4/26

You can do anything...when there is no one else to do it! 

So, little Priscila is still in the hospital, her parents are not very happy about and Im a little worried that they may try to leave with her. But, hopefully the hospital wont allow that to happen. We are waiting for the genetic testing results, tomorrow should be the day that we know exactly what is wrong with her and where we go from here.

The attitude of the mother has finally changed, in the beginning she was very indifferent about her child and about what we were doing or not doing. Yesterday for the first time she actually spoke up and said that this was the last blood sample that would be taken from her child and that she needs to get home to her other children. But, she does not interact with her daughter, she does not talk to her or play with her...at least I have never seen her stimulate little miss Priscila. Hopefully this will change...

The hospital here is very “third world”, for lack of better words, you must have someone do everything for you. The hospital does not provide food, bathroom supplies, diapers, etc. Someone must bring you food every day and deliver your specimens to the proper lab and pick up the results. It is something very strange and very hard for me to get used to. Because of this I have been driving an hour every day to take the mother food and to check on this child and to talk to the doctors and nurses. If I don’t talk to the staff at the hospital then they don’t even go in to see the little girl, they work because I am pressuring them to find out what is wrong with her. 

For example, yesterday we went to visit her and to do the genetic testing. Cost somewhere around $200, so first we had to search for someone who would be willing to pay that...fortunately the Queen of Pimampiro has $2000 to do “charity work” and so she agreed to help us. So this is how yesterday went: first i drove an hour to the city where the hospital is, then i went to one “lab” where they told me that they were unable to do all of the tests, then to The Red Cross where the Queen paid $200 and we were given one 10ml tube to put the specimen (blood) in, then to the hospital to where the child is to draw the blood, the doctor and nurse said it was too much blood and they were ‘afraid’ to stick her.  I volunteered and stuck her in the femoral artery because her veins are so small and fragile and yes 10ml’s is a lot of blood for a child of 5 pounds. After getting the blood I hand delivered it back to The Red Cross where now we are waiting until Wednesday to get the results. Once we have the results we will come up with a very strict nutrition program for her to increase her weight, as long as there is nothing else wrong with her that would contraindicate a high calorie diet. 

This is taking up most of my time right now, but hopefully tomorrow we will be able to bring her home and begin the long road to growing and thriving. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers since the parents have not been super helpful, pray that their attitudes change and they see that we are trying to help their daughter. In the end we hope to help the family in other ways as well, as far as jobs for the parents (since right now they are working daily jobs making $6 a day), and whatever other ways that we can. 

Happy Easter to everyone, Easter is always a good time to be here...on Friday we had the traditional “cambeo” where there is no money involved only goods are exchanged. PImampiro is one of the only towns left in the world that still does this! People come from all over Ecuador and Colombia to participate in this tradition! Then this week they make fanesca, which is a traditional soup that is only made at Easter, made with 10 grains and salty fish, eggs, bread balls, and squash. Its good, but super filling! 

Check out the new website! www.amongthestars.org or if you’d rather see it in Spanish, www.entrelasestrellas.org!!!  Thank so much to Drew McKechnie for doing this for me!!!

3/21

Wow, a whole month has past since I wrote last...it seems like just the other day!

Life here has been crazy this past month, I had two volunteers here for two weeks. They are friends of a friend of my sister, they are traveling South America and doing some volunteering in the process. They live in LA and have experience with organic gardening and working with kids. We did so much! We worked in the gardens and harvested tons of vegetables from the garden next to the house that is still under construction. We ate super well...since they are both vegetarians and both like to cook I got to eat three awesome meals every day...my body loved it! We worked with the kids, got acupuncture (a man who studied in China and works in Quito and the US was here in Pimampiro!), cooked for the old people, danced with the old people, and overall just had an amazing time! The elderly ask me most every day when they are coming back and when we are going to cook for them again...haha! 

Since the elderly at their center where they eat lunch every day have a garden we are trying to incorporate more vegetables in their daily meal. They have a HUGE garden and arent using hardly anything in it! It is dying and going to waste. So, teaching the cook and the director (who is a licensed dietician) to use what they have to make healthier more nutritious meals every day. Simple changes, like adding kale or spinach to the soup rather than just having a broth...simple changes that the elderly will not be resistant to but that will increase their vitamin intake.  Not an easy task, but little by little we will make a difference. 

