Clinic Experience

             Yesterday I took some kiddos to the hospital/clinic. I have been doing screenings at the orphanages here and a few of the kids were definitely running a fever. So yesterday I  took four of them to the clinic. I got there and had absolutely no idea what to do. Somehow every single other person knew what was going on. And I was the one confused white woman in the group with 4 really sick kids. All i know is there was a man yelling, no signs showing what to do, I needed four yellow registration cards, and there were three different lines to sit in. So the craziness began. I got all of them registered and then we sat, and we sat, and we sat. It felt like the whole world was moving around us and I didn't understand what was going on. Like the little kid standing in front of the counter that nobody can see. Then I received a call saying a 5th kid was coming and so was some much welcomed Liberian help. So they arrived and to my relief we started moving along.
               The first step in the process was weights and temperatures. Every kid had a temp over 101. So tylenol was given and of course they all drank out of the same cup. O Liberia. Then I was sent to the cashier to pay for the doctor. The cashier just happened to be on the other side of the campus. I returned with a receipt and the kids saw the doctor. Then the doctor sent for labs on all the kids. So the next step involved taking all the kids to the cashier and paying for the labs and then taking them to the lab on the other side of the hospital, getting labs drawn, and then taking the results back to the doctor. A couple hours later we find that some kids have malaria, and some don't. So everyone gets malaria treatment anyways! Next stop the pharmacy. BUT WAIT you guessed it we have to go to the cashier again. Then they send me to see if all the meds are available and then I go back and pay. Then I wait in what I guess they call a line to pick up 3 or 4 different medicines for each kid. Are you feeling the confusion yet? After all is said and done the kids are on their way to recovery and I had an experience that I will not forget.

Today I went to visit a little girl named Emmie who is new at one of the orphanages. We got word that she had been dropped off this week by a family member because her stepmom had been abusing her and put caustic chemicals on her head which burned her scalp really badly. When we got there she was quite frightened of us. I am not sure if it was because of the bag of medical supplies we had with us or simply because we were white and just different. She began to cry and the little girls around her tried to console her. We began to see that the burn was pretty much covering her whole scalp. I held her as Deb cleaned and applied cream and gauze to her head. Unfortunately we had to cut all of her hair to treat it. I could feel her tensing up with every movement. I gave her some stickers to look at and try to distract her. After we were done she was still a bit scared. We covered her head with one of my bandanas and by the time we were leaving I saw a little smile shining from her sweet little face.

            
        Please be in prayer for Emmie as she is healing physically and emotionally. Pray for these kids as rainy season is underway and malaria is pretty prevalent. Please pray for my last few days here. I have been getting sick to my stomach in the evenings. It has been frustrating, but I am really looking forward to what God has in store for these last few days. Also for safe travel as I leave to head back to the States on Wednesday.