Today Dr. Sanvee arranged for the women in our group to visit Missionaries of Charity (Mother Thersea’s order), where the Sisters of Charity are called to serve Jesus in Monrovia. It is a place where adults and children can go who have HIV or AIDS to get drugs, food and care. Families can bring in their children who are malnourished and leave them there while they are nursed back to health. There are five sisters who serve there, two of which we met and spent a little time with. One was from India and the other from Connecticut. It was a pleasure to talk to Sister Mareja from Connecticut and be able to understand everything she said. She gave us a tour of the men and women’s ward and then we got to go up and see the children, which was the highlight of the trip.
There were probably 25 children, mostly toddlers with a few older ones mixed in who were hanging out before lunch time. We were able to hold them and talk to those that wanted to talk, take pictures and pass out small gifts. One boy could not believe that I had not brought balloons and kept asking me where they were. I had stickers, hair things for girls and rubber bracelets to pass out. At one point, I told them I had nothing else to pass out and someone reached in my outside bag pocket and found gum, which brought big smiles.
Lunch was fascinating. They brought all the children into another room, took off the small ones’ clothes –down to their diapers and sat them in two lines on the floor, facing each other. Each child received a tin plate and spoon, full of rice and gravy with chicken to follow. Those that were picky eventually got fufu (cassava). These tiny little people sat up and for the most part, fed themselves with only a few ending up with dinner on their brown bellies. The majority of us sat there with our mouths open, watching the whole procedure in awe.
Pictures to come later as they may take too long to download.
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