If you try to walk anywhere in Benin, and you are caucasion, you will frequently hear children shouting, "Yovo! Yovo!" and waving to you, even running out to wave at the Mercy Ship vehicles when they recognize them! Equivalent to the spanish "gringo" (or white person), they even have a song they sing about us. They chant: "Yovo! Yovo! Bonjour! (bon-joo) Bonsoi! (bon-swah) Sabe! (saw-vah) Sabe bien! (saw-vah bee-en) Merci! (mare-see)." It's basically saying, "White person! White person! [Who only knows how to say] Good morning! Good afternoon! How are you? I'm fine! Thank you!" And it's basically the truth for many of us!!!
The translators tell us that sometimes they use yovoes as a threat when their children are misbehaving. "You better obey me or the yovoes will get you!" ...Something like the boogy man!!! (Of course, these statements are sooooo helpful when we have to give them care on the ward!!! They scream when we come anywhere near them!!!) One mom was even threatening her young child with us yovoes while in the ward when the nurse was trying to win them over so that she could give simple care without the child screaming in terror and running the other direction! Mom would just laugh!!! Not helpful in the least!
Other times, the nurse's given name is simply replaced by "Yovo!" or "my nurse!" One poor little boy was admitted yesterday afternoon with cataracts in both eyes. His vision was severely limited but he was not entirely blind. The admissions nurses had to poke him twice to draw blood for testing before surgery. He sat in his bed VERY mad at yovoes and scowling at us with his arms crossed over his little chest... just NOT a very pleased little man! Well, I had another child playing with blocks on the floor and we eventually got him over there playing with us and no longer mad at yovoes. He decided that we could be tolerated--even with all of our hugs and tickling. This morning, the OR nurse came in and put drops in his eyes to prepare him for the surgery. He screamed bloody murder! When he sat back up, his little arms were crossed tightly, his eyes were shooting daggers a mile-a-minute, and the evil scowl on his face was back x10!!!! He was NOT happy with the yovoes. Well, he went to surgery soon after and came back an hour or two later with screened goggles on his eyes, one eye covered with gauze. He can see through the screen on one eye but not the other until the dressings are removed over the next few days. Mom held his arms down so that he didn't pull off the protective goggles and sat rocking and comforting him, but all I could hear was him sobbing, "Yovoes! Yovoes! Yovoes! Yovoes!...." over and over and over!!! Poor kid's traumatized for life!!! ...But it was so very cute, too!!! Poor kid...he's too young to understand an explanation but I hope that when he can see clearly again, he'll understand that the yovoes helped him. Honestly, ... we're not here just to torture innocent children!!! It really is all for his benefit!
Isn't that like us with God, though? We get mad and scream and cry and it feels like all our heavenly Father's doing is sitting there restricting us and allowing things that He could stop from happening. In reality, He is offering endless and boundless love and comfort, allowing the hard things and painful things in order to heal us and make us better than we previously were. It is definitely not fun to be going through it, but later, after we've healed, we can see how those difficult things benefitted us and that it really wasn't meant to destroy us or damage us. It was all for our good. How good is our heavenly Father to allow us to go through difficult things, to hold us and comfort us throughout that time, and to coordinate all those things, good and bad, for our healing and betterment! And all simply because He loves us!
Many times, I really struggle to accept that God loves me and even likes me! Several mornings ago, He pointed out a verse in 1 John where He says that "God is love." Not "God has love" but that He "IS love." God cannot ever stop loving us because He IS love. It's Him. It's Who He is! And more than that, He gave His beloved Son to die so that I might be adopted as His child! Not only did He love me enough to create me. He also chose me--adopted me--to belong to Him and not just as a servant or cheap labor, but as a favored and well-loved child! And everyone who believes in Jesus Christ dying for our sins becomes that favored and well loved child! And even more than that, He actually likes to hear from His children...to just sit and enjoy the quiet with them...to hear their problems and concerns...and to hear their gratitude for what He has done...to hear their requests on behalf of others...to hear their laughter and see their enjoyment of life...all of it! He LOVES you! Wow! The God in control of everything from the farthest star and planet in its revolution to the deepest molecule in the sea, reaches out and cares about every detail of my life, all of it! And He hears and listens when I speak! Now that is a God to trust and love! Any sacrifice or difficult periods in my life are well worth accepting when it comes from this God out of His boundless and never-ending love! What a mighty, good God we serve!!!
Hallelujah? AMEN! Amen? HALLELUJAH! (A taste of African church!!! Hee, Hee!)
Monday, September 28, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
The "Why?" of the surgeries we do...
One of my friends pointed out that I have mentioned doing facial surgeries and plastic surgery without giving the reason "why?" the patients need these surgeries.
In short, the patients we are treating have a wide variety of problems. Many were born with a cleft lip or palate or both. (Generally, a large hole that connects the nose and mouth cavities.) Some of these patients are children while others have had these problems their whole lives and are now coming to be fixed at age 65yr and above. Others have large infections that have eaten away part of their mouth or cheek. Others have infections that have caused large tumors on their face, their jaw, or neck. Still others have glands (such as those hidden in the floor of your mouth) that have become very enlarged and form large, visible masses on their necks. Some have large round goiters in the middle of their necks caused by not having enough iodine in their diet. (In the US, our iodine comes in the form of iodized salt.) They also do surgery to release "locked jaw". Generally started by an infection, the jaw locks closed and slid back so that the tendons are at their shortest lengths then freeze there. After surgery, they have exercises that they will have to do for several months in order to keep the mobility as it heals.
For many of our jaw patients, part of their jaw, teeth and all, is removed and a titanium plate is put in in it's place. After several months of the plate, they come back for surgery where a part of the illiac crest (part of the hard bone ridge felt on your hip) is removed and then fastened to part of the plate in their chin. The bone will then grow and spread over the plate within the next year, creating a new jaw. They will probably need false teeth, but it is a very remarkable surgery! There are a variety of ways that cleft lips and palates are corrected so I won't try to explain those. However, most are painful and often need 2-3 surgeries to complete.
Also, if the child is not gaining weight or is under weight, (usually cleft lip/palate) they will not have the strength or ability to heal from surgery and are thus placed in our Baby Feeding program, where we design a specific nutritional regimen to fatten them up. We have 1-3 of these babies most of the time. It is also important that their mothers learn about correct nutrition, that their babies need to eat every three hours in order to gain weight, and sometimes new feeding techniques due to the child's deformity. Most are very loving mothers who feel helpless because their child is dying and they have no idea what to do to try to help him. One young mother, has been very discouraged because, no matter what we try, her daughter is not gaining any significant weight but is otherwise healthy. All of these cases are very emotional and very personally disturbing surgeries. They often wonder what they will look like after their surgiers? (Men seem to be the more vain and concerned about their faces here than the women!) Will they be able to eat better? What will people say about them now that that problem is no longer there or is much, much less? Will their babies live? Will they be able to get the surgeries they need? Many things to adress with these patients and a lot of teaching to do.