Im not sure if anyone remembers me mentioning a little girl who was in the daycare and is super small but this week has been an amazing week for this little girl.  She is not only suffering from some genetic abnormality but also from neglect from her parents. She is 1 1/2 years old and weighs 5 pounds! Yes, you read that correctly she has the weight of a newborn but is 18 months old. The parents have been very resistant to any help even going as far as pulling her out of the daycare. Well, she returned to the daycare last week and I was determined to not let her suffer anymore. So...I began my search as to what I can do for her and who I can get involved to help me and where to begin with treatment for her. I first asked the teachers at the daycare, they told me that the dad doesnt want help and to be careful because he would yell at me. Well, I decided to first talk to the director of the clinic here and find out where to go from here and what would be my first steps. He told me that this is obvious abuse and I needed to go to the authorities and report the parents and have the child taken away from them and taken to have treatment. But, in my own conscious I couldnt do that without at least giving the parents some sort of chance first. So, my friend who is a lawyer and is basically the head of Childrens and Families for our province said that she would go with me. We went, talked to the parents and they agreed to work alongside me for their child!!! What an answer to prayer! No fighting, no begging or pleading...just a mutual agreement that this child needs help! Here is where the system is lacking, yes healthcare is “free” but if you look a certain way you get brushed aside. This child was born premature at 7 months, the mother gave birth to 5 children...all at 7 months, spontaneously. One died at 3 months from respiratory complications, the other 3 (minus Priscilla-the little girl I am helping) are all small but walking and talking and meeting their milestones. Here is where the problem lies, the parents say that all of their children were the same...obviously this is not the case. 

Let me give you the diagnostics of this little girl: 18 months old, 5 lbs, low-set ears, nystagmus, small head circumference, poor muscle tone, no muscle tone in the lower extremities, chronic cough and congestion, weak reflexes, unable to sit or rollover, does not lift head when left on belly, poor sucking-cannot drink a bottle only eats from a spoon, poor hearing, and the worst part of all is that she has parents who are in denial of their childs situation. This mother is indifferent about everything, she is 27 years old and acts as if this child means nothing to her.  She doesn’t hold her or play with her or interact with her at all. She leaves her laying on the bed, changes her when she is wet or poopy and otherwise leaves her there to fend for herself. If this child had some love and affection I believe that she would be in a different place, but she is fighting and she will overcome her circumstances...and I will help her. 

Currently she is in the hospital!!!  The parents agreed to go with me and have her evaluated which Im sure they are regretting at this point, but after fighting first with the clinic doctor (who had to give me a certificate to go to the ER) which said that this is not an emergency, then arriving at the hospital and them telling me that this is not an emergency...she is in the hospital! I did not want to lose the chance that I had to get her evaluated and put on a high calorie diet and to find out what is really wrong with her and where we go from here with treatment. After fighting my way to getting her admitted and meeting the doctors and nurses and explaining this situation that we are in, we finally got what we wanted. Not to the satisfaction of the mother, with no emotion the doctor told her that she probably has a genetic disorder or that the mom herself probably has/had an infection and this is why her child is this way. That this is absolutely NOT normal and that she has neglected her child. The last time this child was seen by a doctor was a year ago! I think that these parents are in denial or they just didnt want to hear the truth. But...little Priscilla has the right to live and to have medical treatment even if her parents are in denial. Tomorrow I will pay (only basic healthcare is free) for the genetic and infectious testing that she needs and hopefully we can come up with a plan of care that the parents will follow and that I will be sure is being implemented.

I would appreciate it greatly if you would keep little Miss Priscilla in your thoughts and prayers, and that her parents will remain open to my help.  She has a long road ahead of her but nothing is impossible!

Something less important but still stressing me out....I need a job. I have exhausted all of my personal funds being here and am planning on being in the states for a little less than 3 months this summer, and as of right now there are no travel nurse positions anywhere on the east coast! So, if anyone can help Id be more than grateful! And as always I know that it will work out...and I am trying to be patient! 

I will keep you updated on the little girl and as always thank you all of your love and support! Without each and every one of you I wouldnt be here...

2/22

I know understand why people with cholera have a cot with hole in it...definitely not a pleasant experience. Now, I did not/do not have cholera but for a few hours on Wednesday I was pretty sure that a bucket under my cot would have been very useful. The strength that it takes to walk to the bathroom and to sit on the toilet, and to be so dizzy every time you stand up...not a nice experience. I have had diarrhea more in the past month than I think I have ever had in my life, I haven’t changed anything or eaten anything different, my body just seems to be rejecting certain things more often. Today I am fine, lets hope that that continues. 

Next week two volunteers will be arriving to work with me! They have experience in building organic gardens and in teaching people how to eat what comes out of their garden. They will do one on one cooking classes with the families, in their homes to help them better utilize what they are growing. Right now the things that they are growing are dying or going to seed cause they just don’t know how to use them. Hopefully we can change this very soon!

These girls will also be working with the kids in the daycare and with the elderly. I am super excited to have them come and work with me for a short time! 

