Yei Eye Clinic

Today Mirjam and I went to an eye clinic in Yei. It has been a very long day. We left here about 9:30 and didnt get back until about 6:15. And we were in the clinic the whole time. It was actually a very good clinic though. The whole thing was about eye care here in Southern Sudan and blindness. It talked about the many different common diseases and how 75% of blindness is preventable. I thought this was a huge number! The important thing though, is early detection of many of the more serious diseases. Thats what this clinic was about. Recognizing and knowing how to treat the serious eye diseases. So first we got into partners, Mirjam and I seperated to be more social, and used blindfolds to know what it is like to be blind. This was really a great exercise. We pulled the blind person along, pushed them, then finally led them properly, to know what it is like as the blind person to be pulled and pushed and to know how much nicer it is to be led. Then we had an anatomy review and how to examine the eye. Here we were all given free eye charts to bring back to our clinic. Awesome! Then we were fed lunch, which I got meat for the first time since being here and it was really good. Then we got into all the different diseases that are common around here. Many I had heard of and one I had not. But I am learning and it was really quite interesting. We were also given a chart to help us find the disease given the symptoms and what are the treatments for those diseases. I think it was a very good day. Overall we were given free eye charts, free flashlights (really nice ones, and mine had just broken so this was a blessing from God), free t-shirts, a free teaching cloth book with pictures to show causes and prevention of trichiasis (a common serious eye disease here), and certificates officially made out to say that we attended this clinic. They really went all out for this and must have spent a lot of money. It was really good though and helped to raise awareness for blindness in the community and world wide. I was actually quite impressed with Sudan. For as behind in everything else that they are they really have a great program for the blind in Juba. They have teaching aids and everything to help the blind to stay in school and really become a viable part of the community. This is so very important because many times you will see the blind just being taken care of by a family member. Especially here, and that family member is generally a child who is then kept out of school. So I pray that Yei can build up a program like they have in Juba, because they are doing some great things there.
Also, we now have a new orphan as of yesterday, maybe. So yesterday Jochen and I got called out to one of the villages to see a sick woman there, but on the way we met up with Grandma Shay, who is the temporary director here at Harvesters. She had gone out to make some house calls but met up with this young boy who looked like he had been beaten up and was mentally handicapped. So she was coming to try to bring him to us to help him, but we met him and Jochen went on to the village lady and I took the boy to the clinic to care for him. He was so scared, but he let me take his hand and lead him to the clinic. He cant talk very much so we initially couldnt get his name. He was so dirty and looked like he had been living on the streets for a long time. While I was cleaning him up I found that none of the wounds were fresh, although his face looked like raw meat, and there was even some grass caked into his wounds. It was really quite aweful. But we built his trust by feeding him and he really liked it when I cleaned his arms and legs before going on to his face. It was such a humbling experience as I knelt on the floor washing this sweet little boys feet, I truly felt like I was looking into the face of Jesus. He was so broken and hurting, but he gave a little half smile that just melted my heart. I was unable to really get him clean like he needed but we needed to build trust first. So he ate and had some water and then he was so tired, so he layed down in the clinic and fell right to sleep. We all talked it over and found him a bed in the boys dorm and we took him over there and he was out like a light. This morning we found out that he crawled into bed with one of the other older boys and slept there all night. I thought this was so sweet because really, he was not clean so it was really amazing for John to let him sleep with him. So today he was bathed thoroughly and shaved his head for lice, really cleaned up his wounds and now he is doing good. I think it will take him some time to get used to everything, because he had to be taught how to wash his hands. We think he has epilepsy or "bad spirits" as they are called here so we really need to monitor him. That is why he is unable to talk and seems to have some real mental problems. We finally found that he is called "Bakara" but this means bad in Arabic, so we will be changing that name. One of the guards heard on the Christian radio station that a family is looking for their handicapped son, so we were hoping there was someone really looking for him, but so far we havnt heard anything. We will be going in to the station and talking with them to see who it was. There was also a man that came saying he was looking for his nephew that was mentally handicapped, but he saw the boy and it wasnt him. I have mixed feelings on this because with as bad as the boy looked, Im not sure he was getting the care he needed even if he does have family. But it is always best for a child to be with their family. So we will just have to see what comes of this all. Please keep this boy in your prayers. He is really very thin and malnourished and mentally needing some care. But I think with Gods help and our love, he can really turn around and be quite amazing. He really is a sweet boy.
So I have had a lot going on in the last few days. But I think God is at work and that each of these moments are blessings. This little boy is going to get so much love here he just wont know what to do with it all. Blessings to you all!