It’s a girl

Each day I find myself questioning “how can it get any better than this“?

And then each day it gets a little bit better. I get a little more comfortable with my surroundings, speak a little more Spanish and witness something absolutely INCREDIBLE.

Sundays are usually my day off. After Mass with the Sisters I returned to the Casa to rest. And rest is exactly what I did, until 11 o’clock when I was woken up to our cook pounding on my bedroom door. One of the workers from the maternity had come to the house to tell me that I needed to go to the maternity right away. I had no clue what was so important especially after I had just been there to visit Pedrito a few hours before. When I arrived I was greeted with a fiesta! One of the orphans, James, is celebrating his first birthday on the 22nd and the children and staff had all gathered in the yard to celebrate his special day! The fiesta was huge, complete with music, professional dancers, cake and candy galore!

After a wonderful celebration I headed to the beach with people from La Casa. It was my first time in the Pacific Ocean and the view was absolutely incredible. I throughly enjoyed reflecting on my week with my toes in the sand soaking in the warm Peruvian sun.

Monday was another day of home visits. Ellie and I ventured into a different section of Chimbote called San Pedro. The houses that we visited were on top of a mountain and we had to climb up the mountain to reach them. It was quite the hike, especially when you have to carry up your medical supplies and donations for the families with you. I really appreciate the fact that the clinic does not simply care for the medical needs of their patients. In addition to providing them with quality medical care they also provide clothing, bedding and food.

The first house we visited is in need of new beds. We made arrangement with the woman, who has horrible arthritis, to bring new beds to her later this week. Like every person I have encountered on the home visits, she was extremely grateful. It is so hard for me to understand how they can be so grateful when they have so little, but yet the Peruvian people beam with gratitude for all that we do for them, and have so much pride for all that they have, although in most cases they have barely anything.

The view from their houses was absolutely INCREDIBLE, which made the trek up the mountain so worth it! We visited several other houses, assessing their needs, and making arrangements to return with donations.

Later that afternoon another INCREDIBLE thing happened: I witnessed my first birth. Mothers are constantly giving birth at the clinic, but I always seem to arrive too late to see the delivery. The nursing staff came to get me around 4 in the afternoon and I was able to be with the staff and the mother for the entire “process”.  I was also able to step in and be of assistance during the delivery, and by “assistance” I mean I was told to close the windows in the room because I was the only one who was tall enough to reach them. The mother was so incredibly calm and gave birth to a little girl at 6:05. It was an absolutely wonderful way to end my day.

On Tuesday I broke from my usual schedule and went on home visits again. We returned to the houses we had visited the day before with the supplies for the families. This time we traveled by car, thank goodness because there was no way I could carry a mattress up a mountain!

Each morning I pray with the workers at the clinic. I have become very close to them in such a short period of time and love that we start each morning together. As part of the prayers (which I have now perfected in Spanish) we recite the mission statement of the center.

In Spanish:

Pidamos de Dios , que El nos ilumine, que nos Guie y que nos Proteja para servir con AMOR CHRISTIANO con un ESPIRITU DE ALEGRIA creando un ambiente de AMOR y ESPERANZA.

In English:

Let us ask that God enlightens us, guides us and protects us to serve with Christian love with a spirit of joy creating an atmosphere of LOVE and HOPE.

The Maternidad is truly an oasis of hope and love and I find myself to be blessed each and every day to be able to serve in such an incredible environment. And to answer my initial question, it can’t get much better than that.

Until next time,

Kate