Nkobe Opening

Sunday, the grand opening of the church/CarePoint at Nkobe. Blue sky & a beautiful day. The church was packed. Dinner on the grounds went great with well over 400 meals served! Elevate did a great job of preparing the church during the week and SERVING all day Sunday. A great day, a great church in Nkobe. Issac & Carol are doing a great job there. We count it a blessing to have them as friends and co-workers for Christ.

Easter 2007

We had a great Easter, we visited with a Pastor and her church out in a rural area near Simunye, where we are planning on building a new CarePoint. The youth did a drama for Easter. It was wonderful to see those kids showing how Satan was defeated at the cross of our Lord Jesus. We spent the afternoon with the pastor and had a great time.

Today, as the kids and I were boiling, decorating, coloring and eating Easter Eggs, I couldn’t help but think about the kids at the government hospital in Mbabane. I wondered if they had gotten any candy or special treats for Easter. I asked the kids if they would like to come with me to get some candy and bring it to the kids at the hospital. So, we visited the kids and handed out suckers to all of them, including the adults. Everyone seemed pleased and very grateful, all saying “Siyabonga” (thank you), as we went from cubicle to cubicle. We got to the third cubicle and I saw a beautiful little girl sitting up in her bed, with a beautiful smile as we approached with a sucker for her. As I touched her shoulder, I realized that it felt like just a bone with skin stretched across it. I looked at her arms that looked like little sticks and my heart broke. I asked her name and how old she was. She said that her name is Rebecca and she is 9 years old and in grade 3. I introduced her to my little girl, Joelle , who is also 9 and in grade three. She seemed so happy and peaceful in spite of her physical condition. I feel sure that she knows the Lord. It makes me think, do I show the love of the Lord on my face like that, even when my circumstances aren’t what I think they should be?

We then went on to the abandoned children’s ward, where the kids were already in their cribs and it was only between 5 and 6 pm. There are several toddlers, who thoroughly enjoyed the suckers. I had my children watching each of them so they didn’t get choked on the suckers. Gabby fell in love with one of the little baby boys, who had just been brought in a couple of days ago. He was so cute, and full of smiles while eating his sucker. There are several mentally handicapped kids that live there on the abandoned children’s ward. These are definitely, forgotten ones. They have lived their whole lives there at the hospital on the abandoned children’s ward. They help with the little ones. They were telling us all of the babies’ names. The babies will usually be placed in homes like my friend Robin’s Sandra Lee Center or adopted. There are six babies/toddlers there now, waiting for a home. My kids were begging me, “Mom, please can we take this one home?” I don’t think that I am quite ready to start over with another baby at this point in my life. Danielle and Joelle were intrigued with a beautiful little baby girl with a lovely smile. Nathan was going from bed to bed, asking questions about each one. I pray that my children will always be aware of how blessed they are, and that there are little ones that are forgotten and that need our love, attention, and prayers.

Correspondance

-----Original Message-----
From: Daran Rehmeyer
Sent: Mar 28, 2007 8:51 AM
To: "'David H. Beyda, M.D.'"
Subject: help

Dr. Beyda: havn't heard anything from your side. Hope all is well: stones and all. I've found I'm losing weight without all the extra meals. Joking aside, what report did you get from your doctor?

I also need some help dealing with Pepe here. While you may have to deal with the heroic vs compassionate care issue in the clinical setting, I think we are having to deal with it on a personal level here. At what point do you say enough is enough? Is that just burn out? When do we stop trying to get the next treatment when all the previous ones have been aborted or ignored due to uncaring/unloving caregivers? Her father in this case. When is it better just to let them go? Is that to minimize their or our pain?

Really troubled.

Daran Rehmeyer

http://rehmeyers.blogspot.com/

From: David H. Beyda, M.D. [dbeyda@mindspring]
Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2007 7:08 PM
To: daran@childrenscup
Subject: Re: help

Dear Daran and Teresa,

I'm sorry that you didn't get my email that I sent you last week with an update. I retruned on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning was having several proceedures done by my urologist to figure out what is going on. Here is the take: no stones presently but I have a horeshoe kidney, meaning that the 2 kidneys are connedted to each other and that increases the risks of stones. He has started me on a medication that will hopefully help in decreasing the stone formation. Also, I have to have a CT scan of my abdomen and pelvis 1 week before I travel anywhere to make sure that there are no small stones forming. That doesn't preclude the stones from forming during flight, etc. but will help a little bit. We have decided to let me travel again, at least for now.

