Well… some people say that things come in threes... Looking at the last couple weeks... I’d say they come in fours...

Right now with the baby still pretty small, I’m more at my house, but go over to El Jordán a couple times a week when there is something I can do... or if there are girls that need someone to talk to.  The cell phone keeps me more connected with our girls as well...

Abraham asked if I’d be able to come talk to Eisa who showed up at the office distraught... She had some unexpected bleeding... gone to see a doctor who told her she had been pregnant... but the baby had died... and she needed to go to the hospital and get cleaned out...   At the hospital they took more tests... and announced that the baby was still alive... but growing outside the womb... She needed to come back the following week... and if the baby was still outside, they would have to clean her out...  

I’m no doctor... but that didn’t sound right to me... I told her I wanted to take her to our gynecologist (Maria Lola)...  She works in a clinic now so we have to pay the examination fee... but at least we know that our girls will be treated with care, respect and truth...  

I took along Mery Laura – another of our girls who found out she was pregnant – after she had been tending to her 3 year old girl in the hospital for 6 weeks and being exposed, unprotected, to at least 7 sets of x-rays... She was frightened by horror stories about what could have happened to her developing baby – and imagined that he might be horribly deformed... without arms or legs...  Some suggested she should abort... 

Maria Lola gave both girls an ultrasound...  Eisa is about 6 weeks pregnant, the baby is INSIDE the womb... but she needs to be on strict bedrest for a month because she is in danger of miscarrying...  Mery Laura was able to see her 3 month old “little one” with two arms and legs, very much alive – moving all around and making us all fall in love with him...  No one can tell if the x-rays have harmed the baby in any way... but like in Mery Laura’s words, “God has rescued me from so much more than this... we just have to pray...”

I had barely gotten home, and Martha called me, wanting to talk to a gynecologist who she could trust...   She had gone to Argentina, three months pregnant... to work as a cook... There she “lost” her baby... but then was told by doctors that she never was pregnant...   She came home, worried about her health...  Maria Lola again was able to examine, patiently answer questions and explain...  (There is no signs of a pregnancy.)

I went to El Jordan in the following afternoon; Lupe wanted to talk...  She cried as she talked...  She had a baby about a week before Keiden was born so certain medical attention for her is free for six months...  The doctor examined her...called over a half a dozen students... and said to them... “And look... this lady has the beginnings of cancer...”   The doctor told Lupe that he was a “gynecologist – specialist”, to come to his private office for treatment... if she left it too long she could lose her whole uterus...  Poor Lupe was envisioning not living to see her kids grow up...  After Lupe poured out her worries, she asked if I could lend her the money... there just isn’t any extra at their house these days.

I took Lupe for Maria Lola to give her opinion...  In the end, Lupe just had something natural after having a baby... as for cancer, without tests you can’t say if something is cancer or not...  The “specialist” seems to have more of a specialty in taking advantage of people who don’t know better... and definitely can’t afford his “treatments”...

Crazy huh?  Four girls in one week... I’m so thankful for Maria Lola who is always willing to treat our girls... and there is no difference between how she treats our girls and anyone else who walks through her door...  (unlike so many other ‘profesionals’ here who look down on poor people).

This week there have been no more girls to go to the gynecologist... but something else kept popping up...  I came out of the post office, waiting for Marco to pick me up, and heard a little baby wailing across the street...  I looked... and the only thing I could see was a little naked leg coming up out of a bunch of rags...  No mom... no dad to be seen... I went across the street... and there was this little baby – he must of only been a few weeks old... naked from the waist down... kicking and screaming... all alone...

I’ve always had a sensitive heart... but now with Keiden, to see babies suffer affects me even more... A knot choked my throat as I looked from the very healthy looking Keiden in my arms to the little baby alone on the sidewalk... A little boy came from around the corner... the big brother – maybe two years old... dirty is an under exaggeration...  Some people paused as they hurried by... what seemed to have caught their eyes more was the white lady who was kneeling on the sidewalk... not the little baby on the sidewalk – that was a more common sight...

