Our first week here and sweet Kelly

We made it through our first week. It's amazing how everyday gets a little easier. Last Sunday when we arrived, I couldn't imagine ever feeling comfortable in this new house. The smells are different, the noise is different, the humidity is different. As I sit here tonight writing this post, I realize the smells have become normal (at least most of them), the noises have faded to the background and I am figuring out ways to get use to all the things that humidity causes like smelly towels, sticky tile floors, stretched out clothes etc. What seemed impossible a week ago, seems much smaller today. I hope I can apply this to everything we come across in this journey, the impossible is possible and the light is always there. It may take time to see it but it is there.

This first week was packed with visiting a babies home, visiting a village, serving at a feeding center, going to a quinceanera for one of the orphans turning 15, teaching songs to children at another children's home and so much more. Each day packed with a lot of stories to share.

One thing that is standing out in my mind is a story of a little girl named Kelly that we met in the village. Kelly is a 5 year old beautiful girl (the size of a three year old). We met a lot of kids in the village that day but Kelly stood out because she was covered in scabies. She had them all over her face, her lips, all around her eyes. They covered her arms and legs. For those that aren't sure what scabies are, it is a little bug that burrows under your skin and causes major discomfort and makes you very itchy. I can say this speaking from experience. The children at the orphanage in Haiti all were covered in scabies. On one of our trips to Haiti, I got scabies. I had to lather in a cream every night before I went to bed. I had a pill I would take every day. I had to wash my sheets every morning and wash my towels after one use. As soon as I changed my clothes I had to throw them in the wash. I showered often. This was the only way to get rid of them. Mine never got even close to as bad as the children in Haiti or Kelly's.

This day in the village, Kelly clung to our daughter Alyssa but you could tell as happy as she was to have a new friend, she was very itchy and uncomfortable. Through a translator I asked her if she had any medicine for the scabies and she said yes, she had a cream but it wasn't helping. We asked if she could take us to meet her mom so we could see if we could help her. She gladly took us to her home. Her home was three walls with a tin roof. The floor was the dirt on the ground. We asked her mother if it would be ok for us to go to a pharmacy and see if they had any other medicine that would help her. She agreed and was happy that we offered. The pharmacist gave us a medicine that is stronger then the cream and would hopefully help but she really needed to have hot showers and wash her bedding and clothes in hot water often. Unfortunately, they don't have the access to hot water like we do in the states.

I am sure glad I had scabies because now I know what Kelly.
I pray that the medicine is helping her and her scabies are gone. Please join us in praying for sweet little Kelly and her family. We will check on her soon to see if the medicine is working.