It was still dark out and somewhere in the neighborhood of 5a.m. I found myself face down kneeling on the floor in prayer. After a bit I sit up, stretch, and rub my eyes, but something felt very strange. I pulled my hands away from my eyes and there was blood all over one of my hands. Nothing hurt, my eye felt fine, never the less, my hand was now covered in blood. I rushed to the bathroom, looked in the mirror and saw half congealed blood clots wiped around my eye and down my face and then I realized what had happened and I was horrified.
This month we are working with kids from the streets and slums. They often come in to the center with large gashes, cuts, and oozing wounds from infected bug bites. One of the kids must have had an open wound, bled on the floor, and it never got cleaned up.
I had just rubbed some small child’s blood in my eyes. After a moment of total disgust I took a shower that lasted the span of about five normal showers before I felt like I could move on with my day. I decided to put it behind me and pretend that wasn’t how my morning started, but, when it’s all said and done, there is something very unsettling about knowing you started your day off by rubbing someone else’s blood in your eyes.
Just saying……
X
