Then that afternoon, as I was opening the clinic, a little girl crashed a bike into a barbed wire fence at the bottom of the hill. I ran down the hill and pulled her back up to the clinic with me, dripping blood every step of the way. She ended up getting 4 stitches in her forehead later that night.
The following day, a group of volunteers from Emmanuel rode the "chicken bus" (aka old American school bus) into Tegucigalpa. It wasn't quite as crazy as I expected it to be. I actually slept most of the way. My favorite part of the trip was the bread man that sold warm, sweet bread throughout the bus.
This week has been one of my most challenging weeks at Emmanuel so far. Bayron, a 13 year-old boy with special needs, was sick and needed to stay in the clinic for a few days. As the clinic volunteer, I've spent a lot of time in the clinic. I've slept there with 2 other kids, but this experience was by far the most tiring. Bayron requires so much more attention than those other kids. He wore a diaper while in the clinic and always managed to have a dirty diaper while I was there. One time he had 4 dirty diapers (all requiring showers, sheet changes, and clothing changes) within 3 hours! 2 volunteers had to be there with him all the time because he could be so difficult to manage. He has a constant runny nose, but hates when people wipe his nose (because the boys that take care of him wipe his nose too hard so it's very sore) so he hits their hands away. He doesn't like to take his medicine, and he doesn't really respond when you talk to him. He didn't want to eat and would sometimes take the food in his mouth and throw it on the ground.
After several exhausting (and frustrating) days with many hours spent in the clinic with Bayron, I was worn out. On the night of his 4th day in the clinic, I came in to find Bayron totally changed. He was smiling! He played with me and laughed! He even said a few totally incomprehensible words (although every now and then I could make out the words: hola, mango, and vaca (cow)). Those few, precious minutes made up for the entire week of really hard work.
From that point on I saw a dramatic improvement in Bayron. Besides smiling a little, talking, and playing, Bayron also ate more and even let me wipe his nose without jerking away! I learned so many things from Bayron and have a new appreciation for parents (and others) that care for children with special needs.
Tomorrow I'm leaving to go to the beach in Costa Rica for a week. I'm only allowed 3 months in Honduras so since I have to renew my visa, what better place than the beach?!
¡Nos vemos!
