Smiles, Tears, and Puke

Hospital visit days are probably my favorite because they help me keep all of the office work in perspective. Today we picked up nine Palestinian kids and brought them to the hospital for echo.

The sun shone down bright and clear as we pulled up to the Erez Border Crossing to pick up nine Palestinian children and their parents. We loaded up the vans and headed off to the hospital where six of the children had follow-up echos and three had echos to evaluate their heart problem and determine how surgery could fix it.  

When we get to the hospital, all of the families have to present their IDs and visas that show they are allowed to enter Israel to take their children to this specific hospital. Normally, this goes off without a hitch and we are inside quickly. However, today there was a mix up with one of the papers. It said the mother was supposed to go to a different hospital in Israel even though her infant son’s visa said he was supposed to be at the one we take all our patients to. At first, it seemed like they were not going to let her in. We all waited, praying that God would open the doors so that she could accompany her child so he could have his follow-up echo. Finally, we got the word from the higher-ups; she could enter! We joyfully headed into the hospital for a busy day.

The echos are not painful but the machines can be intimidating and frightening for the kids. Since many of the children are infants, the doctors give them medicine before the echo that makes them drowsy. This helps the whole process to go more smoothly and keep the babies from squirming during the echo. However, the medicine must taste awful because it is quite an ordeal to give it to each of the kids. I took a picture that completely sums up these moments. In it there is one kid smiling (probably because she hasn't been given the medicine yet), another crying because she was just force fed the nasty orange liquid, and another puking the medicine back up!

            While each child waits for their turn, we try to help keep them entertained. There is a small play area so we usually color, play with baby dolls and beanie babies, or climb in and out of the playhouse situated in the back corner. Today I also brought bubbles which the kids loved! I have learned almost any fear a toddler has can be solved with bubbles. They had a great time racing each other to see who could pop the most bubbles the fastest. Today there were also a couple guys there from the organization Save a Child's Heart who we partner with. They were so helpful in keeping the kids entertained. They also know Arabic so they were able to help me communicate a bit with the kids. I am quickly learning that the Kurdish I use with the Iraqi kids does not work with the Arabic speaking Palestinians!

            All of the echos went smoothly. At the end of the day, eight of the children were returned to Gaza and another was admitted for surgery. Our Iraqi patients are also doing well. Chera had her surgery a couple days ago and is now in intermediate ICU. She is definitely still in pain, but she had such a quiet strength about her. I was so impressed! We also got to bring Hezhan back to Shevet today! He is well enough to continue recovering here and will have a few more follow-up echos in the next couple weeks.And some of our most exciting news.... The new website is up! Check it out! We are still working out the kinks, but it looks great!

           

The Bits and Pieces of Life

So many little things happen every day that are difficult to sum up. It's the little moments that you can't capture in a photograph or write a book about, but make each day special and unique. For example...
1)Saturday I went to the Wailing Wall twice because two different new volunteers wanted to see it. Both of their faces lit up the way my heart does every time it came within view. This amazing piece of history and culture is incredible! I could go every day just to spend time praying. But thankfully since this is not possible, God hears me just as well from my bedroom.
2) Another volunteer and I run every morning. This city is by no means flat so we are getting a great work out going up and down the hills. On one of our loops we have a couple evil hills that threaten to defeat us every morning. We have nicknamed  them the "Hill of Death" and the "Hill of Doom". Depending on how we're feeling we chose which hill to go up and which to go down. Today, it was down the Hill of Doom then up the Hill of Death.
3) There is a huge dead spider (literally) hanging out above the cabinet in our bathroom. One of our volunteers has named her Matilda to make her a little less frightening. This afternoon, I discovered Matilda's very large and alive cousin in the kitchen. Correction, Matilda's very large and no longer alive cousin!
4) Last night we had a "Jane Austin" party for all the women staff. We went out to a nice hotel and had iced coffee, then came back for tea, quiche, and Pride and Prejudice. It was fantastic. But one of the girls was sipping on her tea, which was really hot! "I think I'm going to invent something that makes things colder. Like you know how a microwave makes things hottter? It would do the opposite." One of our guests with her adorable British accent replied, "I think that is called a fridge!"
5) Today was Round 2 of the Lice Battle. Apparently after you treat it the first time you have to follow up again ten days later to make sure you got them all. I think we've decided the real battle here is not against the lice but against the kids and their very defensive mothers! Cooperation is key and sometimes the language barrier gets in the way...
6) Tonight we have a good-bye party for two of my favorite volunteers! Andreas and his wife Verena return to Germany tomorrow. But as a good-bye "present" some of us went down to the park and played soccer, excuse me futbol. Andreas played for a long time and has been asking us to play a game with him for a couple weeks now. Unfortunately we are all so busy it's hard to find time for all of us to play together. But today we did it! We had a rousing game of 2 on 2 and then two little Jewish boys joined in and it was 3 on 3. They were so cute and tried so hard even though they were probably only 8-10 years old. I love playing soccer and working with little kids!

