Friday, December 30, 2016

Thankful Thursday!

Thankful Thursday is running a day late this week!  I've been working over at ISD 196 teaching eight young ladies how to be swimming instructors.  I have to tell you I am most thankful this week that I was not Teija, another one of our instructors.

Tuesday morning, one of her students got out of the pool and promptly tossed the cookies all over the deck.  Poor Teija got to clean it all up, plus sanitize!

Wednesday afternoon, it appears that one of our students got her period and left a trail of blood throughout the locker room as well as a bloody mess in stall number one.  I don't know.  I didn't need to check it out.  I was too busy explaining the situation to our class.  But you guessed it!  Teija was chosen to fight the bloody battle, along with Birgit.

I can only tell you on Thursday how thankful Teija was that she had nothing to clean up.  And nothing on Friday either - praise God!

Monday, December 26, 2016

That Molded Plastic Playhouse . . .

That molded plastic playhouse rolling down Jalisco Way does not belong to Henry.  When I checked with his grandma, though, I got an almond tart!  It always pays to check . . .

'Twas the Day After Christmas . . ."

"... And all through the house, all the creatures were smiling, even the mouse!"
  
Our holiday started out with Christmas Eve services at Berean Lakeville and our top two favorites of the evening were
  • Pastor Dan reading the Christmas story using a variety of scripture;
  • Pastor Dan on the drums!  That guy can rock! 
We were blessed yesterday to have Sam's cousin David and his family join us for Christmas dinner!  I have to say, the food was outstanding and the company even better!  In fact, I'm surprised you didn't hear us laughing!  Apples to Apples Free Style left us speechless more than once, even with those polite Canadians (inside joke!). 

So while our Christmas wishes to you are late, they come filled with love and laughter!

Thursday, December 22, 2016

Secret Santa: The End of the Saga

Tuesday morning, Sam's building had their Secret Santa Reveal!  According to him, it was great!  When it was S.'s turn to share, she was moved to tears and couldn't even begin to share everything her Secret Santa had done for her.  In fact, her supervisor took over and told stories of all that had happened and the gift's S. had received as S. sat there crying!  When Sam shared that he was her Secret Santa, Sam said the look of disbelief on her face was most excellent - "You!?!"  Leave it to one of the kinder teachers to say, "It wasn't Sam, it was his wife!"

And as far as the Secret Santa Flop . . . well, we spoke too hasty.  Sam's Secret Santa gave the best she could with what she had.  Sam knows her history and we're grateful that she chose to join in the fun with what she could!

Thankful Thursday!

For the past two afternoons, I have been volunteering in Sam's classroom helping his students make snowmen out of rose bowls as a family holiday gift.  I went in fully prepared, with a good idea of who was who and what to expect regarding behaviors.  I worked with groups of three to six students at once and had an absolutely wonderful time.  Anyone can work with small groups of ADHD and autistic children doing an art project for a half an hour.  It takes someone special to go in day after day and try to teach a classroom full of children who have a wide variety of needs and behaviors.  I am thankful for my husband who gets up every morning to face a most challenging and difficult classroom.  I am thankful for a husband who loves his students in spite of their behavior.  I am thankful for a husband who encourages his class and starts new with them every morning.  Sam, you're amazing! 

Saturday, December 17, 2016

Secret Santa Flop!

Every year, I make Sam do "Secret Santa" at his school because I have so much fun doing it!  This year he started to get in to it with me.  The name he drew was one of the kitchen staff whom he had never really met.  I made up seven days worth of gifts and cards and sent him off to school with them - all of her favorites according to her list!  

Because she's in the kitchen, the other day he "ding, dong, ditched" her present!  He put the present down at the back door, rang the service bell and ran.  Next week, he's having a kinder do the dirty work for him.  All in an effort to give her a week of fun and enjoyment!

On the flip side, his Secret Santa is a flop.  Day 2 he got a candle that we're pretty sure was regifted.  I washed off the outside and it looks better now.  Day 3 he got car air fresheners.  You know, the trees that you hang on your mirror.  They went into the circular file.  He came home yesterday with "Droolin' Moose" and I was pretty excited.   "Wow!  Your Secret Santa came through today!"  "Nope," he said.  "That's from one of my student's!"

Friday, December 16, 2016

Confessions of an Escourt

My friend, Jodie Rothwell, posted the following on her blog and I thought it well worth the time to copy it in it's entirety onto our blog.  We met Jodie and her family in Sierra Leone.  Her daughter, Jess, is a month younger than Micah and they had lots of fun together on the good ship Mercy.  Enjoy!

