Bertie

Bertie:
Just one month ago Ruel received a call asking us to take a serverely malnourished baby aged 1 year and 2 months. A small bundle was brought by his sister and aunt, who had been looking after him, weighing just 4kg!!!! It was devestating to see a little baby in such bad condition. The photo below does not really show fully the state his little body was in. He had sores all around his groin as his skin was peeling due to the severe malnutrition. His skin was loose around his arms and legs and he had no energy to move or cry. All I wanted to do was cry as I held his little hand in mine and looked into his dull, lifeless, little eyes as he feebly cried.

Within a few minutes he was bathed, his sores soothed and tucked up in a warm bed. When caring for a severely malnourished child there is a strict procedure to follow. It would be so tempting to just feed and feed and feed him but that is the worst thing to do. It is important to start slowly and for the first week to only give milk until he gets stronger to eat food. Watching him guzzle his first bottle and knowing that he is safe and will get better was an amazing feeling.

One month on:
Now a month on and you can see the change in him! The first picture was taken 2 weeks after he had arrived, he looks so cute and small next to the balloon! He was at this point beginning to eat food and really enjoying it!!
It has been such a privilege to be a part of this amazing transformation and know that what we have done has saved his life! He is now starting to sit up and smiles and laughs daily. His eyes are shining and full of life. It is impossible to resist him when he holds his arms out longing for a cuddle! Watching the recovery of Bertie only confirms what an awesome organisation the Ruel Foundation is!!

Change and a rest!!

Change:

I am really enjoying teaching the children here at Ruel and it is so rewarding and wonderful to see them learnig and enjoying their learning too! Despite the language barrier they are make such great progress and coming on in leaps and bounds. Their English is also getting so much better! I have increased my teaching sessions to an hour every morning with the two oldest children and we are joined by one of the daughters of a Canadian couple who are missionaries here at Ruel. It is a win win situation for us all, as having her in the group is so good for the English development of the others and at the same time she is getting her schooling. In addition to the hour in the morning we also do an hour in the afternoon play-based learning. This is the best part!! I have 5 children and we spend each afternoon either cooking, painting, playing outside, walking, singing...etc... basically just having a whole lot of fun!!

Another change that has happened this week is that I have moved from my apartment to make way for a maternity clinic. In the Philippines many women a day will die during childbirth not to mention the babies. Maternity care is expensive and many women cannot afford to pay. Offereing free pre-natal, birth and post-natal care will make such a difference to the community and prevent many many deaths. It is exciting times so where I was living is now going to be a birth room! Looking forward to being involved in this part of the ministry and hopefully maybe even seeing a few births.

Rest:

After a very very busy first 7 weeks last weekend we headed to what I call paradise! A beach resort about an hour and half away called Peurto Galera. Along with my friends from here we went to spend 2 days chilling and relaxing. It was very much needed as since we arrived it has been non-stop with establishing my teaching, rennovating Theresa and Jason's house and setting up the maternity clinic and they are just the big things - never mind the smaller day to day jobs!Watching the sunset on the beach was fantastic and swimming in the sea, I cannot remember the last time I swam in the sea!!! It was a must as it was the only way to cool down from the sun!!! I resisted the several offers for a massage but think next time will put on my list!! We came back feeling refreshed and well rested -ready to start again! At the end of this week I am hoping to go to Manila not so sure that will be as restful but I am looking forward to seeing a mall!!!