motherly touch

In my many roles as Assistant Director of Children's Education Program, the one that came out last Thursday was nurse and surrogate mother.

My boss has been on vacation all week and I have directing duties for the time being. This can mean anything from dealing with fights and discipline issues to working with Western volunteers. On Thursday, however, after the usual checking in with teachers and making sure our breakfast program was set to go, a teacher brought a young girl who was ill to my office. The poor thing had a burning fever and had just thrown up. She looked pretty miserable and shy, and unfortunately she didn't speak English or even Arabic! Even her teacher was having a hard time communicating with her. After some discussion, we decided to set up some comfy chairs for her to sleep on and give her a blanket until we could find a way to get ahold of someone who spoke Nuer.

In the meantime I decided to put aside any "duties" I might have and spent time just being there for the child. I figured she must be so uncomfortable and perhaps frightened. We went into the conference room and I sat next to her, rubbing her back and giving her some water to drink and a sandwich to eat. Soon she felt comfortable with me and laid her head on my lap and fell to sleep as a softly stroked her forehead. As I sat there I thought about touch, and how important it is for people to be held, especially when they are feeling ill and low. It's especially important for children to feel a motherly touch, and I hope I was able to provide her some comfort for the day. I'm not even sure she has a mother in her life now.

Today her father showed up at St. Andrews looking for some help. The girl is still sick, and they do not have the money needed to go to the doctor...

~~~Today remember the blessing of health, and say a prayer for those struggling to meet even the basic needs for taking care of their health.~~~