Did you know the sky was blue?

Here in Belize, when you look at the sky, it's the most beautiful color blue. I don't see that much in Cincinnati. At night the sky is so amazing. There are no city lights to distract the beauty of the stars. It looks like you could touch the Milky Way. Wow. It's truly amazing.

My day today was yet again amazing. We went to the village of Progresso. It was right on a Lagoon. We were in a large cement church building. It was quite loud, but nice that we were all in one building. We started the day saying the Lord's prayer together with the Belizean people and then we welcomed the people in. Today started off a little more slowly, because a lot of the children were in school. It was amazing to see these little girls and boys coming to see us dressed in their finest clothes. You could tell this was a big event for them. The girls had on velvet dresses and bows in their hair.

I met a young mom today with the most beautiful 6 week old baby boy. Of course, I asked to hold the baby and she graciously allowed me to do so. She asked me to give him his bottle. When I was chatting with her, she told me that her baby would not breast feed. In Belize, this is such a horrible thing. Breastfeeding is almost like a badge of honor. I could tell this girl, all of 19, was feeling to blame for this. I asked her how the baby was doing. She told me he wouldn't sleep and he had colic. I asked how she was doing and she began to cry. She is suffering from post partum depression. My heart broke for her. I knew exactly how she was feeling. I made the nurse aware of her situation and I later talked to her Doctor and her assured me she is being treated for post partum depression. I was so happy to know that she is getting some help. Suicide is very high here for these teenage mothers for obvious reasons.

We had our lunch out by the lagoon. Beans and rice. That's a staple for the Belizean diet. We also had chicken and they always make cole slaw too. We were told to not eat anything "salad" because it's washed in their water, if it's washed at all. So many things you have to be cautious of.

On the previous day, two of our doctors made a house call to a family in Chunox to a mother with 4 children. 3 of her 4 children had a genetic disorder that has caused them blindness, some paralysis, etc. Only 1 of her children was considered in good health. The oldest daughter, Clarisa, is 14 and weighs about 35 pounds. She lays on a maggot infested mattress all day long. She is basically pre mortem and if she lives beyond this year, I will be surprised. The next child is Arony. He is 10 and he sits on the floor bent in half. He too is blind and can only scoot from one place to another. Next is Mari. She's 7 years old. She's able to sit upright somewhat but this will continue to deteriorate as time goes on. The youngest is the healthy one. She runs and walks and talks. Hard to imagine she's in this family. The mother is also 8 months pregnant. Of course here, there are no real ultrasounds, and no genetic testing, so she has no clue if this baby will be healthy or not. She takes care of these kids every day. And has no relief.

While we were at lunch Dr. Kathy Peterson, asked if I would be willing to ride back out to Chunox (an hour ride) and DNA swab these children. One of the ladies from River Hills, Susan Phillips, works in Cincinnati as a Genetics Counselor and was willing to bring back samples to be studied so maybe this will give this mom some peace of mind. I felt honored to be able to go meet this family. As we drove to her house (Tyler, Jeff, Raphael and me) we were all trying to prepare for the situation we had heard about. No one really said much on the way. When we arrived, we saw Arony sitting on the front porch with his head propped up against the side of the house. He started talking to us as we approached even though he couldn't see us. We asked him how he was and he said "Bien" which means "good". This boy has the sweetest voice. I don't think I'll ever forget it. His mom was bathing them when we arrived. I watched her lift each child one by one and place them in a plastic bucket. Of course she used the same water for each child. I was struck by how clean the children were and also that her house, as run down as it was, was also very clean. She took care of what little she had. I swabbed each of the children and then we walked around observing things that make life easier for this mom. We decided that a fan would be helpful and new screens for her house. Before we left, Arony asked me what my name was. He repeated it over and over. He told me he was glad I came to see him. I cannot wait to meet this little guy in Heaven once his body is restored. I felt quite drawn to him. He has a sweet spirit.

We prayed over this family before we left. The ride home was quite emotional. You want to make their life better, but you know your options are limited. As we drove back to Progresso, we saw the most amazing Rainbow in the most amazing blue sky. What a perfect symbol of God's promise to us. I think this gave us all some peace.