Yesterday was a hard day for me. We went to places where I thought I would have been of some kind of service. You know I am a nurse of course..(I say this with utter sarcasm) and then... felt completely useless and frustrated. At the home for the sick and dying children I held babies in my arms that actually looked like the pictures in the magazines of starving children! Their skinny little arms and legs, the sunken eyes and hollow cheeks. I often found my self gravitating towards the most sickly and starved. Many of these babies were at various stages of malnutrition. I felt so helpless and frustrated because I thought I should be able to do something, anything and I couldn't. These nuns have so many children coming in and so little supplies to work with, it was maddening. The only consolation for me that day was seeing a little one wobbling round drinking a bottle of Ensure that I know I had brought in that day for supplies.
Today was a different day. We went into the city Titanyen and meet up with a few of the elderly and brought in food and spent some time with them and listened and learned about their life. Many of them no longer have family living, some are taking care of their children's children because they have died. But, even through their amazing and unbelievable hardships, their faith is still strong and it clearly emanates from them. It reminds me of a song we sing often in church..Leaning, leaning leaning on the ever lasting arms.
I was also mesmerized by my friends today. I witnessed such compassion and respect. Jack, I saw you...your going to get a sunburn from the inside out. you were glowing I tell you.
We also went to a mass grave site today. Right after the 2010 earthquake, so many people had been killed or died from injury, family's would have to lay their loved ones out on their street curb and wait for the dump trucks that would come by to pick them up and bring them to one of many mass grave sites. I keep thinking, How do you deal with that???Wrapping up your child, husband, parent, sister, or brother, any or all of them, putting them on the side of the road, outside your house to wait for a dump truck to go take them away??How does one cope with that one???? Next time you hear me complaining about a bad day, just pinch me. Please.
Jennifer Keller Sirianni
Today was a different day. We went into the city Titanyen and meet up with a few of the elderly and brought in food and spent some time with them and listened and learned about their life. Many of them no longer have family living, some are taking care of their children's children because they have died. But, even through their amazing and unbelievable hardships, their faith is still strong and it clearly emanates from them. It reminds me of a song we sing often in church..Leaning, leaning leaning on the ever lasting arms.
I was also mesmerized by my friends today. I witnessed such compassion and respect. Jack, I saw you...your going to get a sunburn from the inside out. you were glowing I tell you.
We also went to a mass grave site today. Right after the 2010 earthquake, so many people had been killed or died from injury, family's would have to lay their loved ones out on their street curb and wait for the dump trucks that would come by to pick them up and bring them to one of many mass grave sites. I keep thinking, How do you deal with that???Wrapping up your child, husband, parent, sister, or brother, any or all of them, putting them on the side of the road, outside your house to wait for a dump truck to go take them away??How does one cope with that one???? Next time you hear me complaining about a bad day, just pinch me. Please.
Jennifer Keller Sirianni
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