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KONY 2012 from INVISIBLE CHILDREN.

Because where you live shouldn't determine whether you live...

beginning a new year

I've been back in San Pedro now for almost a month, So I figured I should give a little update! Despite the inevitable bumps along the road that life always brings, the year is off to a great start for CURE Honduras.

-a visit home.
I got back on January 4th from the being in the US for Christmas and New Years. The break was just beautiful and relaxing in almost every way. I got to ride my horse (and my sister's) and I got my fill of nieces and nephews (well I'm not sure if it's possible to ever get my fill but at least I got to spend time with them and see all of them growing so big and preciously as they are). I could go into so much detail about a fun-filled two weeks at home with family and dear friends, but I will just say it's just what I needed- to spend time with some of the people closest to me.

-cure.
The first couple of days back at the hospital were exciting, well for one, just to see everyone again, and two, we had a lot of new patients coming in so it was exciting for us. We love seeing returning patients and seeing their progress, and it's great to also see our numbers growing and more new kids coming in!
It is super exciting to see the CUREkids program continue to grow and to see more and more kids' surgeries being funded. Seeing people really desiring to reach out and help others with what God has given them is very inspiring.
Translating in clinic for Dr. Jay continues to be fun, and there is normally always something to laugh about afterwards. There are the occasional stressful moments when I can't for the life of me communicate a word (recently it was "MRI") and Jozzeth (x-ray technician) who speaks a lot of English wasn't understanding me either. Finally Dr. Jay just wrote the prescription for it and told the patient's parents which hospital and doctor they needed to see for this. After clinic Jozzeth asked me to explain it to him again, and when I wrote it out and said, "See, M-R-I," the light bulb lit up! He thought I was saying MRI as one word like "emarreye." Ok... finally got that one figured out. Learning new things every day!
Last week we had one of our clubfoot patients come back, walking almost completely normally! It's been a long and sometimes very painful journey for Gerardo, making many trips here, but he is nearly DONE and it's awesome to see the change in his life and what the result of all that long and hard process produced!

Gerardo, day 1


Gerardo, day 134

One of our missionary friends here, Tara, and her husband, Jorge, have a ministry called Reach Out Orphanage Ministries. Dr. Pauline (Dr. Jay's wife who is a pediatrician) went with Tara last week to one of the orphanages that they work with which has special needs children. We hope to be able to bring some of the kids who need treatment to CURE, and this new prospect of working with more orphanages in our area to help the poorest of Honduras is very exciting, so we appreciate your prayers as this unfolds! This weekend possibly after church we hope to visit the orphanage again (and bring a pediatric neurologist who is visiting) and make some progress with which children we will be able to help. It's very exciting for me personally to see CURE connecting more and more with orphan care!

-different worlds.
On the weekends I sometimes use the Bridgemans' car if I have places to go. I'm thankful that this is possible because they also have a van so it gives me a little freedom to do things without having to rely them or others for a ride. The first time I used it after being here again after the new year, I pulled into my driveway and dropped the keys in the cup holder, about to get out of the car and leave it unlocked with the keys in it- a sure sign that I still thought I was in Bear Creek for a second there.... in the recent days after I came back here from the US I was thinking about the oddness of having these almost two completely separate lives that in some ways could not be more polar opposites- cars just being one example! At home there, we leave the keys in the car. At home here, even with a locked car you STILL have to pray that no one breaks into it or steals it and make sure that nothing valuable is left in it. My next door neighbor Mario has told me several stories of his broken car windows and cell phones being stolen- he had a plastic bag with duct tape as the passenger seat window in his car for the first few weeks that I lived here. This is a minor story compared to many I've heard, so I continue to be wise to the best of my ability and trust the Lord to guide me and protect me according to His will, realizing that unfortunate events like this can really happen anywhere, although we see it a lot more here!
The other week I was reminded by a missionary friend, Kevin, who was passing through San Pedro from the states on his way back home to Gracias, southwest of San Pedro, of Psalm 23:5. The Lord will prepare a table for us in the presence of our enemies. No matter what happens, we having nothing to fear with the Lord on our side. And when you see the enemies begin to sit down and eat at the table with you, it's a beautiful thing.

