Day 15

Sooo basically this trip is hard.. it's all about perspective and has really become a day to day thing. I cannot think in the 3 months perspective because it is so overwhelming. The orphanage is so amazing but the hospital is really difficult. There are new kids every day and we have to find them in an entire childrens hospital... 8 floors. We do not speak the language and the workers do not seem to want us there. The hospital is always 90 degrees or hotter like... you walk in and just bead sweat. There are usually up to 5 kids in a room so even if one of the kids is an orphan you usually have 2 other moms in the room at a time. They just watch you and it is really uncomfortable. We bring diapers for the orphans and the moms will often beg for the diapers too. It is such a hard situation. You often see mothers sleeping in the tiny cribs with the babies because there are not enough beds.

Today's Highs: WHAT a great day!! So I was reading some write-ups on the 13 year old with cerebral palsy and some people back in like 07 did some really extensive programs with him. The past couple girls assigned to his room have not done anything with him. I asked the head of the orphanage and she was so extatic. So every day at 11 am I take A.U into the computer room and hook up this machine to his head. There is a button on the side and the computer will scan the screen, first horizontally and when he clicks the button with the side of his head it will then scan vertically along the selected horizontal plane. When he clicks it the second time he will hopefully have selected the item desired. Because of this software, he can play games specifically testing his knowledge of numbers, math, and reading. I was so impressed how smart he was! One BYU student, Robby put in a lot of funding and research into getting this software donated to the hospital and developing the contraption for his head. I want to help further this work and A.U's progressing because he is so smart but is trapped in this body. I think technology can help get inside his head. I want to research more.. I was so happy that I think this might be a big reason I am here. This boy.

I found some oreos at the grocery store and had them with milk... SO GOOD and a little bit of home. I need to be careful though because the chocolate here is amazing. The Milka brand... delicious! There are also these pastries here called langoshi... basically nutella filled fried dough with sugar on the outside... a.k.a 6,000 calories a.k.a heaven.

Today's Lows: Finding out that one of the favorite kids in my room was abused which is why he does not talk. He is completely healthy physically and cognitively but he was taken by child services, even though his dad, not his mom was the problem, and they put him in the orphanage. He is such a sweet kid but Mario was telling me that he is completely different than he was when she first met him. She said they do not think he will ever speak because of the trauma of the experience. He has a baby sister in a different section of the hospital too.. so so sad. Mario got choked up as she told us this story which was really touching to see because she works with children in these types of situtions all the time. She also told us the adoption story with her little girl. This just proves again and again that we are not here to save the world. Noone in this life can save the world. It is about making the journey more enoyable. It is the little successes that are actually the big successes.