Love at First-aid

My absolute favorite way to serve the boys came by surprise. One of the boys was playing around the grounds of the orphanage and in the process, re-opened a wound on his foot. When he showed me his injury, he was silent and teary-eyed, beckoning me to do something. It was clear the boy only needed to clean the wound thoroughly with alcohol and complete it with disinfectant cream and a band-aid. However when I walked him the the office to get the supplies , I found that the commodity I had as an equally rough little boy of a fully functioning first-aid kit was truly a luxury. That same day, we discovered another problem the boys face: Lice. We walked around asking each boy if they had lice by scratching our heads. Those who had it would groan and signal back by scratching their heads; they understood because it had been an annoyance for them for so long.Nearly all the boys had it, but without shampoo, (in some cases) haircuts, and washing of all their linens, this problem could not be solved.

Kristine (another volunteer) and I decided to take action. We put our resources together to purchase a brand new first-aid kit for the boys and lice shampoo. That all came to less than a whopping $100. What came next was a whirlwind. For the next three hours, we scrubbed each boy's head furiously. We took all of their linens and boiled them in hot water and detergent. We sat down and began addressing wounds. The boys lined up each trying to describe an ailment and we would dress it to the best of our ability. We slept well that night and so did the boys. Kristine and I simply noticed something that was completely in our ability to solved and we sought to solve it. What made all the difference for me was not my personal satisfaction, but rather how grateful the boys were. I vividly remember one boy during our trip had a hard time being gentle with the other boys. After he received the lice shampoo treatment he hugged us tightly and said thank you so many times I can never forget the sound of his voice.

First-aid can make a difference in two ways. The first is practical: Small injuries are easily treatable in a developed society, but in a place like the orphanage, a small injury untreated leads to larger problems. Cuts can easily become infected in the humid climate of Southern India. The boys rarely wear shoes and their feet are prone to injury daily as they walk to and from school and around the orphanage. If hygiene is not done properly, fungus can also become an issue. If we want the boys to focus on school, make good decisions, and become disciples, then their health should be a priority for us. To help someone heal is a small way to improve the quality of life that actually makes a massive impact. Secondly, first aid is relational. Imagine you were in a hospital with a problem. How would you like to be treated? No matter how small the injury, you want someone to listen to you, help you, and tell you everything will be alright. First aid is the same. Some of these boys had wounds that had already closed properly and they still wanted to have us check it out. So I did happily. I cleaned every wound with a disinfectant wipe and gave each boy a hug, because they all deserve to know that when they are hurt, someone will care for them and tell them everything will be alright.