Before arriving in Bolivia, I knew that there was a possibility of working with the burn unit at a hospital in town. I have heard that that is a very difficult thing to do, even for nurses. When I visited and toured the hospital, the lady told me to start out in another room and get acclimated and then try the burn unit.
Yesterday was my first day at that hospital. I entered and went strait to the malnourished baby room to ease into the waters. Of course, upon arriving, the nurses tell me that I am not allowed to be there in the afternoons, and they told me to leave. I took that as a sign from God that I needed to go strait to the burn unit and that His strength was enough.
I asked a nurse how to get there, because I knew that it was not in the same building. He took me through a maze of buildings before I approached a sign that read, “Burn Unit” in Spanish. I took a deep breath and walked in.
I entered the first room that I came to. The instant I walked in, I was overwhelmed with the amount of pain in one room. The first ten minutes I was there I felt dizzy. There was a boy completely wrapped in gauze sitting on a metal pan on a stool trying to use the bathroom, crying the entire time. There was a baby in a crib, laying on her stomach due to the burns on her butt and covered in her own feces. Then there was Samuel…
Samuel is a 12 year old boy who captured my heart from the moment I walked into the room. A week ago, he was cooking in his kitchen and grease from the pan spilled all over his body, burning his face, neck, right leg, and right hand. But you know what, the first thing I noticed about Samuel was his beauty. He has to be the most beautiful person I have ever met: The skin that is unaffected is flawless, his eyes are captivating, and his disposition is addicting. I have never fallen in love with someone so fast.
I spent the day playing tic-tac-toe, connect the dots, watching him listen to my ipod, praying over, speaking life into him, as just looking at his beauty while he watched TV. He didn’t talk much, not that we can communicate well anyways. I think he is shy because even though he has been there for a week now, he still didn’t really play with the other kids.
When I got ready to leave, I went around and prayed over all the kids. I came back to Samuel for a final goodbye and gave him a kiss on the non-burnt part of his head. I turned to walk away and with voice filled with desperation came the words, “Manana?” (Tomorrow in Spanish). I stopped, turned around and quitly said, “Manana, en la tarde”. (Tomorrow, in the afternoon). I left the room and when I looked through the window, he smiled and waved with his little bandaged hand.
I actually made it out of the unit without crying, but not by much. As soon as I was out of sight, I broke down and began balling. Samuel’s face was in my mind all night. Here’s the good news: I saw him again today and he looked better. He was smiling, his burns looked better, he was with the other kids in their room, and he laughed much more today.
Samuel means God Heard in Hebrew. God certainly heard my prayer and gave me someone to love…
Me, Samuel, ans Carlos.
(In order)
Samuel and I
The little girl at the bottom right is Erika and she goes home tomorrow. 🙂
Praise God for Photobooth… Many smiles came because of it. 
The bottom right is my favorite… What a smile 🙂