As for the issue of Pepe. There are 2 rules in medicine, and as an ethicist and critical care physician, I find them to be very true: rule number one is some people die, and rule number two is that you can't change rule number one. If you try, you wind up with a vegetative patient, or a patient who suffers until they die. When you look at yours versus Pepe's suffering, it needs to be about her. The greatest gift we can give others is to relieve their suffering through care and compassion, even if it means letting them die. To prolong their death becasue we are not ready to let them go, goes against the grain of human kindness. I have had many occasions where I could keep a patient alive (we do our job very well in our intensive care unit), but allowed them to die comfortably, pain free and above all with dignity. I look at it like this: there is a difference between being alive and having a life. Pepe can be kept alive by insuring that she recieve her medications, etc. But what is her life like? Is it full of suffering, pain, abandonment, helplessness, and isolation? Or is she surrounded by those who love her? The answer is not simple, but honest: she needs to be taken in by those who love her the most, cared for and prayed for, keeping her comfortable and safe as she declares her end stage illness. Prolonging what is inevitable for our own benefit, is contrary to compassion. I am not minimizing your griefor feelings. But remembering whose she is and who she belongs to, is what is important. She is His. As a phyician I used to be a "god in a white coat" believing that it was I who controlled life and death. I was very far from the truth then. I have learned through Him that He decides when, where and how. Being with her unconditionally as she dies, without remorse or concern for ourselves, is true compassion. This is a difficult decision to make, but one that is unfortunatley already made for you: she will pass on, sooner than later. Make her life the sweetest it can be for now, and allow that which will happen, happen. I hope this helps. You are wonderful people, and your love for others evident. Love the dying as you love the living.

In all things, give thanks,

David

MoM Medical

We had the pleasure of hosting Dr. Beyda, Kelly, Chris & Dave, and Libby & Phillip this past week. We held day long clinics at the Mangwaneni and Fonteyn CarePoints in Mbabane and a half day at Moneni in Manzini. We tried to do a clinic at the Nkobe Church/CarePoint in Mozambique but ran into resistance from the Ministry of Health there. We are hoping that Dr. Beyda can push that forward working directly with them so we can do a full clinic next time.


Rob Ketterling's group from River Valley Church in Minnesota did a great job helping at Nkobe and even doing eye glasses at the clinics. Rob preached the unofficial opening of the church to a packed auditorium (about 250 Mozambiquens - almost 200 of those were children!).

Makholweni Youth Outreach

The first class for the sewing project has begun. Five girls from Makholweni began class last week. The teacher is a lady from the community that operates a dress and uniform business in Manzini. The first project will be to make dresses and shirts for all the girls and boys who go to the pre-schools at our CarePoints. The last piece of equipment we are looking for is an "overlocker". Everything else is in place. We will be sponsoring a contest at the CarePoints for the logo that will be embroidered on each of the uniform.

Here is the U13 boys and "open" girls soccer team forming at Makholweni. Center, back row is Ncamiso. Ncamiso is a remarkable young man who is spearheading many of the youth projects in Makholweni. He will be the coach and manager for the two teams. Both will be registered with the Manzini Regional Soccer Office and play against other teams in and around Manzini. The teams are still in need of uniforms, shin guards, soccer boots, and other equipment. If we can arrange transport, they will play their first freindly game next weekend.

Gift From God

Today at the clinic, I saw a go-go (grandma), “60 something”, she said, when asked her age. She is taking care of 3 grand children from her daughter who died a little over a year ago. The baby was 2 months when she died. Go-Go says that the baby looked so terrible that she thought that he wasn’t going to make it. She began taking care of him and she started producing breast milk and has been breast feeding him for the past year. The baby looks fat and healthy. When I told Go-Go what a great job she was doing taking care of this one, she smiled from ear to ear. The teacher that was interpreting for me, was amazed that a woman 60 plus years could still breast feed a baby. I told her to tell Go-Go that it was a gift from God that she has been able to do this in order to keep this baby alive and healthy. Again, a huge smile broke out across her face and she responded with a very sincere thank you. Thank God for some happy stories among the many sad ones!