I wrote this blog post the evening of the day I went to screening, back in early September but somehow kept not getting around to posting it. Since our screening has recently wrapped up for Benin and plans are full steam ahead for screening in Cameroon, our next port of call, I thought it was timely to post it now. It also helps me to feel gratitude which I will confess I often find hard at this time of the year, on the ship. This is our fifth Christmas on the ship (in a row) and I am feeling weary. I want to embrace all the traditions of Christmas on board, knowing that one day I will pine for them, but I find myself wishing I was home (my other home) within a familiar culture and with my family. But as I re-read my post I am brought to my knees and not because I cannot walk because my limbs are too twisted, but by how lucky I really have it!! I am blessed beyond measure. 
Get ready to be broken.....
It was the lady crawling on her hand and knees that was my undoing. I felt the tears prick behind my eyes and an uncomfortable lump forming in my throat. “I cannot lose it here, I cannot lose it here, I cannot lose it right in front of her”! I watched her crawl up to the screening nurse, a grown women reduced to the position of a toddler. She stared up expectantly into the compassionate eyes of the nurse as she communicated, through the translator, that we could not help her. With a stoic look on her face, the woman, stood as tall as she could on her swollen and calloused knees and hobbled off before falling back down to her hands, back to her crawling position and began the slow, painful crawl, in the dirt to the exit. I have seen a lot in my time in Africa but I found out on that day, that I still have not seen everything.

This is screening. Finding out who we can treat and how many we can fit in the surgical schedule, shuffling through 11,000 people over three weeks. I spent one day at the screening site, a large local school, working as a patient escort, guiding patients to the exit or onto further screening. Our screening and security team were there for three weeks! Can you imagine being the one who takes away a person’s very last hope for a “normal” life or perhaps even life at all? Close your eyes and imagine your feet aching to the bone, fatigue both physical and emotional like you have never felt before and crushing someone’s spirit with a few words, over and over and over again.

Watching the hope slip away from a person eyes and body is visibly perceivable. Their body slumps over, their eyes are downcast, some with tears forming, some begging for one last chance, their feet shuffle. It is the look of hope shattered. I hear her voice and see the pain in her eyes as she looks directly into mine, “Please can’t somebody help me” as she clutches her deformed and twisted hand, the hand that has to carry her children, the hand  that needs to help her to earn a living to feed her family. I listen as her quite tears turn to sobs as I direct her to the exit.

As I stood at my first post, with no medical background, just my years of attending medical screenings, my mind begins to pre-screen. I already know who is going to be sent to the right for yes and to the left for no. I know the ortho schedule is full and my heart breaks for the literally dozens of kids I see with their crooked legs making their way slowly through the snaking line, I see the mamas untying their babies off their backs, their babies legs twisted, adults who have lived a lifetime with contorted limbs and I know that very soon, their hope will be destroyed and I can hardly stand it.

But sometimes, between dozens of “No’s” there is a “Yes, we may be able to help you”! Escorting a patient who has been told they can move on in the screening is a very different experience than being on the exit. A shy glint of joy, mixed with subtle disbelief, reflects from their features, as if they cannot believe that they could possibly be free from their physical burden.

This is why we are here. We cannot be all things to all people and for that we have to trust in God. We have to hold fast to the belief that God has ordained the moment that each and every person, who receives surgery, stands in line on the right day, at the right time and in the right city. Without this belief, our souls could be destroyed, crushed under a mountain of guilt and “what if’s”.

As I left the screening site and returned to the ship, my body exhausted, I reflected on the day, still feeling raw, my emotions simmering under the surface, my thoughts screaming, “Why? What is wrong with our world? Why is a grown woman crawling in the dirt when I was born into a country of fabulous wealth, world class health care and education, clean drinking water and not a crawling woman in sight?” I don’t know the answers to these burning questions and I don’t profess to be any great theologian.

Maybe one day, when I am standing at the feet of Jesus, I can ask him.
We were blessed that an amazing photographer was on board with us during the original screening weeks. You may have seen his work in the link on my post about shipyard. His ability to capture raw emotion and everyday events, in a beautiful way is uncanny. That is why I have so many photos. It was so hard to chose.
(Some images below you may find disturbing.) 

Dawn screening lines.

The barely controlled chaos that is our screening trademark.

 

 

Elephantitis

So many bow legs.

 

 

 

Some cannot stand in line for so many hours.

 

 

 

 

A Mama's laughter.....

 

 

 

 

 

Mother and daughter both afflicted.

 

 

 

 

 

The Academy Junior High and High School also went to screening for a day. This was Jessica's (braids, grey t-shirt) fourth screening and she was a real trooper. I think of how difficult I find it to see such horrific conditions, but our kids handle it so well and with a maturity beyond their peers in their home countries.

