Adoption

We have a friend visiting with Travis/us. Daniel Whipple! I am supper excited to have him here for the month that he is here. It is always great to have someone from the outside looking in ask me questions to help me process life here in the Dominican Republic. The other night he asked me how I chose the kids that I did to love like my own. That is a great question.

How does one develop that special relationship with a kid that says I will be here for you no matter what? How do I become a trusted friend, a mentor to the youth in my life? I am not hip! I don't dress cool! I speak very poor Spanish... I am not the stereotype for what is pretty here... So what is it.

John 1:14 we read that God is Love!

The love of God is powerful it heals wounds and binds people together. Love is something that we all seek, something we all need. Love is the one thing I have to offer. These children adopted me. I did not adopt them. It is their love and need to be loved that has bound us together. I create in my house a place of peace where they can come to rest and to give and receive love.

Desmayo... Fainting

Friday I went to spend sometime with my girl Yuli. She has been staying at her aunts house because she is not doing well medically and her parents don't want to leave her alone during the day while they work. Since I got here in July she has experienced a stomach ulcer, high risk pregnancy, and now kidney stones. The public hospital here in La Vega is pretty terrible at diagnoses. For the for all three things she was told she was fine and nothing was wrong the first 3-4 times she went to the hospital. Now with the kidney stones she is in a lot of pain and running a fever. When I got to her house she was laying in bed shivering, running a fever and crying out in pain. Lucky her this was also the day she was suppose to be going in for a check up on her pregnancy at the public hospital. Around 11:30 we got onto a motorcycle and started to head to the hospital. She was between me and the driver. About 3 min. into the drive her foot falls off of the peg. Now this is strange for a kid who has been on bikes her entire life. The driver stops and I try to get her attention. A man comes over from the sidewalk to help. She is completely unresponsive. I am tapping her face and saying her name... Nothing. So we pick her feet up and put them on mine. I am holding her up and we start to drive to the hospital. At this time her aunt circles back to check on us and we tell her what is happening and she says to take her to a clinic. Now here clinics mean that you are going to get a much higher level of care. The trick is that Yuli's insurance won't cover this location. This visit will cost about 20-30 dollars. When we arrive at the clinic Yuli is regaining consciousness. Her eyes are terrified as I explain why we are here and what happened to her.

She stopped me and says, "Kisha I don't have the money to go in there."

$20 is standing between my girl getting healthy and caring this baby to term. $20 a month is what she will need to be able to come to this clinic and receive individual care. To have one doctor follow her pregnancy through to the end.

Yuli turned 18 on October 15. We are hoping to be able to change her insurance now. Please pray for us that she would find favor with the government and they would make the transition simple. Also if you would like to help her you there are a few ways. The profits from any photos I sell will be going to help cover her medical costs. You can purchase my photos at www.rememberpeace.smugmug.com Or you can donate to her through my TEARS account by clicking the Financial Support link on the right; just email me and tell me it is for Yuli.

Bagels part 2

Today is my second time making bagels with the two boys, Junior and Goneno. Junior has such a natural talent for baking it is impressive. I am looking into helping him to start baking and selling bagels. We have a friend who used to sell donuts and he is going to help us figure out if it is a viable business here or not. Junior is 14 and needs to start contributing financially to his family. It sounds like a lot of pressure to me but it is the reality of life here in the barrio. school is only a half day and if teenagers are not working for the good of the family they generally are starting to get into trouble with drinking and alcohol. I pray that bagels could be the simple thing that changes Juniors life, although I know that it will take much much more. Perhaps he will decide to open a paneria (bakery) or will make a contact that will open the door to better work. For now I will teach him how to manage his money with what we can bring in selling donuts. I will teach him how to set prices buy in bulk, manage time and how to sell. All skill that will help him in the long run.