Loose motions in India

Teamindia has had an eventful week. Marykate started having stomach pains last Sunday evening. The whole week she was tormented by fever and loose motions (that’s what they call diarrhea here) and by Wednesday she was admitted to the Hospital. After some tests the doctors divined that she was suffering from Typhoid fever. An Indian hospital is an experience unto itself and Marykate ended up spending two nights there. Images conjured by the word Hospital for those of you in the U.S. probably do not do justice to a Hospital in India. Words like sterile, white, and private could not be applied to Marykate’s experience. A nurse would come in randomly, give her some pills to take, or give her a shot in the butt, or take some blood, in all instances leaving without any explanation. But by the grace of God the team’s prayers were answered and she completely recovered after only two nights.

Unfortunately for her though she missed a great day on Friday. We had the opportunity to take two of the classes from the school to a day camp. The camp had a ropes course, trampolines, a zip-line, great food, and a loving staff. The staff was great with the kids and gave them enough activities and guidance that we were able to play a bunch too. We found the camp so rewarding and exciting for the way that we were able to encourage and challenge the kids to face their fears and rise over obstacles on their own. One of the kids, Bharath, at the start of the day wouldn’t even go near the ropes course, but after much coaxing we convinced him to just sit on the platform, then convinced him to stand on the platform, then before we knew it he was going across and he made it across on his own. To see the triumph and the joy in his eyes was moving. We also had a unique opportunity to build relationships with some of the older kids in the school, children that are less severely disabled.
Despite all the fun and fellowship Kevin succumbed to stomach pain as well. This led to fever and our old friend loose motions. Roderick was instated as Kevin’s temporary nurse and tended to his every whim until he to was admitted, kicking and screaming, to the hospital. But Kevin’s hospital experience was markedly different from Marykate’s. Due to a lack of available space in the ward where Marykate had been admitted just days before, Kevin was placed in the “Special” ward. “Special” in this case meant individual rooms with a private bathroom, air conditioning, and a television. Roderick stayed the night with him. It was an adorable sleep-over, and despite the IV in Kevin’s hand they still had one hell of a pillow fight (just kidding). But Kevin got out today and now everyone is healthy (knock on wood). As of today we have one more month and although it has gone by very quickly it still seems as though we have another lifetime before we can begin to think about coming home. We miss and care for you all deeply, keep us in your prayers. Congrats Nolan and KatieJo!