Many of the plastics patients have been severely burned. As the burn heals, the skin tightens and draws the joint closed (such as an elbow or fingers, knees or toes, or even armpits) and slowly curls up the joint then freezes it there. These are called burn contractures and must be released surgically with skin grafts covering the newly opened area. A graft patient then also has a section on their abdomen or thighs where skin was taken for the graft, called the donor site. Other people need plastic surgery for keloids (overactive scar tissue that forms huge ridges and lumps wherever they are). Still others have birth defects such as an extra finger on their hands or a part of an extra finger on one of their other fingers that needs to be removed. One little girl of 3 yr had one finger that had grown to adult size while the rest of her hand was the size of a normal 3 yr old hand and fingers.
Then there are patients that come with inguinal hernias (masses felt in the front thigh/groin area. When I asked one of the doctors about all of the children with hernias, he said that for most of them, they are born with it--part of the abdomenal floor doesn't close as it should as the child grows and develops, then the small bowel can get caught in that open pouch. For adults with hernias, many come from their heavy lifting and manual labor but are the same sort of things.
Most of the eye patients are coming to have cataracts removed. A small slit is made in the side of the eye and a suction catheter sucks out the mass clouding the eye. They then wear an eye patch for the next several days and have drops and so on to medicate it with. However, eye tissues heal very quickly and therefore, they do not stay in the hospital. They just come back later to have the patch removed and the eye checked. Other eye patients have an infection of the eye or extensive damage and all or part of the eye needs to be removed. These patients often stay in the hospital and have special eye care for several days before being sent home. When the tissue in the eye is healed, they are fitted with a prosthetic eye and given a new pair of sunglasses. I just saw some pictures of one eye patient before his prosthetic eye, looking a little uncertain as his eye didn't look like he hoped it would after surgery. Then with the prosthetic in and a face-splitting smile on! The next was of him wearing his new "shades" and an even bigger smile, if possible!
We do have an off-ship ministry called Burkett's Kids which works in conjuction with a local hospital to provide the chemotherapy needed to treat these fast-growing cancers. They need one treatment a month until the tumor has completely disappeared plus two more to put it totally into remission. It rarely comes back if they have had the full treatment. Because it grows so fast, the chemo affects its reproduction quickly and you see every day visible changes as it disappears!
One other ministry is Palliative Care, which is two girls who visit the dying patients that we can do nothing for. These are always very sad cases and it's such hard news to give--that we can't do anything for them! The palliative nurses make regular visits, doing wound care as needed, visiting with the family and patient, and just giving moral, emotional, and spiritual support to them. It is a very difficult job but whenever you ask them about it, they will agree but then quickly add that they are so blessed to know these patients and to be used by God to support them!
The last healthcare ministry we have is the dental team. They travel to villages and refugee camps to treat whatever they can. Normally this means simply pulling teeth. One dental surgeon told me that pulling teeth takes a lot of work and he wishes that he didn't have to--that they would still have teeth good enough to just fill!
Our other ministries seek to support the country's healthcare system by teaching them to grow better gardens, educating more medical technichians for the hospitals, having national surgeons and nurses come to observe surgeries that they have equipment to do (cataracts, hernias, etc) and ones that we hope, with education, they will be ready to do in the near future. The Hevie' Agricultural Training Center was part of one of those projects. The idea is to help improve the healthcare they have so that they can take over doing many of the surgeries we do, for themselves.
These are the ministries of Mercy Ship and why we do the surgeries we do. I was listening to the healthcare administrator discuss how he is already looking at what surgeries these countries may be able to do in the next ten years, so that we can be preparing to do more complicated surgeries in the nearer future as they take over the ones we are currently doing. That way, we are ever building them up, making them more proficient in the medical field, until they don't need us anymore! Already, one of our long term crew working in Benin, stated that "Benin has woken up in the last four years!" They have grown sooooo much since the ship was here last, that we are confident that they will soon be picking up some of the surgeries we are currently doing! And in all of these, there's the "why?" of why we are here? Why are we doing this? The African culture doesn't understand the concept of volunteer so they are always asking, Why are you here working when you're not getting any money for it? The answer? Because "God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whosoever would believe in Him, should not die but have eternal life." (John 3:16) God loves Africa. He cries at their suffering and wants them to know that He cares and has come to save them from more than their physical sickness--He came to heal their souls! Who needs money when you can be a part of that?!?!
In short, the patients we are treating have a wide variety of problems. Many were born with a cleft lip or palate or both. (Generally, a large hole that connects the nose and mouth cavities.) Some of these patients are children while others have had these problems their whole lives and are now coming to be fixed at age 65yr and above. Others have large infections that have eaten away part of their mouth or cheek. Others have infections that have caused large tumors on their face, their jaw, or neck. Still others have glands (such as those hidden in the floor of your mouth) that have become very enlarged and form large, visible masses on their necks. Some have large round goiters in the middle of their necks caused by not having enough iodine in their diet. (In the US, our iodine comes in the form of iodized salt.) They also do surgery to release "locked jaw". Generally started by an infection, the jaw locks closed and slid back so that the tendons are at their shortest lengths then freeze there. After surgery, they have exercises that they will have to do for several months in order to keep the mobility as it heals.
For many of our jaw patients, part of their jaw, teeth and all, is removed and a titanium plate is put in in it's place. After several months of the plate, they come back for surgery where a part of the illiac crest (part of the hard bone ridge felt on your hip) is removed and then fastened to part of the plate in their chin. The bone will then grow and spread over the plate within the next year, creating a new jaw. They will probably need false teeth, but it is a very remarkable surgery! There are a variety of ways that cleft lips and palates are corrected so I won't try to explain those. However, most are painful and often need 2-3 surgeries to complete.
Also, if the child is not gaining weight or is under weight, (usually cleft lip/palate) they will not have the strength or ability to heal from surgery and are thus placed in our Baby Feeding program, where we design a specific nutritional regimen to fatten them up. We have 1-3 of these babies most of the time. It is also important that their mothers learn about correct nutrition, that their babies need to eat every three hours in order to gain weight, and sometimes new feeding techniques due to the child's deformity. Most are very loving mothers who feel helpless because their child is dying and they have no idea what to do to try to help him. One young mother, has been very discouraged because, no matter what we try, her daughter is not gaining any significant weight but is otherwise healthy. All of these cases are very emotional and very personally disturbing surgeries. They often wonder what they will look like after their surgiers? (Men seem to be the more vain and concerned about their faces here than the women!) Will they be able to eat better? What will people say about them now that that problem is no longer there or is much, much less? Will their babies live? Will they be able to get the surgeries they need? Many things to adress with these patients and a lot of teaching to do.
Many of the plastics patients have been severely burned. As the burn heals, the skin tightens and draws the joint closed (such as an elbow or fingers, knees or toes, or even armpits) and slowly curls up the joint then freezes it there. These are called burn contractures and must be released surgically with skin grafts covering the newly opened area. A graft patient then also has a section on their abdomen or thighs where skin was taken for the graft, called the donor site. Other people need plastic surgery for keloids (overactive scar tissue that forms huge ridges and lumps wherever they are). Still others have birth defects such as an extra finger on their hands or a part of an extra finger on one of their other fingers that needs to be removed. One little girl of 3 yr had one finger that had grown to adult size while the rest of her hand was the size of a normal 3 yr old hand and fingers.
