Every field service, Mercy Ships renovates a clinic to house patients before or after surgery.
This year they renovated a floor of the local hospital.
Some patients are the orthopedic patients who still need physical therapy or casting. They can stay at the Hope Center and come to the outpatient tent on the dock outside the ship for their appointments. Some patients need additional surgery, and stay at the Hope Center because they live too far away to travel to the ship again. Some patients need to get strong enough for surgery.
These twin babies are at the Hope Center with their mother. One has a cleft lip/palate. Because of this birth defect, he doesn't nurse well. He is getting supplemental nutrition before his surgery.
A team goes to the Hope Center twice a week to tell a Bible story, do a craft and visit the patients.
Tiffany, the team leader, told the story of God choosing David to become king. She would say a sentence at a time, because she had two translators. It was first translated into French, and then into Susu. I haven't figured out why the Susu translation was twice as long as the English or French!
The kids and adults loved the craft. I guess kids everywhere have a fascination with glue. And stickers. I was holding one baby when he started to fuss. His mom kind of grabbed him, flopped him on her lap, and nursed him, all while continuing to do her craft project. Talk about multi-tasking!
After that was all cleaned up, we played games with the kids. The memory game and blocks are pretty popular. A successful afternoon!
Debbie
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