Thursday, October 17, 2013

Fearfully and Wonderfully made


For this post I wanted to highlight some of the kids that have come through Acheru the past three months I have been here. Some of these children were here before I arrived and some came during my time here and have already left for home. 

Jemimah

Jemimah is a bright and bubbly young girl. You'd never imagine that she has suffered multiple burns on her both of her legs. Jemimah and her mother were in a taxi accident that left Jemimah severely burned in both her legs. At the young age of 6/7 Jemimah has undergone multiple skin grafts and fixators in order to correct her legs. Her story is an amazing testimony to God's protection and healing. Every morning I can guarantee to have a huge welcoming smile and "emmmillllyyyy" come from Jemimah.  Jemimah is now doing exercises daily to work on being able to walk again.


 





Lillian

Lillian was one of the first girls that I met here at Acheru. She is a girl that I made a point to visit daily. Being a teenage girl here she loved the same thing any teenage girl would love. She loved her nail polish, her fashion, her friends, and her crushes. I always knew I could count on Lillian to bring laughter to my day. She is a brilliant young girl who aspires to become a nurse when she grows up. Lillian came to Acheru with Osteomylitus in her leg, but recently left Acheru to return home. She has been completely healed!
   





Mildred, aka My Best Friend

Mildred was a spunky 4/5 year old girl here. Mildred suffered from burns on her hand. This burn had webbed her fingers together. After surgery her fingers become apart but she still suffered from muscle damage in the fingers. Every morning it was guaranteed that Mildred would be waiting for us to come out and play. She has this little smirk that she will give you when you come to greet her and than she would run straight into my arms. I spent a lot of time just hanging out with Mildred on our porch. Even though she spoke close to zero English, we always seemed to entertain ourselves. Mildred recently left Acheru and my morning has lost a special piece to it.      



Kevin

Kevin was another mischievous but innocent 6/7 year old here. Kevin came to Acheru with a severe contraction in her knee. She had been severely burnt on her leg and her knee contracted into a bent position. After a long stint of having a fixator and then cast, Kevin has gone home and is now learning how to walk on her leg again. Kevin was one of my students that I saw tremendous progress in. When I first took hold of the class she was a quiet girl who struggled with her academics. After a couple of weeks she really did a 180. Kevin was motivated to come to school, she consistently wanted to answer the questions, and would talk non-stop. She was always the first kid to come and greet me when returning home from a trip.


Okello Allan

Okello is…..wow how do I even describe Okello? He is the most charismatic child here at Acheru. He loves to cuddle and is always seen running and jumping from person to person. Okello is still here at Acheru healing from Osteomylitus on his leg. Before coming to Acheru, Okello had never been in school before. I wasn't even sure how I would work with him because he was so far behind the other students. His attention was nonexistent and he rarely could sit still long enough to be in class. Within the past 2 weeks Okello has wowed me. He is the one student who comes to class every day and will stay up until I tell him he can go. He used to not know how to form any letters when writing, and now he can write his name nearly perfectly (he sometimes still messes his N up but will correct when I show him). This week he perfected how to count to 10 without missing any numbers. I couldn't be more proud of this little boy.





These are just a few of the kids that I live with on a daily basis. This past week during our Wednesday night service I realized how much of a blessing each one of these children have been in my life the past 3 months. They have been my family here at Acheru. Even though they may come into my life for a few days or a few months, they have blessed every day. I always say you would never know what these kids have been through or what pain they are in, because joy just comes pouring out of them. Excitement for life is evident in their days here. Each one of the kids here at Acheru has made this place an amazing home for me.

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