-life outside of the hospital.
The weeks are filling up with more and more activities. I'm thankful San Pedro is full of fun friends to adventure with!
-Tuesday nights a small group of us from church have Bible study, and right now we are working through the book called "Not A Fan" by Kyle Idleman. In my opinion the book is great so far and has opened my eyes to ways that I am actually more of a fan, rather than a follower, of Jesus. It's not really about being totally one or the other, but about daily working towards following Him above all else and not just being a fan of him. We are still early on in this study and I look forward to how we will grow through this experience.

Frozen yoghurt at Toppings (my new favorite place) with Dr. Canales after Wednesday night swimming at Coligio Medico.

-muscial garage
There is this place very close to my house called the Musical Garage (mentioned above). After being here for about three months, I found out that every Saturday night they hold a worship service there. I decided to check it out, and it's seriously just about the coolest place ever. I quickly became friends with the guys in the band, and no later was I asked if I wanted to sing on their team because the band is comprised entirely of guys and they wanted a female voice. Well, they didn't realize that they are practically professionals and I just sing for fun. Although I do have some choir training, singing on this team was pretty intimidating, especially having to learn all the songs in Spanish! Most of it it Hillsong, Chris Tomlin, and other artists in which I already know the music, I just have to get the words translated into my head! The guys would not give up on asking me when I was coming to practice, so with all that "positive peer pressure" (as Dr. Jay put it) I went to practice and had a great time. We'll see how many Thursday nights I spend rehearsing with them before they let me actually sing on a Saturday night.... the true test of my skill :P

-football, not futbol
I was never a real fan of American football, although I grew up as an Eagles fan and cheered for them with the rest of my family. Since being in Honduras, though, I have enjoyed going to a futbol (Spanish for "soccer") game, and like cheering for our boys in blue and white.
When I game home from swimming one Sunday afternoon, Jay came yelling into the kitchen from the computer room "THE BRONCOS ARE BEATING THE STEELERS!" We then proceeded to crash our neighbors' house who have cable TV so that we could watch the second half of the game. Jay and I were going crazy- we hadn't had that much excitement since being here! Watching them win that game in overtime was a blast- I was already a fan of Tebow, and even though I'm still not officially a football fan, I'm now officially a fan of the Broncos.

watching the Broncs win!!

-nica!
This past weekend was one of the best weekends I've had since living here, because I went to Nicaragua for my friend Melissa's wedding! It was wonderful to see her and her whole family after not seeing them for over two years! It was a beautiful wedding and fun-filled weekend. It went by way too quickly, but I'm so happy I was able to get down there. I'm super happy for Melissa and her new husband, Coburn, and all that their new life together with bring forth. I hope to be able to go back again before too long and see their new ranch and other exciting adventures they have going on there.
The only bummer of the weekend for me was that my camera was stolen so I don't have any pictures to share, but of course the trip was so worth it- cameras can be replaced, fun times like that cannot!

-success.
Today we had a great success- Pauline and I made the hour and a half treck UP the mountain with the three little girls (and Ace!) to the big Coca-Cola sign. This was our third time trying to make it to the top as it proves to be difficult with three kids in the heat. We made it up and played with some of the outdoor exercise equipment before making the hour treck back down. We met a nice guy at the top who decided to walk down with us, and while Pauline was praying the whole time that he wasn't with us just to steal her iPhone, I was enjoying making a new friend. Although I couldn't understand a lot of his "sloppy" Spanish, we managed to have a good time as we talked about our families and I taught him some English that he wanted to learn, such as "see you later, take care," and "I like to play soccer all day."

at the top! Part of the giant "C" from the Coca-Cola is visible behind us

a better view of the city behind us

-encouraged.
When I opened my suitcase after arriving back here, there was a letter sitting on top of all my stuff. I opened it and saw that it was a sweet letter from my sister Abby. All my younger siblings have been proving to be good example to me in various ways, and this letter was definitely an encouragement from her.
On the front of the card she wrote "Romans 12:2." Not recognizing the reference, I looked up the verse and found this:
"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."

That was a perfect word for me to read after just arriving home here and beginning a new year- to remember the need to daily renew my mind and to not conform to the ways of the world around me, but in each moment to live in God's will, not mine. This is a life-long journey, and I'm so for the people I am journeying with.

end it with a bang!

Yesterday was our last full day of work for 2011 at CURE Honduras.
We had a busy day of removing lots of casts and making new appointments for after the new year.
It's always a joy to see the finished result of our patients after a long journey of treatment. We had two of those today, Jasmin and Astrid. Jasmin had nerve damage in her neck and arm and before her surgery, her left arm was practically useless, and she wasn't able to move it from her side. Now you can see that she has strength and can lift it to her face!


