Armstrong

I know a lot of my blogs are somewhat depressing because of the nature of my job...and this one probably will be the same by the time I'm done. I really don't want you to get the impression that nothing good ever happens here because we have so many success stories from the patients on the wards. It's just that now that I'm not working on the ward, I'm not experiencing these successes first hand. But I assure you, everyday Mercy Ship volunteers are restoring sight to blind people, removing huge facial tumors and showing the love of Jesus by accepting people who are considered outcasts.

But today, I want to tell you about my 2 year old patient Armstrong. He's a cute little boy that is physically disabled and, as far as I can tell, mentally disabled. Here he is with his mom Filemina. We don't know what happened to cause his disabilities but I personally think the injuries occurred during a prolonged and difficult birth. His mother says he was treated for tetanus two days after his birth. You can never really get the whole story from people here - I'm not sure if it's a communication problem or if they really just don't know. Back home, we'd have all kinds of lawsuits filed but here, people just chalk it up to a curse or the African sign (that's what they call any sickness they can't explain which is almost all sicknesses) and move on.

I'm not exactly sure how Armstrong came to be a palliative care patient because he doesn't have any type of illness and hopefully will live a relatively long life. But we have become friends with Filemina and stop frequently just to visit.

I cannot imagine the difficulties of raising a completely disabled child, let alone raising one in a country like Liberia where there isn't a single social service program to assist you. Armstrong requires round-the-clock care and his mother will be the sole person providing this for the remainder of his life.

We have seen Filemina's struggles firsthand and have nothing to offer except our compassion.
Filemina is dependent upon a boyfriend for food and shelter. If he doesn't provide this (which he threatens to do at times), she has no means of supporting herself and Armstrong. She can't leave him in someone else's care so she can work (even if there were any jobs here). Her family will not help her even though they live only a few minutes away and there are zero government programs to assist in this situation. It's not like back home where people can get social security or food stamps or go to a homeless shelter or a food pantry or a church. There are literally no resources for her.

She is incredibly sad because we are leaving. I think we are the only people who talk to her about her struggles. We will only get to see her one more time this week - it will be really hard to say good-bye.

On a completely different subject, we celebrated Thanksgiving last week. It was a very different experience than Thanksgiving at home. I did no planning, shopping for food, cooking, watching football, taking a nap, hanging out with family. The planners of our Thanksgiving did make it special, though.

For dinner, we had turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, glazed carrots, corn, cranberries and different salads, apple, pumpkin and blackberry pie with ice cream. The food was amazing and I didn't have to do any dishes afterwards. Then we had a celebration church service with a message and worship music. At one point, a crew member from every country (36 countries) got up and said a quick prayer in their own language. It was really moving. Overall, it was a really nice day and the great food really boosted the morale of the crew.

On a food note, I never realized how much food impacts morale. For the first two and 1/2 months here, I ate almost exclusively peanut butter sandwiches twice a day. But ever since we got a chef volunteering the food has been wonderful. After a long, hot and depressing day, it is so nice to come back to the ship and look forward to dinner. Everyone talks about how great the food is and how it has really impacted their attitude. I now only eat peanut butter sandwiches when we have lamb:)

Peace,

Michele