Adopt-a-Patient Sendoff

Today I said goodbye to my adopt-a-patient, Elizabeth! After spending time with her every day for the past 2+ weeks, I had grown pretty close to her and her older sister, Elizabeth. Through the development of our relationship I learned many things about their lives: I learned that Elizabeth burned her hand when she was 3 years old and reached her tiny hand into a pot of boiling water. Because her family lives in the country's interior region, she had no chance to get to a hospital for treatment. I learned why the Elizabeths always responded to my inquiry of how many siblings they have by saying simply "plenty" - their father has multiple wives. This also explains why they're both named Elizabeth - different mommies. I learned that the older Elizabeth is 28 and has a 10 year old daughter of her own. I learned how to speak a bit of Kissi, their native language. This week I learned that the younger Elizabeth wants to learn how to read English. I wrote out some Bible verses for her, and we read them together. She's a smart cookie and picked up really quickly. I'm hoping to see her again now that she's been discharged so that I can give her an English Bible to read because she doesn't have one of her own.

Thanks for all of your prayers for the Elizabeths. It was so fun to get to know them, learn from them and teach them. As a bonus, I got to know many other patients on the ward as I'd go to visit Elizabeth each day. I really respect the sense of community I see among Africans. Though the hospital patients had never met before and likely will never meet again after being discharged, they interact as a family. They feed each other, share food, laugh with each other, take care of each other's children, etc. It was impossible for me to visit Elizabeth without also catching up with Samuel, Blessing, Mami, Anthony and Christian. Boy do they know how to make one feel loved.

One Sunday I took the Elizabeths along with some other patients on the ward up to our outdoor deck for a little photo shoot. They really got into taking pictures! The first one is of Elizabeth and me. The little girl in the second photo is named Blessing, and she was sooo cute. Whenever I would come to visit she would immediately curl up into lap, and one night she started to cry when I left. The final photo is of the whole photo shoot crew - some of my closest buddies on the ward. Clockwise from left, Elizabeth, Samuel, Mami, Blessing, Elizabeth.