Though we are physically home, our hearts are still in SE Asia. I wish all of what GIBTK is involved in has smiling faces. But we have always gone after the tough calling. We get to experience gut wrenching situations and ones that are filled with hope. Camella Binkley wrote todays note. She has always loved holding babies so when she quietly asked me, "when are we going to my room?" I was a bit surprised, okay maybe a lot.
The photos are graphic but they share just a bit of the story. Visiting these kids is always heart breaking. My dream is to one day catch one of these kids before its too late. There is only a couple week window where surgery can be done to place a shunt to help drain the fluids before the head swells.
Our dream is to continue building Dorothea's Project Legacy centers. A place where we can educate the parents in remote areas. Next one is scheduled to be launched in Dec. of this year!
. Here is Camella's note;
My Room:
"I've lost count of the number of times we have travelled to Vietnam with GIBTK...but I am relatively certain that every visit has taken us to Go Vap Orphanage.
Go Vap - the place where Kristina Kalatschan spent her first few months of life and the place from which the vision of Giving It Back to Kids was birthed.
And quite personal to me - Go Vap is home to "My Room."
Readers may ask (and I hope they do) where and what is this room you speak of?
Words don't actually describe nor in fact do pictures show the pain and suffering of the children of "My Room." Their bodies are ravaged by encephalitis...their beautiful heads sometimes twice the size of their bodies. They are still in their beds, flat on their backs with cannulas providing needed oxygen. Their eyes are either fixed or rapidly darting back and forth. Often the swelling is so significant that there are open wounds on their skulls.
This has become "My Room" - the place that wrecks my heart. This room has become very personal to me and somehow this trip the words came out of my mouth while visiting Go Vap - "when are we going to My Room?"
It is the place to which I am drawn...overcome with the need to somehow be a vehicle of compassion for these children...to offer touch, prayers, and words of comfort. And yes, I cry over these children. "My Room" - the place of tears.
I hope your heart is stirred and broken for the children in "My Room." GIBTK, with your help, support and prayers can do more.
We can reach the unreached remote communities with compassion, education and medical support.
When all of these elements are working together, we can begin the journey toward the prevention of encephalitis...just imagine - "My Room" will be no more!
Hope is the key and Compassion is the vehicle..."
Camella Binkley
