This month has been one that going into, I was very excited for and thought that because of my previous experience, that I’d kind of know what to expect. This month has been one of the most challenging months so far, and it seems to feel like the longest one yet too. There are so many things that make this challenging, and it’s not just because of the population we are working with. This is a population I’m quite comfortable with because of work experience I’ve had in the past, but it’s the circumstances that surround it all that make it extremely heartbreaking. We are working at Eden Ministries this month: “The number one accommodation supplier to people that are mentally challenged and destitute. Eden provides accommodation to the homeless, mentally challenged, those living with HIV and AIDS, recovering drug addicts, the unemployed, orphans, the aged, etc.”
Upon entering this month, we were told that we would be having our own rooms at the facility that we’d be staying at. That fact alone made us super excited for what this month would hold. To actually have our own space for the first time in 6 months is something we dreamed of! Being greeted by the residents when we first arrived was one my heart will always remember: smiles, waves, and extreme dance moves as we walked by.
Our work this month look like literally everything. Helping in the kitchen to feed the residents/wash 110 dishes each meal, help pass meds, caregiving needs like haircuts and showers, gardening and cleaning up the landscape, cleaning the rooms, making beds, washing windows, taking residents to the hospital for checkups. We put on some small events like movies and popcorn, a bingo night, and coloring. Simply hanging out with the residents and giving the staff a lighter load is what we are here to do this month.
“We work among the angels you know”, states my host about the residents who live at Eden. Hebrews 13:2 says: “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.”
This is a population that is so overlooked not only in this society, but in the world in general. The mentally disabled and those dealing with mental illness are often seen as less than, or extremely medicated because they “can’t be handled.”
Institutions all over the world that hold this population are often understaffed, underfunded, and over populated. This one is no different, and coming in with eyes that have seen institutions in America like this, I was in shock. With 110 residents and only 4 staff, this place would be labeled as extreme neglect by American standards. Now this is the problem I’m having difficulties with: trying not to come in with an American perspective, not pushing my western mindset, but also looking at what is ethically and morally right. There is a difference between an extravagant Western way of thinking this place should be run, but also looking with eyes of dignity and what is ethically wrong/right. I have not figured this out and its what’s been troubling me ever since getting here.
My team has had many conversations about what our responsibility is here, and how the place can be improved. The biggest thing comes down to the stigma that society has about this population, and the funding they receive. The government does not want anything to do with this place, for they often send those who come into contact with the law or are homeless to Eden to be taken care of. They drop them off at the front door, never to have any more responsibility for them after that.
The health care system here is ridiculous when it comes to dealing with the residents at Eden. I talked about in my last blog how I had to hold a towel over a man’s head as he lost more blood than I had ever seen, and how the ambulance took an hour to get there.
“They take their time when they get calls from us,” my host states.
“The urgency of emergencies or medical issues just isn’t a priority to the health care systems when it comes to our people. One time, the young boy here who has down syndrome was having allergic reactions to some medicine he was on. We brought him into the hospital to figure out what the issue was, and he was then referred to a specialist. When we got to the specialist, he refused to do anything for him because ‘he was born like that.’ It comes down to just laziness. Just like the man the other day that you dealt with, it took 9 hours for him to be seen, only to be sent home to fall again and reopen his stitches. When he was then brought by ambulance, they stitched him up again but stated that he didn’t need any further testing. The man could barely walk! He was urinating himself. He is not in a state to be sent back to the place where he continues to fall at! Another time, the residents will go in for a checkup, find out they have cancer or some other illness that needs further treatment. Us, expecting to hear back from the doctors about things like that will not ever be informed because they don’t want to even try treatment options. It’s ridiculous that our residents can have things like cancer and they won’t even tell us about it!”
With the smell of urine permeating the hallways and rooms, beds with sheets that have stains of things I don’t even want to know of, torn up mattress pads that are made of foam, metal bed frames that are falling apart. Residents sit in the courtyard under the hot sun, flies buzzing around their heads. The roam back and forth through the facility waiting for the meal or med whistle to be blown to make their move to the line. The clothes they wear, not their own, donated in large quantities but oversized at most.
But they are grateful. They are grateful and they in wealth due to a shelter over their heads, 3 meals a day, and a place where they are loved and seen. They have taught me so much about contentment, so much about being thankful for what I do have, rather than what I do not have.
This month has looked like heartbreak and joy all in one. It has looked like challenges but also victories. If all we do this month is love these residents well, SEE them for the beautiful human life they have, give them dignity, and love them like Christ loves them, that is enough for me. For we may not see the fruit of it right away, but I know our work will not go in vain.
Prayer requests for this ministry:
- A full-time nurse or doctor to come in to the facility every day to check on residents (instead of having to wait hours and hours to see the doctor at the hospital for simple things like med rechecks).
- Grants or more funding (they are living off the money they make from the pigs/chickens they own and sell, as well as some funding from the government for specific residents)
- Continual provision of food for all the residents
- More staff!
- Changed mindset over this population
- CHURCHES or volunteers to come alongside this ministry on a daily basis, and not just once every 4 months for a day or so.
- Rest for our wonderful hosts (they literally run this entire place on their own)
- Treatment for the residents for specific ailments/illnesses that are not being treated
- Clothes to own and that are actually in good condition
- That these residents would feel LOVED by the Father and by those around them
- An activity coordinator to arrange things for the residents to do
