SUNDAY - What I was made to do
God works in unexpected ways. I finally got an opportunity to work in the clinic today, something I've really been looking forward to doing. There were some anxious thoughts in me about it when I woke up thinking about the language abrrier & differences in medical practice, but I voiced those to God in prayer and trusted that He would take care of it. I mean He IS GOD. Sometimes when I really take time to dwell on that & all it entales, I feel silly for ever worrying.
Sara, Jeremy Lou, and I left for the clinic at 8:50am. After waiting for half an hour the doctor was done seeing a patient, and we went back to see him. Dr Abraham graciously welcomed us and introduced us to the rest of the staff, explaining that we would be helping them in the clinic. I had no idea what to expect. Dr Abraham told the 2 other nurses that I would be helping them take histories, vitals, height, & weight of the children. Apparently since market day is Sunday that is also the day that alot of parents take their children to the clinic for check-ups.
After waiting a few more minutes, the 2 nurses said they were ready for me. Jeremy Lou & I followed them down the hall to a big room toward the back. In the middle sat a desk where the 2 nurses sat a single metal chair for the patient. Against the wall was a wooden bench where family members sat. The room also had a wooden table, baby weighing scale, and a refridgerator that housed all their vaccinations and some medications.
I took a place standing toward the corner of the room as to not be in the way, but one of the nurses told me to come close & watch how they fill out their patient history forms. So I moved closer & stood next to the desk. The second nurse came in with an old man who sat down in the metal chair across from the desk. I listened intently as they interviewed the elderly man. Jeremy translated some of it for me, but I was surprised at how much I understood.
The morning continued on like that, and the longer I was there the more I got to do. The first patient we saw was a 9-month-old baby boy who came in for a check-up. He was a chunky, happy baby with chubby cheeks, lots of black unruly hair, and a big sweet toothless grin. I held him while his mother got a tetanus vaccine & paid the nurses for the visit. Next was a baby girl who was only 7 days old. It was crazy to think she has been born since we've been in Peru. She was so tiny but very healthy. She had to get 2 vaccinations while she was there, one for tuberculosis in her arm and another one in her leg that I didn't know. Her father helped the nurses hold her down while they gave her the shots. She screamed so loudly & abruptly that I was taken back in surprise. It was hard to watch such a long needle go into such a tiny, helpless infant, but it was something that had to be done for her best interest. The last patient we saw this morning was another baby boy, this one 2-months-old. But when his mother unwrapped him from the bundle on her back, I was shocked to see how tiny he was. He didn't look any bigger than the 7-day-old little girl. When they tested his development he had no neck control, couldn't hold his head up, and didn't make any kind of response or acknowledgement to the ringing of a bell. I got to weigh him on the baby scale and measure his height. Then he was laid on the wooden table and given 2 oral vaccines, one of which I know was for polio. the ppor thing was crying as the nurses prepared a shot vaccine for him. So I put my hand on his belly to rock him, and he immediately clasped his tiny hands around my index finger & was not about to let go. I spoke to him in spanish to soothe his crying. It worked until the nurses came back over with a needle & an alcohol swab. He continued to squeeze my finger & began screaming as I held him still while the nurses gave him a shot in the thigh. Once they were done, I put his diaper back on him, pulled his pants up, and wrapped one of his blankets back around him. Then his mother came over to pick him up & breastfeed him. The nurses instructed his mother sit in the metal chair across from the desk, and they explained to her that her son is very small & underdeveloped for his age. One of the nurses went to the cabinets in the corner and retrieved a small bottle. She wrote down some instructions and handed them to the mother with the small bottle. "This medicine will help your son grow bigger & stronger. Give him 2 drops in his mouth 3 times a day. Do this every day for 4 months, and come back to the clinic in October." They repeated this to his mother several times trying to stress the importance of the medicine. Those were all the patients we saw this morning. Dr Abraham told us we could come back in the afternoon if we wanted but we didn't have to. I really wanted to go back, but the afternoon was too busy with the cleaning, showering, & laundry. I look forward to the next time I get to go back, and I will be sure I can spend all day there. It was such an awesome experience.
