It was a real thrill today to bring all of your generous donations into Bethany to share them with Mercy. As you saw from one of my first posts, I carried over three hockey bags filled with crayons, markers, colouring books, pencils, pencil crayons, balls, silly bands (very popular here too!), bibles, and even two very special bibles in Swahili. Though I was in on Friday, Mercy had to go up to Nairobi to tend to her sick mother so I had to put off the "official" presentation until today. It was worth it!
Nial and I carried two of the bags down to the hospital - no easy feet at almost 8000 ft above sea level - to meet Mercy. To say she was floored might be an understatement. She knew I had things for her from all of you at St. Vincent, but she was not prepared for the amount of love that was shown by all of you through your generous contributions. We took everything out of the bag and sorted it. When I pulled out the small bibles she was thrilled. W
hen I pulled out the bible in Swahili, she was speechless."How did you get this?" she asked and I told her about one of our thoughtful parents who had ordered it especially for her. "I find it hard to get them here," she said. She was delighted, as you can see in these first two photos.
The biggest need and thankfully what I had the most of was crayons and colouring books. I posted a photo on an earlier blog of the broken crayons the children were using - it is a consumable expense and therefore always in need - to show you how welcome your contributions have been.
Mercy then invited Nial and I to join her for a walk around some of the wards and to give some of the things we brought away. We went onto the hydrocephalus ward and gave each mother and baby a new sleeper that they chose from what we brought over, and balls and stuffed animals for the children. The mothers loved the silly bands so thanks for adding those to the bag as well!
Nial was with me the last time I was here from Norway. He is a contributor to Bethany and on the board for the International Hydrocephalus and Spina Bifida Federation. His daughter is now 15 years old and has spina bifida. Though she experiences many of the difficulties that are associated with the disease, she is living a very happy and healthy life with friends and family in Norway. When Mercy was introducing us on the ward she talked about Sarah, Fiona, and I and then she talked about Nial. We both spoke to the group after speaking with everyone individually. When Nial spoke, he talked about having a daughter with spina bifida and how well she is doing. It was amazing to see the mothers listening to him as he spoke from the perspective of 15 years experience. Many of the mothers on the ward were dealing with this for the first time with their barely week old children. They asked him questions about whether she could walk, how she was doing intellectually, etc. He answered thoughtfully and consideratly knowing every situation is different. The mood in the room changed as if a cloud were lifted. By simply sharing a few words about his daughter, he gave some hope for the future for some of the mothers who were just coming to terms with their child's illness.
A couple of the mothers stood and addressed Nial and I, thanking us for visiting, for our prayers, and for caring for their children. The one mother said "You have come here and brought things for us and our children which makes us happy, but most importantly, you have come. Thank you for coming. Thank you for caring enough to do that." It was amazing. That same mother went on to tell us that her husband left her as soon as he found out their child had hydrocephalus but she was encouraged the care she was receiving and for the future of her child. When Mercy suggested her hope that she meet another good man, she laughed saying she wasn't interested. That got a big laugh around the ward.
Mercy prayed and then they broke into song again. The bottom photo is of them singing on the ward about putting their faith in the Lord. The voices and harmonies were amazing. Hopefully you remember the singing I shared with you on my last visit. I will be sure to share this with you as well when I return.
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