Getting the heads up from screening nurse, Kayla and security officer Penny.

Ortho kids

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The very first appointment card handed out, a symbol of hope and the reason we get up every day, even if our jobs on board do not directly involve the patients.

People often asked why we do what we do? Looking at these photos and with the image of the crawling women burned into my mind forever, I ask the question why wouldn't we do what we do?

 
 

Thursday, December 15, 2016

Fill 'er up!

Matt drove my car yesterday while running errands with me.  Micah drove my car last night to youth group.  But it wasn't until this morning, when the air temperature - not including the wind chill! - was a lovely -11*F that anyone bothered to say, "Mom, your car is out of gas!"  Oh, thank you for telling me! My question is - why was it only women at the gas station this morning?

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Rescue Me!

While Matt was lifeguarding Sunday night, a father came in with little twin daughters.  He was talking to one with his back turned to the other - and the other jumped in!  Unfortunately, she couldn't swim and she was in water over her head.  Matt to the rescue!  He said it wasn't bad except for the fact that he had to spend the rest of his shift in wet trunks!

One Thousand, One Hundred and Forty-eight!

No, friends, that is not the number of laps I've swum - I'm far beyond that!  

That is the number of pictures I took yesterday while my phone was in my back pocket!  And they all look exactly like the one on the left.

Sunday, December 11, 2016

A Weekend's Worth . . .

After working at either an outdoor pool or lake for one year in Iowa, three years in Colorado and four years in Minnesota, along with countless hours "working on my tan", I am pleased to say the dermatologist found only one possible sign of skin cancer Friday afternoon.  They took a biopsy and I'll get the results back this week.  She was fairly sure that if it was anything, it was basal cell carcinoma, the easiest to treat.  To God be the glory!  

Fast forward to Saturday where I had a full schedule at ISD 196.  I started off teaching CPR for the Lay Rescuer.  I had one hour to do it, but it was a new curriculum and the new curriculum did not fit in to the old time schedule.  So my hour became an hour and fifteen minutes which would have been fine, but I had a First Aid Class that should have started fifteen minutes earlier.  Since it was that new curriculum, we barely got started in First Aid and I had to teach CPR for the Professional Rescuer.  Fortunately, my First Aid class was also in my CPR-PR class, so off we ran!  We were almost done with the PR class (I had one lady still taking the written test) so we went back to First Aid.  I took time out to correct the PR test, finished First Aid and then taught Emergency Oxygen Administration.  And then I went home and collapsed - after cleaning all the manikins!

Later Saturday afternoon, Matt sent me a text from work.  A friend in Mankato had been in a car accident and was in the hospital.  Matt wanted to go see him.  Being good parents who knew the weather report, we had him come home and get a coat, hat and mittens as well as something to eat before he left.  Matt had no idea what kind of shape his friend was in.  The car he was in had been t-boned and he was sitting on the passenger side that got hit.  Not know what Matt would see, I wanted to make sure he was prepared for the worst.  He just looked at me and laughed.  "Mom, there was another emergency in the pool today.  The lifeguards didn't know what to do.  Instead of pushing the emergency button to call the front desk (where he was working), they used the walkie talkies to ask us to call 911.  I went back there, and the lifeguards didn't even know what to do.  It was a heat emergency.  I cracked a couple of ice packs and put them on the guy and waited for EMS to arrive."  Okay, Matt - drive safe!  And the good news - his friend will be fine - bruising and a concussion.      

Thursday, December 8, 2016

Thankful Thursday!

On this particular Thursday, I am thankful time moved slow.  I finished cleaning the kitchen and I still had a half an hour before I had to leave for work!  I actually checked two other clocks to make sure the time was right.  I was able to clean two more bathrooms and brush my teeth.

I got to the Y and started swimming.  I had four conversations in my first two miles and looked at the clock.  I still had time to put in another half a mile.  Time was moving slow.  It was great! 

I started my Thursday class and time not only went slow, I think it went backwards.  I have three different clocks to look at when I'm in the water and I swear none of them were moving!  

I thank God for what I was able to accomplish this morning.  Maybe, just maybe, it wasn't that time was moving slow, but that I was actually moving fast!

Thursday, December 1, 2016

Thankful Thursday!

Today I am thankful for my daughter, Micah, who came home from youth group last night all a-smile!  "Mom, we had the best time ever!  I laughed so hard.  It was great!"  I'm also thankful that she is helping me make Christmas presents this year.  Her letter painting is far better than mine!