Two weeks ago I had the privilege of visiting Alicia and Dan Gheorghita in their project in Quito called Casa Victoria! Dan is a friend of my dad from Transylvania and is married to an Ecuadorian woman. They began a project 11 years ago in a very poor, unsafe part of Quito. Today they run an after school program where they teach children about Jesus, help them with their homework, teach them computer skills, among other things. An awesome experience to be able to meet Alicia and get to see this project that I have heard quite a bit about. You can check out their work at casav.org! 

Carnaval wasn’t quite as eventful as last year but I did go to Coangue and get painted and covered in flour and freezing water! It was super sunny and warm, thankfully since the water from the river is like ice. After the day in Chota I returned to Pimampiro covered in all sorts of colors of paint and flour, flour that did not come out of my hair for almost 3 days! 

I continue to work with the elderly one day a week, helping with an art class and also just listing to them and their stories. I have an elderly man with Bells Palsy who was super frustrated and did not understand why he has always been healthy and now suddenly the left side of his face just “won’t work”. His wife came up to me one afternoon and asked me if I had something to help her husband see better. I was confused with the question and asked her why. She proceeded to tell me that since New Years her husband suddenly was having problems blinking completely, I hadn’t noticed since he was wearing dark sunglasses. He was seen in the clinic here and was told there was nothing they could do for him. With one look i realized that he was having difficulty seeing because his eye was drooping and he was unable to close to all the way, causing his eye to be dry which in turn causes the vision to be blurry. Losing sight completely is a complication of Bells Palsy if they eye is not properly taken care of. Since this was almost 2 months since this problem began and he was doing nothing for it I bought some steroids and explained to him how to take them. After 7 days of steroids and bringing up the skin under the eye with tape every day, he can see normally and the drooping has decreased to an extent. This is something that sometimes takes 6 months to heal, but we are definitely more on our way and he is not as discouraged as before. Hopefully he will be encouraged and continue to take care of himself.

We are in the process of updating the website, thanks to Drew McKechnie and Pioneer Mule Inc., hopefully it will be up and running in the next few weeks! You can check out new photos, the blog, opportunities and everything all in one! 

Thank you all for your prayer and support!

2/1

Happy February! Not sure where January went but its apparently over...so this is why it went by so fast.  First, I arrived in Ecuador on a Friday night, I was sick most of the day just thinking about going through customs. Im sure that most of you know that Correa (the President of Ecuador) is very against anyone bringing anything into Ecuador from the US. Since I travel a lot, Quito airport is small, and all of the people that work in customs are the same....they know me. This IS NOT to my advantage. I traveled this time with 2 duffle bags, one weighing 90 lbs and the other 50.  This is nothing compared to what I used to travel with and of course the lady asked me to please step over to the other side with my stuff so that they could look at everything. When they say “look at everything” that means take every single thing out of your bag and put it on a table. If its my size that I can keep it, if its not then they will take it. Lucky I had thought about this prior so i rolled all of the donations and things that I bought for people in the bottom of the duffle bags and put my stuff unfolded and a mess on top. When the guy opened the duffle bag he pulled out two big handfuls, all mine...then he put his hand down toward the bottom of the bag and pulled one more big handful and guess what?? It was ALL mine! No idea how that happened but then all he had to say was that I have ALOT of clothes, and my response was “ill be here for awhile”.  Haha! How amazing!! 

Then I was surprised with a birthday party on Saturday! Complete with roses, food, presents! How nice it is to have a second family here! Then the Liga game (Quito soccer team), crazy...tons of people but “we” won!!

Sunday night I arrived back in Pimampiro to a house full of dirt...not pleasant but the reality of living in a small dusty town.  Monday and Tuesday were spent unpacking and repacking and cleaning and organizing because on Wednesday at 4am I left Pimampiro with two kids headed to Operation Smile Evaluations in Quito!

Operation Smile...my newfound love. Operation Smile is an organization that does mostly cleft lip and palette repairs and other minor surgeries such as removing an extra toe or separating fingers. I am now part of their “Ecuadorian Team” which means that I will work (as long as I am not in the states working) with them the 4 times a year that they are in Ecuador. The director of South America was here this past week and asked if I would be willing to travel to other Latin American countries since they are always in need of bilingual nurses. So, we will see where that takes me!

This past week in Quito we operated on 99 kids!! Most of these kids were revisions of previous cleft lip surgeries, quite a few first time palette repair, and a good number with extra toes or fingers. One little girls who was about 2 really made me sad, her mother worked in a greenhouse where they grow bananas and she was born with very few fingers or toes. One foot was totally “normal” while the rest were nothing more than nubs with maybe a finger or two. She was also born with cleft lip and palette and a few other more minor abnormalities. This is to show what chemicals do to bodies, how awful for something so preventable this poor child was born with so many things wrong. So many other stories that I could tell you; the 3 year old who was burned all on the left side of his face and the skin was super tight, the 18 year old who had very little upper lip after having so many cleft lip surgeries so now his lips are sewn shut for the next few weeks, or the many kids who had their palettes closed and have a suture through their tongue taped to the side of their faces. So many children, so many surgeries, so thankful do be a part of such an amazing team and effort! 