Then there are patients that come with inguinal hernias (masses felt in the front thigh/groin area. When I asked one of the doctors about all of the children with hernias, he said that for most of them, they are born with it--part of the abdomenal floor doesn't close as it should as the child grows and develops, then the small bowel can get caught in that open pouch. For adults with hernias, many come from their heavy lifting and manual labor but are the same sort of things.
Most of the eye patients are coming to have cataracts removed. A small slit is made in the side of the eye and a suction catheter sucks out the mass clouding the eye. They then wear an eye patch for the next several days and have drops and so on to medicate it with. However, eye tissues heal very quickly and therefore, they do not stay in the hospital. They just come back later to have the patch removed and the eye checked. Other eye patients have an infection of the eye or extensive damage and all or part of the eye needs to be removed. These patients often stay in the hospital and have special eye care for several days before being sent home. When the tissue in the eye is healed, they are fitted with a prosthetic eye and given a new pair of sunglasses. I just saw some pictures of one eye patient before his prosthetic eye, looking a little uncertain as his eye didn't look like he hoped it would after surgery. Then with the prosthetic in and a face-splitting smile on! The next was of him wearing his new "shades" and an even bigger smile, if possible!
We do have an off-ship ministry called Burkett's Kids which works in conjuction with a local hospital to provide the chemotherapy needed to treat these fast-growing cancers. They need one treatment a month until the tumor has completely disappeared plus two more to put it totally into remission. It rarely comes back if they have had the full treatment. Because it grows so fast, the chemo affects its reproduction quickly and you see every day visible changes as it disappears!
One other ministry is Palliative Care, which is two girls who visit the dying patients that we can do nothing for. These are always very sad cases and it's such hard news to give--that we can't do anything for them! The palliative nurses make regular visits, doing wound care as needed, visiting with the family and patient, and just giving moral, emotional, and spiritual support to them. It is a very difficult job but whenever you ask them about it, they will agree but then quickly add that they are so blessed to know these patients and to be used by God to support them!
The last healthcare ministry we have is the dental team. They travel to villages and refugee camps to treat whatever they can. Normally this means simply pulling teeth. One dental surgeon told me that pulling teeth takes a lot of work and he wishes that he didn't have to--that they would still have teeth good enough to just fill!
Our other ministries seek to support the country's healthcare system by teaching them to grow better gardens, educating more medical technichians for the hospitals, having national surgeons and nurses come to observe surgeries that they have equipment to do (cataracts, hernias, etc) and ones that we hope, with education, they will be ready to do in the near future. The Hevie' Agricultural Training Center was part of one of those projects. The idea is to help improve the healthcare they have so that they can take over doing many of the surgeries we do, for themselves.
These are the ministries of Mercy Ship and why we do the surgeries we do. I was listening to the healthcare administrator discuss how he is already looking at what surgeries these countries may be able to do in the next ten years, so that we can be preparing to do more complicated surgeries in the nearer future as they take over the ones we are currently doing. That way, we are ever building them up, making them more proficient in the medical field, until they don't need us anymore! Already, one of our long term crew working in Benin, stated that "Benin has woken up in the last four years!" They have grown sooooo much since the ship was here last, that we are confident that they will soon be picking up some of the surgeries we are currently doing! And in all of these, there's the "why?" of why we are here? Why are we doing this? The African culture doesn't understand the concept of volunteer so they are always asking, Why are you here working when you're not getting any money for it? The answer? Because "God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whosoever would believe in Him, should not die but have eternal life." (John 3:16) God loves Africa. He cries at their suffering and wants them to know that He cares and has come to save them from more than their physical sickness--He came to heal their souls! Who needs money when you can be a part of that?!?!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
A Beautiful Sunny Day in Africa....
That's exactly what it is! Since I've been working night shift (which went by very smoothly, I might add), I got to sleep for quite a while today, got some errands taken care of, checking email, working on a monster pile of laundry that I've been putting off, waiting for our weekly firedrill,.... . All in all, a very relaxing, lazy day! I'll probably go up on deck for a while, maybe go for a walk later with friends.
I'm back on the maxillo-facial (max-fac) surgery ward and had several patients over the last three nights. Last night, I was observing one or two of our patients that were having trouble sleeping. For one, today's surgery will be her second extensive surgery on her face. For the other, it will be her third surgery, putting the finishing touches on a series of repairs to her mouth, lips, and nose. Oohh!....Fire drill....be back shortly...
Okay. I'm back. Only out on dock about an hour and it is a beautiful, warm day...good drill. Anyway...
Max-fac...Another man, spent most of the night sitting in bed, rocking back and forth, praying; then laying down for a little while; then up again a few minutes later, rocking and praying. I wondered what they might be thinking? Are they nervous about surgery and being on the ship because they've never done either before? Are they scared because they have had surgery before and know what's coming? Or are they more comfortable this time because they do know what's coming? Are they thinking about things needing done at home, or about their families and wondering how long they will be staying this time? Do they actually have a personal relationship with God or are they simply repeating meaningless names of saints? What are they thinking?
Occasionally, their facial expressions give away the thoughts circling in their minds. Monday, they brought back one of our max-fac patients from OR. She looked a mess--white gauze wrapped all around her head, blood oozing from the lower part of the dressing and from the inside of her mouth, oxygen on, face a little swollen, two IV's going, monitors on, etc. The man in the next bed over was to have a simple biopsy of a mass done the next day. He had already been looking a little nervous, but when they brought her in, his eyes grew about 3 sizes and the fear on his face was clear! Seeing this, the nurses quickly reassured him that he would NOT be looking anything like this after his surgery, that his was much, much simpler and less bloody! Poor man! He calmed down fairly quickly after this, however, and actually did seem to sleep fairly well that night! (There are some disadvantages to having all of the patients in the same room and this is definitely one of them!)
As busy as we get, we often don't think about what our patients might be going through, what they might be thinking about and, just as often, don't think to ask. Something to consider next time I step into the ward.
Anyhow,...I'm going to finish my laundry and head to dinner. My stomach's telling me it's time! Hope your day is as beautiful as mine's been!
I'm back on the maxillo-facial (max-fac) surgery ward and had several patients over the last three nights. Last night, I was observing one or two of our patients that were having trouble sleeping. For one, today's surgery will be her second extensive surgery on her face. For the other, it will be her third surgery, putting the finishing touches on a series of repairs to her mouth, lips, and nose. Oohh!....Fire drill....be back shortly...
Okay. I'm back. Only out on dock about an hour and it is a beautiful, warm day...good drill. Anyway...
Max-fac...Another man, spent most of the night sitting in bed, rocking back and forth, praying; then laying down for a little while; then up again a few minutes later, rocking and praying. I wondered what they might be thinking? Are they nervous about surgery and being on the ship because they've never done either before? Are they scared because they have had surgery before and know what's coming? Or are they more comfortable this time because they do know what's coming? Are they thinking about things needing done at home, or about their families and wondering how long they will be staying this time? Do they actually have a personal relationship with God or are they simply repeating meaningless names of saints? What are they thinking?
