Hermana Lauren, Hermana Lauren!

Ok, ok...again it has been too long since my last update. It has been a blessing to be so busy with work, friends, and translating a bit for visiting teams (short-term mission teams that come to help with special projects or training in the communities). I come home exhausted most days, but it is the good exhaustion of being used by God.

I know that when I say that I have been "busy" some of you might be wondering what that means...what does a "busy" day look like? Here is a glimpse....This last week I have started doing some visits on my own in the communities (up until now I have always been with Nancy or Mirian, but in trying to cover more ground we have been splitting up for part of the day so that we spend more time doing follow up training and home visits with the newer health promoters). Currently we are trying to support the local health center in dealing with the issue of Dengue (a viral disease transmitted by mosquitoes) prevention. This is currently a serious health risk as there have been several reported cases of the illness in the district where we work. The health center has asked that the health promoters go house to house in their communities, making sure that people know about the disease and how to prevent the spread by keeping water containers sealed so that mosquitoes can not reproduce.

With this in mind, here is what my day looked like Yesterday along with some personal reflections I have had about it. I go to two communities do visits with a few health promoters (Gladys, Juana, Anna, and Silvia). Climbing up and down hills, we visit about 10-12 homes in the morning, and we find several tanks of water with mosquito larva of which we collect samples for testing.

At lunch time I walk to a local restaurant (la Madusa) to meet my boss, Nancy, and some other FH staff. On the way I am tackled by a little girl from one of the communities. She runs up to me yelling "Hola hermana (sister) Lauren, hermana Lauren!" Sister is a common greeting in the communities revealing a connection and relationship much like that of a family.

(Reflection) As I have been getting to know some 18 communities I am often overwhelmed by trying to keep track of all the faces and names (I have to admit that while I recognize the little girl, I can not remember her name), and this is something I have been struggling with a bit. My roommate, Claire, works in only one community as a child development promoter. She knows the kids, their moms, the leaders and all the goings on of the community. I on the other spend just a few hours in each community every few weeks, and until recently I have always been with other people who already have strong relationships with the community members. As a result I have often felt like a silent, invisible observer, as Nancy and Mirian do all the relational work. Even as I have started to do some teaching and sharing with health promoters, I have been wondering if I would ever build relationships. The whole work of FH is focused around walking with individuals and communities as they develop the gifts and resources God has given them. Relationships are essential in this process, and the little girl's greeting reminds me that I am actually starting to be apart of that process.

In the afternoon I met with another community health promoter, Susy, and we scramble up and down a rocky hill for two hours visiting 10 more homes. In the first home visit with Susy, she timidly turns to me and says “you start." I look at her and try to convince her that she can do it, but I end up doing most of the talking. Little by little though, Susy starts to add more and more to our spiel, and by the 3rd or 4th house she is doing all the teaching. By the end of our time I tell her that she has done a great job and that she really didn't need me, but she just laughs. Later in the evening, Claire tells me that she has seen Susy headed down the hill of the community. When Claire asks her where she is going Susy proudly says with a smile that she is headed to the health center to turn in her trabajo or work that we have collected (a home visit record sheet and water sample with mosquito larva we found at one of the houses).

(Reflection) Spending the afternoon together has given both of us (Susy and me) some increased confidence in our ability to do our jobs. I am so encouraged to see her using her gifts to serve her community, to see her pride in the work she had done, and to know that I have had the honor of serving along side her.

At the very end of the day, I go on one last home visit to the house of a boy Claire and I have in the community where she works. The boy, Edgar, has a scabby wound on his ear that looks like it could be infected. It is dusk and as I scramble over rocks trying to keep up with Edgar who is showing me where he lives, I hope that I will be able to meet his mom and see if there is something we can do to help her get medical attention for her son. When I get to the house, I do meet Edgar’s mom, Maura, and she tells me that she and her four children are new to the community, that they moved there four months ago from the central Andes. She is living with a family member and she does not know anything about FH and what we do in the community. As I start to explain to her who we are and how we might be able to help, I spot one of her younger sons stepping out of the curtain draped door way. As I see Junior's face, my heart leaps. His entire face, neck and other parts of his body are covered in scabby wounds similar to his brother's ear. My guess is that it is probably a severe case of impetigo that has gone untreated because his mom does not have the proper identification to enroll her son in the gov. insurance program offered free to all children. Today Nancy, my boss, will be visiting the family and will try to work something out so that we can help the boy get treatment sometime next week.

(Reflection) A day later, I can not stop thinking about Junior. Please keep him, Edgar, Maura and her other two children in your prayers. Pray that FH staff will be able to form relationships with the family, that we would be able to serve them, and walk along side them as they make a new home here in Lima. Pray that Junior and Edgar would be healed.

I leave Maura and her children, and go to meet Claire and Maria (FH staff psychologist who is starting our new family violence program) so that we can get a taxi together for the office. We are leaving the community about an hour later than usual (it is about 6pm). In the taxi, I can't stop thinking about little Junior, his family. I also think about the threat of Dengue facing our communities and how important the work of the volunteer health promoters will be in preventing it from being a really big problem. I wonder if they realize what an important resource they are to their communities. At some point I stop thinking because my brain is so tired, and then I realize how tired my body is from hiking up and down hills all day long. Then I think about how the families in our communities deal with this same physical exhaustion every night. When I get home (about 8pm) I am so thankful for safe clean apartment God has blessed Claire and me with. I literally collapse on the sofa and try to debrief the day with Claire. We both wish we could have more time in the communities, there never seems to be enough time to deal with all the problems.

(Reflection) The problems we see every day are bigger than we can deal with on our own and we pray and have hope that our God is big enough to reconcile all these things in His time. Though it doesn't seem to be enough, I am so thankful that I get to be a part of His work, that I get to be His hands and feet in the communities we serve.

Retreat to Arequipa

HC Retreat to Arequipa (me and my roommate Claire in the Arequipa Plaza de Armas)

Forgive me for being so delinquent in updating you all with the goings on here in Peru. Much has been happening (as always), but in particular I wanted to share some pictures from the retreat I went on with the other FH international staff (hunger corps)a couple weeks ago to Arequipa. It was such a great time to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and be restored with some great fellowship, and time to enjoy God's amazing creation here in Peru (I even got to walk in the rain on a cold night - just like home). We explored the city of Arequipa, and went on a crazy hike up a river in the Sierra mountains- very wet, but lots of fun! We also explored the halls and rooms of a 400 year old Santa Catalina Monastery.

Life in Lima is going well. My work with the FH-Lima Health project is keeping me busy, and I am now starting to work on and develop the relief and disaster preparedness program (my second job). In addition my roommate, Claire, and I have taken on the other responsibility of being the International Staff Coordinators. So Life is busy, but good. Sometimes I don't see exactly how God is using me here, but I know that I am right where He wants me, and that is a joyful place to be. There is lots more to share (and I promise I will try to post again this weekend), but its late here, and my pillow has been calling me for the last half hour and I am afraid I can not resist its plead any longer.

I hope you are all well.

Blessings, Lauren

P.S. Happy Easter too you all - How awesome it is to follow a living God and King.