Fun in the Mud

I wouldn't exactly classify our missionary kids here as the type to tip-toe through the mud, trying not to get their pants or shoes dirty. They are much more likely to run around barefoot and find a nice muddy hill to slide down! Somehow I got drug into one of these adventures, though I had the brains not to fling myself down the muddy slope myself. You might think these were some of the young boys, running around getting dirty...nope. It was the girls! We all walked up the muddy road to the "perfect" very steep hill of mud and they flung themselves down it over and over. If only they had a toboggan or even a good trashcan lid to slide down on, I may have tried it. But alas, my bum is not as young as it used to be...:)

After they had giggled and screamed themselves hoarse with glee and gotten themselves completely covered in the slippery red mud, they decided I was much too clean. By the time we got back down the road, one of the Mom's said, "oh, Renee, I'm surprised you went down it!". When I told her I hadn't, she didn't believe me because I was covered in mud from head to toe!

Flood Aftermath

The flooding here in October was pretty incredible. At least for me. It was intense for a while, but now things are getting back to normal. Thank the Lord there wasn't nearly as much permanent damage to the villages as there could have been. People spent a lot of time digging mud out of homes and some of the mud huts collapsed, but people seemed to band together and help each other initially. Since all the bridges were out for nearly 2 weeks, people were running short on their food supply. We thought they were getting plenty of supplies through a government organization that was bringing in helicopters to drop food. However, we quickly realized that only the political and strong among the villagers were getting the food. Distribution was not organized, so the young, fast and healthy got what they wanted and the poor, feeble and hungry were left at the back of the lines with nothing. Our missionary community organized to assess needs in the different communities around us and help with appropriate distribution of the resources as well as some donations of our own. When the bridges were finally repaired there was a mass exodus for the city!

It is wonderful to have electricity and water and actually have my food in my own house rather than in one of the refrigerators running off the hospital generator. It had a real community feel though for all the missionaries to come to the worship center at the hospital to get their food from the community fridges. Many of us ate there as well. Eating by candle light loses its charm pretty quickly! :)

I had the distinct privilege of crossing two fast flowing rivers in a very tiny dugout canoe. My friend Daron came to visit and even though he delayed his flight by a few days, the bridges were still not usable. So, I climbed into the tiny canoe that only stuck out of the water about 2 inches. I practically held my breath the entire way, I was so afraid to move and flip the canoe over. Then I had a mile walk to calm my nerves before climbing into an even smaller canoe for the next river! :)

There are many patients with colds, but not at many serious infections as I anticipated. We'll see about the Malaria and Dengue! There are mosquitos hatching everywhere. :( We've had to cancel our medical outreach to the Cayos Cochinos Islands twice already due to the weather. We are going to try again the beginning of December if the ocean is calmer.

There are lots of photos here. These pics probably aren't that impressive if you don't know what it used to look like, but here they are anyway. The building with a huge hole in it is the Baptist church in a village nearby. The pic of the huge roots is a massive tree in the middle of a river. The pic of the woman walking toward her hut shows where her banana tree crop used to be. I went up to our favorite swimming hole and barely recognized it. Where a jungle path had been there were just rocks and a couple trees left standing. The water had overflowed its bank so much that it ripped out all the trees and undergrowth for about 20 feet above the banks. Some HUGE boulders were out of place and where there were lovely rocks, there is now sand; where there was a sandy beach, there are now tons of rocks. Incredible what a lot of water moving really fast can do!

Tears From Heaven

I wrote the following description right after attending the funeral of 12 year old Karen who died of bone cancer:

We drove solemnly up the windy road, climbing the hill outside the city. Humble homes were stacked on the hillsides and vegetation dripped down the sides of the cliffs. Soon we joined the crowd of mourners standing in the muddy streets all around Karen’s house. We were ushered inside the tiny living room where the small black coffin sat, covered with flowers. The coffin was so small, coffins should not be that small. A life ended too soon.

