Blog Entry #5

Today I went to the clinic (Samaritan House) to see V.  His skin looked much better but he seemed cranky.  Melissa, an Occupational Therapy student had therapy with him but cut it short since V. was not in a happy mood.  I held him and fed him.  He was not eating again.  I held the bottle for him but he refused to drink.  I had to wait for him to open his mouth (usually crying) to squirt the milk mixture into his mouth.  He was not thrilled.  It took a while for him to finish the bottle but glad he would not starve.

During lunch time, I went to the community outreach center to see some of the kids eat.  I was just staring at K. as he ate.  I just adored him.  He was cute as he slurped his noodles.  He is a sweet eight year old boy who has hydrocephalus (water in the brain). His head is large from his condition and he does not walk.  K. uses the wheelchair when he is out of the house.  At the house of Zachary where he lives, he moves by sliding on his knees and pulling on his arms.  He speaks English pretty well.  I then called out to L. on the other table but he said he does not like me.  I said it is fine because I like him.

After the siesta, I went back to the clinic.  I was playing with Mr. Handsome.  He is a good looking baby with big watery eyes, hence the nannies call him handsome.  He probably has heart disease since most of the kids in the clinic have some sort of heart disease.  He has an extra finger on his left hand, which looks like a skin tag on the side where his thumb is.  He was very active on the walker.  He seemed very smart in responding to the toys.  He was sick though, getting over a cold.  With the phlegm in his lungs, he breathed noisily.  I realized that the other babies are sick too.  C. and D. both had running noses.  I hope they will all feel better.  I worry about them since their bodies are already weak from their conditions.

My 12 days at SFCV went by so quickly.  I said goodbye to my teammates.  As I waited for the driver to come take me to the airport, the interns and I played two rounds of the Banana gram game.  P. and J. ( two of the older kids) were still out playing.  They wanted to come into the inn but they were not allowed.  When the driver came to pick me up, P. and J. came to say goodbye.  P. asked me when I would come back to SFCV again.  I said next year in Mandarin.  I would have said "maybe" next year in English but I don't know how to say maybe in Chinese.  I know P. wanted me to speak Chinese with him.  P. is a bright 12 year old boy who uses a wheelchair and he is like a big brother to all the other kids especially in the house of Zachary where he lives.  As my car was pulling away, he chased after it on his wheelchair yelling out that I have to come back, maybe next summer again.  He said some of the kids will miss me.  It makes me cry thinking back and seeing him at the gate of SFCV calling back at me.  He is such a good boy; he cares for the other kids.  I thought I was just one among the many volunteers there, I did not know I can make that much of a difference. 

I am glad I went to SFCV this summer.  I definitely miss the kids there.

Blessings,

Su