Occasionally, their facial expressions give away the thoughts circling in their minds. Monday, they brought back one of our max-fac patients from OR. She looked a mess--white gauze wrapped all around her head, blood oozing from the lower part of the dressing and from the inside of her mouth, oxygen on, face a little swollen, two IV's going, monitors on, etc. The man in the next bed over was to have a simple biopsy of a mass done the next day. He had already been looking a little nervous, but when they brought her in, his eyes grew about 3 sizes and the fear on his face was clear! Seeing this, the nurses quickly reassured him that he would NOT be looking anything like this after his surgery, that his was much, much simpler and less bloody! Poor man! He calmed down fairly quickly after this, however, and actually did seem to sleep fairly well that night! (There are some disadvantages to having all of the patients in the same room and this is definitely one of them!)
As busy as we get, we often don't think about what our patients might be going through, what they might be thinking about and, just as often, don't think to ask. Something to consider next time I step into the ward.
Anyhow,...I'm going to finish my laundry and head to dinner. My stomach's telling me it's time! Hope your day is as beautiful as mine's been!
Monday, September 14, 2009
Opening Celebration of Hevie' Agricultural Training Center!
I realized I forgot to talk about the grand opening of the Hevie' Agricultural Training Center last Thursday. Though the building is not quite finished--still needs to be painted, little details worked on--it is open and already has students living there. I was told that many of the people from Hevie' have been asking, "Why is your corn [tomatoes, potatoes,etc] are so much bigger than mine? What are those white people giving you?" and the students have the opportunity to explain what they've learned! (And by the way, ...their corn was planted in the beginning of July, I believe, and is now over TEN FEET TALL!!!) Jean-Claude, a long-term crew member from Ghana, has been teaching the instructors all year, teaching them biblical gardening....not burning or plowing their land, just planting the seeds, mulching, shading from too much sun, natural insecticides (other plants), etc. He explained a little of it at the ceremony and it is amazing to see the results! The center is beautiful! Through many official speakers, local and national leadership representation, and a few speakers from Bethesda (the main supporter of the Center) and Mercy Ships, the school was dedicated and the ribbon cut, officially opening the new school. Seven of the eight instructors were able to be present, as well as all 17 students in their work shirts and new mud boots (their uniforms). We also had entertainment provided by two women's singing/music groups and a skit by the students showing how people can learn about the Center. They were translating all of the speeches between French and English for the variety of speakers so it moved a bit slowly. We had a brief snack for Bethesda and Mercy Ship personnell with the government officials then it was over. All in all, it was a very good celebration.
I found myself bored with all of the speeches, so I started taking pictures of the people around me and those are what are seen on the slideshow. :0P Also, there are pictures on there of the center and the stage it's at now.
PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF THE SLIDESHOW IS GETTING TOO LONG TO VIEW OR DOWNLOAD! I will take out the older pictures so as to shorten it so that there will be no problems for anyone viewing it! Thanks!
I found myself bored with all of the speeches, so I started taking pictures of the people around me and those are what are seen on the slideshow. :0P Also, there are pictures on there of the center and the stage it's at now.
PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF THE SLIDESHOW IS GETTING TOO LONG TO VIEW OR DOWNLOAD! I will take out the older pictures so as to shorten it so that there will be no problems for anyone viewing it! Thanks!
Patients, Patience, and Wound Care...
Ever thought that it would be great to have a large room full of people chanting your name? Ever wished that everyone knew who you were? I can't say that I've ever had either of those dreams but the beginning of last week dispelled any dilusions I may have held about them! And you know, people-problems aren't restricted to those in small office cubicles or those in direct contact with the public...it's world-wide. If there is more than one person present, there will be people problems!
For the first three 8 hr day shifts last week, one of the patients decided that it would be funny to perpetually repeat my name every time he saw me, thought he saw, wanted something, didn't want anything, somebody else wanted something, and any other time in between. And it was so funny, that his two cronies soon picked it up, then the young teenage boy two beds down, then the mom of another child nearby! I half-jokingly told him that he was taking my name in vain!!! Soon, the whole ward knew my name and called, "Tobi! Tobi!" (said real fast) all day for all three shifts!!!
I've always loved my name--loved the meaning ("God is good"), the uniqueness of it, and the sound of it. By the end of the third day, I cringed when a friend passed me saying, "Good morning, Tobi." Later that day, I was introducing myself to a new crew member and realized that I was very reluctant in giving my name! I was actually stumbling over saying it! How sad is that?!
On top of that, one of the cronies (I dubbed them the three Frat House Boys!) asked if he could have my shoes. I pointed out that my feet were much smaller than his. What was he going to do with them? He said that he would make it work. I told him, "No,I like my shoes." He then came up with the brilliant idea that he would buy me a new pair if I would give him mine! Why not just go buy his own? At this, all three burst into laughter as if I'd said the funniest thing in the world. I don't know...that suggestion made sense to me.... Later on that day, the same man (through the "head cronie") told me that he wanted me for his wife. I pointed out how that just wouldn't work--the wife in the US and the husband in Africa. Just wouldn't work. He decided that I needed to stay in Africa and started to tell me so. I told him "no"--he just wanted to marry me for my shoes! This got another round of loud laughter and I was able to move on to the next patient!
After three days of all of this, I was more frazzled and frustrated than I have been in a very long time! I expected some friction between myself and other crew members, and even with one or two of the patients. But never did I think that one patient (the "head cronie") and his followers would be able to bug me that much! But they succeeded.
By the morning of the third day, I was begging God to give me strength to step back into that ward and be nice to them all! It was all I could do not to "wrang his scrawny neck!" That third morning, God took me to some verses in Hebrews 12-13 that remind me of why we are to serve others with grace--because God has had so much grace towards me and has given me the sure promise of heaven in addition to the forgiveness of my sins! I tend to be just like that man, perpetually calling on God for needless things repetatively, picking up subjects and worrying over them when I pray instead of using prayer as God intended--for me to turn those worries over to Him to carry. Instead, I hold on and keep worrying and keep reminding God of what I think He needs to do. But God reminded me that He has always had patience with me and always showed me grace, understanding that I was human. I had not been showing my patients, particularly those three, that kind of grace. The question kept rolling around in my mind, "How can I show grace that will make that man want God more?"
The nurses were getting equally exhausted and tired of the wards--A Ward was perpetually noisy without calm enough to think let alone talk to anybody and B Ward nurses were just as tired of "Tobi! Tobi!" and demanding patients as I was! So I shared these verses with the other nurses as we started our shift that morning, and headed into the day ready to try to put into affect those verses. Though the behavior didn't change and I was still frazzled by the end of the day and felt that I had zero grace to give anyone, God had changed my attitude towards him. I had been nice and given him the care that, as a patient, he deserved and even had a few opportunities to tell him sweetly but firmly how his behavior was interfering with other patients' care and the nurses' sanity. I had been reminded of those verses on grace and of my desire to show the kind of grace that would make him want God without condoning his behavior. We have now come to a sort of understanding and God has given me more opportunities to show that grace to him and the others. Still, most of the patients on B Ward still call out, "Tobi!Tobi!" when they see me coming!
