crazy times..

The past 36 hours have been loaded with the unexpected. It started off by waking up to screams from a woman who is regularly abused next door. I guess the man hits his wife and even his two small children. Beatrice’s mom Kristine goes over there to pray with them frequently, and sometimes the children come over here. Although one can go to jail for domestic violence, they said it’s a pretty regular occurrence here… It didn’t seem to be very upsetting to the people we were talking with, probably because it’s so common. It really broke my heart though.

Next, we went to English class where I was to have a bit more heartache. One of my young students who is an orphan was raped and beaten by a family she was staying with. She recently told her testimony in church for the first time, and ever since she’s been unable to stop thinking about her past. I think she may have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as she has all of the symptoms. She has been unable to concentrate in class or retain anything we cover. Wednesday she started crying when I called on her in class. I talked with her afterwards for a while during which silent tears rolled down her cheeks the whole time. In asking if she has anyone to talk to about her past, she thought for a mere second and then replied, “No. I can’t trust anyone.” Because she has been abused and taken advantage of for so many years by everyone she knew, she is unable to trust others, build intimacy, give or receive love. I offered to “counsel” her but she said no because I will be leaving in 2 months and she didn’t see the point in building a relationship if I’m just going to leave. Continue praying for this girl and for me as I’m unsure how to help. I think the best way may be to teach a counseling class to train the church members here how to counsel. That way those who will be here long term can best help.

Yesterday morning was the most unexpected event of all and the one that possibly broke my heart the most. Hilliary, Angie (our fun house girl) and I were walking to the market to buy food to make our weekly dinner that night. Upon rounding a corner, we saw something in the middle of the road. Most of what happened is a blur to me now as I went into “fight” mode. What I first thought to be a pile of clothes was a man who was laying face first in the dirt. People were around, but nobody stopped or even gave him a second glance. We immediately made our way over to him, wondering if he was alive as he wasn’t moving. We tried to check his pulse, while talking to him and touching his hand and back. Soon, he began to move and more people crowded around. As two men slowly helped him up, we gave him our water and he drank a whole bottle in about thirty seconds. He had dirt all over his clothes and his face and had a very hard time moving. The people who were around seemed satisfied once he was up and they had carried him to the shade. However, it was obvious that he was in a lot of pain and I didn’t feel okay just leaving. We found a man who spoke some English and he translated for us saying that the man wanted to go to the hospital but had no money. A boy offered to push the man (named Andres) on his bicycle and we followed.

The hospital was jammed packed with people, including many young children and mothers. It was quite a challenge trying to talk with the staff as none of them spoke English but we eventually understood that we simply had to wait. Hilliary and Angie went to the market across the road while I waited with the man. After seeing the nurse though, she motioned that he needed to be transferred to a different hospital. After having some difficulty finding Hilliary in the market, and getting a taxi that wouldn’t over charge us, we made our way to the hospital, which turned out to be a hospital specializing in neurology and psychiatry.  While waiting there, we met a very kind guy named Emmanuel. He was 25 years old and was there with his family to have his brain tumor looked at. We soon got into the doctor who thankfully spoke English. He explained to us that Andres is a patient there at the hospital but he doesn’t have enough treatment to buy the medicine he needs or to pay for counseling as he suffers from epilepsy. His parents are both dead and he lives with his two brothers but none of them have jobs. The doctor explained that this is a great problem in the country as many, many people need help but nearly none of them can pay for medicine, yet alone pay for food. It was so painful sitting there, seeing that Andres was completely helpless. We ended up getting him a 2 month supply of his medicine and paying for his hospital bill but I couldn’t help wondering what would happen to him in 2 months when his medicine runs out again. We gave him our email and drew him a map of where the church is located and we think he may come on Sunday. I dearly hope he will. It’d be great if we could help him find a job somehow so that he can begin to take care of himself.

While at the psychiatry hospital, I couldn’t help but thank God for this whole ordeal. I wonder what would have happened to Andres if we hadn’t stopped, if God hadn’t had us walk that way at that time. I also got the Doctor’s email and telephone number as I explained that I’d love to come back and talk with him. He agreed and I’ll try and go back next week. I think it’d be so great if I could find a way to go there maybe once a week to help out, observe, maybe job shadow? Yesterday and today have been confirming that I want to go into psychology. Today made me really want to go to med school and be a psychiatrist instead of a counselor.  I wonder though, how would I pay for med school if I want to work with poor people who probably couldn’t pay me? God knows and will provide if that’s what I’m supposed to do though..

Well, sorry for the long post. Please continue praying for my student and for Andres, as well as for us. The first week or so, I was having a difficult time connecting with people or loving the culture, but God is making my heart break very much for this place now. Pray that this continues and that God continues using us the way He wants to. Also, I feel that I’m starting to get sick so please pray that I’d remain healthy so that I can continue to do what I came here to do.

Thanks friends.

Megan