Im back in Pimampiro now...time to get English classes and this nutrition project on the road. Thank you all for all of your support! I couldnt be here without each and every one of you!!

One more week...

One more week in Ecuador and then I will be back in the states...bittersweet as always. But...the good thing is that I know that I will be back very soon. Time passes super quickly here, I know that I say that in most every blog entry but it’s true...I cant believe how fast my life has past. In March it will be 2 years since the first time I came to Pimampiro! 

Doesn’t feel like Christmas here, everyone here says it is because they are poor or because of the climate. But...regardless hardly anyone has lights or trees or is in “The Christmas Spirit” whatever that really means. Im sure it is not because of the climate, cause living in Miami it feels like Christmas at Christmas even though its not cold. But here....Im not sure what it is. Every day is the same for them, regardless of time of year or holiday. Kind of sad, being so used to Christmas being all around me and this close to Christmas everyone is happy and talking about Christmas and being “jolly”. Last year I left before now so I just figured it wasn’t close enough....but apparently this is the way that it is always. 

In my house there is no tree or lights, but there are a million gifts!! There are cookies and candy and clothes and gift bags....one room full of donations!! Thanks to all of you the kids here will have an awesome Christmas! This Friday I am going to first have Christmas with the kids in the daycare...we are inviting the moms and I am going to make cookies and rent a Santa outfit! The kids will be so excited to see Santa and be able to take pictures with him! I will give the kids at the daycare their Christmas bags which are filled with dolls or hotwheels, beanie babies, candy and clothes!! Then on Sunday we will do Christmas with donations from another organization for all of the kids who are not in the daycare, we have donated toys and everyone will get a bag of candy and cookies! Santa will be there this day too! 

But...I am thinking about the orphans in Lima! There are so many of them and they truly have nothing...I really wish I could go there. I want to go and take presents and clothes and candy to make their Christmas awesome too.  Unfortunately the time and the funds to do that are limited...but none the less I am thinking about them. I am going to try my best to go there when I get back, at least for a few days to see them and to take them some gifts. My heart is for the kids, but especially for the orphans and kids that are maltreated. One day I hope to have an orphanage...I don’t know where or when but that is something on my bucket list that I have not yet accomplished! 

Thank you all again so very much for all of your love and support! I will be stateside very soon!

written 11/30

I cannot believe that it is already the end of November, where did this year go? I have been in Ecuador almost 3 months...and it’s almost Christmas! My time here...and this year has passed me by so quickly. 

Starting this week I am starting a nutrition project! A company will be putting a solar energy plant in Paragachi (where I work) and they want to increase the health and nutrition of the residents. I will be working along side of this company to do the research and to show them the results of increased nutrition in the diet. 

We will begin with the kids of the community by adding a “shake” every morning, this drink is full of vitamins and nutrients that these kids are lacking. For example, I was talking to a 12 years old this week and since we are working on this new nutrition project I thought I’d ask him what he had to eat on that particular day: breakfast was bread and coffee, lunch was pasta soup, and dinner was a hamburger and french fries. Do you see the lack of nutrition there? 

Our goal with this project is to see results; changes in grades in school, overall wellness , less tiredness, meeting their milestones faster, and whatever else may come with it! After we begin with the kids we will move onto their families, we will also be working on teaching nutrition and the importance of fruits and vegetables in the diet. This all works together with the other organization (Mountains of Hope) that is here and who are teaching the families how to have gardens and to grow fruits and vegetables without pesticides. Hopefully this project will come full circle and we will see big results in the health of the people here! 

Thank you all so very much for your help for Christmas! I have received 5 packages from Shelley Houshell! Thanks so much Shelley! I am still waiting for the 17 packages that my mom sent...with all of that I assume that these kids will have an awesome Christmas! We are organizing a day where we will invite the mothers to come, the kids will do a small Christmas program and then we will give them their gifts! 

Thank you all so very much for your love and support....I couldn’t do this without each and every one of you! 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Sad that I am not with my family, but happy to be here in Ecuador! I hope that everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving. I ate normally and had a normal day here...sad I know but I look forward to having pumpkin pie and all of the Thanksgiving foods when I get home! Ill be sure to eat more than I should to make up for lost time! I am super thankful for my family and friends and for all of the opportunities that I have been given in this life! I look forward to many more years with my family and many more years to give thanks for this amazing life that I have been given! Well...Im headed to the beach for the weekend! Need to relax a little, Ive been exhausted lately...a few more weeks here and then I will be back to see everyone in the states for a few weeks!! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!