I'm happy to say that his week has been AMAZING. We are beginning to do a lot of different ministries which makes everyone on my team very happy. This week we went to numerous church services, a local park to watch break dancers and do sports ministry, the market, a children's hospital, a school for children with special needs, and bars to do prostitute ministry. If you know anything about me, you can probably pick out the two ministries above that made this week awesome for me: the school for children with special needs and the children's hospital.
When we got to the school, I felt so comfortable. Being there reminded me of my mom's classroom and Emily, a little girl I babysit for the past seven years who has Down Syndrome. There were so many kids and so much energy. After walking around and meeting numerous kids, I sat down and played with a boy named Joseph. Joseph is ten and has Down Syndrome. I spent the next hour or so talking, walking, and playing with him. We went outside and played on the swings and monkey bars. Then we went into the office and he put on music and we pretended to play the guitar. He got out a photo album and we went through the photos, pointing to all the people he knew in them, something that Emily loves to do too. As we were sitting on the couch looking at the photos, he motioned for me to scootch over closer to him, another thing that Emily does all the time. There were so many similarities between him and Emily that I felt like I was home. I felt like I was playing with my little best friend again. I loved that school so much that I would be content with going there every day and not doing any other ministry.
We went back to the school yesterday, and again, I had a great time playing with the kids. We did a little program which included skits and songs. The kids absolutely loved it. I got to play with numerous other kids and made some new friends.
When I found out we were going to the children's hospital, I was beaming with joy. It was something I wanted to do, but I didn't think that we would have the opportunity to do. Like at the school, when I got to the hospital, I felt at home there. It was like I was suppose to be there. It reaffirmed my desire to go into medicine. If you were to compare the hospital to Janet Weis Children's Hospital, it would look horrible. But if you compare it to the houses and living conditions these people are in, it was a very nice hospital. There were about 10-15 patients in each room, varying in age and severity of case. Many of the kids had intestinal problems, some had fevers, a couple had severe burns, and numerous were premature babies. Our group separated into smaller groups and went into different rooms and talked to the parents and kids. Since my Spanish is lacking, I said pretty much the same thing to everyone: what's your name, how old are you, what's the problem, how long have you been here, how much longer do you think you'll be here, and can I pray for you. It broke my heart to see the kids in so much pain, but I absolutely loved being there.
One of my teammates was in another room with a premature baby boy who had a cleft lip and no parents in sight. She took it upon herself to hold and feed the baby and just give him some much needed love. Before we left, she asked if anyone knew how to swaddle. I happily said yes and swaddled that precious little boy. I don't know what his future looks like, but I do know that the little act of swaddling him gave me motivation to study hard so that I can do more than just swaddle him. I want to be able to make his life and the lives of kids like him better. I am so happy that I am here and I am very excited to see what my future after Guatemala will hold. I'm giving my future to God, knowing that I am safe and complete in His hands.
Yesterday we went back to the hospital to do a program for the kids. The kids and their parents loved it! It was so nice to see them smile and laugh. My little friend Manuel who was suffering from an intestinal problem and was very down was laughing and smiling so much! Sarah and I went back to visit Lourdes, the baby with the cleft lip. He was moved to the corner of the room, away from everyone. Sarah held him and fed him again, which gave me the opportunity to talk to the nurse about him. His parents left him when they saw his lip. I asked how old he was and she flipped out his chart and showed me everything (no HIPAA laws here). He was 11 days old. Eleven days old with no parents in the corner of the room. It's a hard reality to accept, but I know God has a reason for everything.
Miss you Emily!
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