I did get some much needed time off over the next two days before starting the weekend day shifts, and arrived Saturday morning to an awesome assignment and break from routine--I got to spend all weekend doing nothing but dressing changes!!! No pills to pass, no patients to assess unless I was changing their dressings! I worked the last few dressing changes on Saturday with our wound care nurse, Ruth. She says that she loves to teach and that appears to be so true! She sweetly explains everything, answering any questions you have, allows you to get in her way and do some of it yourself, and just was very patient and sweet with me. I learned a lot! And her example reminded me of the kind of grace I was to be showing!
Right now, we are dealing with mainly "plastics" patients (plastic surgery) so they all have at least two wound sites if not more and stay for several weeks to more than a month at a time with possible further surgeries needed. The wound sites are more delicate that the ones I normally deal with at home but I really enjoy doing the care! Did you know that, under ideal conditions, a skin graft can grow about 1cm a day to cover the wound bed? In other words, an island of transplanted skin can cover a large open area by growing 1cm on all sides in 24 hours time! That's really incredible! And I got to see some wounds changing that fast this weekend. Here, they also use honey, at times, for wound treatments, something else that was new to me! Ruth explained that honey has a very basic pH and, between that and the high sugar content, it can kill many bacteria. Also, it releases small amounts of hydrogen peroxide, which also kills bacteria. In addition, the high sugar content helps pull water out of the bacteria and dead tissues, killing the bacteria and allowing the bacteria and dead tissues to slough off, leaving the wound bed clean and able to heal properly. Fascinating stuff to me!!! But such is the disturbed mind of a nurse!!! The human part of my brain feels sorry that they have these wounds on their bodies to deal with but the nursing part of my brain is quite glad they do and is enjoying the care! How sick is that?!
These next three nights I'll be on night shift then off for four days!!! My fellow nurses and I are trying to come up with some grand schemes for the time off....I'll have to let you in on those adventures later!
For the first three 8 hr day shifts last week, one of the patients decided that it would be funny to perpetually repeat my name every time he saw me, thought he saw, wanted something, didn't want anything, somebody else wanted something, and any other time in between. And it was so funny, that his two cronies soon picked it up, then the young teenage boy two beds down, then the mom of another child nearby! I half-jokingly told him that he was taking my name in vain!!! Soon, the whole ward knew my name and called, "Tobi! Tobi!" (said real fast) all day for all three shifts!!!
I've always loved my name--loved the meaning ("God is good"), the uniqueness of it, and the sound of it. By the end of the third day, I cringed when a friend passed me saying, "Good morning, Tobi." Later that day, I was introducing myself to a new crew member and realized that I was very reluctant in giving my name! I was actually stumbling over saying it! How sad is that?!
On top of that, one of the cronies (I dubbed them the three Frat House Boys!) asked if he could have my shoes. I pointed out that my feet were much smaller than his. What was he going to do with them? He said that he would make it work. I told him, "No,I like my shoes." He then came up with the brilliant idea that he would buy me a new pair if I would give him mine! Why not just go buy his own? At this, all three burst into laughter as if I'd said the funniest thing in the world. I don't know...that suggestion made sense to me.... Later on that day, the same man (through the "head cronie") told me that he wanted me for his wife. I pointed out how that just wouldn't work--the wife in the US and the husband in Africa. Just wouldn't work. He decided that I needed to stay in Africa and started to tell me so. I told him "no"--he just wanted to marry me for my shoes! This got another round of loud laughter and I was able to move on to the next patient!
After three days of all of this, I was more frazzled and frustrated than I have been in a very long time! I expected some friction between myself and other crew members, and even with one or two of the patients. But never did I think that one patient (the "head cronie") and his followers would be able to bug me that much! But they succeeded.
By the morning of the third day, I was begging God to give me strength to step back into that ward and be nice to them all! It was all I could do not to "wrang his scrawny neck!" That third morning, God took me to some verses in Hebrews 12-13 that remind me of why we are to serve others with grace--because God has had so much grace towards me and has given me the sure promise of heaven in addition to the forgiveness of my sins! I tend to be just like that man, perpetually calling on God for needless things repetatively, picking up subjects and worrying over them when I pray instead of using prayer as God intended--for me to turn those worries over to Him to carry. Instead, I hold on and keep worrying and keep reminding God of what I think He needs to do. But God reminded me that He has always had patience with me and always showed me grace, understanding that I was human. I had not been showing my patients, particularly those three, that kind of grace. The question kept rolling around in my mind, "How can I show grace that will make that man want God more?"
The nurses were getting equally exhausted and tired of the wards--A Ward was perpetually noisy without calm enough to think let alone talk to anybody and B Ward nurses were just as tired of "Tobi! Tobi!" and demanding patients as I was! So I shared these verses with the other nurses as we started our shift that morning, and headed into the day ready to try to put into affect those verses. Though the behavior didn't change and I was still frazzled by the end of the day and felt that I had zero grace to give anyone, God had changed my attitude towards him. I had been nice and given him the care that, as a patient, he deserved and even had a few opportunities to tell him sweetly but firmly how his behavior was interfering with other patients' care and the nurses' sanity. I had been reminded of those verses on grace and of my desire to show the kind of grace that would make him want God without condoning his behavior. We have now come to a sort of understanding and God has given me more opportunities to show that grace to him and the others. Still, most of the patients on B Ward still call out, "Tobi!Tobi!" when they see me coming!
I did get some much needed time off over the next two days before starting the weekend day shifts, and arrived Saturday morning to an awesome assignment and break from routine--I got to spend all weekend doing nothing but dressing changes!!! No pills to pass, no patients to assess unless I was changing their dressings! I worked the last few dressing changes on Saturday with our wound care nurse, Ruth. She says that she loves to teach and that appears to be so true! She sweetly explains everything, answering any questions you have, allows you to get in her way and do some of it yourself, and just was very patient and sweet with me. I learned a lot! And her example reminded me of the kind of grace I was to be showing!
Right now, we are dealing with mainly "plastics" patients (plastic surgery) so they all have at least two wound sites if not more and stay for several weeks to more than a month at a time with possible further surgeries needed. The wound sites are more delicate that the ones I normally deal with at home but I really enjoy doing the care! Did you know that, under ideal conditions, a skin graft can grow about 1cm a day to cover the wound bed? In other words, an island of transplanted skin can cover a large open area by growing 1cm on all sides in 24 hours time! That's really incredible! And I got to see some wounds changing that fast this weekend. Here, they also use honey, at times, for wound treatments, something else that was new to me! Ruth explained that honey has a very basic pH and, between that and the high sugar content, it can kill many bacteria. Also, it releases small amounts of hydrogen peroxide, which also kills bacteria. In addition, the high sugar content helps pull water out of the bacteria and dead tissues, killing the bacteria and allowing the bacteria and dead tissues to slough off, leaving the wound bed clean and able to heal properly. Fascinating stuff to me!!! But such is the disturbed mind of a nurse!!! The human part of my brain feels sorry that they have these wounds on their bodies to deal with but the nursing part of my brain is quite glad they do and is enjoying the care! How sick is that?!
