Saturday, May 18, 2013

Final Clinic Day


Hey friends and family.  Sorry for no blog post yesterday.  I will let Amanda tell you a great story that led to the delay.

Today was a blessing and a challenge! We ended the week seeing over 1400 patients and handing out 1000 pairs of glasses. God moved like crazy in the clinic! The last patient of the day yesterday was a super-sick 10-month-old boy. He came in for a “cough”, but the triage nurse, Jenna, quickly realized he was much sicker than this. We quickly started him on a nebulizer (that a friend of a friend from Children’s Cup HAPPENED to bring to us the day before) and soon realized he stopped breathing every couple of seconds. I quickly realized this baby needed more than we could offer, and we began the process of getting him to the closest hospital. With his mother in tow, Micah and I, along with Pastor Darryl, his family, and local pastor Selby, went to the local clinic. The baby got much worse after this visit, and I realized he couldn’t stay home that night. We decided to take the baby to the next town over to try and get him admitted. Though none of us spoke great Siswati, we somehow communicated with Mom the entire way, eventually ending up in the town of Carolina. There we met a great older doctor who was a God-send … he agreed with our assessment of the child and admitted him to the hospital. THIS is why we do this. The mother of the child had been turned away from several other clinics and doctors – coming to our clinic was her last resort. If she hadn’t come to us the mother would’ve taken the child home to die in his sleep.  YOUR contributions helped touch and save many lives this week – this is just one example of how YOU directly help save lives!



Wow!  What an amazing story!  On a lighter note, while Amanda was tending to this child, the rest of the team was being chased by children for stickers and other donated goodies.



Luckily, Blackwell had his trusty whip with him to ward keep them at bay.
 

Just kidding.  Blackwell decided to climb a barbwire fence to play with the kids and the whip.  The only thing he managed to actually whip was himself.

This will be our last post before we get home in 2 days;  however, we will check the comments tomorrow morning before heading to the airport, so post away.  It is, after all, a 3-hour bus ride.  See you in a couple days!

7 comments:

  1. Wow! Amazing story and how you were able to help that small child. Shan, I can't wait to have you home and look forward to a date night when you get back :). Don't worry, I won't bring you to Best Buy or McDonald's :).

    You all have done so much and have worked so hard for the Lord. I pray you all get some rest and can't wait to hear all of your stories when you get home. Tania, Mathew, Katie, Jordan, Allison, and Blackwell I look forward to seeing you all at the White-Coat ceremony in July. Woot Woot!

    Shan, just so you know I'm at Wegmans doing my last paper. I won't have homework when you come visit. Weird, I know. Its ok, next time we go on a "homework date" I'll pretend to do homework like I usually do anyways ;).

    Brook

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  2. Wow! What a story. Thank you all for going above and beyond. Sounds like it was a great week. We had a good trip to Haiti as well. We'll have to get together soon and share stories.

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  3. Someone, please post the travel itinerary for the return trip home...we will be praying for the team's safe return. How proud and exhilarated you must feel after helping all those patients! They were so fortunate to have had the "Sea Coast Angels" there this past week and I am sure you all felt as equally blessed. Annsley, can't wait to see you and hear of your daily experiences. Love, Mom (& Dad) xoxo

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  4. Amazing end to a heart warming week! Thank you for sharing the stories, and abundance of blessings. What gifts the people you all treated have added to your lives. Godspeed home.

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  5. So wonderful the way Lord moves... you gave of your time, energy, gifts, talents - willing vessels for His glory ! the deposits you made will continue to flourish ! ..rest and relax ... soaking it all in ! (see you soon Dee !) .. nancy

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  6. Have safe travels. What an amazing mission trip. Love ya, Dad & Mom

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  7. Great job Amanda and the team! Just think what God will do with the life of that child. Such good work from you all this past week, thanks so much for your commitment and obedience. Roy and Jason- hope you're seeing the blessings ebb and flow. Safe travels homeward!

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