Monday, July 23, 2012

Summer Favorites: Part 2 - Angelica

If you've read my most popular blog "Communication," then you read about the frustrations and failures of this summer. I want my supporters and sponsors to know that this summer hasn't all been terrible. It was definitely worth my time, energy, and finances to spend 9 weeks in the country that has taken over part of my heart.

I will be writing a blog series about each of my favorite things about this summer ...

Angelica

In the beginning of the summer we weren't doing anything medical, so Charles and I started our own little med project ... doing well check-ups on the kids in the two orphanages we were working with, Tree of Life and FPCH. Before even starting the check-ups we knew that many of the kids were malnourished and very little for their age. After completing the first round of check-ups all of our suspensions were accurate. We saw several kids that were suffering from protein deficiency, several skin rashes, some croup, but what startled us the most was finding a child with what we assume was pneumonia.  Her name was Angelica and she was a very sick little 3 year old who didn't say a single word, she just clung to me because she felt some kind of comfort in my arms. She would lay on a bench off to the side and just sleep because she didn't have enough energy to do anything else. Charles and I were both extremely upset that this was going unnoticed and untreated, but we were bound and determined to get her well! Luckily, we had a medical team staying with us that offered to go check her out. Our suspensions were right on target and we started a round of antibiotics right away. That was on a Friday. On the following Tuesday when we went to visit the orphanage I was so relieved to see that the little 3 year old that wouldn't talk, smile, laugh, or play was now doing all the above. I was able to actually play with her instead of just hold her in my arms. I have a video of her on the swing set laughing and talking like any healthy 3 year old should be doing ... SUCCESS STORY!

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