Mike and I went with a small group of docs and nurses to Arajuno--a community that used to be considered jungle. But since a road and electricity arrived about 7 years ago it has converted into a small town--and what we considered "jungle light". We went as part of the regular medical screening required of the children sponsored by Compassion International. And whether due to the Compassion funding or the general well-being of this community, all of the kids were very healthy. The kids seemed happy, healthy and apart from some dental problems--too much sugar cane--and the regular need to deparasitize them (is that a word?) there wasn't much for us to do medically for them.
We attended the patients in the "comedor"-dining room-of one of the local schools the first day, and a classroom at the school the second day.
We ate our meals at a local restaurant--that included of all things, cable TV! Definitely jungle light. Mike thought about making the 2 hour trip by car to watch some American football one Sunday.
If you have read accounts of the death of the American missionaries--Nate Saint, Jim Elliott, etc--you will have read about Arajuno. In fact, the school where we attended patients is called the Edward McCully school--another one of the missionaries that was martyred.
The most heart-breaking story of the 2 days was that of an 11-year old girl that had been raped by a family member 2 years ago. She was doing well now--but I found out that on average 1/3 of kids, mostly girls, are violated sometime in their lifetime. I am not sure what the statistics are in the states--perhaps not much different--but it is tragic. And to emphasize this problem, when we arrived back in Shell one of the patients in the hospital was a 10 yearold who had been violated by her 21 y.o cousin and had hurt her badly enough that she had to seek medical attention. Although I don't think these acts are culturally "acceptable"--they certainly are common and it seems that the justice system rarely is able to convict the perpetrator.
Praise God for Compassion International and all of the sponsors that give so that these kids can be healthy, well-fed and attend school. And please pray for those that suffer the effects of past abuse.
