4th of July Followed By Bad News

My Fourth of July this year was a bit different than normal. It did not include fireworks, a baseball game, or hamburgers and hotdogs, but that is not to say that I didn’t celebrate. I am working with four other interns for the summer, so we decided we wanted to do something fun for the fourth. Our initial plan was to go rafting on the Nile. We had to change that when one of the other guys fell and scraped up his hands really badly. We are still going rafting but at a later date. So instead of that we planned a little less intense day away from the orphanage. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the orphanage and all the kids here, but a good getaway is needed every once in a while. So we packed up and headed toward the river Saturday morning. First we took a nice peaceful boat ride with amazing scenery to the source of the Nile. This is where Lake Victoria turns into the Nile River, which is the same river than goes into Egypt 6000 miles downstream. It was cool to sit at the beginning of such a historic river that has been a lifeline of civilization to so many. The same river that Moses was found in as a baby. After the boat ride we went to a place called Bugagali Falls a few miles down the river. This is where the river breaks off into many parts and creates some crazy rapids. This is a very touristy area with a lot of cool shops and entertainment. After the falls we went up to a restaurant called the Black Lantern. The restaurant is actually part of a resort that is up on a cliff a couple hundred feet high overlooking the Nile. The food was fantastic and the views from the deck were even better. All in all, it was a Fourth of July that I will not forget!

This morning at the orphanage we were brought back to reality very quickly. Last week we had a group of visitors from The States that brought a medical clinic for the surrounding villages. They set up in our chapel and saw over 600 patients in 4 days. We also saw dozens of people come to Christ. It was a great few days. Through the clinic our staff came across and took in a young girl named Angela. Though Angela was 6 years old she appeared to be only about two or three due to the extreme malnourishment she had been through. It was heartbreaking to look at this young girls body. Her arms and legs looked like small sticks, and you could clearly see every bone of her body. It was by far the worst looking thing I have ever seen, including all the infomercials of the Ethiopian kids. The doctors believed that she had been intentionally starved, because the woman who brought her in had nice clothes and a cell phone. It was obvious that she hadn’t eaten in weeks, because when we got her she couldn’t take in any food. Everyone was fearful that she wouldn’t make it. So, one of the missionaries here took her and began to try to bring this child back to decent health. After a couple days it looked as if she were going to be all right. She started to be able to drink water, and started displaying a sense of recuperation. Her blood count was still very low, so the decided to give her a blood transfusion. At first everything appeared to be great, her body was accepting the blood very well and it appeared to be a success. Friday night I was walking on the path in front of the house where she was staying and someone yelled for me to come quick. Angela’s body had begun to reject the blood and her heart began to fail. So they got her loaded up and took her to the hospital. We didn’t get any news until Saturday morning, but they had gotten her into a somewhat stable condition, but it was not looking good. Throughout our day Saturday we had several times of prayer for Angela, asking for her to be given life if it was His will. Sunday morning after I finished teaching Sunday school I learned that Angela had passed away. It was a very sad day here at GSF. Though she had only been here a few days everyone had hope that she would make it through to see a much better life than she had before, but that is not what God had in store for Angela. He ended her suffering and hopefully she is in a much better place. Through this clinic and Angela I really realized how great of a life the kids here at GSF have compared to the people right outside the gates, and calling this lifestyle great and abundant is laughable in comparison to what life is like in America. We are so fortunate!