Tied Up With String

I had a day off from the lab and I got to go to the Hope center. When I went in the fall, there were a lot of kids recovering from orthopedic surgeries.  Now there are a lot of adults who have had facial tumors removed.  There are some kids as well.

Victoria with the patients

We had the usual program of a Bible story, translated into Susu and French, a song and a craft.  The adults like doing the crafts.  We had about 35 people making friendship bracelets with embroidery floss.

 

Sometimes it's still a surreal experience being here.  What would I have said a few years ago if someone told me that I would be teaching an African man how to make a friendship bracelet?  "Turn, un, deux, trois, move string, turn.  Tres  bon !"  If you understood that, your French is better than mine!  And the African speaks Susu anyway!

If one of the women needed help, they would call, "Fode, Fode!" (white person)

Here I am, trying really hard to get that string in the right place!

How strange it must be for our patients to go to a  hospital ship with a different culture and a different language.  I was in the recovery room this week as a nurse was cradling a baby in her arms, softly speaking to him in Dutch as he was waking up from the anesthetic.  I think he knew he was loved, even if he couldn't understand the language.

Debbie