Invasion of the Ants

For the past so many months our house at 38 has been plagued with ants! One day Emily and I got back home from our program to see what appeared to be our whole wall moving. The little red ants were going up and down the walls. We were wanting them gone, so we got the help of the guys and gave them a bath in some gasoline. That took care of them, for a couple days anyways. Those pesky little ants returned a couple of other times. Another one of the guys made some sort of ant trap with some posion and a sweet condensed milk can. I´m not really sure if it worked, but I did see some ants crawling inside it.

The next ant attack was from the big, huge, monsterous black ants. They were crawling all over my laundry. So I went and put my laundry in a bucket of water hoping to drown the ants. Did you know some ants swim? I didn´t, so I sat there for a while trying to drown them and get my vengence. A couple of days later the nest of those ants was found in a stack of papers in our shelf. They had a bunch of eggs and everything.

I would like to say the ants ended there, but they didn´t. They have been showing up in the kitchen, in other rooms, and in a pair of rain boots I was about to put on. Good thing I decided to shake them before putting my foot in.

We have been killing random ants with the fly swatters mainly. But the last big nest that we found we went crazy. We shook the ants out outside, poured gasoline on them and then set them on fire. We saw that a few ants had escaped, so we made a torch and were burning them. I guess you can say that the ants pushed us to the extreme.

I´m not sure how the ant business is going right now. Emily and I are living in a nice house in Yarina with the pastor and his wife. We are beginning our last public health campaign. Luckily, this house doesn´t have ants, a few mosquitos, but no ants....so far.

Update on Big Brown Eyes

It´s been over three weeks. The doctors said he was supposed to be dead by now. He was listliss, barely breathing, losing weight, and not eating. All the odds were against him. But God had something else in mind for baby Hector.

Hector appears to be improving. He still has trouble breathing on occassion for which we have to nebulize him, but for the most part he´s doing better. He loves to smile a lot now and coo. I think he´s a little flirt. He is also learning to love bath time by splashing around and smiling. He also does this new thing of folding his hands together like he is going to pray, but still interchanges that motion with his famous ear tugging.

This past week I got to take care of Hector for the night. He is such a precious baby, but a lot of work. He has more medicines than some old people, which have to be given around the clock. Needless to say, I had a tiring night. He would wake up fairly often hungry. I think I got a total of 2 hours sleep that night.

Hector got to spend two nights with us out at 38, away from his nebulization things. I´m hoping that´s a good sign.

Well, this was just a quick little update. Please keep praying for this baby, his parents, and our team that we can make wise choices regarding the care of this precious child.

Name Calling

Emily and I were on our way to another class. It was hot and sunny when we got out of the taxi and crossed the road to enter the community we were holding the health classes. People were all around sitting and chatting with one another. However, one woman in particular look at us, saw us approaching, and got up to walk away. We didn´t really think anything of it and continued on to class.

After class that day one of the ladies asks us if we have been hearing any rumors going around about us. Of course we hadn´t heard anything. Well, the whole class gets interested in this conversation and begins to tell us all this gossip we have stirred up in the little community of 2 de diciembre.

Apparently, it turns out that Emily and I are the antichrist come in lambs clothing to deceive and kill the residents of the community. It was spreading around that we bring medicines and free things just to get the people to like us so that we can go and kill them later for their organs and fat. You see, they think we can use their fat to run our ¨white people airplanes¨. Thus, making us the antichrist. Well, we denied these accusations and had a good laugh about it.

The lady who I mentioned earlier that walked away from us is one of the ladies that believes this and is scared of us. I saw her the next time we were there and said hi as we crossed paths. Either she wasn´t too scared or has changed her opinion.

For the most part the people of the communities we go to are very open and welcoming to us. While we do sometimes have difficulties, they aren´t anything to hinder our work. We finished the program in that community we a good send off. God knows our difficulties but he always has doors open somewhere for us.

Hector Daniel

The first time I saw Hector was at church. He was a really sick looking baby. He was ashen gray and did not move much at all. He also smelled of vomit and urine. Anita had informed Jenni of this baby and they went out to visit it the following Sunday. Jenni came back later saying the baby was really malnurished.

That same night the whole family of the baby, mostly aunts, came to hand the baby over to us so we could care for him. While they were there we found out they were feeding this 4 month old baby cows milk, flour with water, tea, and I saw them give the baby a bottle after giving it to the monkey. Basically, they were trying to keep it alive on whatever they could. The mom of Hector got really sick and was unable to care for the baby. So the aunts and uncles were looking after it. Unfortunately, nobody has proper money to care for the baby.

Jenni took him to the hospital that night. The baby got amitted with severe dehydration and malnutrition. I don´t remember how long he was there, but we were all having to take turns to stay with the baby. The nurses don´t really do much but give the medicines. So usually the mom stays and cares for the baby.

When my turn came to care for the baby i was all nervous. I had never really been around babies too much. Well, this was a good crash course. Hector was started to get some strength back when I took care of him. He was following me with his eyes and eating fairly often. He was so precious and just melted my heart with his big brown eyes.

He got discharged a few days later. We were going to keep him until he got stronger and the mom got stronger. But the baby got sick again. This time he had pneumonia. I don´t remember if he was admitted or not to the hospital, I think he was. However, many of the antibiotics weren´t working. They finally put him on a combination of vancomycin and something else. The poor thing was having trouble eating and would get so frusterated. However, he seemed to be doing better after a bit.

