Juancito, the Oldest Leones’ Boy (PC: Treson)
“Ok Jose, where do you normally hang your wet clothes?” I asked the little guy who stood in front of me, dripping clothes in hand. “Teacher, look—“ “No Jose, where do you put your wet clothes?” “But Teacher, look!” I couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t focusing. “Ok Jose, I need you to focus. Where do you normally put—“ “Teacher! Un boro!” I quickly looked to where he was pointing. There, on my pant leg, was a moth, one of the ones that likes to lay eggs in people’s skin. I let out a small squeal and swatted it away. I was so grateful for his persistence!
This week started off with a busy Friday. Along with my usual nursing duties, I had agreed to fry donut holes for supper at the Leones’ house. I flew around, cooking, cleaning, organizing groceries, and taking care of sick kids all day.
Whenever I go to the biggest house on campus, the Harding house, to care for their kids, I struggle to find the kid I’m looking for. However, I’ve found the trick. There is the cutest little 3-year-old girl name Florita, and she always knows where everyone is! She’s gotten so used to me asking her that when I walk up to the door she says, “Teacher, who are you looking for?” And when I tell her she goes and gets them, whether it be a 2-year-old that she has to drag behind her or a teenager. So cute!
Sabbath morning found Zoro, Maddy, and me trying to make breakfast without propane and struggling over an open fire for a couple hours, finally succeeding in making rice pudding. There’s a shortage of propane in town right now and it’s a learning curve for us to not have stoves! After breakfast, I was about to shower and get ready for church when one of the older boys walked into the clinic. He sat down and showed me his leg. What I found was an undermining wound, deep and old. I sent him to Sabbath school with a cream to soften it and started researching the best care. I finished figuring out what to do just in time for an injured little girl to come to the clinic. After giving her pain medicine and putting her to bed along with other treatment, I finally started getting ready for church. I made it just in time for offering!
After sunset, I found the boy with the wound on his leg. I removed the bandaid to find that the cream had indeed softened the wound and a significant amount of purulent drainage came pouring out. I reached in with an instrument, measuring the depth in every direction. Realizing I needed to cut it open a little wider, I got some more supplies along with Emilianne to help. Pretty soon I was injecting the lidocaine and waiting for it’s effects to kick in.
The process went extremely well. Within half an hour the wound was opened more, cleaned out, packed with 44cm x 1 cm
packing gauze, and bandaged. It was quite the process!
Cleaning up after the wound care
The rest of Sabbath was peaceful, and we ended the day with planning our Christmas break trip, which was exciting! The student missionaries are planning to explore South America for a few weeks together before school starts in February.
Sunday was a huge improvement from the previous one. The boys behaved nearly the whole day and it was fun getting to play with them. They have been taught well by Hermano Juan, and whenever they start eating what I’ve cooked they take a bite and then look at me, saying, “Teacher, que rico!” (How delicious!). The four-year-old is often the first to yell it excitedly. It’s very sweet!
The kids playing
They didn’t stay dry for long!
As Carlo and I tucked them in for the night, we asked for their prayer requests. We got a huge variety of responses, from “my family” to “God”, “My dad and God’s dad”, and “My egg that I’m not allowed to break before pathfinders” (they’re doing a parenting simulation by having to carry an egg around with them for several weeks without breaking it). It was awfully cute! Just as we hugged and kissed the last little one goodnight, the power went out. I was so thankful that God had kept it on until they were in bed! Without the light pollution, the sky above campus was beautiful and all of the student missionaries stepped outside their respective houses to watch the twinkles of fireflies and stars.
The stars over the Leones’ house Sunday night (PC: Treson)
Monday found me once again making house rounds and treating various illnesses. The kids are starting to attach my name to “Teacher”, and it’s so cute to hear their pronunciation. I have been called Cherra, Che-Chu, and Siella by the younger kids. The older ones get great joy out of adding words to my name because of its meanings in Spanish, including “Cierra la puerta” (close the door), “Sierra Mecánica” (chainsaw), and so on. It’s quite amusing!
We also picked up a highschooler from Santa Cruz who came to spend his vacation at Familia Feliz. Emilianne and I cleaned a room in the student missionary guys’ house for him and helped him get settled. Within a few hours, he was horrified by the bugs and started spraying insecticide everywhere. Our guys turned on fans all over the house to try and get fresh air and bugs were dead everywhere. We felt bad for the guest, but also were a little amused to realize that we weren’t the ones struggling to get used to the bugs anymore!
Speaking of bugs, I will simply share with you a message I sent to my family this week: “Tengo mucho mucho lice”. No fun! I think I’ve gotten rid of them at least for now.
Tuesday was busy as we practiced for hours for an inspection on Wednesday. The town mayor was coming to visit along with some other government officials. The kids marched in and out of the church, practiced their special musics, and cleaned their houses. I watched the Leones’ for the afternoon while Hermano Juan and Hermana Emi went to town in search of propane.
Baby José enjoying practice
After supper, I headed back to the clinic to take care of evening patients. The boy with the wound on his leg was getting better so quickly! He happily watched as I finished bandaging it. I tried to explain what I had done in my broken Spanish, and his friend who was with him just shook his head and said, “Teacher, your Spanish is so bad!” The boy looked at his friend protectively and said, “Her Spanish is a whole lot better than your English!” I was quite amused!
Changing the wound dressing
As morning broke on Wednesday, I could feel the excitement and nervousness in the air. Everyone ran around getting ready, cooking food for the officials, and practicing one last time for the program. Finally they arrived, and everyone marched into the church as planned. The program went smoothly, and Carlo and I closed it with “Go Light Your World” that we sang at church last Sabbath. The mayor was extremely pleased and thanked everyone at the orphanage for the program. As everyone went to their respective houses and the officials toured campus, I went back to the clinic. In the bustle of the morning, I had brought a sick little girl in and she had been sleeping. As I sat with her, I was working on camp planning for next summer and happily eating a piece of chocolate cake when I realized that the officials were only a few steps away from the clinic door! Frantically I tried to decide where to put the cake. On a chair? No. A flashback of reading Anne of Green Gables growing up came through my mind and I remembered how her guest had sat on cake that way. On the shelf? No, too strange with the medicines. Finally, I just left it on the desk and went to the door. They came in, asking rapid questions in Spanish. Did I like it here? Did I miss my country? What do I treat? As I answered their questions, they were very kind and thanked me profusely before leaving. We breathed a sigh of relief that the day had gone well.
Afternoon in the clinic
Evening came and went, and the sick little girl was getting worse. I tucked her into the clinic bed and tried to decide what to do. I finally figured out how to hang my hammock above my office desk and climbed in for the night. It was a long night of getting up every 30 minutes to 2 hours with her as she threw up and struggled to sleep with her very high fever. When the sun came through the window, I groggily rolled out of bed to check on her. It had been a long night. I was grateful that her fever had lowered significantly and I was able to get her resting comfortably by 10.
It was a full week. Many more medical adventures than usual, but a blessing. God is working, and I saw my relationships with the local house parents growing a lot. I am so grateful for the people in the US who gave me advice as I treated kids, the thoughtful house parents who made me food, the local who brought me fruit for caring for her kid, and the student missionaries who ran countless kinds of errands for me. God got me through another week! He takes care of our needs so well. Thank you for your continued prayers! I’m so glad I get to be here.
PC: Treson