Karen’s older sister clung to the coffin, wailing in grief. Karen’s mother entered the room, her face puffy from crying. Fresh tears streamed down her face when she saw our small group from the hospital. I held her tight and we both sobbed for the loss of her 12 year old daughter. She thanked us over and over for all that was done at the hospital to treat Karen’s bone cancer. She said that in Karen’s last days, when the cancer that had metastasized to her lungs made breathing difficult, she begged her family to take her back to Loma de Luz hospital, to her doctor. We wept fresh tears.

There were prayers and songs and tears. Then the long wake to the cemetery. Hordes of students came. There were children weeping everywhere, crying out for their beloved classmate. So young for such pain and grief. The coffin was so small…

As they prepared to place the coffin inside the tomb, Karen’s mother threw herself on the coffin, screaming, “ I want to touch her one more time! Just one more time, my baby!”. Karen’s sister fainted, her brother collapsed to his knees in tears. Off to the left there was a young voice crying out, “I miss her so much! I miss my friend!” I looked over to see a young boy in his blue and white school uniform, clutching his mother, tears streaming down his face. I scanned the crowd of mourners as the rain began to fall gently. There was not a dry eye in the crowd. Soon raindrops were mingling with the tears streaming down people’s faces. It was as if even the heavens were grieving the loss of this young life.

This funeral was so sad, but I’m very glad I chose to attend. It was very different from funerals in the States. In Latin culture there is no one telling you, “hush, don’t cry” or “be strong” or “it will be OK”. There is no one expecting you to “hold it together”. Latinos cry and wail and lament the loss in very physical ways. They actually let their emotions out and I think they grieve in a healthier way than we do. In the midst of grieving the loss of their little girl, this family was also praising God for the life Karen had lived and the lives she had touched. They wailed and screamed that they wanted her back, yet they said prayers of thanksgiving that she was happy with her Lord, her suffering was over. They thanked God that someday they would see her again in heaven, happy and whole, smiling beside her Savior.

Attack Dog

Tonight when Jasmine climbed onto my lap on the couch, she happened to stretch up and look at herself in the mirror on the wall. Talk about freaking out! She was in attack mode! She started barking, hair standing on end and she nearly lunged for the wall. (of course the dog on the wall was barking back at her, so she was naturally upset…) I pulled her down so she couldn’t see herself, but she kept trying to get up. She was sniffing the air and barking….I nearly peed my pants I was laughing so hard. Finally I put her on the ground and she ran to the window, then the door, then sniffed all around under the mirror and tried to look up into the mirror above her head. I was still rolling with laughter and trying to get her to calm down. Finally she decided the threat was over, but for ten minutes, she would still give the occasional growl in the direction of the mirror. :)

October Floods

We have had some crazy rain this week. I was sure we were in the middle of a hurricane. This storm has actually caused more flooding and damage than former hurricanes! The flooding caused all the rivers we know of to overflow their banks, and many ran right through the middle of villages. So many homes have been flooded and filled with mud. Crops like banana trees have been flattened by the rushing water and we are all isolated from the city and from one another by the overflowing rivers. Two of the main bridges between us and the city are uncrossable and people are starting to go across in little canoes. Kinda dangerous with the fast-moving water! We have been out of power all week and they are working frantically to get the power lines back up. We had no water for a few days, so we had to gather water in buckets outside but now our system is working again. Thankfully, they had just filled the diesel tanks for the hospital generator so we were able to move freezers and fridges into the hospital areas to keep our food from spoiling.

We have been very blessed with our dedicated employees who have hiked through mud and forged rivers to get to work. Then we are challenged with treating the few patients who can actually make it here and making sure it is safe for them to go back home.

We still do not know what devastation has occured in the mountains. Here on the coast, only a few homes have been completely washed away. But with the mudslides we are having here, we can only imagine how many homes have slid down the muddy mountains, leaving their inhabitants homeless, wet and cold. We pray for their safety and our wisdom to help them when we can.