A Machete, a Hospital, and Piroshkis

Otto and Me

The title of this blog has a lot of variety. So does this blog! It's been a full week and an exciting one. Wednesday morning started off in the car with Selim, the Dalias house’s three-year-old little boy (he lives there because his sisters do), Melissa’s dad, and me in the car on the way to the airport. Carlo was coming home from Mexico and Selim had a doctors appointment, so we were doing our best multitasking. Selim and I sat on the edge of the sidewalk, dangling our legs in the ditch until we saw Carlo walking our direction. Selim was very quiet and intent on watching the road where the passengers would arrive. Suddenly, “Cheeeecherrrrrr Carlo!!!” Errupted from his mouth. Carlo had made it!

From there, we went to the doctor’s office. Selim has had severe leg pain on and off since he arrived and we haven’t been able to figure out what it is. Unfortunately with their minimal medical care here, the doctor just took an x-ray, ordered a heavy NSAID, and sent us home. We’re continuing to work on our own treatment at Familia Feliz.

Selim and a very tired me at the doctor

Thursday was a busy day preparing for Friday so we could prepare for Sabbath! Amongst all the running around and preparing for bedtime that evening, the campus suddenly got very silent. It wasn’t the kids; their high-pitched voices still echoed across the fields. A sinking feeling set in: it was the electricity. No fans going, no water running, and it was so HOT. I went to bed soon after and lay there fanning myself, trying to cool down in my bed where it was nearly 100 degrees. I finally drifted off to sleep, hoping I would wake up to the fans running in a few hours.

Night passed, morning came, and still the silence stayed on. God is merciful; every time the electricity goes out for an extended period of time, he sends rain. This time was no different. Kids and staff alike were out in their swimsuits showering in the gutters as the morning started. I didn’t quite know what to do with myself. I had a huge to-do list, but it all involved either a room that had no natural light and therefore needed electricity, cutting hair with an electric razor, using my phone to research some illnesses, etc. Josy said it was God telling me to take a break! I finally pulled out a book that I’ve wanted to finish for over a year. I spent the strangest morning reading! It was so nice.

The afternoon continued with lines of children filing back and forth from the river to their houses with buckets on their heads retrieving water for their houses. The Lilas cooked their rice in river water for lunch, dirt and all. A little extra seasoning, I guess! Lisiane and I decided to go in search of clean bathing water as the river was so muddy because of all the rain. After tromping through some very dense jungle, looking down a little cliff, and slipping through the mud, I saw a little tiny clear stream flowing into the river! I started following it, shoving vines out of my face as I looked out for snakes. I had always pictured the rainforest to look very different than Familia Feliz. I figured I had just had an idealistic imagination of it growing up. As I looked around me though, I realized that what surrounded me was exactly the vision I had had as a little kid! By then the water had increased a bit and I had found the perfect bathing spot. I pulled out the machete I had at my side and started clearing a trail. Trees, vines, grass, and weeds were everywhere! I eventually made it back to the river trail, quite pleased and very hot and tired! Just as I marched across campus to put away the machete and get a shovel to deepen my bathing spot, I heard shouting from every direction: “Hay Aguaaaaaaaa! Hay Luzzzzz!” (There is water, there is light!). I guess I hadn’t needed to clear the jungle! It was a fun adventure anyway.

I've been blending up fresh grapefruit from our trees and making popsicles. It cools you down almost as a fan!

Brinley, Sofia, Marquitos, and Anthony sitting on the table to avoid the mopping for Sabbath

I sat in the clinic late that night after worship, talking to Dara. “Oof, I hope I don’t have to go to the hospital tomorrow morning! It’s been so many weeks of missing church,” I voiced. Dara looked at me. “You don’t only have to worship in church, Sierra. Your taking kids to town in an emergency is a ministry too. I know it’s different, but it’s such a blessing.” It was true and a good reminder for me. I fully believe in the benefits and need of going to church and fellowship with others, but sometimes ministry is in a different area for a little while, and I can worship my best in that way too.

The Harding house kittens enjoying Friday night evening

Sabbath morning dawned with silence from my phone. I was going to go church!! During church, I started realizing the value of having my little woven fan that Aunt Marta left me. It made my arm about 12 inches longer and therefore I could tap a whole row of talking Guerreros when they got too noisy! The blunt side of the fan equals a soft tap, the side a little bit harder, and the handle was sure to get their attention. It cooled me off impressively, but it also kept a whole pew of teenage boys in line!

Adrian and Pinky at church

I made a polish food for lunch: Piroshkis. It’s a dinner roll-ish dough filled with meat, or in this case, soy protein. The boys were a bit skeptical at first, but with a bit of Zoro’s spicy salsa, they ate ravenously.

