a drop in the bucket

I met with the disabled adults' group yesterday. To be perfectly honest, it was a challenging day. It wasn't the time spent: I actually spent less time than I had anticipated. It wasn't the pace: I had given up on the 12 minutes/person and spent as much time as I needed to get at least one or two exercises for each person. And it wasn't the complete change of what therapy looked like: I was ok with making my focus narrower and recognizing that the situation was going to look different than my practice in the USA. What was challenging was two-fold: 1. There were some differences in expectations in what I could provide, despite having had multiple conversations with the man in charge of it all, which led to some frustration for some of the people present. 2. The need was immense, and I felt like what I was doing was a mere drop in the bucket. I came home somewhat discouraged, even though I knew it might feel overwhelming.

But today we visited Harikwetu, a Catholic run rehabilitation center here in Bukavu. It is an impressive place which has many resources, from prosthetic limbs to a sewing training center for the disabled. When we walked in nearly the first person I saw was a woman whose son I had seen yesterday. She had brought her son back to remove his casts (he had four of them; two on his forearms and two on his legs). I had told her yesterday that they shouldn't stay on forever; she had been concerned that if she didn't have money for the next round of treatment that she should keep them. As it was he had sores on his feet since the skin had been touching the cast for quite some time. So maybe, just maybe, a drop in the bucket can do something.

I'll go back again tomorrow. Your prayers for all involved are appreciated. I'm hoping to get some pictures of a few of the people there, but am still trying to figure out how people feel about that.