I've Gone Country A blog about a city girl learning a whole new world

The trip we went on this time was in the same area I blogged about in November, but it was a medical trip instead of a building trip.  I have 27 years of experience – it is on the job training- from Motherhood University.  Seriously, Billy and I are not doctors or nurses but we wanted to go along and do whatever we could to help.

I really prayed before we left about what we could do.  What would the people need that we could help with?  I believe God impressed me to take reading glasses.  I am pretty dependent on mine.  I also remember my sister Charlotte telling me that she started wearing them when her last baby was born.  She said “I just couldn’t see her precious little face as clearly as I wanted while I was holding her.”

I checked into finding some….and it worked out perfectly.  They even came in a really neat little display and had 11 different strengths to choose from.

Both of these boys were named Christian.  They call the smaller one pee wee.  They were fascinated with the mirror, which had a regular side and a magnifying side.

This picture I took last year…it is the only mirror I have seen in the homes I have visited in.  So I suppose the kids really did get a kick out of seeing their faces and magnifying them.  Something we don’t give a whole lot of thought about.

A good way to check the proper strength was to let them try to read.  It was so rewarding to see the smile on their face when the blurriness went away and they were able to see the words clearly.  I know that feeling.  I love the clarity I get from my glasses.

As I looked at some of these people, like this gentleman….I couldn’t help but wonder how long it has been since he has been able to read his Bible.  Or possibly see his grandchildren’s faces clearly.  WOW…such a little thing…yet, important.

It was fun seeing this man…after he was fitted for glasses he began to read the Bible, even reading aloud sometimes to his wife as they waited to be seen by the Doctor.

Last November we built a home for a young family.  The family had brought their sick child to a Medical Clinic that had come for a week  in August of last year.  The team was able to diagnose the illness of their baby with pneumonia and get him to a hospital.  He was so sick he almost died.  When we came in November to build a home we didn’t know that it would be for that same family.  It was really neat because that babies name was…. Jesus.  So it ended up that the family had a new home for Christmas, I don’t think it could have been any more appropriate. It was wonderful that they could celebrate Christmas with a healthy baby and in a home of their own.

They had been living next door to the house we built, with the grandparents.

This lady is the grandmother of that baby.

I think she has the sweetest smile….

Once again, by returning to the same area we are able to tie the children and grandchildren to the parents and grandparents.  It starts to get personal.

After the house was built in November, she and all the family cooked what little they had in appreciation.  They even took some flashlights and stood holding them over the tables while the team ate.  Very gracious people.  It is those acts of kindness that bind your hearts with theirs.

I got tickled with this lady.  She didn’t even take the time to remove the sticker from her glasses.  She went straight to sewing some elastic in her slip, something she had been needing to do.  I think she was VERY excited.

Every evening at bedtime….I would lay awake with the faces of people running through my  head as I reflected on the day and all the events that had taken place.

I do not speak Spanish….but there are some things like a smile…

and a hug…that do not need words…… or a translator.

There are still many eyeglass needs.  An Eye doctor would be very helpful for so many others that we were not able to help.  There were many children that needed glasses that require a prescription lens.

For that week we did what we could….maybe next time more can be done.

Tomorrow I will share some of the other areas of work that the team was involved with.