WEDNESDAY - Story Time
This week we have finally begun our storying, and it seems to have lifted everyone's spirits. There seems to be a more definite purpose for our presence here now that we have the first 3 stories memorized and have started sharing the gospel. We thought we could begin storying on Monday, but once the day began we realized that was doubtful. The whoel town was empty & closed down. Out of everything in the town only a couple of the bodegas & one restaurant were open. The schoolc weren't even in session. We found out through asking someone that everyone had traveled out of town for a fiesta in another town and they wouldn't be back until Wednesday. So much for going out in full force to story with people. We went to Gumericinda's restaurant for lunch. Surprisingly, it was open, Emily talked with her after we ate, and Gumericinda asked if we could go story with them at their restaurant on Thursday night at 7 or 8. We talked to John on the phone, and he said he would be able to come out here on Thursday to story with them. For now, John will be doing the storying with them bcause they have already heard some of the stories, and we don't have the later stories memorized yet. Monday afternoon some of us were hanging out in the plaza and started playing with a few little boys while Jeremy Stanley talked with a group of teenage boys. Jeremy was trying to get them to do some break dancing moves with him, but they boys would only watch. Then after a while one of the boys said we should go up to the lookout. So the Jeremys, Alison, Sara, & I trekked up the hill to the lookout with the 3 teenage boys & some little boys we had been playing frisbee with. Once we got up there, the boys were more open to try the moves Jeremy was showing them. I think they didn't want to look stupid in front of people in the plaza so once we went somewhere out of the way, they would try. The next hour was spent watching Jeremy Stanley try to teach these Aymaran boys how to break dance. Alison, Sara, & I watched in amusement for a while and then started doing our own dance moves. I did some swing dancing moves with Alison, picking her up and swinging her around my torso. Sara said that she is going to take me dancing once I get to Belton because she will be in Temple at medical school. Honestly, that sounds really fun even though I'm not the best dancer. The sun began to set and the wind picked up so we called it quits for the day and set up another time to hang out with those boys on Tuesday afternoon. Unfortunately, they didn't show up.
Tuesday was a much busier day. I did my laundry Tuesday morning after worship because I didn't have time on Sunday with the clinic & everything else I had to do. Then once I finished rinsing & hanging all my clothes up to dry, the Jeremys, Alison, & I set out on another hike to retrieve firewood, this time going out to the cliffs instead of up the mountain. Monday night our gas heater ran out of gas so we wanted to make sure we have enough wood to last us through this weekend we go to Huancane for a retreat. We found fallen trees, and the boys used Jeremy Stanley's survival kinfe to cut up the tree trunks for wood. We came back with a ridiculous amount of wood, and it was HEAVY. My backpack was stuffed full of small sticks & overflowing out the top. I used strips of tree bark to tie together a big bundle of logs that I carried on my back sitting between my head & my backpack. And in my hands I carried a very large log that we found sitting on the rocks. The other 3 of our group had just as much wood on them so the 2-3 mile hike back was much harder than before. We had to stop & rest a couple of times along the way.
Tuesday afternoon we had times scheduled to story at 4pm with some man at the police station and 7pm with Sophia & her husband who are the niece & nephew of the man whose home we are styaing in. Sophia told us in the afternoon that she had a headache so she asked us to come tonight [Wednesday] instead. A man came up to Emily while she was sitting out in the plaza and asked if she would teach him English. She agreed and set up a time at 6pm tonight to teach him English & then share a story. The man said he is bringing 5 friends with him.
At 3:50pm Jeremy Lou, Emily, Jeremy Stanley, and Alison went to the police station to tell the Creation story. Heather, Sara, and I stayed behind so as not to overwhelm them. We went upstairs in the living room and prayed from 3:55-4:45pm as the story was being told. Then we went to the kitchen to begin dinner preparations. Just as we began cooking bacon & pancakes, we heard the rest of our team coming up the stairs. I eagerly asked how it went. Jeremy Lou told the story so that Emily vould see how it is done. They said that it went well, the men weren't very responsive in answering the questions afterward, but they were really interested by the hook Jeremy left them for the next story about the Fall of Man which is the story I will tell them. They set up a time to meet again next Monday at 4om because they will be gone out of town the rest of the week. The 2 policemen said they would also invite their families to come listen.
