Tomorrow is my last day in Peru and it will be spent traveling and waiting in airports. It will be 36 hours by the time we leave Cusco and I arrive in Rapid City so this is my last posting. I've been reflecting on my most memorable experience on my trip and I've decided it's the house call we made while doing one of the clinics. The doctor asked me if I wanted to come so I dropped everything and went and I am so glad that I did!


The last patient of the day was a woman who asked the doctor to come and see her 90 year old mother. The lived just down the street behind an adobe wall which looked like any other we had seen from the bus window. When we entered the hut we went into a whole different world. It looked like a bomb had been dropped on it. We found out later that their nice block house had been destroyed by the earthquake and they didn't have the money to rebuild. Chickens roamed at will and there were 3 and a half walls. The ceiling was woven mat and blanket material over poles stretched across the space. I can't imagine that it would withstand much of a wind and it certainly wasn't warm at night.


The old woman lay on a matress in the corner with some blankets, a pillow, and chickens walking over her. There was one black, baby chick that seemed to perfer her shoulder to perch on because every time she was brushed away the chick found its way back. The daughter was worried because her mother couldn't straighten her legs. They were frozen in a cross legged position which I would suppose is how she sat most of her life. The doctor examined her legs and it was obvious that it hurt her. He told the daughter that they would not straighten again because of her age. He further examined her and asked the daughter questions and found that she was otherwise very healthy. I'm sure she was blind and couldn't hear very well but all her body functions were operating as they should. The daughter was concerned about her mother and obiously loved her very much. She did have a wheel chair which was good. The doctor assured her that she had been taking very good care of her mother because she had no bed sores, ate well, and seemed content.


We prayed around her bed and I felt a chill. Isn't this what we were send to do? We had seen the face of Jesus that day. We all bid the mother good bye because her mother had gone to sleep again. The doctor slipped some money in her had and I put some in her pocket when I kissed her farewell. I am wondering what she will think when she finds it later. Will she think she was visited by angels? I hope so!

Blessings,

Debi