These next three nights I'll be on night shift then off for four days!!! My fellow nurses and I are trying to come up with some grand schemes for the time off....I'll have to let you in on those adventures later!
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Another African Church Service...
Yes, this morning I went with two of our translators to their church, along with one of our anesthetists. My Grandma Magill used to tell me how long their services were--up to 7-8 hours--but I thought after my first service that that must be a Kenyan thing. NOT SO!!! Today's service was five hours long with lots of music, singing, dancing, two offering times (one for the church and one for the building fund), introduction of any visitors (us included), a message, communion, two testimonies, annointing and prayer for a newly baptized young woman, annointing and prayers for many people who were pledging to give certain amounts towards the building fund (prayer that they would be faithful to their vows!), and more singing and prayer! It was quite a day and I'm now exhausted! We arrived at the church at about 8:45-9:00am and the service started soon after, with a pause after about 20 min of singing, to ask people to be respectful of others' time by arriving at the service on time. (That was before about 2/3rds of the congregation were there! LOL!) And the service let out around 2:00pm. They were very welcoming and our host translator was very gracious in his hospitality. It was an adventure but a fun one! I sat there praising God for the joy He takes in the variety of praise and worship He gets from around the world. He created our diversity and states in Psalms and Proverbs that He delights in the prayers and praises of the righteous! It gave me just a little glimpse of what the praise will be like in heaven before God's throne!!! Though I couldn't follow the words of most of the songs, there was no mistaking the spirit of the people. The same Holy Spirit is in us all--carrying the praise from a variety of tongues and cultures to the ears of God! How wonderful heaven will be when we all praise in the same tongue and culture! What a day that will be!
We passed the futbol (soccer) stadium here in Cotonou on our way to and from the church this morning. There is a huge match today between Togo and Benin in the rounds leading up to the world cup finals! There were already big crowds waiting to buy tickets and get in this morning. Vendors were lining up in the parking lots, preparing to sell food, drinks, and wares to the people flooding the stadium today. We passed crowds of people walking to the stadium wearing their teams jerseys, prepared to cheer their country on! On our way home, we passed more crowds of jerseyed fans and tour bus loads heading for the stadium. We even passed a load of Mercy Ship people heading to the game. (One guy went early this morning to get their tickets.) There's already been good-natured ribbing among day volunteers of differing countries about the match today so I'm looking forward to hearing about the game! Carl assured me that there would be more matches over the next several weeks so hopefully I'll be able to get in on one of those!!! Can't wait!
On the way home from church, I noticed the variety of smells of this part of Africa. At times, all you smell is rotting garbage. When we got to the area of the motor taxis, it smelled like something dead had been stashed somewhere for a while! But that's only in certain, small areas. Mostly it's clean, fresh, average air. Out at Hevie, the air is clearer and fresher somehow--being in the bush, away from the city. While on the road, there are the strong fumes from gasoline and from deisel trucks belching black soot. Then, occasionally, we'd pass a resturant or food vendor and my stomach would protest not stopping! It smelled warm and delicious! The last few roads into port, you start by smelling sea air, then rotting garbage as you pass by a very poor section of houses, then the sea air again or the strong smell of fish, depending on which way the wind is blowing! As you get to the edge of the dock and mount the gangway to come up to the ship, you may smell the garbage and waste floating in the water ("murky" doesn't even begin to describe it! The surrounding fishermen and seamen use it as their toilet and garbage dump!), or fish, or the heavy sea air--again depending on which way the wind is blowing and where your are on the gangway. Then through the front doors to cooler, clean air. I haven't really thought too much about the smells but I guess they have their part in this adventure as well.
Speaking of smells, it's time for dinner so I better go before I miss it all!
We passed the futbol (soccer) stadium here in Cotonou on our way to and from the church this morning. There is a huge match today between Togo and Benin in the rounds leading up to the world cup finals! There were already big crowds waiting to buy tickets and get in this morning. Vendors were lining up in the parking lots, preparing to sell food, drinks, and wares to the people flooding the stadium today. We passed crowds of people walking to the stadium wearing their teams jerseys, prepared to cheer their country on! On our way home, we passed more crowds of jerseyed fans and tour bus loads heading for the stadium. We even passed a load of Mercy Ship people heading to the game. (One guy went early this morning to get their tickets.) There's already been good-natured ribbing among day volunteers of differing countries about the match today so I'm looking forward to hearing about the game! Carl assured me that there would be more matches over the next several weeks so hopefully I'll be able to get in on one of those!!! Can't wait!
On the way home from church, I noticed the variety of smells of this part of Africa. At times, all you smell is rotting garbage. When we got to the area of the motor taxis, it smelled like something dead had been stashed somewhere for a while! But that's only in certain, small areas. Mostly it's clean, fresh, average air. Out at Hevie, the air is clearer and fresher somehow--being in the bush, away from the city. While on the road, there are the strong fumes from gasoline and from deisel trucks belching black soot. Then, occasionally, we'd pass a resturant or food vendor and my stomach would protest not stopping! It smelled warm and delicious! The last few roads into port, you start by smelling sea air, then rotting garbage as you pass by a very poor section of houses, then the sea air again or the strong smell of fish, depending on which way the wind is blowing! As you get to the edge of the dock and mount the gangway to come up to the ship, you may smell the garbage and waste floating in the water ("murky" doesn't even begin to describe it! The surrounding fishermen and seamen use it as their toilet and garbage dump!), or fish, or the heavy sea air--again depending on which way the wind is blowing and where your are on the gangway. Then through the front doors to cooler, clean air. I haven't really thought too much about the smells but I guess they have their part in this adventure as well.
Speaking of smells, it's time for dinner so I better go before I miss it all!
Friday, September 4, 2009
Patients and Poems....
Instead of my normal update, I wanted to share with you the writings of one of our English-speaking patients, Prince Eddie Daniels.
To tell you a little bit about him,... Prince is his name not his title, he is a christian, has been married for 4 months now, and was a great comfort and support to a mother on the ward who was losing her only son to Burkett's lymphoma. Burkett's lymphoma is a very fast growing cancer usually found in children. The prognosis is generally very good as it can be treated easily with chemotherapy. Because it grows so fast, it is easy to see the chemo killing it quickly and see it visibly shrink within days. However, with this child, the cancer had already metastasized to his liver despite the three doses of chemo he had already received, and his body systems were shutting down. Within a few days, he went from being a smiley, playful child to death. As nurses, we realize the impact of these deaths on the family and on the staff that are working with them but we haven't stopped to think about the impact of that death on the other patients in the ward. Since they are all in one big room, they become their own community with everyone helping everyone else. Translations and explanations become a group effort and everyone has there input (wanted and unwanted!), everyone helps out with the children, and the conversations are varied and all-inclusive. So when a family is facing the loss of a family member, particularly a child, everyone feels it. And Prince poetically captured this in his first poem. (I have typed them as he wrote them and with his full permission for them to be posted here.)
