Nteboheng

So I'm breaking my pattern of waiting weeks in between postings because this is a bit of a slow week and I had a really fun morning.
So I've mentioned in this blog before about the other NGO in Mokhotlong called Touching Tiny Lives (TTL). TTL is an organization that works with malnurished and sick babies, which is pretty amazing. It's nice because I get to go over there whenever I want and play with the adorable babies...they're REALLY cute. This is all just background so you understand about my morning. About 2 months ago TTL took in a little girl named Nteboheng. She is turning 5 years old this weekend actually. When Nteboheng came to TTL she was just shy of 5 years old and weighed only 9kg (or roughly 20 lbs). It was heartbreaking to see her. She was SO thin and weak and frightened about being away from home. In addition, she was really sick and is HIV positive.
However, since coming to TTL Nteboheng has made amazing progress. She has gained weigh and is really outgoing and just plain adorable. She happens to be the oldest child at TTL, and as a result has very little to do during the day. So last week I decided that I would visit her at least once a week for some one-on-one "big girl" time. Today was the first day.
I brought a coloring book (thanks mom) and some crayons so we could color together. It was really fun. Nteboheng is still really young so she doesn't speak any english so communication is interesting with my limited sesotho. She's really smart and she would repeat the names of the colors we were using. I brough some nail polish and painted her fingers and toes too. She loved it! It was so cute watching her hobble around, feining wet nails, to show the women working with the other babies her new nails. It was pretty much the highlight of my whole month just wrestling around and tickling and playing with this little girl. The most hilarious part was watching her play with her doll. She was acting like a typical basotho woman with it. She put the doll on her back and then tied it around her with a little blanket just like the women here do with real babies. I can't wait to go back with my camera and film her doing it.
I'm really excited to spend more time with her because she's such a sweet little girl. Next on the agenda is outside playtime, and finger paint if I can get my hands on some! Overall it was a fabulous day and I thought I would share it with you guys!
TTL has a blog as well if you're interested in what they are doing check them out at touchingtinylives.blogspot.com