The mom showed up... carrying water in a little metal pot... she knelt down and started “bathing” the baby.... She wrapped the baby tightly in some rags... and the baby’s cries subsided...  We didn’t get far in a conversation because she speaks Quechua... Marco arrived to pick me up... and I left them... mom and two boys... sitting on the sidewalk... begging as people continued to scurry by...

The next day I got a phone call from one of my students... there was a three month old baby... under a bridge... the mom was a drug addict and wanted to give away her baby... Could I go and pick him up?  My heart hurt... for the little one... and for the mom who had sunk so deeply into addiction that her desire and ability to look after her baby had disappeared...  Its not so easy to just go and pick up a baby... especially not knowing the mother... but I couldn’t leave the baby there either...

In the end I called social services... with my serious doubts that they were going to do anything... an hour before lunch time... It took me quite a few calls to get through to someone who could help... and in the end social services did go... and rescued the baby...

I went to El Jordan on Thursday... Lidia (Paola) asked if she could talk to me after cooking class... She looked awful... her health goes more and more downhill every time I see her... she has problems breathing... (her lungs have been permanently damaged from her time on the streets/tuberculosis) and things were complicated that day with vomiting and diarrhea.. Her four kids were at home – under the care of the oldest – Mamuka – 12 years old...  It was too much of a strain to get on and off the buses and walk with her kids...

Lidia wanted to show me the purses that she had crocheted... and some key chains she had made...  She told me of her temptations to go to the streets to steal – and get easy money – but that she had decided not to go back – even though her health really doesn’t allow her to do anything that requires physical effort....  She learned how to make donuts to sell... they sell well – but the effort of kneading and bending over was just about too much to bear...  Even to crochet... she does a little bit... and rests... does a bit more... and rests again...  She prays every day that God would allow her to live –at least until her kids are a bit bigger - because who would look after them if she wasn’t there?

Lidia has a three month old baby (remember when he was born – and the medical post wouldn’t give her anything to eat and she had no money to go home?)... she is no longer breast feeding him because he sucks too much energy and life out of her...  I asked what she was feeding him... cornstarch!!!  She cooks up water and cornstarch... and that is what the baby is eating... and when there isn’t cornstarch... then she feeds him tea or water... (To top it off... the baby’s bottle got wrecked... so Lidia had to borrow the bottle her mom uses for their baby sheep!)

Keiden sleeping contentedly beside us while we talked... he had a full belly... clean diapers and clothes... My heart ached... for Lidia and little Benjamin... If I had a million dollars... I’m sure I’d have no problem spending it...

Today Jovana (our volunteer nurse) and I went to visit Lidia... taking milk for the baby and arranging for Lidia to get some medical care...

I thought that was going to be the end of sad baby stories for this week... but there was one more...  I got a phone call from some people out of town... asking if I could find a home for an 11 year old girl – at least for a few months... She has a couple disabilities but that wasn’t her main problem... She is pregnant – results of being raped...  The birth is going to be complicated... so she needs to be in the city...  Oh dear!  There are just so many sad things in life...

I really didn’t write this to make you sad... I’d like to ask you to pray...

THANK GOD! for people like Maria Lola and Jovana who give their time and expertise to be volunteers at El Jordan... and serve the unfortunate...

PRAY! for wisdom... for us to know how to reach out and help... reflecting God’s love and grace to those around us...

PRAY! for our girls – Eisa with her high risk pregnancy (its hard to be on bed rest if you have kids to feed!); the health of Mery Laura’s baby who was exposed to x-rays; Lupe, Lidia and others who are not well...

PRAY! especially for Lidia... for provision for her daily needs... that the things she makes would sell... and that the doctors would be able to give her some treatment...

Continue to PRAY for me... as I learn to balance being a mom and ministry...

Most of all... please PRAY that our students would learn to rely more and more on God... and see His power in their lives...

Thanks so much for listening...

May God bless you richly...  

Corina... for Marco and Keiden