I also saw one of the boys that we started taking to Baylor clinic to be treated for HIV last year. He didn’t look too good today. The teacher found him fast asleep at home, in the middle of the day. He was coughing, running fever, breathing very rapidly, and his lungs sound like he may have pneumonia. He has also lost a lot of weight and has no appetite. I began to explain to him that it is very important that he eat and drink lots of water. I told him that he must take the medicine that I gave him 4 times a day, with food. I looked closer and saw tears beginning to form in his eyes and drop down his cheek. I stopped and just put my arms around him and held him. I told the teacher to tell him that I am sorry if I scared him. I told him that he was going to be ok, but that he needed to do what I told him in order to get well. I told him how much Jesus loves him and that he was going to take care of him. I asked him if we could pray and had the teacher to translate for him. Please help us pray for this boy to get well. If the antibiotic doesn’t work, we may have to consider having him tested for TB. I know that God is able to do so much more than we can possibly ask or imagine!

Rabies, HIV & 'Cup Teachers

This past week I saw little boy at the Children's Wellness Centre who had been bitten by a possibly rabid dog. The wound looked infected, he was running a fever, had a sore throat, and was having difficulty eating. He had been bitten 9 days earlier. The mother took him to the government hospital in Manzini where they told them that they had no medication to treat rabies. They also checked at the government hospital in Mbabane and they didn’t have any either. The hospital told the mother to bring him to another government hospital about 2 hours away. What these people don’t think about is that she had no money for transport, so she brought him to us. Since I didn’t have the medication either, we gave him transport money to go back and forth 5 times to complete the series of rabies shots. Thank the Lord that she did bring him before it was too late!!!

Today we held a clinic for the Mbabane CarePoints. I saw one little 7 year old boy who is very sick. The teacher thinks that we need to get him tested for HIV and I agree. I could barely get a half smile out of him. You can tell by the look on his face that he just doesn’t feel well. The teacher says that he doesn’t play like the other children. He just wants to sit. He has many rotten teeth, and also seems to have a yeast infection in his mouth. He says that it feels like he has sores all the way down his throat and it is very painful to swallow. His mother died about a year ago and his father is very sick now. My heart just goes out to these little ones that are so helpless, weak and ill. I asked the teacher/HCW to ask him if we could pray for him, and as soon as she got the words out of her mouth, he folded his little hands in front of his face and began to pray in SiSwati like his heart was on fire. I couldn’t do anything but cry. When he finished, I barely got out a little pray between tears. I asked the teacher what he was praying and she said that he was praying for the Lord to help him in school and to make his daddy well and for his gogo and several other things, none of which were for him. I was amazed; someone has been teaching this boy to pray. I pray that the Lord will keep these children so that they can grow up and be the next generation that sparks a revival of God’s spirit and power in Swaziland.

Last week we had HIV testing at the Children's Wellness Centre with an organization called TASC. Abraham went out to the CarePoints and spoke with the teachers and care givers about the children that we think need to be tested. We expected to have 20 children and their care givers there. We only had about 6, and half of them showed up without a care giver. I was very disappointed; however, the people from TASC said that this was not unusual. The people need more education, they are afraid. The more education we give our communities, the better response we will get. We will try to set up some times that the people can come and get more information before we have another testing day.

One of the teachers sent a little boy that lives with his gogo. Both his mother and father have died with HIV. The gogo is very sick and could not come to the clinic. When we called the teacher to see why no one came with him, she said that she spoke to the gogo and she is begging for us to test the boy. He is sick all of the time and gogo is convinced that he needs to be tested. Since gogo could not come, I asked the teacher if she would write a letter that says that gogo gives her permission to have the boy tested and treated if necessary for HIV, and have gogo sign it. The teacher agreed to take the responsibility of this little one who is in her class. She said that he is sick very often and sometimes does not have food except for the meal that he gets at the CarePoint each day. I told her that this is a big responsibility for her to take on. She said that she is willing, and that she just wants to see him live. By doing this, the teacher must come with him to the clinic for counseling, make sure he gets his medications twice daily, twelve hours apart, and also make sure he has enough food. This is very heroic of this teacher, and I pray that God will bless her abundantly for her sacrifice.

We are very thankful to the Lord for the progress that we are seeing in the lives of our teachers. God is really moving in their hearts and lives and continues to help them grow in grace and wisdom in Him!