A FADING DAWN:
Helplessyly we look on. Hopelessy we stood by,
gazing on life so feeble and tender
fading away as the day go by.
He, like any others, came this way to fill the space
and tread the path common to men.
To live and grow, to rise and cross the age of men on earth beneath
Only to see the light life stretch as far as from the womb to the tomb.
The worse of sight any one could see is a mother's love for a dying son.
But deep within the innermost part of the inner heart
is a glimmer of hope to wish for life.
The thought of scholarship, graduating from high school,
attending the first prom, and the joy of being loved
and love he'll never live to have and know,
for dreams so young and tender is closed in heart so ill and pale.
Perhaps the Father of love, on men in tears and pains on earth beholding, will mercy have on this heart so young and tender.
All we mortal men can do is to wish and hope and pray
that the day after the next night, to this little life will be good enough to be called a BETTER TOMARROW.
Heart-breaking isn't it?!?! And amazing!!! Prince's next poem is much more uplifting and is an expression of "[his] appreciation to the staff and crew of the Mercy Ship."
ANGELS AMONGST THE SONS OF MEN:
The day the Big White Whale landed on the black shores of Africa, was a blessed day to the Sons of Men. It came with Angels to walk amongst the Sons of Men. Why do I calL them Angels? Let me tell you of my time with them.
I came on board the White Whale with rooms filled with the lame, the mame, the formed, the deformed, the wrong and the rough.
And deep into the darkest part of the night I saw men and brethren, maidens and ladies, though flesh as us, yet with hearts of Angels.
Sleeplessly and tirelessly they toiled through the night, through the pains and aches of men, they with hands to heal and mend, bringing from above the Father's love to the Sons of Men.
Some they cut. Some they tie. Some they seal and yet others they fix with tools untold.
Like messengers of the Most High they came not thinking of their own, they risked their lifes and sailed the Sea, to lands beyond the endless world to shores of men afflicted and in pain.
Their hearts and lifes they came to share as Angels walk amongst the Sons of Men.
Some in this life are born to pass and some are born in life to live, yet these Angels are born to preserve humanity.
Though some lifes they see as waste yet with speed they move to save. With words of love and touch of peace, they endlessly toil to make right the wrong.
You were born as Men to your lands and yet as Angels you served the earth.
Gold is dugged from earth beneath. Treasures are hunted on high seas. But love so pure and true can only in hearts like yours be found.
Your labour in the Lord shall not be in vain.
For every life you touch and every soul you save,
For every bone you mend and every face you straight,
The Lord of life and light will light your path and guide your life.
FOR YOU ARE TRUELY ANGELS AMONGST THE SONS OF MEN.
And that is what each and every one of you have been to these people by allowing me to come and by your compassion and prayers for all of us. To them, you are "ANGELS TO THE SONS OF MEN." Thank you so much!!! If you have any comments about the poems or messages you would like me to pass on to Prince, just let me know. He will probably be here several more days and I'm sure he would love to hear from you!
To tell you a little bit about him,... Prince is his name not his title, he is a christian, has been married for 4 months now, and was a great comfort and support to a mother on the ward who was losing her only son to Burkett's lymphoma. Burkett's lymphoma is a very fast growing cancer usually found in children. The prognosis is generally very good as it can be treated easily with chemotherapy. Because it grows so fast, it is easy to see the chemo killing it quickly and see it visibly shrink within days. However, with this child, the cancer had already metastasized to his liver despite the three doses of chemo he had already received, and his body systems were shutting down. Within a few days, he went from being a smiley, playful child to death. As nurses, we realize the impact of these deaths on the family and on the staff that are working with them but we haven't stopped to think about the impact of that death on the other patients in the ward. Since they are all in one big room, they become their own community with everyone helping everyone else. Translations and explanations become a group effort and everyone has there input (wanted and unwanted!), everyone helps out with the children, and the conversations are varied and all-inclusive. So when a family is facing the loss of a family member, particularly a child, everyone feels it. And Prince poetically captured this in his first poem. (I have typed them as he wrote them and with his full permission for them to be posted here.)
A FADING DAWN:
Helplessyly we look on. Hopelessy we stood by,
gazing on life so feeble and tender
fading away as the day go by.
He, like any others, came this way to fill the space
and tread the path common to men.
To live and grow, to rise and cross the age of men on earth beneath
Only to see the light life stretch as far as from the womb to the tomb.
The worse of sight any one could see is a mother's love for a dying son.
But deep within the innermost part of the inner heart
is a glimmer of hope to wish for life.
The thought of scholarship, graduating from high school,
attending the first prom, and the joy of being loved
and love he'll never live to have and know,
for dreams so young and tender is closed in heart so ill and pale.
Perhaps the Father of love, on men in tears and pains on earth beholding, will mercy have on this heart so young and tender.
All we mortal men can do is to wish and hope and pray
that the day after the next night, to this little life will be good enough to be called a BETTER TOMARROW.
Heart-breaking isn't it?!?! And amazing!!! Prince's next poem is much more uplifting and is an expression of "[his] appreciation to the staff and crew of the Mercy Ship."
ANGELS AMONGST THE SONS OF MEN:
The day the Big White Whale landed on the black shores of Africa, was a blessed day to the Sons of Men. It came with Angels to walk amongst the Sons of Men. Why do I calL them Angels? Let me tell you of my time with them.
I came on board the White Whale with rooms filled with the lame, the mame, the formed, the deformed, the wrong and the rough.
And deep into the darkest part of the night I saw men and brethren, maidens and ladies, though flesh as us, yet with hearts of Angels.
Sleeplessly and tirelessly they toiled through the night, through the pains and aches of men, they with hands to heal and mend, bringing from above the Father's love to the Sons of Men.
Some they cut. Some they tie. Some they seal and yet others they fix with tools untold.
Like messengers of the Most High they came not thinking of their own, they risked their lifes and sailed the Sea, to lands beyond the endless world to shores of men afflicted and in pain.
Their hearts and lifes they came to share as Angels walk amongst the Sons of Men.
Some in this life are born to pass and some are born in life to live, yet these Angels are born to preserve humanity.
Though some lifes they see as waste yet with speed they move to save. With words of love and touch of peace, they endlessly toil to make right the wrong.
You were born as Men to your lands and yet as Angels you served the earth.
Gold is dugged from earth beneath. Treasures are hunted on high seas. But love so pure and true can only in hearts like yours be found.
Your labour in the Lord shall not be in vain.
For every life you touch and every soul you save,
For every bone you mend and every face you straight,
The Lord of life and light will light your path and guide your life.
FOR YOU ARE TRUELY ANGELS AMONGST THE SONS OF MEN.
And that is what each and every one of you have been to these people by allowing me to come and by your compassion and prayers for all of us. To them, you are "ANGELS TO THE SONS OF MEN." Thank you so much!!! If you have any comments about the poems or messages you would like me to pass on to Prince, just let me know. He will probably be here several more days and I'm sure he would love to hear from you!
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Baby Therapy...HIGHLY recommended!
