Difficult moments, but a sustaining joy

This morning started out in such a refreshing way. A few of us went to a local preschool to do well checks. The kids were beyond cute and so fun. They spoke English, so that was super great. Myself and two other nurses tackled a room with 18 toddlers. It was chaos. I bartered all my stickers just to listen to heart and lungs and look in ears! The theme of this morning was pure and tangible joy, and it was just what we needed. 

After lunch we joined the rest of our team at a garbage dump. Thousands of Cambodians live in and around this dump. It's common for children to be killed by the incoming trash dumps while rummaging through the trash for their families. Unreal. It was such a privilege for us to serve this community. They were so grateful. That's one thing I've really noticed about this culture. Their gratitude is unbelievable. They aren't privileged, they aren't well off, so they are SO appreciative. Last night when we were working on those kids on the side of the road, the surrounding Cambodians were in total shock over what we were doing, and they could not stop thanking us. This culture really is characterized by kindness. 

The super hard part of today was when a mother rushed in with her newborn baby. She was 4 weeks old and weighed maybe 4-5 lbs. The mom's milk had dried up so she had no food for her baby. We could immediately see she was Down's syndrome and jaundiced. Upon listening to her heart we heard a murmur. Heart defects are common in downs kids, and generally are easily treated in the states. But in Cambodia, it's pretty much a death sentence. No pedi cardiologist, no breast milk or formula, and an immature liver. I held tight to that baby girl. Put her against my chest and prayed, realizing that's about the best I could do for her today. That was a very difficult moment. We preceded to tell her mother that she needed to get her baby to the local hospital immediately. Realistically, we probably know the outcome, but it was the baby's only hope. 

This trip really is changing my heart in so many ways. And so many sweet friendships have been made already. So much of our days are characterized by the harsh realities of this broken world, but there's always a deep rooted and sustaining joy- JESUS.