The BA Team arrived at Maria’s Big House of Hope on Wednesday morning and met up with Cathy Troyer, the Constituent Relations Manager, here at Show Hope. She arrived in Luoyang two days earlier to spend time with the nurses and staff.
It has been a great week on many levels already. The kids from Brentwood Academy have been terrific and each one has brought so much to this time here. They have been polite, engaged, funny, thoughtful, hard workers, and have really worked hard to embrace both the children as well as the culture at large. They arrived in Luoyang early this morning after an overnight train ride that seemed full of stories they will tell for years to come. The students spent most of their first day at MBHOH working on painting projects that Jim, a fine arts teacher at BA, helped them plan and complete. Jim and Joanna have been terrific leaders and the kids have responded well to their guidance while here. You couldn’t ask for a better group!
In addition to the two teams that have been here working, the second floor officially opened! The nurses have nicknamed it “the smile floor,” because this floor will be used to care for babies who are awaiting surgery for cleft lips and palates. Twenty-one new babies were admitted to MBHOH for this floor this week alone! On Monday, we admitted identical twin girls (Bella and Ella). They are so identical, even in their cleft lip, that it seems impossible to distinguish them at this point. Thankfully, the nurses have placed arm ID bands on all the new admissions while they get to know the children. Along with two children who were already here awaiting surgery, we now have 23 little ones on the second floor. Their ayis (nannies) are lavishing love and care on these babies to ensure they are at the proper health and weight to receive surgeries from the next Geisinger Medical team. We will follow the kids through the next few months in anticipation of their surgeries and the transformation to come.
