She came into the school (converted for the day into a makeshift clinic) with her four young children (ages 6, 4, 3, and 2). The baby was on her back, and she carried her sleeping three year old son. She had the usual complaints of headache, backache and fatigue. Her countenance was somewhat depressed and discouraged. During my examination of her four children, one of them (the 4 year old) took a liking to me, and followed me around. Sheila held the sleeping 3 year old in her arms. Then, this 21 year old woman asked Sheila if she would be willing to take the little boy home to the US with her. Shocked, Sheila asked her why. The mother told Sheila that her husband had suddenly died two years before, and that she did not believe that she could take good care of her children any longer. She felt over-whelmed. We spent quite a long while exploring options with her, but none of them seemed close to adequate. We did encourage her to visit and get to know the Awa church, hoping that encouragement and hope could be known in that way. We provided meds for her and her children, prayed for them, and then she departed into the jungle.
Tim
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