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Published: November 9th 2009
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Hello!
*Caution this blog contains some sensitive topics
I think this is a record, a new blog two weeks in a row! I had a full weekend and I am looking forward to a full week. While I didn’t have much time to sleep this weekend it was probably one of the best I have had here so I wanted to get some photos up right away. I will be adding more photos to this blog as I get them from friends but here is a start. I started my weekend on Friday with a Rotary lunch and then hurrying home to bake and frost 4 dozen cupcakes for the hospital Christmas party. A couple of my friends came over that night and ended up doing my hair and makeup before we went out with friends. It was the birthday of another friend so we all got dressed up and went out for dinner/drinks on the beach. My friends were helping me practice my hair and makeup for the fancy dance I was going to the next night. Anyways we all ended upon the beach on a warm but breezy night with a full moon over the Indian Ocean which is
even more breathtaking than it sounds. We had a great time but I ended being out later than I planed which tends to happen when I don’t drive myself! I got home and slept for a couple hours before I had to wake up and get ready for the Christmas part at King Edwards Hospital. This is the hospital that I have been visiting weekly with a couple from my church. We ended up having lots of people, toys, balloons and cakes for the kids and spent about 4 hours just loving on the kids. It is a very different hospital experience than we are typically used to as I mentioned in my last blog. We were able to just go in and pick the kids up out of their beds and sing and dance around with them. We had so much fun but it was very emotional. In the second ward we visited I was immediately drawn to one little girl. She may have been as old as 4 but she looked like an infant. She was running a fever had stints and drains in her head and back, and was not even able to track with her eyes.
I don’t know what it was but I immediately sat down and started stroking her hand and head. She was struggling to breath and the nurse told me she was very ill. She said it in a knowing way which makes me think the girl may have been living on limited time. I sat and prayed for the little girl and as soon as I started stroking her head her labored breathing calmed down and was less audible. The other volunteers in the ward started singing silent night and I couldn’t hold it together. One the one side she is lucky to be in the hospital getting care but it is so hard to see innocent children struggle. I brought her a teddy bear and rubbed the soft fur on her arm and face so she could feel it then tucked it in with her. I was trying to stay strong but I kept thinking about the organization I went to that worked with children who had been sexually abused. They told me that it doesn’t matter how much sadness you see you can never stop crying for the children, you can never let yourself get used to the tragedy.
After I left that ward I went back to the first ward and found one of the children we had been playing with still sitting on the bench. She was unable to walk and the nurses had just left her sitting there. She was a sweet little one that didn’t have much strength but could just grab onto my tank top or necklace when I held her. Her body was malnourished, her spine poked into my hands and her hollow hips into my hip. I don’t want you to think it is all sadness, though it is a hospital, there were many other children who were so happy and almost oblivious to their illness while we were there. They were thrilled with their new toys and some recognized me from my visits and came to give me hugs and ngiyabongas (thanks) for the cupcakes. One boy that I have visited for a couple weeks was leaving that afternoon and was so excited to share his new toy with his 4 brothers and one sister. It is emotional and when I left I wished I was taking half of them with me (some do not have parents and apparently this time
of the year it is more common for the parents to drop them off at the hospital and never come back), but it is by far the most rewarding thing I do here. I look forward to my Thursday nights at the hospital and I am thinking about getting a permit to go there more often on my own. I came home from the hospital and while I was on a mental high I felt somewhat bad for the people I saw at the supermarket on my way home. Not only was it very hot in the hospital so I was a bit sweaty holding the kids, I also had encountered my fair share of drool, diapers, meds and lots of little hands dirty with chocolate, frito chips and nik naks which are similar to cheetos. Needless to say I stunk! I took a shower and a got a two hour nap before bribing two of my girlfriends with dinner to come over to do my hair and makeup for our church year end social entitled Hollywood meets Bollywood. The dinner and dance was a blast and I thankfully got a few more hours of sleep before I was at
church at 8 this morning to do Sunday School! For the first time in weeks I got out my coffee maker and made a big to-go cup of coffee for the ride to church. I had a wonderful day with the kids, I think in part due to our party the night before, church was a bit empty so there were only 10 kids in Sunday School this week.
After church I went to lunch at my pastor’s house and had a conversation with him about being a member. So this Sunday I will officially become a member of Hope Church and I have decided to be baptized which is also happening this Sunday! I am very excited and am looking forward to continuing to work with Hope Church. I actually do have an interview this week for a job working with a program my church does with teenagers in the local townships. They work with a larger organization that picks out teens who are natural leaders and gives them more leadership training to become peer educators to others at their school. Grassroots programs like this tend to show the most progress and success and I would be thrilled
to become a part of it even on a temporary or part-time basis.
Otherwise things are going well for me, I should have turned in my proposal for the final review by the time I post this blog. I will also have posted a new blog and a couple meal photos on my gluten blog www.glutenandme.webs.com . I am going to start taking photos of some of my favorite gluten free meals and putting them in the photo album I wanted to do this last week but I was gone every evening so I haven’t made dinner all week! It felt like summer today in a brutal way, it was HOT! I guess it is coming so I better get used to it again! I hope you all are doing well!
Lots of love
Kayse
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KevinD
non-member comment
That was great KC
Always look forward to your blog updates! Hello from way over here. :) KevinD Washington, USA