Tonight we ahve 2 storying times, one at 6pm for the English class and another at 8pm with Sophia & her husband. We have tried today to talk with the woman who runs the hostel in Conima. Alison has seen her garden & would love to garden with her, but we've had a hard time tracking her down. We also tried to talk with Susana & Lucian who run a little bodega, but they weren't there when we went to visit. More storying updates to come, and praise God for all the opportunities He is putting in our path.
FRIDAY - Plungers, guitar, English lessons, and a much-needed movie night
In case I haven't already mentioned it, I've had diahrrea since the day I arrived in Peru. That's 3 weeks of diahrrea so far, and no end seems to be in sight. It is starting to get old. Last night alone I had it twice. One of the time I had to run out of the restaurant during dinner and hurry back to the house to use the bathroom. I'm wondering if this is ever going to go away before I leave Peru. Another month of this diahrrea doesn't sound like much fun.
John came yesterday and stayed the night. After we storied at the restaurant last night we all watched Fireproof upstairs in the living room via John's portable DVD player. Having a movie night was really nice.
Thursday wasn't too eventful. I was elected from our group to find a solution to the clogged up toilet on the third floor. Noone knows who stopped it up. Wednesday the Moho team came to visit and used that toilet the whole day & evening. I wondered if maybe someone forgot that they can't flush the toilet paper. So Emily & I got to go ask Sophia about possibly getting a toilet plunger. Of course no one knew how to say "plunger" in spanish so we had to play charades. That was interesting & somewhat embarassing. Come to find out we would have to go to Juliaca to get a plunger and that wasn't gunna happen. The only other possible solution I could come up with was to call John & ask if he could bring one since he was driving out here that afternoon. After having to explain the situation to Sonia on the phone, she said she would make sure John came with a plunger. Yes! I had never been so thankful for a toilet plunger. When it finally arrived, Alison promptly went upstairs to resolve that problem.
Jumping back to Wednesday, the Moho team came to visit as I previously stated. We had a fun-filled evening of worship followed by the serranadings of Tim & his song-writing. He writes country songs, and I must say I was very impressed!
Also on Wednesday evening, Emily, Heather, & I went to teach our first English lesson. Jeremy came along as protection. We went throught he alphabet, days fo the week, and useful phrases like "Hello, how are you?" and "My name is...". The man we taught, Armando, asked if he could come to out house to make us dinner on Friday evening. We had to explain that we can't invite people into the house because it isn't our home. So we agreed to go to his house for dinner at 6pm Friday night and share the Creation story with him & his family. Only 3 of us will fit in his home so Emily, Heather, & Jeremy Stanley will go. Then at 8pm Wednesday night, Emily, Sara, & I got to story with Sophia & her husband in their storefront. Emily told the story well with no flaws, and they appeared very interested. They were very responsive when we discussed the story especially Sophia's husband. We set up another storying date with them next Wednesday at 8pm. So far that makes 3 story dates next week where I will be sharing my story, the Fall of Man.
John arrived here Thursday afternoon to share a story with Luis & Gumericinda, the couple that owns the restaurant where we eat. SO that night at 7pm we went there & ate trout for dinner. I was having alot of digestive problems and didn't want to be a distraction running out during the story to go to the bathroom so I left after dinner with Alison & Jeremy Stanley. When the rest of the group got back later that night, John said the story went great. They had a long discussion after he was done telling the story. Our group tried to set up another storying date with them, but because Luis has been traveling to Juliaca to look for work they didn't know when he would be back to head the next story. But the good news is they definitely want to hear another story.
In other news, I am learning to play a song on the guitar. Jeremy Lou taught me the chord progressions on Wednesday night so I've been practicing that in my free time. I think I'm almost ready to learn the strumming rhythm now. This is the song I chose to learn. I fell in love with the lyrics as soon as I heard it.
You said "Ask, and you wil recieve whatever you need."
You said "Pray, and I'll heal from heaven and I'll heal your land."
You said "My glory will fill the earth like water the sea."
You said "Open your eyes. The harvest is here. The kingdom is near."
You said...
Ask, and I'll give the nations to you.
Oh Lord, that's they cry of my heart.
Distant shores & the islands will see your light as it rises on earth.
