day to day. . .

last thursday i had pregnant mom clinic in the far west. i also of course end up seeing some kids and other people! it truly is a blessing for me to be able to do this because the people in that area don't have access to medical care. i head back out today and will try to do a prenatal clinic every wednesday.

yesterday we had a 15 year old come into clinic. he was horribly malnourished. had been sick for 1 month. we did blood work on him and he has 1/3 the amount of blood he should. he had a horrible smell and some awful infection in his abdomen. there was some mixture of stool and pus coming out of his belly button. we got a truck and sent him to the hospital with money and hopes that he will be able to get a blood transfusion. his name is nesly. when we loaded him up on the truck he kept saying thank you, thank you. then he said to me - " nurse, if i live i will come back and see you." what a hard reality.

color. . .

i wrote this while i was in the far west this last week.

Color.

Color is amazing.

Color defines my life.

Some colors blend in beautiful melodies.

Others contrast in stark differences.

The ocean is deep languid blue.

The color stretches until you can see no more, until it reaches the soft hazy blue of the skyline.

The ocean is such that you feel it could consume you.

The sky is such that you feel as though you could float.

When I see the ocean it is love, deeper and wider than I could ever imagine.

The soft green and yellow of the cactus and trees stretches across the landscape.

The hues blend in almost indistinguishable shades.

Their colors are the feeling of warmth.

The egrit flying across the field is perfectly white, clean and pure.

The yellow flower with its soft petals against the sharp thorns speaks to me of hope.

The bright orange flowers on top of the long spiraling cactus are joy.

Color is life.

Life created.

Life continuing.

what a day!!

today was a bit crazy! if there were some way that i could just write about each situation, they do deserve their own story.


i am trying to think of how to even share how much has gone on today, but i don't think i can. it started with me going to the airport to pick up a couple guys who are visiting for a few days. they both work with other organizations and want to partner with us here. in the middle of the tour i was trying to give them one of the nurses asked me to come help start an IV. we have two little girls - one 4 years old and one who is 11 who both have typhoid. 103-4 fever anyone??


walking out from that to continue my tour there was an extremely malnourished baby. it has been a while since i have seen a little one this small. after lunch we had twins brought in whose mother died that morning after giving birth to them at home over an hour away from here. the afternoon brought a woman with an extremely swollen arm who i had asked to come yesterday when i saw her out walking, she may have elephantitis, not sure, but took some pictures and i will send it on to others who know more than i do.

the afternoon continued with a couple of my sewing ladies returning their projects. they really are doing such good jobs.

while i was trying to talk with our dentist and the guy who is visiting we had a mother carried to the birthing center on a bed who is having seizures and is only about 7 months pregnant.

i went through the birthing center after dinner to check on everything and the woman having seizures had another one. after we got her medicine i figured the nurses were a bit busy so i stitched up the guy who had been waiting for a while with a huge laceration on his head. he had been it by a rock.

then i boiled some water and cleaned isaiah's bottles. those are his little feet. he is 4 pounds now!!

i am very glad every day isn't like today!! and i am extremely grateful to whoever left some great chamomile tea here.

Love is. . .

this last weekend danielle (another full time staff person) and i made valentines cookies for the medical staff. i have been thinking about this verse. . .

Love is. . .

patient

kind

is not jelous

does not brag

is not arrogant

does not act unbecomingly

does not seek its own

is not provoked. . .

rejoices with the truth

bears all things

believes all things

hopes all things

endures all things.

Love never fails.

I Corinthians 13:4-8

three to a four wheeler. . .

i made it home safely from the far west yesterday. mike, vogley (his interpretor) and i all made the trip on their four wheeler. it was a tight ride! i realized that i should have taken pictures after we got home.

getting fat!!!

here is mr. isaiah and to me it looks like he is getting fat. he weighed a whole 3 lbs. 15 oz. today!!! some of you may not agree with me, but his face is just changing and filling out more and more every day.

i head to the far west tomorrow to have a prenatal clinic on wednesday.

i am someone special. . .

this little guy ben came last week with an infected knee. he has already been to both of the local hospitals and they haven't been able to help him. i have been corresponding with an orthopedic surgeon who comes here for surgical trips to try to figure out exactly what to do with him in regards to him medical care. we were just going to watch it for a while and think he may have osteomylitis (infection in his bone). he came back this morning because it looks worse and we are going to try a course of antibiotics.

you can't see very well in this picture, but his t-shirt says - "i am someone special." his mother completely adores him and he is a very loving child. (except for if i am cleaning his knee or starting an IV!!) i guess when i saw his t-shirt this morning it made me think. each person i see here is someone special, they are someone's daughter, sister, friend, loved one. i have to keep that in mind when at times they perhaps seem to be an interruption or frustration.

i think at times we also forget that - we are someone special, each made with our own unique characteristics, made for a purpose. i needed that reminder this morning in my life.

small things. . .

sunday morning i came back from church early. i have been taking care of louvinsky who is from the orphanage in port-au-paix. he had malaria and typhoid and i needed to come back and give him a dose of antibiotics. i hung his medication and thought i would try to lay down and rest a few minutes. this last week has been extremely busy. we had a medical group here and that always makes things a bit busier in my life. over the weekend, especially saturday, things were rather crazy, so i really thought a cat-nap would help me feel better.

as i lay there all the noises that had been merely background noises were now more real. i focused on them one at a time. i heard den, one of the special needs children who lives here playing in the courtyard right outside my door. he was taking rocks and i could hear them hitting the metal of his toy dump truck. who knows what he was building in his imagination.

the children from children's church always come and have a lesson in our clinic waiting room that is around the corner from my room. they were singing. one of those children's songs that get's faster and faster with each round. i think most of them were singing at the top of their lungs. then they began to work on their memory verse. the leader would say a line and they would all repeat it. over and over they worked on learning it, i just lay their listening. in the end they could all shout it the whole way through.

one of the women who works with the special needs children was working on laundry. i heard her because she was singing. some of the songs here are in this minor key that makes them very deep and soulful and even though i couldn't hear well enough to understand the words i could hear her praise.

sometimes i get caught up in doing the big things, but really these small things probably bring more glory than most of our big endeavors.