Nigeria Update #14 - 19 April 2006

Dagmar continues to stay in a rehabilitation facility in Bad Zweston, Germany, she is visited by family and friends, and now has a full time YWAMer from Perth, staying with her to help and encourage her progress for these next two months. Dagmar is progressing slowly, but with some encouraging improvements. She has the ability to use her left arm to do small activities, and can walk and stand for short periods of time. She continues to have speech/swallow therapy, so that she can learn to eat, drink and talk again. At this present time, she has a plaster cast on her left leg; this will possibly be removed in the next few weeks.

A hospital infection has caused her to be confined to her room, although she is able to go outside in her wheelchair each day. She enjoys her times outside, but of course, would rather be walking!

From all reports, Dagmar is able to recognise those that visit - friends and family, she listens and follows conversation, but is unable to respond. She has however, spoken one word which is “mamma.”

Dagmar likes to move around and at times becomes restless, and at times perhaps, in pain. The ongoing physiotherapy is demanding and tiring, and can bring difficulties in the routine of each day.

Please continue to pray for the family and those who are with her full-time, as they care, support, pray and encourage Dagmar. Pray for her physical abilities to improve, especially her right side, her arm, and hand; that these needed improvements will bring encouragement to Dagmar and her family, as she begins to see and understand her own progress.

Thank you for your continued prayers as we trust God for Dagmar’s full recovery

Thanks, Julie! (for the time wasters :)

Judy is a Collosal Blob that drinks Human Blood, spits Ice, has a Long, Prehensile Tongue, Huge, Sharp Claws and Bulletproof Skin, and is Guarding its Nest. Strength: 10 Agility: 2 Intelligence: 1 To see if your Giant Battle Monster can defeat Judy, enter your name and choose an attack: fights Judy using StrengthAgilityIntelligence

This blob is defeated by Julie's monkey 2 of 3 times.

Judy is a Purple People-Eating Magic Monkey ...with a Battle Rating of 9.1 To see if your Food-Eating Battle Monkey can defeat Judy, enter your name:

But my monkey defeats hers! HA HA HA!

So on another note, my parents get into town this afternoon. I still need to clean the house, bake some bread, and set all things to rights before they get here. No problem. If I would just get off the computer and do it, eh?

The blogthings bug has bit again

Your Superhero Profile

Your Superhero Name is The Invisible CatYour Superpower is ComplementsYour Weakness is SailorsYour Weapon is Your Star WandYour Mode of Transportation is Jet

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You Belong in Dublin

Friendly and down to earth, you want to enjoy Europe without snobbery or pretensions.You're the perfect person to go wild on a pub crawl... or enjoy a quiet bike ride through the old part of town.

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You Are an Excellent Cook

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Passionate, fiery, and sassy.You're a total smart aleck who's got the biggest personality around.

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Take that, Amy!

A few noteworthy items

First off, I'm back! Hooray! Second, sorry it's taken me so long to update. I've especially had several people asking about what happens next in the monkey hunt. So I'll start with that, although you might not want to hear it once you've read it.

Monkey's best friend; Monkey's worst enemy

So on a day not long after my last post, in the early morning (I think it was a Saturday), I woke up to the sound of monkeys yelling and doing their strange hoarse poodle barking sound. This wasn't so unusual that I thought anything of it, and reached for my headphones to listen to some Charlotte Church in an attempt to grab a bit more sleep before facing the day. Eventually the appointed time came, and I rolled myself out of bed, untucked the mozzie net and was on my way to the clinic. All went well, and I came back at lunch time for some ugali and unnamed vegetables. Christopher, my dear sweet Christopher (possibly the cutest child in the world), wanted to go for a walk after lunch, so his Auntie Judy was more than happy to take him around. Christopher loves to see the monkey. And the cats. And anything else that moves, really. There's something about being 11 months that makes life all about simple pleasures. We walked over to the monkey tree, where our little friend has been tied up (with food, water, and enough rope to climb up his little tree). Oddly, I couldn't see his tail hanging down from the branch he always sat on. As we got closer I saw that he was in fact lying down on the ground. Still. Very still. And his body was in two pieces--top half and bottom half. Yes, he had been ripped (or bitten, I didn't get close enough to observe it) in half by the monkeys who had come to visit him that morning. Likely his own father, the alpha male. Why? I don't know. Ask a monkey behaviourist. And so ended the monkey hunt. After that, they were as bold as you please again, watching me as I hung out my laundry, jumping through the trees overhead like the hooligans they are, knowing that I didn't have anything to throw at them, and by the time I found something they'd be far enough away (six feet or more) for my aim to miss them every time. Cheeky.

In answer to the second-most asked question, did I get all the births I needed? Yes, I did. I got eight exactly, which was the exact number I needed.

I'm tired. I'm not so much in the blogging mood at present, but I thought I owed it to everyone who's been anxiously waiting to hear about my (former) friend the monkey. A few other things of note:

MY SISTER HAD THE BABY! Caleb Joel was born on March 26th just as the day turned to Sunday. I talked to Melinda a few days ago, and she's doing well. Loves motherhood. Had quite a fast birth (there's hope for all of you primigravidas out there, too!), and a lovely little baby. I'll post his picture up here in the next week. I'd love to go out and see them tomorrow, if possible, but I don't know when I'll get to go. He's so cute. I think he might take after me.

The other thing is I've received an update on Dagmar in Germany. Here it is:


Dagmar Sippel has been in Germany since the 20th January in a rehabilitation facility and there have been small improvements since. She is able to follow simple instructions and is improving in some of her exercises. The physiotherapist is very happy with her progress. There are still some adjustments - for both the facility in seeing where Dagmar is at in her progress, and also for Dagmar as she adjusts to being in a new situation. Her family reports that she is seemingly more aware of people as well as situations around her such as looking out of the window and noticing what is happening outside. The family feels that she is more able to follow conversations but cannot respond at present.
There have also been some difficulties with the improvements. In the last week Dagmar has improved greatly in her activity but there have been a few mishaps in which she has fallen out of her wheelchair. Those caring for her have needed to secure her at times so that she can’t move as much to prevent further injury. This is a hard time for Dagmar, as well as for the family. Dagmar has been able to stand and has taken a few steps with help. Continue to pray for the family as they care for her which does include a lot of travel. Please also pray for continued healing for Dagmar.