Amazing....

Wow! It's been a very good first few days of work. It gets crazy at times but I love it! I've had all ages of patients, some pre-op, some post-op, some needing better nutrition before they can have surgery, ... but each of them touches you differently. The smiliest girl on the ward has a huge hole through her lip and pallet (roof of her mouth) and another boy's favorite toy is the brightly painted wooden train --we were joking around that he would probably try to sleep with it if he could! Another man says that he feels like an elephant with the feeding tube in his nose! The baby next to him, he says, sounds like a crocodile when he cries! The way they tie their babies on their backs to carry them makes them look like they are falling sometimes, especially one little boy who leans way over to the side so that he can see around mom. But I haven't seen one fall yet! On the contrary, if a mom has trouble quieting the baby, she ties him onto her back and walks or dances around, sometimes I'll see one leaning forward over the bed, the baby now able to lie flat on her back for awhile until he is sleeping sound enough that she can lay him on the bed. Also, caregivers that are staying overnight with the patient, sleep on mattresses under the bed. One poor mom had been up for two days with an 11 mo and 17 mo old babies, both still nursing. When one would fall asleep, the other would wake up screaming. Finally, the day I worked, things finally quieted down in that corner--we saw mom asleep on the mattress under the bed, the younger child alseep on the bed and the older child asleep, sprawled on the floor next to the bed! It was so cute! We did put the older child up onto the bed once we knew she was sleeping good, though! If you want to see pictures of the patients and hear their stories, you can find them on the Mercy Ships website (posted on the right side of this page). I have this weekend off so I'm planning to work on getting pictures on here if I can. I also plan to go to the craft market that day, so maybe I'll have pictures of that, as well. For Sunday, one of the translators invited us to come to his church, so another nurse and I and any others we can get are planning to go. Should be exciting--the languages are French and Fon, which neither of us speak but our friend said that he would translate it for us. One of our translators plays the guitar beautifully so when we don't need him, he sits and plays and sings worship music! It's like a free concert whenever he's working! Well, it's late here so I need to get going...talk to you later! Hope all is well with you and yours!

PRAYER REQUEST: Friends of mine in Nairobi, Kenya work for AIM Air. Just this week, a plane went down, killing the pilot and severely wounding the mechanic. The other two in the plane have more minor physical injuries. The pilot's wife and four kids are in Nairobi with family from both sides trying to arrange transportation and all their official documents needed to come over for his memorial/funeral service. The mechanic was going in for skin grafts for his severe burns and might have to be shipped to another country for other treatment. His wife has been staying with him at the hospital but they also have kids. AIM Air has also asked an outside investigator to come in and evaluate the crash, all other pilots and planes are grounded for now, and the Kenyan authorities are also conducting their investigation. My friend works in the mechanical field and asks for prayer for the families of the pilot, mechanic, and other passengers and their families, and that the investigations will go smoothly, having all the records they need and paperwork in order so that the answers can be found. Thank you!