Makholweni Youth

We have been searching for ways to help the older youth around our CarePoints. The younger kids are being reached on a daily basis with the food and Bible Clubs, but the older teenagers (teenagers are teenagers) are being lost back into the community. So we are trying a number of different approaches to help them with life skills, business skills, and an avenue to have a continued impact on their life for Christ. So far, we've helped fund a start-up block yard and a sewing project at Makholweni. The older boys are working at a block yard making block which they sell for construction projects around Makholweni. They learn what it takes to run a small business: managing cash flow, material ordering, marketing, personnel skills, etc.
Next up is a sewing project: teenage girls will be taught to sew. Initially, we plan for them to make uniforms for the kids in the pre-schools at each CarePoint. Then we hope to be able to make uniforms for the kids we sponsor at the "public" schools. If all goes well, we hope they can then take orders to make and sell uniforms for other students at the government schools. The girls will learn a skill they can use the rest of their life as well as basic business skills.
Our dream project is to develop a glass blowing project where some of the youth could learn glass blowing. Not all boys want to make block, not all girls want to sew. This would be an excellent opportunity for these kids (remember, we're in our 40's, so "kids" is anybody under 25) to express themselves artistically. This is by far the most expensive project to start up (we are currently searching for sponsors-email us if you would like to see our proposal for this project).

Nkobe Clinic (& Painting)

Teresa & I were able to visit the CarePoint in Mozambique yesterday. It was Teresa's first time there. Her comment: This is really out in the booneys. Teresa, Brianne, and Carol did an impromptu medical clinic for as many children as they could see. Ben, Issac, Charles, Nathie, Roger, and Abraham were there to paint until Saturday. The church building is coming along nicely. Painting should make it really stand out in the community.

Pictures show Teresa with Celeste (the teacher at Nkobe) and Abraham (the Swazi Wellness Centre's Health Care Worker) inside the church, Charles and Issac (literally hanging out [the window]), and some of the kids at the CarePoint.

Playing House-House

I saw a two year old boy today, who has the same symptoms as the one from Tuesday, painful urination and white discharge. I also found out something that I never realized before. One of our teachers asked me if a child can get HIV or STD’s (sexually transmitted diseases) from another child by playing "House-House". I asked her what they did when they played this, and she said that they actually, as young as 3 years old, play having sex, and literally do it. I asked why, and she said that they see their mom and dad doing it and imitate them. I had to sit down at this point. Abraham explained that it is very common for adults to have sex in front of their children, especially since many of them live in a one room house. I asked, why they don’t wait until they are asleep, they said they wake up. This sheds some light on why there is so much promiscuity so early in this culture. I guess I need to brush up on STD's, which I didn't think I would need for a pediatric population.

I was reading about Solomon and how he asked God for wisdom and discernment. I am asking the Lord for supernatural wisdom that only comes from Him to help me with these situations. Their mindset is so different. How do you teach that this is not appropriate behavior to a culture who knows nothing else? Maybe we need someone to do some teaching on sexual abuse, and sexuality in children. Jesus is the only answer!

I saw Pepe, the little girl who was hospitalized for TB at the end of last year, today, and she looks pretty good. She is completely finished with TB treatment, but she is still coughing. Her lungs sound clear. No fever, eating good, still taking ARV's. She also has a double ear infection, one of her ears looks like the eardrum is busted, and one of them is draining and looks like it has pus in it. I started her on an antibiotic. I was so excited to see her looking so well, even with an ear infection. She definitely has a special place in my heart!

One of our teachers and her little girl went for HIV testing today, and came back with good news! She was beaming when she told me, we are negative! Praise the Lord! We paid the school fees and bought the uniform for a young girl at Madonsa this week. She is fifteen and has been out of school since Grade 2. She has been too sick for years to attend classes. Since she was tested and started on ARV’s she has been doing much better. She has never seen her father and her mother is sick; she tries to make a living at the market when she is able. Through Mission of Mercy we have been able to pay the school fees for a number of double orphans at the Makholweni CarePoint. But it only scratches the surface. We hear of newly orphaned children and child-headed-households daily. And that is only at one CarePoint. There are many, many children who are categorized as single orphans or destitute that are in just as dire need.

