House of hope on Thursday January 31

Our group went to the house of hope on Thursday. We painted the two side walkways to finish what the other group had started last week. Most of the children don't talk and so we hope that they will enjoy the visual effects we paint at the home. After painting, we fed the disabled children, many of whom we learned had been abandoned by overwhelmed family members . 

One of my group members and I fed a little girl named Melissa. She was 8 years old but had the body of a 4 year old and sat in a stroller. Her right ring and middle fingers were webbed together and she had myopia for which she constantly tried widening her eyes with her fingers to help her see. Because of her eyesight, she relies of her sense of touch and hence, we played with a piece of wool woven fabric. My group member a I couldn't help but note the difference in health care with disabled children in North America vs. Dominica. In the US, Melissa would have probably had surgery to separate her webbed fingers, dental surgery to fix her missing and misaligned teeth, some kind of eye surgery or glasses and physiotherapy to help with her walking and communication. With those kind of resources, she could have had a semi-normal life. 

It's amazing that she was very aware of herself and her surroundings. While feeding her she would reach for the spoon when she wanted another bite, grabbed for the napkin when she  wanted to wipe her mouth or nose and reached for her cup when she was thirsty. 

We also noticed the lack of basic supplies at the home such as sippy cups, bibs, linens and towels. I'm sure they would greatly appreciate any such donation but definitely were not complaining about how little they had. The whole experience was a great lesson in humility that will never be forgotten. 

~ Sincerely  Maria