A Day in Pictures

Hello, again! I'm sorry that the last post was rather somber... it's actually taken me all week to write that as I sort through layers of sadness and grief. Today found me with a renewed passion for life and living it to the fullest with however much time the Lord blesses me with on planet earth. 


I realized that I haven't shared pictures in quite a while, so I toted my camera around with me to ask if "M met fe foto"(if I could take pictures) as I went through this day's journey. Below is the evidence of my day:

First, I found Gravy, one of the stray dogs who's adopted our missions station, curled up in this planter outside my door! She's so silly!! Potted dog, anyone?! Poor little ugly dear... she was probably cold. It was 75 degrees here today, after all. Our normal is mid to high 90's, so this morning found me wearing a jacket! I guess that means I'm acclimating well! I also got a cute shoot of Gravy cuddling with one of her new puppies. Bless her doggy heart, but Gravy is just not a very pretty pup. I'm so glad one of her litter favors the daddy! This is lil Sassafras...

I passed Gravy on my way back into the house after breakfast. I had a little time this morning in my home to answer emails and arrange a few things and to answer my door. It's quite common to have visitors come to your door if they need to talk with you. Not everyone has a cell phone (although having electricity is not a prerequisite to owning a cell phone as evidenced by how many cell phone chargers appear in the wall outlets in church on Sundays!). 

Then, it was on to the Kay Pov Yo (the very poor peoples house). I had visited for the first time last week and wanted to return to check on a lady that we had treated for a bad bladder infection. They were again so very sweet. It feels like something out of a Charles Dickens novel. The walls of the building are caked with years of dust. The inhabitants also are covered with a thick dusting of dirt. I wanted to wrap the whole building in Clorox wipes and deposit every inhabitant into a rose-scented bubble bath. They greeted me with a kiss on the cheek and sweet smiles. My little UTI lady was so much better! She actually made sense... I think. It's hard for me to understand Creole when the speaker only has 2 teeth! There are 15 people living there now, three of whom are children. 

After a few moments, they spied my stethoscope, and I made the rounds. While most are frightfully skinny, they otherwise seem to be fairly good health. I would love to visit weakly and check up on them. When they are sick, it is difficult for them to get to the hospital. I went with one of the guys who works for WISH, the West Indies Self Help organization. They send food every Friday to the Kay Pov Yo.

After that, it was back to the WISH house to listen to the lungs of the wife of one of their workers. She has asthma and has been hitting up her rescue inhaler 10 times a day! The awesome group of Scotland just brought us some steroid inhalers, so I taught her who to use one and a spacer. She's so sweet. I also started teaching Sassafras how to sit. 

After that, back up to the orphanage to check on some wounds. One of the little ones had an eye infection that I've been treating, and he looks so much better! Above are some sweet little faces, and me being silly!Such a full day, but so full of life!