In our women’s Bible study, we are doing the series by Beth Moore, “Believing God.” I really desire to see the miracle working power of God in Swaziland. If you ask Swazi’s if they have ever seen the power of witch doctors, they will say yes. If you ask them if they have ever seen the miracle working power of God, they say no. Why is that, in a third world country? Is it because we just don’t believe that God is who He says He is and that He will do what He said He would do? I want to believe God and the rest is up to Him!

El Roi

We’ve been seeing some sick kids in our Tuesday and Thursday clinics at the Children’s Wellness Centre. I saw an 11 year old boy today that has a white discharge and a few small sores around his genitals and many sores on his legs, especially his knees. He says that it is painful when he urinates. I am treating him for a UTI (urinary tract infection) and giving him antibiotic cream for the sores. I am not sure if he has been sexually abused or just has a UTI. Abraham tried to talk to him and get him to open up. He says that he has not been involved sexually, but Abraham is not sure. The boy said that he would talk to Abraham about it later, so he thinks that he is hiding something. I told Abraham and Sindie (the teacher at the Ngwane Point CarePoint) to try to find out about his family and friends. I'm not sure how to proceed from here with this case. I would like to have him tested for HIV, but that will require agreement from his caretaker, who is his gogo (grandmother). Please help me pray for wisdom in this case, and that the grandmother will cooperate and agree to have him tested. I also pray that this is not a case of sexual abuse. I prayed for him today that the Lord would heal him and keep His hand of protection on him. I was thinking: I pray everyday for my own kids, who prays for these orphans? God sees them and has not forgotten them. Please help us remember these little ones in prayer every day.

We found out today about 3 more double orphaned children (both parents have died) that lived with their gogo. The gogo died this week. There is no one to take care of these three precious children. They are 8, 9, and 11 years old. We are trying to find some family that can take them and we will provide extra food for them and help them with these children. This is not something that is uncommon here is Swaziland, it happens every day. We found out today about another orphaned 8 year old little girl that is living with cousins who are also orphaned. The oldest cousin keeps the keys to their homestead so they are locked out at night till he comes home very late and typically drunk. She came crying to the CarePoint yesterday wanting to leave and go somewhere/anywhere else (we assume because of abuse). One of the cooks (Make Maziya) at Makholweni has offered to let her come and stay with her and her husband. Most of these kids are out of school because there is no one to pay their school fees. We try to help where we can. Pray that God will again give us wisdom and guidance as we try to provide for the needs of these helpless children.

We also met with TASC, an organization that does HIV testing, today. They are the ones that will help us get the kids tested and work with Baylor Children’s Clinic. We are going to try to get the first group tested at the end of this month and see how it goes. I would like to get the little 11 year old boy that I wrote about in the first paragraph tested, as well as another little 9year old girl that I also so today. I have treated her before for infected sores, swollen glands, etc. Today she is having the same problem. I saw her last week and gave her antibiotic cream for her sores. Today, her glands around her face and neck are all swollen and the rash/sores under her chin look infected. I placed her on an oral antibiotic and will follow up with her in a week. I have asked the teacher at her CarePoint to speak with her care giver also to see if she will bring her for HIV testing as well. Many times these infections are chronic and never really clear up until these children are placed on medications to treat HIV, which will help to boost their immune system and allow their body to heal.

First Clinic - 2007

We are back in Swaziland and getting back in the swing of things. We held a clinic at the Children’s Wellness Center today for some sick kids at the Makholweni Care Point. I was able to see most of the boys that go to Baylor clinic from this Care Point. They are all doing well, except one, who is running fever and complaining of sore throat and cough. He is looking very thin. I treated him for an infection in his throat, and upper respiratory tract.

I was also able to see an 11 year old girl that we have been sending to Baylor for HIV treatment. When I saw her right before we left to go to the States, she looked really bad, and was feeling really sick. She couldn’t even play at the Christmas party because she felt so bad. Today, her eyes were bright, and her smile beautiful. The improvement in her was outstanding. Her father said that he thinks that she is finally feeling well enough to try and attend school, but he has no money for school fees. This little girt has never attended school in her life, because she has been so sick. We are going to try to get her into our CarePoint school, which is free. This little 11 year old girl looks like she is 7 or 8, but she has one of the sweetest spirits I think that I have ever seen in a child.