Astrid was born with undeveloped hands, meaning all of her fingers were connected like a paddle. After multiple surgeries, she now has all of her fingers on both hands, and it was beautiful to watch her thank and hug Dr. Bridgeman for what he has given her. Seriously, that moment was just about the best Christmas gift I could ask for. There's nothing like the gift of healing!


Today, our last day of work for the year, we only had a few patients in the morning and we ended the day with a bang! We hit the 11,000 mark for how many patients we've seen with the two new babies that came in today, patient numbers 11,000 and 11,001!

This is little Akon, one of the new patients, an (extremely adorable) two month old who will be having surgery for his undeveloped hands.

This afternoon we celebrated Christmas and finishing another year of work with a great celebration. We had a big lunch feast and each department of the hospital (O.R, ward, clinic, administration) each put on a Christmas performance, and we had some pretty good LAUGHS! I think I work with the funnest and funnies people ever.


And now tomorrow I fly back to cold Pennsylvania to see the snow and my FAMILY! I've never ever been so excited to go back home before and see all my family. And I get to meet my new baby nephew, Levi! I'm also looking forward to seeing the snow, which I never thought would happen. Yes, I'm thankful that I can wear shorts and sandals all year round hear and that we decorate our palm trees with Christmas lights, but I'm ready to bundle up and see the snow for a bit. The only missing piece will be my sis Emily who will be staying in Rwanda :( But we know that there is a time and a place for everything, and I'm glad that she will have a great African celebration. As excited as I am to see my family and friends, there is still the slightest twinge of pain leaving everyone here. I would love to spend the holidays with my Honduran "family," but we can't be everywhere at once and we all have to enjoy each moment to fullest wherever we find ourselves.

Said goodbye to my dear hospital until next year...

I pray that the closing of this year brings back lots of good memories and lessons learned for all of you, and as we think about the new coming year that we will remember to live for what really matters most and for what has lasting impact.

From International Justice Mission

Today is Thanksgiving Day, my favorite day of the year! And I am simply very grateful to be celebrating this season of thanks here with my Honduras family, to be sitting here in the hosptial clinic as I write this, watching our beautiful children come in at out the doors.

At the same time, I am giving thanks for my family who is celebrating in the US, and one in Rwanda. May I never forget how blessed I am, whatever each day brings. To God be the glory for everything we have and do!

There is a very interesting New York Times article that my friend (Pauline, doctor and wife of Dr. Jay, our medical administrator here at CURE Honduras) sent me on the benefits of being grateful... let this be a reminder for us to live out 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 on a daily basis: "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."

As all of us from the US know, the day after Thanksgiving is the crazy day of shopping till you drop, and it just keeps going until Christmas is over, only to be repeated over again the next year! Well, my dear friends and all of you who love to shop and buy gifts for those you love, I want to give you some great gift ideas for this year, a gift that goes beyond just the person your buying for. Something that will help to change a person's life forever, something that will go towards helping a child hear about the purpose of Christmas and what it means for Christians who remember it as the time to celebrate the birth of Christ who came to bring redemption to a lost world.

The first place that you can check out these gifts is CURE's gift catalog, where you will find great gifts which will support a life-changing surgery for a disabled child at the same time.

Also, as I remember today how grateful I am to be a part of a loving family, I want to remember the millions of children in the world that do not have families to celebrate with this Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year. You can help bring an orphan into a loving family by purchasing your Christmas gift at Show Hope's gift catalog.

One last note- TONIGHT and Sunday night, CNN will be showing a documentary, "Common Dreams" about The Restavek Freedom Foundation in Haiti. I think you don't want to miss this!

CNN's COMMON DREAMS Thursday, November 24th at 9:00 PM PST Sunday, November 27th at 8:00 PM EST

Happy Thanksgiving, my friends around the world! What's one thing you're giving thanks for today?

November Already!

Well, I have now been trying to get this update published for about, oh.... maybe three weeks now? I guess it's good that life is keeping busy- I wouldn't want it to be any other way! I just can't believe it's already November... with the hardly changing weather here, I so easily forget that time is still passing by so quickly and the new year is almost here!

-cure

I am excited to pass along the announcement that the Tim Tebow Foundation will be partnering with CURE to reach more children around the world with physical and spiritual healing! See more at cure.org.

