Thursday, May 6, 2016

Thursday May 6, 2016

Our final morning at Palo Blanco began much like the others. Our team split into their respective tasks – which by this point we were becoming pretty proficient at. The Dominican men in charge of the construction project requested that Steve, Chris B and Duane stay a little longer because they are now well trained at laying block and have proven themselves to be hard workers! Neil finished another beautiful mural on the roof next to the aquaponics project depicting the tree of life. Rose, Lynnette, and Chris W put in more hours covering books and organizing the library. Chris R went swimming with the fishes again – capturing the larger fish in a net and moving them to another tank to make room for the baby fish. The nursing crew worked with the children again to meet their health needs, while the rest of the team worked on miscellaneous projects such as painting.

 

Chris R. swimming in the (stinky) fish tank!

Meeting the health needs of the children today meant working to delouse the worst cases of lice. Little Mayori (12 years old), and her sister (8 years old) were first up. These girls were very patient as we applied the lice treatment, rinsed, shampooed, and conditioned their heads in a mop sink on the floor with cold water, and then set about to the tedious task of combing out the lice and nits from the severely tangled hair.  It was nearly impossible to get a comb through their hair and when questioned we learned that they do not have combs or shampoo at home. Their hair had not been brushed or washed one single time since they had been treated for lice by the Palo Blanco nurse nearly three months ago. Mayori then explained that they only wash their hair on their birthday. We were heartbroken and holding back tears while Mayori looked innocently up at us and then proceeded to make silly faces and giggle. The combing process became too long and painful – because if you remember these are the girls that had healing chemical burns on their heads from cockroach spray their father tried to kill the lice with. Mayori’s little sister started to cry when we got to a sensitive spot on her head and she couldn’t take the pain anymore. We tried to distract her with treats and smiles but there was no way we were going to get all of the nits out her hair. By the time the combing process was done thousands of lice and nits surrounded both girls on the ground. The task felt hopeless. Christina, the nurse, told us that the reality was that we would never get rid of the lice for these girls but at least in this moment they had some relief and felt cared for. As Christina did the final combing and braided their hair she told them “Do you know that when God looks at you he sees the most beautiful girl in the world?”  Maybe, when these girls are having a bad day they will remember those words, and this moment of being cared for and remember that they are precious.

 

Rachel, Erin, Verray and Rose removing lice from the sister's hair.

The evening was filled with laughter, play, music, and fun as we spent time with our sponsored kids from the Ark at Jeff Vandermolen’s (director of Kids Alive Dominican Republic) home. We played volleyball, foosball, jumped on the trampoline, ate fried chicken and tostones (fried plantains), sang worship songs together while Luke played the guitar (yes, the girls asked for his autograph), and passed out gifts. Everyone had a great time and it was obvious that the Ark kids had a lot of candy in those gifts you all sent down!!

 

 

Luke and his fan club!

 

Tomorrow morning we get to go on a field trip to a butterfly ranch with the kindergarteners of ANIJA. It sounds like some chaotic fun will be heading our way!