2 days left...

So I realized today as I laid in bed (which I have done most of the day due to being sick) and realized that we only have two days left here at Care Corner Orphanage! I have not seen the children in what seems like forever due to our visit to the Karen hill tribe and surrounding villages. I missed them so much during those few days and can not imagine how my heart is going to ache when I say good-bye in two days! But let me tell you about my weekend.

The week was filled with many joyful moments, many scary moments, many frustrating moments, and many eye opening moments. The weekend was a struggle for me for a few reasons both emotionally, physically and spirituality. We took two vans and one SUV up to the border of Thailand and Mymnar (currently Burma). We ate lunch at the pastor's house and then went to the local school. While at the pastor's house we were able to talk with him and hear talk about what the village is like. He told us he is paid 1000 Baht (about $32) and a bag of rice a month!Then we were able to hand out the shoes, socks and backpacks we had brought along. It was a sweet time to see such beautiful faces!

From there we went to another Karen village and boy was it an adventure to get there. It is currently the rainy season in Thailand and the road leading to the village in a dirt road, and it up a mountain! Because of my back I was instructed to ride in the SUV while the rest of the team had to ride in the back of two pick-up trucks! On the way up the roads were completely muddy and there were two foot ruts in the road. On one side you a steep slope down the mountain and on the other side a stone wall. There were a few time I feared for my life! When we got the the village I saw a sight I will never forget! It was the most remote village I have ever had the privilege to visit. The mud was everywhere and we just embraced it. We slipped and slided both up and down a large hill that lead from the pastors house to the church. Meanwhile some of the sweet local women would grab our hands and lead us the right way. The night service that first night was long and we were all very tired. We then headed to the places we would sleep. We were broken up into groups of 6 and sent to different houses that were graciously given up for us to sleep in. The next day we got up and had a medical clinic ( the pastor is also the doctor of the village and one of the members of the British team is a doctor). This is when the sickness set in for me. I helping to fill scripts of the doctor and all of a sudden I felt as though I was going to pass out and or throw up. I had woken up with what felt like the start of a sore throat and now these symptoms were too much. I decided to go back to where we slept and lay down. I slept for about two hours and the Et came to check on me and bring me some bananas (oh how I love and will miss this amazing woman!) We then ventured back on the death roads back into "town". There I found some cough drops (which were being sold as candy) and took some Advil. We then stopped at a near by village for another medical clinic and then headed home.

So that is what happened but there is so much more that I do not know how to explain. How do you explain the beautiful faces of men, women and children I encountered this weekend? How do I explain the need for water in this village? How do I explain the heart breaking faces of the clients of the medical clinics? Men and women who do not have access to simply medicine. A woman who cut her foot and now it is infected because she doesn't have anything to clean it out with. Men and women who complained of neck, back or leg pain but could not take to advice of the doctor not to lift anything heaving because they can not afford to not work one day. So many simple things we take for granted. How do I explain the struggles of my heart? How do I explain the questions that have arisen in my mind? Maybe one day I will be able to... until then I will just have to wrestle with these things...