Working with CURE continues to be a blessing. Each day I see many beautiful children who are receiving treatment that is otherwise unavailable to them, and it is completely changing their lives. I'm learning a lot about medical conditions and their causes and treatments as I translate to the patients for Dr. Jay in clinic. It's still a work in progress as my Spanish is still coming along, especially my medical vocabulary, but my co-worker Jozzeth (lab and x-ray technician) helps me a lot with Spanish.

Some days are hard when we have a patient in which there is no treatment, but it causes me to trust God more and remember that the medical experts aren't the answer to all the problems. While God uses the work of doctors to accomplish great things and save lives, doctors aren't the end all. We know that God is ultimately in control, and He the creator and healer of all. We need do our best for those He places in our path, and when something comes upon us that is beyond our control, it's a good reminder that really everything is beyond our control without God. He is the author and creator of life, the healer of all, and we are simply His instruments.

This past weekend a group of went to Danli, a city on the Nicaraguan border about 7 hours south from here, for a mobile clinic. We are starting to do more mobile clinics where the doctors from CURE travel to other cities to see patients and schedule them for surgery, that way the patient only has to come to our hospital once, as the doctors will then make rounds to the other cities again to followup with patients and get new patients. Our first mobile clinic went well; while Dr. Minueza and Dr. Vasquez gave a course to doctors and nurses in the area on how to treat children with clubfeet, Dr. Jay saw patients with Dr. Zepeda, the very caring doctor who is the orthopedic surgeon at the public hospital there in Danli. He is in fact so good that Grace, our clubfoot program coordinator, said she wishes she could clone him and have him everywhere. He is the first doctor we've had who actually organized the clinic himself and got together all medical personnel for the clubfoot course; normally we have to go through a nurse or some assistant. It is clear from being in clinic with him that he really cares about his patients and is frustrated by the Honduran system that cares more about money and less about people.

Grace, our clubfoot program coordinator

Dr. Minueza, spine surgeon and part time worker at CURE, Dr. Vasquez, orthopedic surgeon and Medical Director of CURE, and Dr. Jay, orthopedic surgeon (hand specialty) and Medical Administrator of CURE

Dr. Vasquez teaching the clubfoot course. We actually had a baby come into clinic that day with a clubfoot so it was a perfect demonstration!

-languages.

My co-worker Jozzeth (mentioned above) is learning English and always has a daily word in English that he wants me to explain the definition of or the pronunciation of. One day last week he asked me what the word "stuff" meant. I couldn't think of an equivalent word in Spanish, and he confirmed that when he translated it, there was no word that correctly fit. I told him that it is really a general term and can be used for a lot of things, when talking about a bunch of objects in general. He took that answer for a while, but then came back later and said that he still couldn't figure out the meaning, that he couldn't use the word "stuff" in a sentence. I tried to think about it more and finally said that when we are lazy and don't use a specific word for something, we just say "stuff." I told him this word means everything, depending on what you are talking about at a given moment. When I told him that it can me anything, whatever objects you are talking about, the lightbulb went off and he said "Yes!" He always snaps his fingers or claps really loud and puts his fist in the air- I love those moments.

The more I teach English, the more thankful I am that it's my first language, because it's so difficult to learn. Not only are words so often not spelled phonetically and pronunciation has to be memorized, but there are many words with multiple meanings, and a lot of times when I'm asked a question about grammar or something, I can't even explain the answer because there isn't one, it's just the way it is. With it being my first language, all of the oddities seem normal to me until I try to teach it and have to think about the reason behind it, I realize that there is no reason. I realize that every language has its difficulties (Spanish is one of the easiest languages for English speakers to learn, and it seems like it has endless verb tenses and conjugations). I think the reason why English seems so difficult to me at the moment is because I was just never aware of it, and now that I'm trying to explain it, I realize some things are just the way they are and practice is the only thing that will make it perfect, because languages simply don't like to follow rules.

-clouds.

The Honduran sky never ceases to amaze me. I've been trying to think of an adjective that accurately describes the beautiful cloud displays here, but I just can't think of one that does it justice. There really are no words to describe the ever changing color and display of the magnificent clouds here. San Pedro is in a valley surrounded by mountains, so most days there are big clouds sitting low around them, with the mountain peaks standing tall above. One morning I opened my eyes around 5:30 when the sun was just starting to come up, and out the window from my bed I saw this view. Not wanting to miss it, I stumbled out of bed and grabbed my camera, and snapped this shot with eyes half open. Turned out pretty well... but I must say it wasn't because of the photographer, it was all because of the creator of the scene.

