What a week!
This was one of those weeks where it seems like nothing more could happen that would make the week worse... yet things kept on happening. First we started the week with the news that Tito was missing and was swept away by the river at the camp. By Tuesday they had found his body, and we knew he had died. A huge loss for our church here. A great, young father, friend, church elder with half his life ahead was gone. That same weekend we got a call that one of the boys in the Renacer home had fallen off his bike and hurt his arm. A few hours later we find out that his arm was broken in three places and he would have to have surgery. His operation was last Sunday morning. Everything went well and he was back in the home by Monday night.
We later had some exciting news of two new boys, Fabian and Juan Carlos, in the Renacer home. Then brought back to reality by Tito's funeral. Then our cat went missing. Our cat leaves for a day at a time, sometimes a full night, but has now been gone for almost five days. We think that Nube used the last of her nine lives. (Seems kind of minor in comparison to the rest of the week.) Friday brought the admission of another boy into the hospital. This time Juan Carlos, who has been sick since he got to the home. Diagnosis: Tuberculosis in the lungs and kidney, pneumonia, and a urinary tract infection. Saturday he was admitted into the hospital. We think the hospital should name that area the "Barnabas Wing" after this week. He will be in the hospital for about three days being treated with IV antibiotics and once his TB is confirmed we will start the six month treatment for that. He is starting to get better, but at only 63 lbs he has a lot of weight to gain to become a healthy 12 year old boy.
Friday also brought the excitement of finding our checking account balance at -23.88 after someone (not us!) bought some nice clothes, travel, hotels, etc. on our debit card and emptied out our bank account. We will eventually get it all back, thanks to the Visa fraud protection, but not without filling out paper work, talking on the phone, and doing a lot of other things that don't fit into our schedule at this point.
Finally, today we found out one of our street kids died. Jamie was about 20 years old, and we have known him for a few years. We haven't seen him in at least nine months, but used to hang out with him a lot. He was jailed about 18 months ago, and ever since he got out he drank hard liquor about 24 hours a day, so it was just a matter of time. Still sad though.
So the summary for our week:
1 dead friend
1 dead street child
2 kids hospitalized
1 lost cat
1 emptied out bank account
Hopefully next week will be a little easier. Can't imagine it any other way! Life here in Bolivia isn't always fun. We have been to more funerals than we care to count or remember. Until this week they have all been for kids. The unfortunate reality is that the street is a hard life, and kids die. Sad, but true. Fortunately Juan Carlos made it to our home, or he would have been one of the ones who end up in a pine box within a few more weeks on the streets. We are glad to have him as part of our family and can't wait to get to know him better.
We later had some exciting news of two new boys, Fabian and Juan Carlos, in the Renacer home. Then brought back to reality by Tito's funeral. Then our cat went missing. Our cat leaves for a day at a time, sometimes a full night, but has now been gone for almost five days. We think that Nube used the last of her nine lives. (Seems kind of minor in comparison to the rest of the week.) Friday brought the admission of another boy into the hospital. This time Juan Carlos, who has been sick since he got to the home. Diagnosis: Tuberculosis in the lungs and kidney, pneumonia, and a urinary tract infection. Saturday he was admitted into the hospital. We think the hospital should name that area the "Barnabas Wing" after this week. He will be in the hospital for about three days being treated with IV antibiotics and once his TB is confirmed we will start the six month treatment for that. He is starting to get better, but at only 63 lbs he has a lot of weight to gain to become a healthy 12 year old boy.
Friday also brought the excitement of finding our checking account balance at -23.88 after someone (not us!) bought some nice clothes, travel, hotels, etc. on our debit card and emptied out our bank account. We will eventually get it all back, thanks to the Visa fraud protection, but not without filling out paper work, talking on the phone, and doing a lot of other things that don't fit into our schedule at this point.
Finally, today we found out one of our street kids died. Jamie was about 20 years old, and we have known him for a few years. We haven't seen him in at least nine months, but used to hang out with him a lot. He was jailed about 18 months ago, and ever since he got out he drank hard liquor about 24 hours a day, so it was just a matter of time. Still sad though.
So the summary for our week:
1 dead friend
1 dead street child
2 kids hospitalized
1 lost cat
1 emptied out bank account
Hopefully next week will be a little easier. Can't imagine it any other way! Life here in Bolivia isn't always fun. We have been to more funerals than we care to count or remember. Until this week they have all been for kids. The unfortunate reality is that the street is a hard life, and kids die. Sad, but true. Fortunately Juan Carlos made it to our home, or he would have been one of the ones who end up in a pine box within a few more weeks on the streets. We are glad to have him as part of our family and can't wait to get to know him better.
posted by Unknown @ 2:26 PM
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