July 5, Tuesday

This week mass has been at the church. The church is very big and beautiful. Everything is wood. The kneelers are hard, there is no cushion, and each time I kneel I feel the pain on my knees. It is only a very small suffering that I can share with God, but I am happy to share it.  It reminds me of how comfortable things usually are in my life at home, and how I not only take this for granted, but on the other hand, how I try to avoid pain, avoid maybe doing things the hard way – when there may be a grace waiting for me through the suffering. The suffering reminds me of those who suffer and have no choice. Those here in Africa who are suffering from HIV, all the orphans left behind, disfigurement, poverty; and in the States, those who are suffering from diseases, cancers, loneliness, poverty, and bullying.  So often I am comfortable and going through my everyday life, that it’s not until I experience pain and reflect upon it, rather than just concentrating on the fact that I am hurting, that I remember those others who suffer daily. The hard, wooden kneelers in church...

Note to self – Never put your feet on the kneelers. That is an understood rule here.

Milan’s day at the orphanage: weeding the grass in the yard, played soccer with Aday and rode her on bike. Sr. Natalia gave Milan some biscuits for the little ones so that they would gain trust with Milan and come to him to get them. These have been affectionately named the “trust biscuits”. And Sr Natalia also makes a small biscuit called “ChinChins” that Milan loves and I am requested to make once we get home. The recipe is flour, egg, margarine, sugar, lemon rinds, nutmeg and are fried. After Milan’s day in the orphanage, he went up to the surgical ward and played 6 games of Drout with Julius. Won 2, Draw 1, Lost 3; getting better… and taught them blackjack.

Our 2 week old at 2kg...now 2.5kg!

There were sick, sick kids in the hospital with seizures, malaria, respiratory tract infections, gastroenteritis, marasmus, Kwashiorkor, and TB; adults with bowel obstructions, metrorrhagia, CHF, weakness, pneumonia, and pelvic abscess. In the clinic: a child that was 2.2kg at birth and now at 2months weighs 2.5kg. Malnourishment, loss of periorbital fat, club foot – mother does not want to admit the child. We are praying hard for this little one. 

Another case of parotiditis and one girl who is very tall and slim, walked pigeon-toed, with a history of pains in her ankles and knees, and whose feet would “freeze” in place 2x year requiring hospitalization. One young gentleman with symmetric polyarthralgias rendering him with a limp, and pronounced cardiomegaly with mitral regurgitation, mitral and aortic stenosis. All need your prayers and donations as you can. One young lady had herpes zoster that had resulted in a secondary infection of both her eyes, swelling one eye completely closed. She wanted to leave the following day because she couldn’t afford both the hospital stay AND the medication acyclovir. We explained to her how the IV antibiotic treatment was critical for the secondary infection for now and the acyclovir is next. It is patients like these that your donations help to heal.