It's Just Like Candyland

Even though I've only been  two and half weeks, I feel like I'm really in the swing of things and have been here much longer. So it's been weird having two other girls arrive this past week. (I know that is weird. I am still "new" around here too.) One of the girls came last Thursday-The Day of the Lice Fiasco. Wow. That sounds like some weird national holiday. The other just arrived this evening. Anyway, both of them are really cool which makes me even more excited for all the crazy times this summer.
I feel kinda bad for our newest volunteer though. She got here right in time for dinner. Great right? Well our dinner conversation was probably not the most welcoming....We're all coming off a crazy week of lice, rats, strange bugs, hospital visits, little sleep, and all sorts of other fun. Like today one of the little kids peed on a volunteer while his mother was hissing at her at the same time... Not quite sure what was up with that. The language barrier kinda hurt that situation.
So as we're describing what it's like here, these topics came up frequently. Whoops. Too late for her to turn back now. Well, we tried to redeem ourselves... "Don't fret. It's not that bad. It's really just like Candyland." "Oh. I never liked Candyland!" Well this will be interesting. I think I played 10 rounds of it today with two of our little girls.Well, maybe she'll learn to like it?

You're Worthless

Yesterday I spent a lot of time driving and at the hospital. On Tuesdays we pick up new patients from Gaza and transport them to the hospital. Due to the political situation here, the kids and their parents from Gaza are not allowed to move about the country freely. Instead, we bring them directly from the border to the hospital and back after their procedure is completed. Yesterday we picked up a little girl, Halla, and her mother, and a little boy, Salah, and his father. I also had the opportunity to check on some of the other kids who are at the hospital long term, recovering from surgery.
Our first priority was to take the new kids upstairs so they could have "Echos". Best I can understand, this gives them an idea of how the heart is doing and a general idea of what they will need to do in the surgery. All of our mom's only speak Arabic so sometimes it is an adventure to find a translator for the Hebrew speaking doctors. At one point, a nurse, looking for a translator, motioned to me. "English?" she asked. "Yes." "You also speak Arabic?" "No." "Oh, never mind. You're worthless." Gee, thanks. I had to laugh. Her bluntness couldn't even be taken offensively because in that case she was right! I was of no help to her!
I also got a chance to check on some of our other kids who were down in ICU. Arina (one of our Kurdish girls) had surgery the day before and was in recovery. Another Gaza baby, Rahaf was in the ICU unit hooked up to a million machines and baby Besan was in the intermediate ICU recovering well after her surgery on Sunday.
But I made sure to spend a little extra time with Monsour and his every faithful Grandmother. His eyes were wide open and he was very observant of everything around him. The nurse was just finishing bathing him and redressing his wounds when I walked up. After she had gone, his grandmother and I stood by a while longer. At one point she pulled out a kids book. "Oh cute!" I thought. "She is going to read him an Arabic book." As she opened the page I almost died laughing. "Monsour," she said, "Fish." She had opened an English "Under the Sea" book that had illustrations on one page and a largely printed English word on the other side. This woman doesn't speak any English... or so I thought. Apparently she does know the word "fish"! She propped the book up by his bedside and walked away for a bit. Monsour's big eyes focused on the page. He seemed to be intently studying this word and picture! Not only is this baby brave, but he is also smart.
Kid Update:
- Monsour went home to Gaza today! This is a praise because it means he is well enough to be taken care of at a hospital near his home. However, his grandma is worried he will not get the same quality of care there. We continue to keep him in our prayers.
- Arina had surgery Monday. She is recovering and in a lot of pain.
- Kosar had a catherization yesterday. He may come home in the next couple days or be kept at the hospital for surgery.
-Hezhan had an 11 hour surgery today! At 22 years old, many of his heart defects were much more serious than they would have been for a small child. The next couple days will be critical as we wait to see how his heart responds.
- Chera is waiting and waiting and waiting. Both the girl and her mother have been through a roller coaster of emotions as we wait for the doctors to call her in.

