One day was designated as an Outreach Day, and the team members from both the doctors' and the nurses' associations in Kansas City sponsored hot lunches, new shoes, goodie bags, and stuffed animals, for a school whose children had been displaced by Super Typhoon Yolanda. They raised money for a year in advance. They collected toys, snacks, new flip flops -- and I was lucky enough to get tapped to go help deliver the surprises.
We took about a 30 minute ride to the school, which was up on top of a mountain. Probably due to the elevation on the island, the school suffered a lot of damage as well as homes in the area. Much of it had been repaired, but the school was far from the shape it was in before the storm.
The picture below shows some of the books that they were able to "save" from the water damaged buildings. As we touched the books and tried to open them, you could tell, they were headed for the trash. It was so unfortunate. They had very few supplies anyway, and it was awful that they had to lose those books. Here's the deal. You can't just send them some more books. When you send things to places under circumstances like this, the things don't always go to where you send them. They have a way of never finding the final and expected destination.
We tried to organize the shoes, the meals and the gifts, but the odds were not
forever in our favor
on this day.
The kids were able to pick their own new flip flops. There were almost 90 kids, and if anyone has suggestions about what would be a good way to pass those out in an organized fashion -- please share.
Here's where the language barrier was helped by the local nurses helping us. We asked the children to form a single-file line. I think they were just so excited, this was as close as it was going to get.
Every single child was exactly this same amount of PRECIOUS!
I told you how big NBA basketball is in the Philippines. When I saw this child wearing a knock-off OKC Thunder jersey, I thought two things.
A) Cool - better than a Lakers jersey. AND
B) I have to fix that for next year. Gotta round up some OKC duds.
No, I did not bring this toy for this little boy. I was shocked to see what he was holding. Really? A Pistol Pete? Whaaaaat? Many things that I learned on this trip will be filed away in my 2015 mission file. And I definitely learned a lot.
These kids were playing on a makeshift teeter totter. Dangerous things and possible injuries surrounded them.
Can you believe this wood plank with rusty nails was just a few feet away from where the kids were playing? I've got a story about a man with gangrene that required an amputation while we were there. He stepped on something and didn't get proper medical attention, and it developed into a worst case scenario. It is a story I absolutely cannot tell on this blog. But I will tell it to anyone who wants to hear about it.
And here were some of the great nurses, who came with us to the school. Their skills as interpreters were greatly appreciated. We had some free time at the school, and we thoroughly enjoyed visiting and hearing about their backgrounds and future plans. They were so lovable! I'm going to come back in and add their names when I am sure I have them right...
Reyjohn taught me a lot about the culture of the Philippines. They all looked so young. I have no idea how old they are!
And look! He's taller than me!
And so was the nursing director! It took me nearly a week and a half, but finally, I was finding some people that didn't make me feel like I was a giant.
