In His Hands

Our team with Joel at the orphanage

Friday was our last day at the orphanage. It was sad to leave the children and the workers there as this has been one of my favorite experiences thus far (as every new experience here has been consistently dubbed “my favorite”). The orphanage is not funded by the state and cares for about 90 children and adults. Their main provider of physical therapy service is a man named Joel who attended school to be physical therapist assistant for only one semester before he ran out of the funds to be able to finish his schooling. However, he amazed me with his aptitude and passion for working with the children. He exuded an incredible hunger for learning how to better help the children, hanging on every word we said and asking excellent questions. Additionally, as an interesting side note, he is an amazing artist. I know for sure that he painted at least one of the many murals covering the orphanage and I would not be one bit surprised if each of the murals gracing the walls of the orphanage were painted by his hands.

Kristin teaching Joel a technique for
loosening up secretions stuck in the lungs

I can’t help but think about the incredible task that Joel was undertaking in caring for so many children as a large percentage of the children in the orphanage had been abandoned because of some type of disability, deformity, neurological insult, or cognitive delay. Aside from prescribing and fitting the children with orthotics and providing various treatments ourselves, a substantial amount of our focus was spent on teaching Joel as much as possible about each child’s condition-specific treatment so that he could continue to treat the children after we left. His attention was pulled every which way as he was bounced from group to group to either answer questions about a child’s known medical history or be given instruction and advice for treatment plans. Yet, after seeing how well he works with the children, I have much confidence that the children have been left in good hands.

Playing soccer on slippery mud and concrete with about 20 of the boys while we waited for our bus driver to pick us up, ; the mural on the background wall was painted by Joel

Dr. HJ with one of her favorites <3

As I currently lie here on an alpaca blanket after today’s short day of treatment (because a number of the kids had not been feeling well enough for us to see them), I can’t help but wonder at how amazing this past week has been and how this experience will impact me for the rest of my life. In our hands has been placed this incredible opportunity to help so many in need. Yet, even though they lack material wealth, the children and the people here have blessed and taught me more than I could have ever imagined. It has been a true blessing to be able to work with, pray with, and play with these children who have shared with us so much joy and affection. Each smile, giggle, or burst of laughter has shed rays of sunshine into the cloudy, chilly, and damp weather covering this stretch of Pacific coastline. Just a few more rays and these children may just draw the sun out from behind these gray skies.

One lesson that God has impressed upon me thus far is that, ultimately, we are all in God’s hands… each child, their parents, ourselves, the caregivers… and from His hands we have all been given purpose, gifts, and talents that we have been instructed to steward. Though they may lack worldly things, it does not mean that they must also must lack spiritual wealth. Each child that we treat has God-given purpose and talents. God not only sees their physical needs but He also sees them for who He has created them to be, His beloved children to whom He offers a hope and a future. Though we may not understand His ways, God has a plan for each and every one of them, a plan that is just as amazing as the plans he has for each of us on this team. It is our choice to decide what we will do with what God has given us. It is our choice to say “yes,” to partner with all the plans and purposes that God has set out before us; and it is our choice to allow our lives, every fiber of our being, to rest “in His hands”.

Laurie Martin

Mural painted on the orphanage

Mural painted on the orphanage

The men modeling their Inca Colas