Love in a Package

This afternoon I visited one of my coworkers who has been in the hospital for over a week now. Mona, an amazingly joyful Christian Arab, has been struggling with about a million health problems for a long time now. She has had countless hospital visits. But despite her health struggles, she is always an encouragement to us and the kids here. I think she can love them in a special way because she knows they have about visiting the hospital.
In order to brighten her day, we brought her a care package with some of her favorite things: coca-cola, flowers, and dark chocolate. Yum! As we were headed out the door, my boss Justina told me to give her lots of love. I responded, "I will. But it's too bad you can't put love in a package." "Excuse me? Can't put love in a package?! Get over here girl!" (Justina has this great southern accent that makes that whole exchange even better.) So I sheepishly walked over, half expecting what was to come. "Step right up here! Now this is how you put love in a package!" Then she gave me a great big hug! "Now make sure you give Mona lots of love."
So with our care package and a crazy puppet named Accar (that Mona loves), Jean, Andreas, and I headed to the hospital. We were able to spend a bit of time with Mona, her mother, daughter, and another friend. Despite her pain and exhaustion, Mona gave us gentle smiles and seemed grateful to have us there. I think we delivered everything as instructed, including love, which I have learned sometimes does come in a package.

Patient Patients

Most times if you go to the doctor's office and they say, "Well, you're going to need surgery. Let's schedule that within the next week," that is considered  bad news. But around here, that is just about the best thing that could happen.
For the Kurdish kids here at Shevet, the heart surgery they desperately need isn't scheduled until after they arrive in the country. Plus, before the surgery, they have to go through other tests and procedures that could take a couple weeks. The waiting results in worried mothers, and anxious kids. This past week has been a bit stressful for them all. Many are waiting for surgery and one girl has been here longer than normal and is waiting for the all clear so she can go home. The doctors have also gone on strike off and on the past few weeks postponing many appointments and delaying surgeries from being scheduled. Between the waiting, the lice catastrophe last Thursday, and a million other little things, the moms all hit a breaking point today. They broke down and started crying. A couple of our staff members who have been working closely with them the past few weeks, also felt the strain very personally.
So we decided prayer was absolutely necessary. Five of our women staff members gathered in the living room to beseech God on behalf of these families and ourselves. We prayed for wisdom, guidance, patience, love, and endurance. We also prayed for a miracle that would lift these mothers' spirits.
Two hours later we get a phone call from the hospital office with some incredible news. Arina is having her heart surgery tomorrow, Kosar is going in for his catheterization tomorrow, and Hezhan has his heart surgery on Tuesday! This really is a miracle.
Tonight we said good-bye to Arina as she and her mother headed to the hospital. They will stay there overnight in preparation for her surgery. As I watched them walk out the door, I have felt so excited and scared at the same time. It is wonderful that she is having her surgery! But I remember, this is heart surgery. Anything could happen. Her surgery is scheduled for approximately 1:00pm. Tomorrow this little angel with a bright smile and contagious giggle will constantly be in my prayers.

A Time for Everything Under Heaven

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:

A time to be born and a time to die,

A time to plant and a time to uproot,

A time to kill and a time to heal,

A time to tear down and a time to build, 

A time to weep and a time to laugh,

A time to mourn and a time to dance,

A time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, 

A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, 

A time to search and a time to give up,

A time to keep and a time to throw away,

A time to tear and a time to mend,

A time to be silent and a time to speak,

A time to love a time to hate,

A time for war and a time for peace."

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8

"A time to laugh..."

Yesterday I went to the hospital again. We currently have four Gaza children staying there: Bassan, Monsour, Rahaf, and Abd Elrahman Alghouti. I was only able to see Bassan and Abd because the other two are in ICU and the doctors were doing a procedure in their yesterday. But I did get to have tea with all the mothers and grandmother. Despite our language barriers we all laughed a lot. Rahaf's mother in particular loves to joke around. Baby Bassan is a beautiful little girl so Rahaf's mom has asked Bassan's mom if baby Bassan can be promised to marry her son. The problem... she doesn't have a son! Yet.

" A time to mourn..."

Only a couple weeks old, Addel Kareem died this past Tuesday. Everyone at Shevet and the hospital was deeply saddened by this loss of life. His mother had returned home a couple days before for some rest and was not at the hospital. Our prayers are with his family. 

" A time to dance..."

Every Friday night we have a nice Shabbat meal. Last night, after we had eaten and and cleaned up all the dishes, a handful of us sat down in the living room. Those with musical abilities picked up the guitars and started playing songs as they came to mind. We had a wonderful time of worship and and prayer. Eventually, people started to go to bed. When there were only a few people left, things started to get crazy. After a long week, during a late night, anything can happen! We started singing crazy songs, there was some interpretive dancing, and all kinds of hullabaloo. It was a great time of laughter and bonding.