Serving the Community

It all started with a phone call. Moises, one of the head educators on our base, called me after church one Sunday morning. He was telling me about a boy with a very bad "ferida" (this is the Portuguese word they use for anything from a small paper cut to a gaping wound). At the time I thought it was one of our center boys so I told him to meet me up in the clinic. Turns out it was a 10 year old from a community near our center who goes to church there...another Iris church.
He had been severely burned by a lamp in his house. Most of Mozambique does not have electricity, so oil lamps that can easily burn children and start fires are a norm. So at the time I had no idea what to do for him. I looked it over (looked a bit infected to me already), cleaned it out really well, bandaged it up, started him on antibiotics, gave him some ibuprofen and paracetamol (Tylenol) for pain and told him to come back Wednesday...that's the day we see community members in our clinic. I wrote a note to his mom in my best Portuguese saying please bring him back Wednesday and ask for Mana Meghann.
Honestly, I wasn't sure I would ever see him again. But I prayed God would place it on his mother's heart how important it was for him to come back for care. I got even more discouraged when I realized Wednesday that week was a national holiday, so our clinic was closed. I was sure I would never seem him again at that point...but I kept praying. And I spent most of that Wednesday walking up to the clinic to see if maybe they would just be waiting outside for me. Thursday I got a call from one of our workers in the clinic who said...Meghann your boy is up here. I was SO excited!
I headed up to the clinic. His mom, baby brother (about 1), and him were sitting up in front of the clinic. His wound was unwrapped, and he was blotting it with an old piece of cloth. I wanted to cringe. But instead I nicely introduced myself and told them they could come into the clinic.

**Side note- by God's amazing provision Dan, a US ER nurse and clinical specialist, was here at the time. I had already told him about my little boy, and he said he would be more than happy to look at the wound and see what would be best for it. Also, by God's grace Erin and Jannie (other nurses) had been collecting wound care supplies from the States for quite some time.

So...Dan and I took a look at his arm. Dan was encouraged by how it looked. He seemed to think the infection I saw on Sunday must be better because it didn't look infected at all. It was only a second degree burn...meaning it was not full thickness. Dan thought with the right care and cleaning it should heal up just fine!!!!
Dan showed me how best to clean it...God made male nurses for a reason...they are so much tougher than I could ever hope to be with patients. But I will say I have washed his arm just as Dan showed me since that day! We covered the burn in a silver cream (the best thing you can put on burns...that they actually sell in this country...another provision of the Lord)! We also had silver coated dressings in the stock we had been hording and used these to cover it, added some padding for protection, wrapped it up, and with some ibuprofen, paracetamol, and the rest of his antibiotics sent him on his way.
I got to talk to his mom just a bit before they left. She profusely apologized for not being able to come Wednesday (the day before). She explained they got as far as our gates and guards told her the clinic was closed so they went home. :( But...what an encouragement...this mom wants to help her son and wants to do the right thing. I don't think I could even tell you adequately how unusual this is here. I was amazed! I told her to give him plenty of fluid, to come back if he couldn't move his arm well, and that I would see them again in 2 days.
The next time he came, his 15 year old brother brought him. Here's the 2 of them outside of my house:Close your eyes if you get queezy...but here's a close up of his wound:
After cleaning it again (scrubbing would be a better term), covering it in cream and silver dressing, and wrapping, I sent them off with transportation money and apples...smiles covered their faces!
He has come back every day I've asked him to since then. Last week his arm had improved so much...take a look (all the light pink part is healed over!!!):This week he showed up with his brother again at almost 5:00 at night...it's getting dark here between 6 and 7 now and being out after dark for little boys is not safe at all...especially on public transportation. I just had a feeling something was up. I washed and dressed his arm and then his brother looked at me and said...our mom left. I was a bit shocked but did my best to ask questions...where did she go? a city up north, why did she go? to get new ceiling tiles, who else is in the house? 2 younger siblings (ages 3 and 5), where is the baby? with mom, when is she coming back? maybe next friday (it was friday at the time). I asked them to go wait outside for a minute and phoned Steve (one of our directors). He said bring them to his house...he'd help sort things out. Praise God for people who know what to do with this type of situation. Turns out they live right next to one of our pastors...he knew the mom wasn't home, neighbors were helping look after the kids, and they had food in the house for the whole week. I know, I know...this isn't acceptable in the least by US standards, but this is somewhat normal here.
So the boys headed home and showed back up at the clinic Tuesday like they were suppose to. My little one was sick with vomiting and diarrhea...I tested him for malaria and sent him home with treatment. All seems well now and he'll be back Tuesday for another check up!
I share this with you to show you the reality of life here. A burn like this could cause an overwhelming infection and kill a child. A mother leaving 4 children with her 15 year old (the one standing up in the picture above) for a week happens. This is reality and these are the people I'm called to serve!