I just wanted to share a couple of stories from the pediatric ward. It’s absolutely heartbreaking to see the children that come in malnourished, suffering from malaria, HIV+, with Kwashiorkor, or any number of ailments that an American like myself has never seen. But it’s wonderful to see them smile as they improve.

 

There are three little girls who were almost dead a couple of days ago (one of them pictured above). They had all been losing weight rapidly, and one has no mother. While they seemed hopeless, we treated them as best we could and prayed for them as a team. Yesterday, Jennifer reported that all three of them were still clinging to life, which was better news than she had expected. Today, as I was doing rounds with Jennifer, we found that two of the girls are putting on weight, and they even smiled at us! (Jennifer says that, when a malnourished baby smiles, it usually means that they are on the road to recovery. Starving children don’t waste energy smiling or laughing). It was truly beautiful to see these tiny girls, still frighteningly thin, looking happy and seemingly on the road to survival. After the seeing the first two, we hoped for a hat-trick of smiles, but it wasn’t to be.  The third girl, while still alive, remains at an extremely low weight and can’t survive long like this. The mother maintains that she tested negative for HIV, but says she can’t find the card (many people never disclose their HIV status, or never get tested, for fear of social ostracization), leading Jennifer to think that the child is likely HIV+ and already very sick. So, for every recovery story there is one of death, for every ounce of hope there is an ounce of despair. I suppose that these girls represent two stories of hope and only one of despair, but the odds can just as quickly turn in the other direction. This balance is hard to live with – I like happy endings, success stories, and generally good things. But that’s not the reality of life here (or in most of the world); the reality is full of both suffering and joy, and is hard. And I’ve only been here for two weeks of it. These are just preliminary observations that I’m sure will develop as I gain greater perspective on things and a greater understanding of life here, but they are the thoughts that I’m wrestling with at this early stage.