When experiencing a high-stress week at work or a particularly sad experience or worrisome circumstance, nothing renews and lifts your spirit like...Baby Therapy!!! Cuddling and playing with little kids is highly effective and has been shown, in my own observations, to be highly effective in controlled doses. (Of course, an overdose of this therapy can lead to high stress levels and homicidal tendancies, and has even been known to be near lethal in some). Also, they do pose a serious risk to your heart--it may be quite easily lost beginning with your first dose of therapy! Whether you prefer the quiet and cuddly, the active and curious, or the hyper-active, bouncing off the walls, easily excitable types,...orphanages are certainly an excellent source for this particular therapy! They never run out of little specialists more than willing to administer this course of treatment! Whether you simply sit on the ground and provide the one-man obstacle course or end up with a lap full of little wiggling bodies or actively sing, dance, and run after them or lay down on a bench with a little one asleep on your chest, they are delighted at your presence and couldn't be more thrilled with your choice of therapy. However, once again, too much of a good thing is just too much! And those with sensitive ear drums may need to come prepared with protection. But for the usual and unusual stresses in life, nothing refocuses or relaxes you like Baby Therapy!
I have had a healthy dose of baby therapy this week! I visited the Foundation Regarde de Amour ("Foundation of love" or something close) on Tuesday afternoon and spent all 3-1/2 hours holding babies ages 1mo-3yr. This morning (Wednesday), I was back out to the Missionaries of Charity Orphanage (one of the organizations started by Mother Theresa) for 1mo-7yr, spending about 4 hours with them. Many of these children will be or are being adopted by families in Benin, France, and Italy. Some, however, have illnesses or disabilities that prevent them from being adopted. Most of them were abandoned or abused. Charity Orphanage also has a small clinic for sick children and their mothers (if they can come) to stay in and be fed and treated.
The first orphanage was smaller and we arrived at the end of nap time, beginning of bath time--a good time, seeing as you avoid the amount of urine from soiled diapers that you might otherwise be wearing, though some still manage to find a way to oblige you! Now that naps are over and children are waking up, they are bathed and changed. It is the most adorable sight in the world to see a large plastic baby tub with 3 little round naked babies in it!!! The only thing cuter is to see 2-3 of these tubs, containing about 3 babies each, all sitting together waiting to be dried and dressed by the house mamas!!! Way too much cuteness in one place!
The second orphanage is a bit more structured. Since there are not enough aunties to comfort them when we leave, we are not allowed to carry most of them around, unless of course one of the aunties hands us one who is too sick or too young to walk yet! Instead, as soon as you sit down, your lap fills up. We sang songs and danced in a circle for awhile then broke up to play and cuddle. And some of them really have the energy, let me tell you! After that comes lunch...we helped get 17 squiggling little bottoms into 17 little plastic chairs and then helped 17 grabby little hands eat their own lunch and no one's but their own! After lunch comes potty time--17 little potty chairs lined up around a room with 17 little bottoms sitting in them!!!! Another very adorable site!!! We were able to take pictures at the first orphanage but not at the second. We have pictures of the tubs of babies but not of the line of potty chairs! As soon as I figure out what's wrong with my slideshow this time, I will add them to it!
But my Baby Therapy for today was not yet complete! There is an adorable (I know I keep on using that word but it applies!!!) little giggling screaming mimi with hair in little braids sticking out from all side of her head in the hospital ward here on board ship! She loves to give hugs (your legs, back, neck, anything she can!) and to scream/squeal with joy (about three octaves above anything you've ever heard and about 5 decibles louder)! And she was my patient! I wasn't too busy tonight so we had a lot of fun. However, at one point she did come running up, bounced onto my back and gave me a big hug just as I was about to poke an IV into a patient!!! I told her that I love her hugs but her timing needs some work!
All in all, it's been a very good week so far. I would highly recommend Baby Therapy to one and all! (Except maybe Susan T. and Beth B., ......you may be at the overdose stage by now!!! So, if I were closer right now, I would be glad to let you detox while I get my therapy!) Hope all is well with you and yours!
By the way, the little girl I mentioned in my last post that needed prayer, went home this week! Praise the Lord!
I have had a healthy dose of baby therapy this week! I visited the Foundation Regarde de Amour ("Foundation of love" or something close) on Tuesday afternoon and spent all 3-1/2 hours holding babies ages 1mo-3yr. This morning (Wednesday), I was back out to the Missionaries of Charity Orphanage (one of the organizations started by Mother Theresa) for 1mo-7yr, spending about 4 hours with them. Many of these children will be or are being adopted by families in Benin, France, and Italy. Some, however, have illnesses or disabilities that prevent them from being adopted. Most of them were abandoned or abused. Charity Orphanage also has a small clinic for sick children and their mothers (if they can come) to stay in and be fed and treated.
The first orphanage was smaller and we arrived at the end of nap time, beginning of bath time--a good time, seeing as you avoid the amount of urine from soiled diapers that you might otherwise be wearing, though some still manage to find a way to oblige you! Now that naps are over and children are waking up, they are bathed and changed. It is the most adorable sight in the world to see a large plastic baby tub with 3 little round naked babies in it!!! The only thing cuter is to see 2-3 of these tubs, containing about 3 babies each, all sitting together waiting to be dried and dressed by the house mamas!!! Way too much cuteness in one place!
The second orphanage is a bit more structured. Since there are not enough aunties to comfort them when we leave, we are not allowed to carry most of them around, unless of course one of the aunties hands us one who is too sick or too young to walk yet! Instead, as soon as you sit down, your lap fills up. We sang songs and danced in a circle for awhile then broke up to play and cuddle. And some of them really have the energy, let me tell you! After that comes lunch...we helped get 17 squiggling little bottoms into 17 little plastic chairs and then helped 17 grabby little hands eat their own lunch and no one's but their own! After lunch comes potty time--17 little potty chairs lined up around a room with 17 little bottoms sitting in them!!!! Another very adorable site!!! We were able to take pictures at the first orphanage but not at the second. We have pictures of the tubs of babies but not of the line of potty chairs! As soon as I figure out what's wrong with my slideshow this time, I will add them to it!
But my Baby Therapy for today was not yet complete! There is an adorable (I know I keep on using that word but it applies!!!) little giggling screaming mimi with hair in little braids sticking out from all side of her head in the hospital ward here on board ship! She loves to give hugs (your legs, back, neck, anything she can!) and to scream/squeal with joy (about three octaves above anything you've ever heard and about 5 decibles louder)! And she was my patient! I wasn't too busy tonight so we had a lot of fun. However, at one point she did come running up, bounced onto my back and gave me a big hug just as I was about to poke an IV into a patient!!! I told her that I love her hugs but her timing needs some work!
All in all, it's been a very good week so far. I would highly recommend Baby Therapy to one and all! (Except maybe Susan T. and Beth B., ......you may be at the overdose stage by now!!! So, if I were closer right now, I would be glad to let you detox while I get my therapy!) Hope all is well with you and yours!
By the way, the little girl I mentioned in my last post that needed prayer, went home this week! Praise the Lord!
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