It is such a blessing to be able to work with these children and the teachers/health care workers. They are a wonderful group of people. I was able to use one of the teen-age girls from the CarePoint as my interpreter, and she did a great job. She will start her last year of high school next week. I asked her what her plans were for the future, and she said that she didn’t know. I asked her if she had thought about going into nursing, and she said that she had thought of it. I encouraged her to pursue this idea. I would like to use her to help me again in the future.

There was a 13 year old girl who came into the clinic with complaints of pain in her lower abdomen. It wasn’t swollen, and didn’t look abnormal. I asked her if she had started her menstrual cycle, and she said that she had not. I told her that it was possible that it may start soon, with the pain that she is having. I spoke with her about keeping herself pure. She put her head down and didn’t want to look at me, but she was listening. I prayed with her that she would remain pure before the Lord and save herself for marriage. That is my prayer for all of the young ladies of Swaziland. May God give them the strength and courage to stand up for what is right and keep them pure. Then we will see the HIV rate decrease, and God’s kingdom increase.

A praise report on the little 9 year old girl who was hospitalized and treated for TB, Abraham visited her and her father this week, and she is doing very well. Her father says that he would like to try to get her in school, since she is feeling so much better. Praise the Lord! We are going to try to get her into our second year program of our CarePoint school as soon as we get it started. God is Good!

One more thing, I had mentioned to a couple of the churches that we visited to help us pray for one of our teachers that was sick, while we were in the States. She is recovering, and doing well! Praise God again!

Back HOME!

Home, Sweet Home. Our last travel post. We arrived back last Thursday in Swaziland and have spent the past few days adjusting to the time change and getting everything straight at home and ready for school. Today was our first day back at the office. Jumping back in with both feet!
A special thanks to everyone that was so good to us back in the States:

• Divinity Lutheran; Towson, MD; Pastor Chris Chantelau
• Theater Church; Washington, DC; Joel Schmidgall
• New Life Ministries; Birmingham, AL; Joe & Sharon Mayeaux
• Oasis Church; Loganville, GA; Pastor Troy Shaw
• Healing Place Church; Baton Rouge, LA; Pastor Dino Rizzo
• New Beginnings Church; Baton Rouge, LA; Pastor Jay Coleman
• Shoreline Church; Destin, FL; Pastor Eric Partin
• C3 Church; Clayton, NC; Pastor Matt Fry
• Metropolitan Church of God; Birmingham, AL; Ken Lindsay
• Shane Comeaux of the McClean Bible Church; Fairfax, VA
• Messiah Lutheran; Downingtown, PA; Pastor Gulotta
• Church of the Redeemer; Rockville, MD; Steve Homcy

We enjoyed being with family & friends during the trip. Thanks for your hospitality and kindness. But it's good to be home.
Prayer Requests:

• favor from the Ministry of Health for the Children's Wellness Centre
• our Swazi teachers/Bible Club teachers/health care workers (all the same)
• our kids in Sifundzani (Danielle & Joelle) and Waterford (Gabby & Nathanael)
  
• Teresa & I to follow His direction and not to wander from the course
• the rest of the missionaries here with Children's Cup (Ben & Susie, Charles & Kristen, Patrick, Dave & Jean)
  

Travel

We are traveling back towards Baltimore. We fly out on the 16th! We have met some awesome pastors in the past few weeks. Several more to meet between now & next Tuesday.

US Travels

We've been in the States now for almost three weeks. Traveled through seven states so far, visited five churches/ministries. We have seven more scheduled for the remainder of our trip. We have a slide show we show to anyone who will watch. I cry every time I see it. I can't wait to get back in Swaziland. We'll go back with renewed focus to redouble our efforts to touch these children with the love and hope found ONLY in Jesus! Thank you to the pastors and churches we've had the privilege of meeting with so far: Divinity Lutheran in Baltimore, National Community Church in DC, New Life Ministries in Birmingham, The Oasis Church outside Atlanta, and our home church Healing Place Church in Baton Rouge. More to follow after Christmas.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Quick Trip

We leave on Monday for a quick trip back to the States. I know everyone is looking forward to seeing family and friends again. Also a chance to connect/re-connect with everyone who supports the work God has given us the privilege to do here in Swaziland. I go with mixed feelings. I'm already looking forward to our return in January. Salani kahle!

