The
Good
Last
Wednesday I spent the afternoon at the hospital with Jabali, and Tracy (HCO’s
social worker). Jabali was born with Hydroenchepalitis caused by meningitis (so
the doctor said). He has a shunt in his head that is supposed to drain fluid
into his stomach. It took him a long time to walk because he has problems
balancing due to his larger than normal head. Over the last several months he’s
become quite a good walker even on un-level ground. We were concerned because
for about a week his balance seemed way off and he was falling a lot more than normal. So we took him to the local public hospital just for a check up. We
arrived and we were #34 in line. Luckily we found a bench to sit on amongst all
the other people waiting. People stared as we were waiting. Possibly because
Jabali’s head attracts attention, possibly they were wondering why this mzungu
was sitting in the public hospital with a “handicapped” child and another
African woman, or possibly because Jabali cried the whole time we waited, even
in his sleep. Thankfully we weren’t all waiting to see the same doctor so it
didn’t take as long as it could have. We were waiting on one of several
rotating doctors that could check the shunt, and who are only at the hospital
on Wednesday afternoons. We waited about an hour and a half. Eventually a man
and woman who were filthy arrived in the waiting room escorted by 2 nicely
dressed women and a man. I could smell them from down the hall before they even
turned the corner. The stench of body odor and urine was so potent it filled
the small waiting area. Their clothes were tattered and torn, barely covering
enough of their bodies to provide any kind of modesty. They were without shoes.
I saw dry, cracked, dirty feet. I stared at them to keep from staring in
general like everyone else was doing. The woman had clubbed feet, and was
signing to one of the well-dressed ladies who didn’t seem to understand her.
They tried to force her to sit on one of the benches. Everyone who was
occupying that bench immediately scooted in the opposite direction or turned
their backs. They did the same as the man, who was handcuffed, sat on another
bench not too far away. I wondered if they were coherent enough to register how
the people around them reacted. I wondered if they had come from jail, and why
they were there. To everyone’s relief, a doctor saw them rather quickly. While
they were in the examination room Tracy asked one of the women who they where,
and why they were there. She said she was a social worker and the man and women
lived on the street and had been found doing “odd things” so they were picked
up for a psych evaluation. I wondered what would happen to them next.
We
were called into the examination room and the doctor was very pleasant. Jabali
was scared of him, but he was good with him even though he cried. He said he
thought his shunt was functioning properly and showed us how to check and see
if it was clogged. I still wondered how he could know without any real medical
records, and just by touching the shunt at the base of his skull. He said to
come back in 3 months for a check up.
The
Bad
As
we waited on the bench before we saw the doctor I asked Tracy more about
Jabali’s story. Most of our babies have been abandoned, but I didn’t know the
specifics of his story. She told me he had been born here in this hospital, but
that they “lost” his medical records. She was anticipating having a hard time
with the nurse who checks people in before seeing the doctor because neither
the hospital nor Tracy had his medical records. Jabali’s mother left him at the
nursery of this same hospital about a week after he was born. All of his
official papers have his mother’s name on them because she never named him.
Until he is adopted and they officially change his name it will officially
remain the same as his mothers. Tracy said the name is probably also fake. She
said mother’s who know from the beginning that they will abandon their child
give a fake name so they can’t be traced and go to jail for abandoning their
child. If she hadn’t been planning on abandoning him from the beginning, she
definitely would have once she realized he had a problem and wouldn’t be able
to pay for the medical care he needed. That is where HCO came into the picture.
Originally it was just to put up the money for the shunt surgery he needed.
Eventually Jabali came to call HCO home. Apparently the hospital doesn’t bother
to keep medical records for babies that have been abandoned. Even though he was
born there, and had his surgery for the shunt there, they have no medical
records for him beyond the paperwork HCO has. What a sad example of how babies
are not valued by their own families, and the system at large. What a blessing
it is that there are organizations like HCO, and many others, who value those
babies because they were created by God, and give them not only a home, but families
who will cherish them the way God intended.
The
Ugly
I
can definitely say this past week has not been my cleanest or most beautiful. I’ve
been having a battle with the shower. While not unusual, it has been especially
unreliable this week. Monday we had no water, which means no shower, no bath,
no brushing teeth, washing hands or flushing the toilet. It was a great
opportunity to wear this really cute hat my mom gave me for Christmas! Tuesday
and Wednesday the water was back, but we lacked enough pressure to activate the
heating mechanism in the showerhead so it was bucket baths in lieu of a cold
shower. Thursday to my surprise the water in the shower was warm! To my dismay
the water ran out in the middle of my shower. Luckily I had water in a bucket
in my shower I used to get the shampoo out of my hair. Friday was back to
bucket baths. Monday seemed promising with a warm shower on an unusually chilly
day, until the power went out in the middle of my shower. Now it is Tuesday. I
spent the early morning mopping up water from the kitchen floor because the refrigerator
has started to thaw. Finally, this afternoon the power is back on!
I tell
you these stories not to complain, or wrench you heart, but to give you a
glimpse of what everyday life is really like. There are days that are wonderful
filled with laughing babies, sunshine and seeing people’s lives being redeemed.
There are other days where it’s not so fun or easy. Where you see and
experience hard things, boring things, annoying things. But, we take the good
with the bad, and the ugly, and it is worth it.
Everything you see as
broken and rejected, He sees as redeemed and lovely. Psalm 139
