Difficult Times Bring Tremendous Rewards

Fiwagoh Day 3

June 17, 2014

In the dentistry waiting room, I got to learn a lot of names and help the kids feel better about going to the dentist for the first time in their life. 

It was hard day. 

I held a lot of hands as these frightened kids got their teeth checked. Many cried and at one point I did too. 

They were not in pain, just afraid. Most of them don't know how to trust someone, so when a strange white person comes up with sharp tools, it terrifies them. 

It started to hit me when I was holding Bonniface's shaky hands in the dentist chair. It really hit me when I had my hand on sweet Joseph's (intellectually disabled and HIV) chest to calm him down when he would not open his mouth one bit because he just did not understand what was happening. 

I quickly learned that it's best not to cry in front of the kids and to put on a smile to make them feel safer and okay.

Fiwagoh Day 4

June 18, 2014

I got promoted from waiting room-entertainer to dental assistant. I wrote down everything the dentist told me to put on the patient's chart, held up a light, and gathered any supplies the dentist needed. 

One little 8-year-old boy named Ian was one of Dr. Rick's patients. Most kids his age are very scared, but Ian sat right down, told the dentist where his tooth hurt, and Dr. Rick preceded to extract his painful tooth. 

Ian squeezed my hand very tightly the whole time. When an anesthetic was put in his mouth, he didn't scream, but he just looked at me and winked. I winked back, and then he started raising his eyebrows at me. This little boy was flirting with me instead of acknowledging that someone was pulling a tooth out of his mouth. Oh my, so so precious.

After evening worship, we got to hear a testimony from three siblings at Fiwagoh. Duncan Sr. (20), (another) Joseph (18), and Frazier (16). It was heart wrenching, but it shows us how wonderful Fiwagoh is and how much greater our God is.

Fiwagoh day 5

June 19, 2014

This was a day filled with more teeth cleaning and loving on kids. 

I've started to get closer to a lot of the kids, which is just going to make it even harder to leave. I've also gotten closer to the older kids. 

There are people all the way up to 22 years old at Fiwagoh, so it's nice to have people my age to hang out and goof around with. The older kids are called "seniors." 

We had a senior night tonight where it was just the seniors and team members. We were going to play games, but instead, they wanted to hear all of our stories. Several people shared and then, naturally, Ryan asked me to share! 

They thought I was hilarious. Some of you may not believe that, but they were crying because they were laughing so hard. Okay, so maybe it wasn't because I was saying anything funny. I am just very bubbly and an energetic person and they aren't use to that here so it cracked them up that I was jumping around, talking with my hands, and just being myself. 

But I finally got to be serious and share my testimony. It was awesome to hear everyone else's as well and also some of the seniors'. It is so humbling and amazing to hear how God works in all of our lives in very different ways.