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August 25, 2007

A while back I was in deep thought and found myself driving a little too slowly for a few people on the highway. (I was actually driving at the speed limit, mind you.) One chap in a big truck, flashed his lights, cursed, waved his fist, swung his vehicle violently into the next lane and passed me mouthing horrible little words as went.

He raised his hand to flip me off and instead of cursing him back (like I think he expected me to do,) I smiled and waved. My gesture threw him off completely. For a second he seemed rather confused. My wave must have disarmed him somehow because in mid flip he turned his bird into a little wave and smiled sheepishly.

My grandpa Ted always said, “Disarm them with kindness.”

It worked!

Posted by trevor at 04:04 PM | Comments (0)

August 15, 2007

Posted by trevor at 06:42 AM | Comments (0)

August 13, 2007

Angel In The Dust

I cried today.

I cried because a six month-old baby girl died.

I cried because the sweet little girl should still be alive.

I cried thinking about my friend Marion (who with her husband Con created Boikarabelo the most amazing orphanage in South Africa) as she managed to resuscitate the little girl in the ambulance.

I cried because Demikhatso (Demi), the little girl’s mother died giving birth to Demi and now little Demi is also dead.

Marion and Con took Demi into the orphanage six months ago after her mother died during childbirth in the village alongside the orphanage in Rustenburg, South Africa.

Demi was premature and battled during her first days.

I was privileged to visit Con and Marion at the orphanage in February and had the honor of bathing, feeding and cuddling Demi on her 12th day on earth. (See above.) I held her for the entire day. She slept most of the time but woke up for a little bit and smiled a broad, beautiful smile at me as she looked into my eyes and clutched my finger with her tiny hand. (You can tell how little she was when you look at how small her hand is in relation to my finger.)

A few days ago Demi started getting congested. Con and Marion took Demi to the doctor. (Not an easy thing to do these days in South Africa due to a huge shortage of medical staff and facilities.)

The doctor put Demi on antibiotics. She got a little better for a few days and then on the day before yesterday she took a turn for the worse. An ambulance was called. Con requested oxygen for the child who could hardly breathe. The ambulance arrived two hours later without oxygen. The crew said the “new” ambulance had the oxygen. They drove Demi and Marion to the ambulance station to find the other ambulance. On the way they saw the “new” ambulance parked at a roadside café where the crew was eating fish and chips.

Demi stopped breathing but Marion (not the crew) managed to resuscitate her. Once they got to the hospital which was over an hour away, the doctor did a check up and said that Demi would be okay but they needed to keep her overnight for observation. Marion told the doctor that Demi’s stomach was horribly distended. The doctor prodded around and told Marion he didn’t think there was any blockage. Even after being begged by Marion, the doctor decided not to order an x-ray of the child’s stomach.

Marion asked to spend the night with the Demi (like she has done with many of the children she has taken care of in the orphanage who have had to be hospitalized) but the hospital refused to let Marion spend the night. (Even though Con and Marion could see that they were horribly short staffed.)

So Marion and Con reluctantly left the hospital and headed back to their family of three hundred children they take care of every day. An hour later, when they were almost home, the hospital called on their cell phone to tell them that Demi had taken a turn.

By the time Con and Marion got back to the hospital Demi was dead.

I cried today.

Because Demi did not have to die.

I cried today for Con and Marion who loved and cared for Demi like she was their own child. For Con and Marion who have given up their lives to take care of 300 orphans at Boikarabelo.

I cried today for me. Because I’ll never forget holding Demi, a beautiful, precious little living soul (just six months ago) who is now just another statistic, wrapped in a blanket, waiting for an autopsy in a cold, stainless steel room.

I hope God personally came to get you Demi. And I hope he is cradling you in his arms and singing you a lullaby. (Because that’s what you deserve after bravely struggling to stay alive from the very day you were born.)

My prayers are with you beautiful girl.

Posted by trevor at 07:07 PM | Comments (0)