Infectious Smiles (Video Blog)

I think I am seriously in love with this family of little girls. These sisters are some of the most gorgeous little chiquitas you can imagine. (They’re most of those cute faces I have been posting in pictures and video.) Today, I got to hang out with Sisa (3), Yarina (4), & Lisette (6) quite a bit. We did our usual routine of some tickling and laughing, and then I cleaned their faces and put neosporin on their cheeks. When I was cleaning Yarina’s face, I noticed she had some considerable scabs on her chin and her ear. Her chin seemed to be just a cut that a normal 4 year old would get, which will heal in a week or so. Her right ear, however, was extremely infected. I decided not to take a picture because it almost made me cry. Here in Iluman, they pierce the girls’ ears with a needle and let thread sit through the hole until it heals. At first I just noticed a small scab on the front, but then when i looked at the back, there was a large, thick bump, which was oozing and scabbing. I asked her if it hurt and she said it did. I think that was about the time I went into mom-mode. I literally had no idea what to do and didn’t want to hurt her, but I knew her ear needed some definite attention. To be honest, in the states, they probably would have numbed her ear and taken tweezers or a scalpel to scrape off that stuff. All I could do was try to clean it with water, q-tips, and disinfecting wipes as best I could, but I could not get the gross stuff off the girls ear. I asked around my team, and we decided to put some neosporin on it with a bandaid to soften it up, and told her to come back tomorrow and we’ll clean it again and work on it some more. It was so adorable to see Sisa and Lisette during the whole thing, one of them being my assistant and handing me qtips and gloves and such, while the other held Yarina’s hand and helped me brush the hair away from her ear during the whole endeavor. To be honest, I mostly just wanted to cry. I already love these girls so much. They were so good, so I decided to take them out for something special. All four of us walked hand in hand down the cobblestone street to the corner store, where they each picked out ice cream and a snack. We then sat on the side of the road giggling, Sisa with her ice cream all over her face, Lisette with ice cream on her nose, and Yarina, with her bandaids and a smile. There’s really not too much more to the story. Just pray for these girls. I’m not sure they know Jesus, even though they come to the church to hang out with us almost every day, so I’m trying to show Him to them. And I know they need loving, because they hug and giggle and cling to me like few other kids have. And pray for Yarina, we really want to see her ear healed, and we’re doing our best with our neosporin, qtips, and bandaids. Anyway, such is a typical day here in Iluman. I just enjoy loving on these beautiful girls. Check out a video of the ice cream eating endeavor to get a taste of their cuteness. (Excuse my Spanglish attempts!)