Friday 6 May 2016

In The Stillness


   Have you ever felt in your heart that you were supposed to do something? Maybe it was something that you normally wouldn't do, but you felt strongly that you had to do it? Well that happened to me yesterday afternoon. I was walking from the clinic at Smile Africa back to the baby home when a group of young girls came running over to me and hugged me. I always hug them and then I keep walking, heading to wherever I need to be. I have seen these girls every day since I've been here, so they were familiar faces to me. I hugged them and almost started to walk away, then I believe I heard the voice of God in my heart say,

"Paris, look down."

   

   Then I saw her face. Again, I have seen these children before so I knew their faces, but not this close up. There were about 5 children holding onto me, but I knew who God was asking me to look for. There was a girl hugging me, Mariam, she is 7 years old. She was looking at me and her eyes were squinting and there was fluid running from them. Her eyes were swollen and puffy. Clearly there was some kind of infection. She was also wearing a t-shirt around her waist as a skirt because that is all that she had. This is her picture from yesterday.


   I believe God puts people in your life for a specific reason, and I also believe that God can move Heaven and Earth to literally push someone in your face that He needs you to help. So after making arrangements with pastor Ruth and the nurse, we made some appointments for her, her mother and baby sister for the next day, which is today.

   First thing in the morning, Mariam, the mother and the baby sister met with us at the clinic. It's funny, before I left my home in Los Angeles, my boyfriend David gave me a set of girls clothes size 5T. I usually bring baby clothes, but I brought the one outfit that was 5T and I said, 

"This is going to go to someone special, God will tell me who."

   Then this situation happens with Mariam, and she does not have any clothes at all. So I gave the outfit to her. I am just amazed how God works and how He orchestrates things. 



   We learned that Mariam's father had died in February of this year and it was possible that he died of AIDS, but no one knows for sure. Mariam also had 2 older siblings that of the same sickness. I quickly put Mariam in her new clothes and her baby sister in her new clothes and we immediately got in the van and drove to the hospital. The first order of business was to take the whole family to the hospital to check their blood status. After an hour or so at the hospital, we learned that they are HIV-!! This is great news! The nurse and I were very excited.

   Now that we knew about the health of their blood, we drove to the eye doctor. I really wanted Mariam's eyes to be checked out. After several hours there, we learned that she is slightly near sided, but the doctor won't know for sure if that is a problem caused by the infection and then once it's healed it will go away, or if it's a separate problem. 

   So the doctor then examined the eye and gave us medication that could help. He said that she has severe allergies that if its not treated, could make her go blind. I could not believe what I was hearing. I just thought that this little girl had pink eye or something and it would go away, but this was more serious than I thought. The doctor told us that this kind of allergy is caused by lack of good hygiene. That broke my heart. I hated the fact that she had to be in so much pain. Mariam's mother, Florence, is a really good woman with a kind heart, but she is just very underprivileged and her living conditions are very poor. This is a picture of Mariam's mother Florence and her baby sister Sabina. 


   I am so glad that we went to the doctor as soon as we did. What if I did not listen to God's voice and did not look down? Today, with this situation, I was reminded of the importance of being quiet and listening to God's voice. It is in the stillness that His voice can sound like a booming drum inside your soul. No matter where you are, God can speak to you. 

   According to the doctor, if Mariam had not gotten the medical treatment she needed, she could have gone blind. Mariam will now get better everyday and we will continue to keep a close watch on her eyes. 

   We all got back in the van and began the drive back to Smile Africa. We stopped at Mariam's mother's house to drop her and the baby off. Florence invited me to see where she lived, so I got out of the van and followed her to her home. Florence pointed and said, 

"It's just right here."


   We kept walking a little  further and then we finally reached her home. There was no door, only a curtain to protect her and her children from the outside world. Her home was one of many in this "building". She told me to come inside the home, so I did and I looked around. It was about the size of a bathroom in an American home. I looked up and noticed holes in her roof. I asked her what happens when it rains in the middle of the night. She told me that her and her children sit in the corner of the room until the rain stops, then they pull out a small mat and sleep on that. My heart broke into a million pieces when I heard that. 

                                

   Now that I have seen the conditions in which Mariam live, I understand why her eye is the way it is. I am going to help this single mom and her 2 children in the best way that I possibly can. Now that I have seen, I am responsible.

   It is time for me to get some rest. Tomorrow I am going to see Bogere! I am so excited! I can hardly wait! 

Good Night :) 




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