Not too soon after, Hector started to go downhill. He wasn´t eating well and having abnormal breathing patterns. After another trip to the doctor the test results came back that Hector was HIV positive. He was soon started on retrovirals to slow down the virus. This last Sabbath, the same day he started his HIV treatment, we were all with him and he started to have trouble breathing. He couldn´t get any air and was turning blue. He was then taken back to the hospital. The news came back that little baby Hector was dying.

We are not sure how many days this precious child has left. We are all very saddened by this news. It is really sick how sin has plagued this world. Even the most innocent of babies can´t go unscathed. I pray that God´s will be done in the life of Hector Daniel and that he feel no pain or discomfort.

I ask all who read this to pray for the family of Hector. There is a lot of sadness coming there way. Turns out the mother of Hector has full blown AIDS with a possible TB. Her husband and two other little boys are going to get tested today.

After experiencing all this tragedy I cling to the thought that Jesus is coming soon. Soon there will be no more tear, illnesses, death. Only a forever of happiness with those we love and especially con our Lord and Saviour.

Back Home Again In Pucallpa

After spending over 24 hours in airports and losing my luggage in Lima, I am finally back in Pucallpa. Stepping off the plane I was hit with a blast of hot, humid air. It was quite nice after I had spent the last 12 hours freezing!! I got a taxi and went back to Km.38.

After getting settled the first order of business was to work on our public health program more. So Emily and I decided that we were going to spend a few days in town. We stayed at a different hostel than we normally stay in. This hostel was actually cleaner and we got our own bathroom, all for the grand total of $7 USD. The place we normally stay at costs around $3 USD and is tiny, gross, and has rats. So this was a nice change.

Unfortunately, I got sick again. I don't know what in the world is wrong with me. I woke up having diarrhea and by night time I was puking. I feel a little bit better today but just very week. Luckily, my work is just requiring me to sit in front of the computer and do some research. So that's not too bad.

Speaking of work, I suppose I should be getting back to that and stop playing around on the internet. I will update everyone soon with more pics and stuff. Ciao!

Home for the Holidays

I lucked out!!! Not but two days after I left did the white fluffy stuff from the sky start to fall. You would think that my body would be in shock from living in the hot steamy jungles of Peru, but it wasn´t. In fact, I welcomed the cold. Snow is one of God´s little gifts to me. I said a quick thank-you prayer. That snowy Saturday I ended up playing in the snow.

Daddy and I seem to walk in snow storms, and this time was no different. We took a little walk in the bitter cold. It was one of my favorite things I did while I was home.

I really enjoyed the time home with my family. I wasn´t able to be with my family last year for Christmas because I had to work. New nurses get the crappy shifts.

I also got to see a few of my friends and talk on the phone with a lot of them.

I was just so happy and relaxed to be at home. Taking a hot shower was absolute bliss. Putting toilet paper in the toilet was different too. I always felt like I was doing something bad when I did. In Peru you have to put the TP in a trash can or you will mess us the plumbing.

I got to hear Christmas songs, see Christmas lights and decorations, drink hot chocolate, wear coats and sweaters, shop at Bath and Body Works after Christmas sale, celebrate Christmas with my family. I was truely blessed this Christmas.

Airport Madness

Excitement. That was the only emotion I felt as the plane took off from Pucallpa, PERU. I was going to be home for Christmas. The short 50 minutes flight to Lima went well. I went to the ticket counter in Lima to get my boarding pass only to find out that my plane was delayed by an hour. I didn´t think much of it.

As I walked up stairs to the little food court, my eyes witnessed a glorious sign, two in fact. Right before me was a Dunkin´Donuts and a Papa Johns Pizza. I went right up to the counter and got myself a pizza. I had not tasted anything that amazing in 5 months.

Well, after I was full I went thru security. It was then that I got hit with weirdness. I was leaving my outback city to go home to the modern world. It felt weird to be in an airport and see all the high tech stuff. My mind was kinda blown away. But after an hour I realized that I am American and used to this stuff so it wasn´t a big deal anymore.

On the plan I chatted with this nice local boy until we arrived in Miami. I looked down at my watch, I had only an hour to make thru customs and recheck my luggage and get my boarding pass to fly back home. I began to panick. Unfortunately, by the time customs was done, so was my flight. I then had to walk to the American counter and wait in the LONG LONG LONG line to find a ticket to take me home.

After about 45 minutes, it was finally my turn to the counter. This weary lady finally found me an empty flight to Dallas. Granted, I did not want to have to go that far out of the way, but I had no choice. From Dallas I was to fly on to Indianapolis.

When we touched down in Dallas I was again stressed and mad. The flight took a little over two hours and my flight to Indianapolis left in that last hour. I thought I had missed my flight. Then to my relief I realized that Dallas was an hour behind. I was so happy!!! So from there I made my flight to Indianapolis. I was so happy to see my parents when I got to the airport. Unfortunately, my luggage didn´t make. But at that point I didn´t care. I was just grateful for the fact that I made it to Indy. Luckily, my luggage was waiting for me bright and early the next morning on my doorstep.