Connections and a Prayer Request

So last night I got a taste of the relational-ness of Latino culture.



A little background. There is a 6 year old Ayore girl, Guisella, that was seen during the medical clinic during the Women's retreat last weekend. She had bruising all over her body that wasn't from any trauma. Our doctor asked if she'd been seen by anyone else and the Mom replied they took her into town, but all the labs they did had come back normal. Our doctor suggested going into Santa Cruz for another blood test. The labs were taken and every level was extremely low- as in there isn't much blood in her body, she's been bleeding (hence the bruises). They admitted her to the children's hospital in Santa Cruz and labeled her case as "dengue" (which is a ridiculously wrong diagnosis- btw).
Pros: She is in the hospital being taken care of
Cons: They have mis-diagnosed her and aren't willing to do further testing to find out what is really wrong.

I was talking to Dr. Toni about this little girl and we were praying for her. Dr. Toni doesn't want to be very involved in this particular case because if she shows up at a state hospital and asks for treatment for Guisella they will start charging the family an arm and a leg. At this point, any 'gringo' (aka north american) involvement would make it seem like the girl could afford to pay more. Toni was trying to think of a connection our team might have with someone on the inside.

Dr. Roger Montero- Noah's pediatrician

So this is where I come in. Noah has a pediatrician. We haven't seen him in probably 3-4 months since Noah has been very healthy (Praise the Lord!). However I figured he might know someone who works at that hospital who could look into the case. I told Toni about it and she thought it was a great idea, but wanted me to make the phone call since I have the relationship with Noah's Dr. Ha! Relationship? I must admit it felt really strange to call the Dr. at 7:30pm to ask him a favor for a little girl that I also don't have a close relationship to either, other than we work in her village and she needs serious medical attention. You would never do such a thing in the US! But I did it, and sure enough, true to Latino form, Dr. M didn't hesitate. He asked a few questions about her case and said he would give his friend a call and follow up with Toni later.

Please be in prayer for Guisella and her family. She is 6 years old, and the granddaughter of one of the sweetest Christian Ayore ladies that I know, Robertina. She and her family live in Poza Verde where Jason and I do much of our work.