Karen here:
It's Monday afternoon and we have an hour's break between MCM and our last hospital visit. Yesterday morning was a great celebration of the resurrection at Blantyre Baptist followed by a pizza and ice cream lunch. We then joined Ken's youth group for a short meeting and then headed off to the hospital. We visited the Baby Ward, Children's Ward for trauma (lots of brain injured kids) and then the Malnutrition Ward. The last was the hardest as it was overflowing - probably 50-60 little kids, largely babies, severely malnourished and weak. It was tough on our kids as they saw a sea of faces and were powerless to do very much. We ran out of supplies toward the end and felt frustrated that we couldn't give to everyone. It's hard realizing that one can touch a few, but tomorrow there will be several hundred more in need. Poverty is rife and it's easy to feel disheartened. On the other hand we are seeing the benefit of love, care and nutrition for the 150 MCM kids who are thriving as they receive a few meals a week and some TLC!
On another note, there are moments on these trips that are definitely unforgettable. Last night presented another of those moments. As I was getting ready for bed just after 9:30pm, there was a huge tropical rainstorm. The water was gushing, it started to thunder and then lightning struck. I was a little startled by the sound, but decided the next best thing was to put my head under my pillow and go to sleep. Before I could do that, there was a knock at the door and Ana and Lisa ran into my room and dove onto my bed terrified. We shut the door for about 20 seconds before Melissa and Sarah burst in and also dove on to my bed...and that was followed 2 minutes later by Hannah and Sidney along with Miss Doyle (who had been reading in their room) who all jumped onto my bed as well...Yes, there were 8 of us on the bed...all the girls looking very sweet in their PJ's and retainers. The lights went out and with that another rap at the door and the remaining 4 girls arrived screaming that they were in the dark and had lost their power. I think had they had sleeping bags all of them would have been on my floor for the night, but things settled outside and they returned to their rooms within a half hour or so. I guess a mommy's work is never done - but it was a fun moment of girl bonding!
It's Monday afternoon and we have an hour's break between MCM and our last hospital visit. Yesterday morning was a great celebration of the resurrection at Blantyre Baptist followed by a pizza and ice cream lunch. We then joined Ken's youth group for a short meeting and then headed off to the hospital. We visited the Baby Ward, Children's Ward for trauma (lots of brain injured kids) and then the Malnutrition Ward. The last was the hardest as it was overflowing - probably 50-60 little kids, largely babies, severely malnourished and weak. It was tough on our kids as they saw a sea of faces and were powerless to do very much. We ran out of supplies toward the end and felt frustrated that we couldn't give to everyone. It's hard realizing that one can touch a few, but tomorrow there will be several hundred more in need. Poverty is rife and it's easy to feel disheartened. On the other hand we are seeing the benefit of love, care and nutrition for the 150 MCM kids who are thriving as they receive a few meals a week and some TLC!
On another note, there are moments on these trips that are definitely unforgettable. Last night presented another of those moments. As I was getting ready for bed just after 9:30pm, there was a huge tropical rainstorm. The water was gushing, it started to thunder and then lightning struck. I was a little startled by the sound, but decided the next best thing was to put my head under my pillow and go to sleep. Before I could do that, there was a knock at the door and Ana and Lisa ran into my room and dove onto my bed terrified. We shut the door for about 20 seconds before Melissa and Sarah burst in and also dove on to my bed...and that was followed 2 minutes later by Hannah and Sidney along with Miss Doyle (who had been reading in their room) who all jumped onto my bed as well...Yes, there were 8 of us on the bed...all the girls looking very sweet in their PJ's and retainers. The lights went out and with that another rap at the door and the remaining 4 girls arrived screaming that they were in the dark and had lost their power. I think had they had sleeping bags all of them would have been on my floor for the night, but things settled outside and they returned to their rooms within a half hour or so. I guess a mommy's work is never done - but it was a fun moment of girl bonding!
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Did you sing a chorus of "My Favorite Things?" :)
ReplyDeleteI agree with Liz's comment. We just saw sound of music last night on TV and thought of the same thing! He is the Lord of thunder as well!
ReplyDeleteBlessings to all from Neal and Wendy Chaderjian