I have been on many medical mission trips, and I have met many needy people. I have seen many things that should never be.
Still, when we took a team of 21 to far western Nepal I found myself totally devastated and heartbroken as we took care of the Kamaiya, the "poorest of Nepal's poor". ( http://www.rescue.org/blog/poorest-nepal%E2%80%99s-poor )
I knew the Kamaiya people had been slaves for generations, and that they were finally free. But I also heard that for them, being free just meant that they had no jobs, and no place to live.
I also heard that they were so destitute that they were trafficking their own daughters for survival.
I shouldn't have been surprised. I shouldn't have expected anything better for these beautiful people of grace and poise. But somehow I really did.
When you show up to care for a group of individuals on a rather random basis by setting up a medical team, you often get a lot of complaints that are chronic such as back pain, upset stomach, fatigue, etc.
We saw neonatal sepsis, status epilepticus, blindness from glaucoma, disfiguring tumors, unrecognized congenital heart disease, conditions we couldn't even diagnose. Most had never seen a doctor, and some have died waiting for somebody to show up.
I knew that God had called us to this place, and I knew that we would continue to take healthcare providers to help them until something changed.
Sometimes you go to change lives, and sometimes your own life ends up changed.
Still, when we took a team of 21 to far western Nepal I found myself totally devastated and heartbroken as we took care of the Kamaiya, the "poorest of Nepal's poor". ( http://www.rescue.org/blog/poorest-nepal%E2%80%99s-poor )
I knew the Kamaiya people had been slaves for generations, and that they were finally free. But I also heard that for them, being free just meant that they had no jobs, and no place to live.
I also heard that they were so destitute that they were trafficking their own daughters for survival.
I shouldn't have been surprised. I shouldn't have expected anything better for these beautiful people of grace and poise. But somehow I really did.
When you show up to care for a group of individuals on a rather random basis by setting up a medical team, you often get a lot of complaints that are chronic such as back pain, upset stomach, fatigue, etc.
We saw neonatal sepsis, status epilepticus, blindness from glaucoma, disfiguring tumors, unrecognized congenital heart disease, conditions we couldn't even diagnose. Most had never seen a doctor, and some have died waiting for somebody to show up.
I knew that God had called us to this place, and I knew that we would continue to take healthcare providers to help them until something changed.
Sometimes you go to change lives, and sometimes your own life ends up changed.