Piroshkis

After sunset, Carlo brought one of the youngest and newest Guerreros, Alvaro, over to the clinic. He was screaming and saying a bullet ant bit his foot. Being only 6 years old and coming from a background of severe neglect, he has no idea how to control his emotions and frequently will scream and try to tear apart anything and everything in his path for hours on end. That’s often how the first three weeks go with a new child, after which they acclimate nicely. We were on day 14. He calmed down thankfully, and swallowed some medicine on the clinic bed while Carlo held him. Afterward, I held a bag of frozen peas on his foot to make him feel better. Suddenly the tears started to flow. I finally got Shaun the Sheep pulled up on youtube for him to watch and we tried to distract him as much as possible. Suddenly, he exploded. He grabbed the grocery back of peas, ripped it open, and started throwing handfuls of peas at Carlo and I with all his might. I sputtered and frantically grabbed for the bag while Carlo tried to pick Alvaro up. What followed was half an hour of screaming, hitting, trying to tear the sheets apart, and all three of us accidentally sitting on frozen peas. Not comfy. Finally Carlo went to take him on a walk and I went with Maddy over to the Leones for the last part of little Otto’s birthday party. Carlo joined with little Alvaro after not too long and Alvaro was quite well-behaved. Otto was pleased about all the fuss made over him and was his silly little self, running up and pinching everyone’s noses (a little odd but he finds it amusing) and happily eating his cake. Before bed, he hugged me goodnight and I left to go back to my house.

Halfway across campus, I hear a familiar sound: the blood-curdling screams of Alvaro. Again?! I found Carlo holding him in the middle of the field and scooped Alvaro up under my arm, hoping to keep him in the clinic and make it boring enough that he wanted to listen to Carlo and Treson and go home, in the meantime giving them a break. We sat for a long time as he fought violently and tried to throw things. As my ears started feeling like they were going deaf, I decided to take him on a walk. I prayed out loud and sang as I walked up and down, up and down the driveway, trying to calm him. It worked a little, until he remembered he was mad and started yelling again. Treson and Carlo eventually came and found me, and Alvaro begged them to take him back. He had to agree to be good first, and after not too long, he was asleep in his bed. As I walked home, I thought about how Alvaro would never like me again. That was a sad thought, but hopefully I helped him like his house parents more!

Sunday was a bit chaotic. It was such a relief to not be on my own though! I decided to cut the boys’ hair and spent hours upon hours trying to get through all 14. In the afternoon, we took house pictures, which was fun and crazy. Trying to get 14 little boys 11 and under to look at the camera is quite the chore! As we walked home when Juan and Emi returned, I stopped at the Guerreros to eat a piece of their pizza. As I entered, a running blur of a little boy came up to me and gave me a giant hug. “Alvaro??!” I looked at him in surprise. Apparently he felt we had struck up a friendship somewhere in the chaos!

Alex and Diego

Walking to the store, our Sunday tradition

A baby chicky at the store

A few pictures from our Sunday photoshoot. Carlo and Chacho.

Me and Alex

Diego and Carlo

Trying to get 14 kids to look at the camera? Quite difficult!

A little better success...

Many photos later, we're pretty happy with this one!

Monday morning, I took one of Melissa’s kids, also named Melissa, to the hospital for a tetanus shot. She had stepped on a nail Saturday night that went in about 1 centimeter and we had no record of her ever getting her tetanus series. Sometimes the hospital refuses to give them and I prayed so hard as we waited that they would agree to administer the medicine. God answered my prayer! They didn’t even look at the injury. So strange, but a blessing.

As we drove home, Alex asked me what I was doing for the rest of the day. “Probably charting, cleaning, taking a nap? It seems like it’ll be a slower day.” Oh little did I know. As I woke up from the predicted nap mid-afternoon, I heard screams from the clinic and Josy calling my name. I went in to find Naomi, a little girl from the Dalias’, and Emilianne, sitting on her bed. Her arm was not a straight line anymore, but jutted out to the side significantly about 2/3 of the way to her hand. I had never seen such a bad break before! As I ran around getting medicine, ice, a splint, and water, I contacted Joy (Melissa’s sister) to get a ride into town. Pretty soon we were driving down the highway in Hermano Juan’s car with Naomi screaming in pain. Poor little thing!

The clinic we took her to was a different one than usual. They took an x-ray and put her to sleep to set it. No success. The bone was going to need pins. In the process of drugging her, they injected the medication into her vein, removed the needle, placed it on the bed, picked it up again five minutes later, and stuck it into a vein in her other arm. Watching medical procedures here is so horrifying sometimes. They eventually said to take her to the hospital the next morning for surgery and sent us home.

A very broken arm

What followed was a night of little naps here and there in between singing hymns next to her bed. When I would stop, she’d wake up and cry, but if I kept singing, she slept pretty well.

Tuesday morning found us running back and forth through the hospital getting more x-rays, paperwork, running to another hospital, returning, talking with social work, talking with the surgeon, and finally leaving her there with her mom who had gotten permission to come and spend the night in the hospital with her. We really hoped she could get the care she so desperately needed.

Naomi was so brave at the hospital!

My next blog will continue Naomi’s story! God is teaching me to find Him in the busy days, in the walks between house calls, in the 3am moments when I can’t sleep after giving medicines, and in the long hospital waits. Like Dara said, everything is an opportunity to worship God. No matter where you are, He is there too.

A random picture of the Harding house parrot. He comes into the kitchen he's hungry, fully expecting to be fed a fried egg and banana, on a human plate. He may be spoiled, but it's cute!