We proceeded to explain to the head nurse what we would like to do for them and that we had care packets, she walked us into the main hospital building and we were introduced to the lady in charge. She then told us about a 5-6 yr old girl named Alza that was abandoned by her mother several months ago and she was living in the ICU and the staff nurses were caring for her. We passed hundreds of mothers and children waiting for care and finally reached what was the ICU. In America when you think of ICU, you think gowns, gloves, sanitization, etc…. That is not the case in Sierra Leone, we all walked in and saw about 30-40 babies to children waiting to be treated or being treated. Most of them severly malnourished and dying of starvation. The head nurse introduced us to Alza, she has some mental disorders, sensory issues, still in diapers and was just a very precious child. The Dr. who had traveled with us on this trip proceeded to examine her. She was very healthy but just longed for attention. While the Dr. was examining Alza the rest of the TRS team had a chance to walk around and visit with the mother and children waiting. We offered the mom’s a chance to go outside for some fresh air while we stayed with their child. I sat with a little girl who was probably about 11 months old. Not sure what her diagnosis was, I was just there to provide relief for her mother and comfort to the child. As the mother left the ICU I wondered if she would come back. In Sierra Leone it is very common for a mother to abandon a child at the hospital so it will be cared for. As I sat there holding her crying child all I could do was think of my own children, our hospitals, our society in the US and how extremely BLESSED we are to live in the US where the medical care is superior compared to what I was witnessing.
Eventually the mother did come back and I thanked her for the opportunity to help her daughter. I walked over to Lori who was holding Alza and my heart started to break, Lori asked me if I would like to hold her and I said “Yes, I would love too.” I faced the wall as I held her and imagined this being Emma, she was the same size, age, weight and everything that my little Emma was. I began to weep, wondering if her mother cared about her, where was she going to grow up; will she receive the medical attention that she so desperately needed??? All these questions came flooding thru my brain and all I could do was love and nurture her. Again, I was being used as God’s hands and feet to comfort his little girl. My sister in Christ. Alza and I sat in that ICU for probably an hour and I rocked her to sleep on my chest. We then needed to leave to visit the lower portion of the children’s hospital we had originally intended on giving the care packets to. I said goodbye to Alza, wondering if I would ever see her again?
We walked into the lower unit of the hospital back to where we had originally came in at with care bags of bread, peanut butter, money and water. Erica asked me if I would sit with a little boy that was an orphan that the nurses were also caring for. Of course, I agreed. As I fought back the tears and tried to muscle up the strength to feed this child I was supposed to be the one ministering to the mothers and babies in this unit but instead a little boy who was probably 3-4 yrs old, weighed only about 15 lbs who said no words and was too weak to even sit up ministered to me just through his eyes. I lifted him from his bed so he could drink and eat a little. He sat there propped up against my hand and I slowly gave him bread with peanut butter and small sips of the water. After about 30 mins of this he started to perk up a little, he started pointing at the water when he wanted a drink and the bread when he wanted to eat. It was amazing to help a starving child just do the simple things we take for granite of eating and drinking.
I cried more tears today than I have my entire life, ask the women on our team. I was an emotional mess after that hospital visit. Words cannot describe what it’s like to be in a hospital that doesn’t have the resources to treat the children there. The nurse in the ICU explained that one child in 30 days will leave the ICU alive. This is a daggering statistic that we need to change. Here are some pictures of the hospital visit.
