In the pediatric ward at the general hospital, there were two rooms that housed kids from newborns to teens. It was so interesting to see how the hospital was set up. There were just big open rooms sectioned into groups by beds. The beds were grouped by a color and one nurse was assigned to each group of beds. For the supplies the healthcare people had, the conditions were very good.
The families were responsible to provide all of the medicines, tools, and supplies that were prescribed by the doctors. The first room we went into was the newborn room. We split into groups with our translators and went around praying and talking with people. I was deeply touched by getting to pray with many of the families. Getting to hold a few of the babies and it was such a cool experience. Some of the babies were so sick and it ripped my heart out. It was so hard to see such small children so sick and know we couldn’t do anything physically to help. It was neat to just hold the babies and talk to them. I love the fact that even though we can’t speak Creole, we could still make a relationship. Some babies and children were abandoned and were being taken care of by women that lived in the hospital with them. In the second room, there were older children. Many of them were receptive to talk or to play with toys. A lot of parents were around and really into their children’s care. Before leaving, we were standing in the admission room and saw a very sick baby. This little girl was a month old and had a large distended abdomen. We prayed for her and talked with her mom before leaving.
Next, we went to Life is Wealth orphanage. The smiles, hugs, laughs and waves we got when we got there made me so joyful. It is amazing to see the love these kids have. Many of the girls had new dresses on that they received at our Christmas Party on Wednesday. Sitting down and just holding a child has made me realize how many moments I have taken for granted. It has been really cool to see how much joy it brings these children to have you just sit with them and show them you care about them. We also made some pretty sweet friendship bracelets and played fun group games.
When we were leaving the orphanage we got to go back to the general hospital and take the very sick baby and her mom to get more treatment. We went to the University of Miami field hospital. Crystal made arrangements for the baby to be seen there because her condition was very severe.
When we arrived we took the baby to triage and had a doctor talk with the mom and find out some history. The baby was severely dehydrated, anemic, weighed around 4 lbs, and was very malnourished. Getting to be there with the mom and baby was awesome. The mom was concerned about finances and didn’t know how she would pay for her little girl to get better. I could tell that us being there to just hold things for her and pray meant a lot.
I know God has big plans for that little girl and that His plan is always the best. Having faith in what He wants can be hard but it is so rewarding. Today, I was really tested to just give this girl to Jesus and trust Him. Faith can be a really tough thing but it is so rewarding.
-Hannah Kirkpatrick
No comments:
Post a Comment