Day 2

It is a small quiet sliver of time between afternoon activities and dinner.  I thought I would tell you that I hit the ground running yesterday. 

A visit to the Wolfson Medical Center in Tel Aviv took up most of my day.  We went with little Sara and her mother to get an echo done and to check her tuberculosis results.  Like in all hospitals, the visit involved a lot of waiting.  We waited for the echo room, for Sara to rest after her sedative, for the doctors to do the procedure, and for transportation to be arranged.  I also met four of the other children who had just had heart surgeries last week. All but little Harsin got to leave the center and come back to Jerusalem this evening, but not before another good bout of waiting for test results and medical prescriptions.

One of the most difficult things about the day was the communication barrier.  The children and their mothers speak Kurdish.  The doctors speak Hebrew, and the hospital signs also tell you things in Hebrew only.  But I was with Michelle today, and she knows her way around, can speak Kurdish and just knows how things work in general. So I soaked it all in and wondered how I will communicate when Michelle leaves in a few days.  Well, somehow, it will be done.

One of the best things of course, are the kids.  I particularly enjoyed the way little Hamza from Gaza held onto my finger and stared at me with enormous green eyes.  What happy baby.  Hastiar is one of those kids that just endears you the minute you meet him.  He wasn't happy with getting his blood pressure taken, but otherwise was content to sit on the hospital bed or in his mother's lap.  He has a heavy cough that once in a while makes him wheeze, but whenever that happens, his mother pulls out a water bottle and straw from her purse and lets him drink.  Mothers are wonderful people. 

Day 2 has been quieter, and I have been oriented to what I will be doing as the Children's Coordinator.  Basically, I will do activities and crafts with the kids.  But my task also involves keeping a schedule for the families, maintaining some normalcy and routines in their lives.  I have learned how to count in Kurdish and I can ask you what the problem is: Keish akat chia?

Best answer would be, nothing: hiich! (Because chances are, I wouldn't understand what you were telling me if something were amiss!)

Now I am waiting for my sister and my dear friend Essy to join the Shevet Achim staff for dinner. It's been a good day at Prophet's Street. :)