Thursday, October 8, 2009

El Salvador Pictures and a Story

One of the sweetest stories to come out of
the El Salvador trip was this one.

A woman came to the clinic who had a broken wrist.
She left out the fact that it had actually been
broken for fifteen days. The doctor attempted to
set it which was very painful. It was then that
she revealed how long ago the break had occurred.
The pain was so severe that she actually passed out.



The entire available team rallied around her and
did whatever they could to help. It became necessary
to splint her arm but the team had no splints.
After some discussion it was decided that some bamboo
from the jungle could be cut to fit. So Mikey and the
Team Leader, Alan, headed out to find some.



After finding a perfect piece they cut it in
half to fit snugly around her arm.

Next they realized they needed something to
hold her arm up so that it wouldn't move
too much and to reduce swelling.

There were no slings either.

So, Mikey suggested they cut off the bottom
of his shirt.

Done!



At this point someone ran over to the table where Mom was
dispensing medications and told her she should come and see
what her Grandson had done. I think, probably, this concerned
Mom until she got there and understood what had happened.

While Mikey did not see this as a big deal, at all, the
others were amazed at his willingness to give up a part of
his own shirt. They wanted pictures taken with him.

Roni, in this photo, was the only person on the team
that Mom knew before they went. She is a sister-in-law
to my Auntie N.



This dear woman has been a missionary for fifty
years or more. She is eighty wonderful years young.



This shirt has now been signed by the entire mission team and
is a perfect keepsake. Mom was looking for a signature of a
man named Jerry and finally found it...hiding under the armpit.

What a funny and great group.
Mom and Mikey were blessed to travel and work with these wonderful people.

A little while later this dear woman...now in the sling was
waiting to receive her medications and Mom happened to catch
Mikey behind her when he brought another prescription to be
filled. He has no idea Mom is taking his picture.



Check out the sweet aprons that all of the older ladies
wear over there. My Mom was so taken with them.
In all of the poverty and sickness, the detail and time
invested in these aprons made a huge statement about
femininity and care.

Photobucket

10 comments:

detweilermom said...

Your son is truly a special person. I hope he had a great birthday. I left you a message on Facebook about today.

Tracy said...

what a great post! you should be proud of your son.

Karen said...

Love this post. Thanks so much for sharing it with us.

I've been particularly enjoying all your posts about Mikey's trip-I've just been very behind in reading blogs lately and have had no time to comment.

Vickie said...

Wonderful experience for young people - and see how they step up to the plate! You'd think it'd be us older folks, but no, alot of times the young folks are the ones who give the most! I know you're proud of him!

Elena said...

What an awesome story! Your son is a sweetheart!

Vee said...

Now that's a wonderful story! What a terrific keepsake and it lends more meaning to that old expression, too.

Deanna Rabe - Creekside Cottage Blog said...

I adore their aprons! I noticed that most of them wore skirts or dresses too!

Such an awesome trip for Mikey!

Diane Shiffer said...

What a delightful story... It really brought tears to my eyes. Your young man is quite the sweetie-pie♥


Makes me wish we lived closer by, so my girls and him could have the opportunity of becoming friends! (please tell me, I am not the only mother whose mind works this way, lol!)

Becky K. said...

Oh Diane,
I do think that is quite natural...and thanks for the compliment to Mikey in your saying so.

Amanda @ Serenity Now said...

What a sweet story. :) It was only an old tee-shirt to Mikey, but it probably meant the world to that woman. My in-laws periodically travel to Peru on missions trips and the stories and photos are enough to break your heart. You must be so proud of him. :)

Thank you so much for the visit!