Wednesday - last day at Shalom

This is being typed Thanksgiving morning about Wednesday, on a “packed to the brim” bus, during our 2 hour trip to the outskirts of Lima for a clinic today. Please excuse typos as the bumps are challenging my typing skills J

  

Today was our last day at Shalom. We were thankful that we made it safely as traffic was out of control. We saw a wreck where they taxi driver actually got out of his car in the middle of traffic and punched the headlight out of the delivery truck. Our bus driver decided to go off road for a minute and we went through a sand pit…where the back of the bus spun out and it felt like we were going to fall right off the side of the small cliff. J

We had a wonderful day in the clinic. I’m going to write my paraphrases of everyone’s days  again:

Chrisitn: post polio patient 53 woman “We were able to see a patienit with Rich who has post-polio disease. She had braces from the stone age (Rich said that he has been working with braces for 20 years and has never seen them) and they were completely shot. Straps were missing, hinges were rusted, and yet she still cherished them because she would be completely sedentary if she didn’t wear them. We took new measurements and Rich will send them off to get new braces made for her. It’s not everyday that we get to work with post-polio patients so it was cool to be a part of the process for her new braces.”

Amanda: “One of my favorite patients today was an elderly amputee, who came in for a wheelchair and crutches. We were able to fit him for a chair and as soon as he got in it, he started wheeling away. At the end of the appointment, I was able to walk him down the hill outside the clinic to the edge of the main street. He kissed me on the cheek and gave me a piece of candy, which was a really sweet gesture. We were also able to help a woman who had dwarfism. Her wheelchair seat was awful and it was putting pressure on her bad hip. When I went to look for a better seat cushion, I found one under a bench in the clinic that didn’t go to any other wheelchairs and it was literally perfect for her. Totally a God thing!”

After supper, we loaded up the bus and headed to the Fountain Park. Because it was rush hour at 8:30p, our bus driver wanted to take a “short cut.” As short cuts usually go, we weaved in and out of traffic and back roads for over an hour, which seems like forever when you are tired from a full day. The Fountain Park was actually pretty awesome. It is a bunch of fountains spread throughout at giant park…some of them are small and some are huge, some change colors, and one is even set up in a maze with water being the “walls.” Amanda and Ryan both made it to the middle of the maze and back without getting too wet! The grand finale was a water/lazer show on the biggest fountains, which we all really enjoyed. Afterwards, our bus driver took another “short cut” and we ended up drving through the ghetto of Lima…not exactly where a bus full of white people want to be at 10:30p, but we made it just fine. I’m sure all the Mom’s are worried by this point of the recap, so let me repeat, we are all fine, safe, healthy, and having the times of our lives J We love yall and hope you have a great Thanksgiving. We are grateful to be here loving on these Peruvians!