Waiting Room

It is so exciting to see kids waiting to be seen at the Children's Wellness Centre! I walked in to see the waiting room full. It feels good to see months of preparation bear fruit. Thank you Mission of Mercy. Thank you Dr. Beyda. May the children that are seen there truly see the love of Christ!

Invasion 2006

Pepe was discharged from the hospital today, after 2 and ½ weeks. I think that she was just happy to be out of that place, and I don’t blame her. Finally, she is free of fever, and eating well, without vomiting. She is still taking TB medications and going for daily injections. Please continue to keep her in your prayers.

This week, I saw two cases of child abuse in the clinics that we did. One was out in a rural area, we asked them to take their shirts off so that we could see their skin on their abdomen and back. This little one came in with his mother, who had a baby on her back as well. I guess he was about 5 or 6 years old. When I turned him around to see his back, I saw some purple marks across his shoulder blades. At first I thought that it was from a purple marker. When I asked his mother, she started laughing. When I asked my interpreter what she was saying, he told me that she had beaten him across his back. I didn’t know what to say, but my interpreter took over on his own. I asked him what he told her, and he said that he told her that it is not appropriate to beat a child in this way, and that we did not want to see this again. This is a common thing, I am told, here in Swaziland, that children are beaten, wherever, with whatever. Another one later this week, at a clinic that we did in Mbabane, came with a big knot on the back of his head. He said that gogo (grandma) had beaten him on his head with a stick because he came home late from school. One of the teachers said that this was not the first time to see this with this child. I asked the teacher to please speak to gogo about this and explain to her that she could kill a child by hitting them in the head like this.

Last week, one of our teachers at one of the Care Points had a big knot above her right eye. She was trying to cover it by wearing a hat. When I questioned her, she started to laugh. I think that a lot of Swazi’s laugh out of embarrassment. She responded that her husband had beaten her that morning. I asked what happened, and she said that he showed up at her house with another woman and she was very angry and hit the woman, so her husband beat her. She said that she knew that he was in love with another woman, but this was a different one that she did not know about. I asked her if she lived alone, or if he lived with her. She said that most of the time, she was alone with the children. She said that she filed charges against him at the police station, but she thought that she would go and take them back, because she wanted to show the love of Jesus to him since he was not a Christian. I thought, I’m not sure I could be that self-less. I told her that I’m not sure that was the right thing to do, and that he could not just go around beating her. I told her to pray about it before she did anything, and Daran and I prayed with her. She has 3 children, plus 1 or 2 of her brothers children that she takes care of. I asked her if the children saw what had happened, and she said yes they had woken up and saw the fight. We prayed that the Lord would bring peace to her home and give her wisdom. The next thing that I need to discuss with her is does she protect herself when and if she has sex with him. I pray that she does, but I don’t know, in this culture, the wife can’t refuse her husband. I need to talk to her about going for HIV testing. This is not something that will be very easy. This is a wonderful lady and I don’t want anything to happen to her. Please pray for her and her family, and for me that I may have the wisdom of the Lord in this situation.

We heard early this morning (Sunday, November 12) that one of the students at the school that Gabby attends was hit by a car at 2am and died at 6am. He was crossing the street to get a taxi to go back to school and an oncoming vehicle, with no lights on hit him and ran. Unfortunately, he had probably been drinking. He had been to a party for the Form 5 graduation. Some of his friends were with him and saw it happen. As of this morning, his best friend, could not be found, as he had disappeared from the scene and no one knew where he was. We are praying that the students will turn to the Lord and realize that none of us have a promise of tomorrow, and that we need to live each day as if it were our last.

Charles, Kristen, and Patrick are having a big youth event this coming Saturday (Invasion 2006), and have invited all of the youth in Swaziland. Gabby is working on getting as many to come from her school as possible. Please help us pray that many will come, and many will accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

