The first eye-opener

June 15 2009
Today was a more eye-opening day. First we went to an art fair type area and bought some souvenirs. I bought a beautiful card and a small wooden sculpture. Total cost was 6 cds. That is around 5 American dollars. The exchange rate is odd. After, we went to Dr. Annie's clinic. We saw many malnourished babies. there were hundreds of women there, many of them teenagers. Many women travel to the city with some guy and end up in the market, pregnant and abandoned. So it's hard for them to ask for help when they have been abandoned. I saw a two year old with eye liner on. It was unsettling. Many women buy make up over food to get attention from the men that abandoned them. It was hard to see all of it. But Dr. Annie is extremely positive and its amazing to see her work in that environment. We gave stuffed animals and many women left their babies on the ground crying to go and fight for the best animal. I saw a woman whose baby's neck was bouncing around. She didn't care. There was another woman with twins: one boy and one girl. She only fed the boy. The size difference between them was huge. I would have thought them 8 or 9 moths apart. Another baby had malaria and was attached to an IV. There were so many babies. After we left the clinic, we visited the Kenilworth Union School in Krapa. The Kipharts have done an amazing job. We delivered gifts like pencils, sharpies, cards, soccerballs, and the game Jacks. One of the difficult things is that the kids thinkw e are Santa and can bring them anything. Some of them had an attitude and no one was gracious. I guess we should deal with that. Part of real giving is not expecting anything in return. It's just hard when we've put a lot of work into our gifts and projects! Regardless, it was great to see all the progress made.