-cookies.

I made chocolate oatmeal cookies last Friday and brought them to work for those of us in the clinic (and those of us who pass through :). In the afternoon when the patients were gone and surgeries were completed, Roberto, the chief of the O.R., and Dr. Garcia, our anesthesiologist, came into the clinic for some reason. I saw them eyeing up the cookies, so I offered them some. After Dr. Garcia ate one, he came over to me and holding up the cookie, said, "ya se puede casar!" meaning "now you can get married!" It took me a second to connect getting married with him eating the cookie, but then I realized, oh. He approves of my cookie baking skills :)

-becoming Honduran.

Sandra, one of the ladies that works at the hospital asked me something and I responded with "si, pero no" meaning "yes, but no." I forget what the question was, but she laughed and in Spanish said, "you are becoming Honduran now! That's a Honduran phrase!" And she went on to tell the others around us "now Ana is becoming Honduran!"

-skype

For about the first two months that I was here, I only talked with my two older sisters on skype, but now that my sister Abby got an account at home, it has opened the door for me to talk with all four of my younger sibs, plus my nieces and nephs! It makes a world of difference seeing their faces and talking with them, but I still miss them just the same.

Chatting with Livi and Tristan a couple weeks ago while they were at my house. This made my day.

-20

Today I turn twenty and will officially never again be a teenager. Many days recently I've wanted to cry over this, but I've been trying to convince myself that this is a good thing, and I think I've almost got myself to believe it. Grace brought me the most amazing coffee cupcakes to work this morning, so it's all good :)

-Thursday

In two days my mom is coming to visit me for the weekend! I really cant' believe it's actually happening. I get a visitor!

Aldo: Smiling Through The Suffering

Aldo lives near Tegucigalpa, about 5 hours from our hospital. He lives with his three brothers and five hundred other children in an orphanage called Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos (Our Little Brothers and Sisters). Aldo has a congenital disease called Neurofibromatosis, as well as limb length discrepancy (his left leg is shorter than his right leg), a dislocated hip, and scoliosis. Needless to say, he’s had a difficult journey and although it's looking brighter ahead, it's a long road. He had his first operation approximately one year ago, in which the surgeons put an external fixator on his leg, which over time lengthens his shorter leg. To make a long story short, the fixator did not work as it was intended to, and Aldo now has more complex problems.

He came to the hospital yesterday with Carol, a physical therapist (originally from Austria) who works at his orphanage, to see what the next step in his treatment will be.

We are blessed to have Dr. Tim Mead here this week with his wife Jana, before they move to the Middle East where Dr. Mead will be the new medical director at CURE in the United Arab Emirates. Dr. Mead was the medical director at CURE Kenya from 1998-2011. He and Dr. Bridgeman discussed what would be the best option for Aldo, and decided that it will be to remove the fixator and then place a rod in his left femur bone, because it has become so thin that it will break if he stands on it without the fixator. Aldo is basically wheelchair-bound right now, although he uses a walker in physical therapy. After this next operation he will be on his way to being more mobile. As of right now he sleeps laying his chest on his lap because his hips have become very stiff from being in a seated position for so long that he cannot lay down.

The beauty in all of this, for one, is that we have Dr. Mead and Dr. Bridgeman here to make sure that he gets the best care possible, and that Dr. Bridgeman will be here to see his treatment through till the end. What's even more beautiful in this, is Aldo's shining smile through all of this suffering. He has a smile that lights up the room and an attitude that's ready to have fun. He's excited for life despite his circumstances, and we know that this can be attributed to the fact that he accepted Jesus the last time he was here one year ago, and since then his life has changed- he has hope in the midst of all of this.

When Dr. Mead was explaining on the phone to one of the directors at the orphanage what the procedure is going to be, he said, "This kid has the world's best smile, with some of the world's worst problems." This is true, and Aldo, despite his physical circumstances and being 14 years old and only in second grade, knows the secret of being content in all circumstances and keep smiling through all of it.

When asked over the phone by one of the orphanage directors how long the recovery process will be, Dr. Mead replied, "Since we are going to bathe him in prayers, he'll hopefully heal within six to eight weeks." So please join us in praying for that!

If you would like to support Aldo's surgery, please visit him here.