Comfort Care vs. Heroic Care

I've heard these terms used to describe what is done in the hospitals in America for patients facing critical medical conditions. An ethicist might define these as what extent care and services are used to maintain life versus quality of life issues. I can't begin to comment on that. Greater minds than mine wrestle with those issues daily. Here in Swaziland there is not much of a debate on comfort vs. heroic care. Most people are grateful for any care.
That’s on the physical side. What about spiritual? I think Jesus gave heroic care. Comfort care is what we give when we give a watered down gospel or platitudes so as not to offend. God's wish is that none would perish. Jesus gave everything he had and was rightfully his that we might have a relationship with the God that created us. Dying on a cross as our atonement is heroic. Being slapped, beat, scourged by your own creation is a love that is heroic. There was nothing comfortable about what Jesus taught.
There are people here in Swaziland that give heroic care. Our Bible Club leaders and teachers give heroic care to the children at the CarePoints. There are friends and neighbors who will sit for days with a small child in the hospital to provide comfort, companionship, and love. There are women who cook every day for hundreds of children (not their own) at each CarePoint. These are the heroes here in Swaziland. Taking what little they have and making it an offering to the God that loved them first.
My prayer is that we would not miss the opportunities to be heroic. Not for applause or the limelight, but to be able to hear one day: "Well done good & faithful servant." Take the gift God has given you and be heroic where God has placed (or sent) you.

Pepe

On the 19^th of October, we had to admit PePe to the hospital, she had a high fever, bad cough, sores in her mouth and throat, and she was dehydrated. When I went to her homestead to see her on the Wednesday evening before, her heart was racing and she was extremely hot with fever. Her father said that she had only drunk about ¼ of a coffee mug of water all day. She had eaten one egg and one banana. I instructed him to start offering her a cup of water every hour. He was just letting her sleep and not waking her to offer her food or water. I told him that if we didn’t get some fluids down her, she would have to go to the hospital. When I returned the following morning, she was no better, maybe even worse. I told her father that she needed to go to see the doctor immediately. When the doctor looked at her chest x-ray and examined her, he decided that she needed to start on TB treatment, IV fluids, and IV antibiotics.

When we walked into the children’s ward, PePe looked afraid. When we put her in a bed, she began to cry, and say that she wanted to go home. The nurse had us move her to another bed in a more private room, when she realized that she would be on TB treatment. So I carried her to the room crying that she wanted to go home. By the time I made it to the room and sat her down, I had to go outside before I started crying myself. That hospital is not a nice place. It is very dreary, dirty and run down. The only bright spot about the children’s ward is the new curtains that were made by Barbara Conti (Patrick’s mom). They are such bright cheerful colors and they really help to brighten the place up a bit.

Susan (one of the cooks from the care point) has been helping to take care of PePe on and off for a while. She stayed with PePe the first night. She then had to go out of town due to a death in her family. So, she found someone else from the community to stay with PePe while she was gone. The care giver must take care of the patient and give her the drugs for AIDS twice daily when they are due. All that the nurses do unfortunately, is pass out other medications.

PePe’s father came to visit, the first or second day that she was there. Susan told me later that he made the statement that he was tired of taking care of this child. Susan told him that she would take care of her, if he would let her. He doesn’t want to take responsibility for taking care of her, yet he doesn’t want her to go with someone else.

It has been almost a week and a half since she was admitted to the hospital. During the first four days she received IV fluids, IV antibiotics, and one unit of blood, because she was very anemic. Now, she is able to hold food, fluids, and her medications down without vomiting. She is no longer receiving IV fluids. She gets an injection each day for TB and she is also taking pills as well. The doctors said that she would need this treatment for 60 days, but that she could go home after a couple of weeks hopefully and just come back daily for the injections. The problem is that we are not sure that her father is giving the medications for AIDS consistently and now we add TB meds that need to be given consistently.

I try to go by and visit her every day or every other day. When she sees me, she starts crying to go home. I saw her on Saturday, she is still fairly weak, but at least she is sitting up now. I took her for a short walk outside of the children's ward and she started crying again that she wants to go home. On Friday, Nthombie and I went to see her and talked with her for a little while. We asked her if she knows what happens to us when we die. Her answer was very sad. She said that we are put in a box and then put in a hole in the ground. I then told Nthombie to explain to her that only our body is placed in the ground, but that our spirit goes to be with Jesus. Nthombie explained, using a stuffed animal angel that we had given to her when she went into the hospital. Nthombie is one of our teachers, she has a special gift from God to talk to children. PePe seemed to understand and be satisfied with that. She is still coughing a lot and I can still hear her lungs cracking and popping when I hold her in my lap. I don't know if she will ever be 100% again, but if we can get her to a point that she can have a good quality of life, and not be in pain, I will be happy.

Please keep PePe in your prayers that God’s will be done in her little life, and that we can show her the love of Jesus in everything that we say and do for her.