Doctor, Doctor give me the news!

…although I do have “a bad case of loving you,” I ALSO have a bad case of some kind of rash.  The left side of my face from my ear, along my jaw line, and down my neck is covered with small red bumps that itch like CRAZY!  I know, I know, it’s totally T.M.I. (for those of you non-Millennials – that stands for “Too Much Information”), but this rash resulted in my first (and hopefully only) trip to the Chinese doctor.

Let me explain:

Wednesday morning I woke up feeling refreshed and well-rested; it had rained the night before, so I had left my window open and woke up to the morning air. It was glorious… until about five minutes later my ear started to itch.  I reached up, and sure enough, there were four little bumps by my ear.  “Dang mosquitoes,” I thought, “serves me right for sleeping with the window open.” 

Well several times throughout the day the bumps felt irritated; but I just ignored it.  By Wednesday night, the bumps were on fire; I was like, “this is so strange, mosquito bites shouldn’t feel this way.” I put a cold wash cloth on it though and the heat seemed to go away.  At about 3 am, however, I woke-up to this crazy feeling on the left side of my face.  When I reached up to touch my jaw line, I noticed that the number of bumps had like tripled and covered my entire jaw line and part of my neck.  And they hurt so badly that I got up to look through my medicine cabinet for some Benadryl. Of course, that is the ONE medicine that I didn’t bring from America (Kel, we failed in the packing department – how did we forget Benadryl?!)  Luckily, I remembered that the CWEF health kit was still at my apartment; and after rummaging through it, I found some Benadryl. 

The Benadryl put me right to sleep, but unfortunately, the rash was still there when I woke up.  And truthfully, it actually hurt worse at this point. The bumps were completely red and my whole jaw line was red and irritated.  I had to sit on my hands the entire day so that I wouldn’t scratch them.  Although, I must admit there were a few times when all self-control went out the window (but it was only when Li Ying wasn’t looking, haha!)  I bought an anti-itch cream and applied it several times, but it didn’t help.

Finally, today (Friday) I had enough; the rash wasn’t going away, it still itched terribly, and tomorrow I’m going out of town – we need a solution I thought.  Li Ying suggested we go to a local hospital to see a dermatologist.  Walking up to the hospital was slightly terrifying as I began to think of what would happen if I actually had to go there in a serious medical emergency (please continue to ask Him to keep me healthy!) 

Once we got to the office, I registered and paid for the office visit.  GET THIS – it cost 7 renminbi (1 U.S. dollar!) for the doctor’s visit.  Now, I don’t want to get in to a healthcare debate… but that’s pretty incredible.  We waited for about ten minutes, and then the dermatologist called me into her office.  Chinese doctors’ offices are so interesting; the doctor sits at their desk, and multiple patients crowd around them, waiting to be the next patient to sit down at the desk to be examined.  Let’s just say that these health care professionals have never heard of HIPPA.  I sat down and the dermatologist asked Li Ying three questions about my rash; then the doctor gave me two prescriptions – a cream and a tablet, and we left.  Altogether, the doctors visit/prescriptions cost me thirty minutes and $10.  Not bad.

I’ve started both prescriptions and my gross rash feels better.  Unfortunately, this cream is not one that can be rubbed in, so I’ve been walking around all day with this white cream covering half of my face.  Good thing Chinese people already think I’m strange, and I have only seen one foreigner all week! Haha – living in a foreign country does have its advantages.  Hopefully when I wake up in the morning the bumps will be gone so I don’t have to spend tomorrow looking like a crazy person with face cream all over the left side of my face, haha.  I’ll keep you posted.

From California to China

Many elementary school students in the Yunnan Province are forced to board at the local school because their villages are so remote.  Unfortunately, these students often face meager living conditions at the schools.  My service team just traveled to a school that didn’t have enough fresh water for all of its students.  I took a few pictures of the small room that housed 15 of the boarded students:

Pretty upsetting, isn’t it?  To think that children from ages six to twelve could call this “home.” 

Praise Him for calling a group from Orange County, California to serve these students.  The team traveled halfway around the world to dig a hole for a new cistern at the elementary school and to conduct hygiene training for the students.  The cistern will provide more fresh water for the students, and the hygiene training provided the educational component of the project.  Most importantly, the team came to show love to the children/villagers and to serve Him.

Upon our first visit to the elementary school, the students gave us a welcome fit for a king/queen.  The children lined both sides of the road, clapped their hands, and sang a welcome chant as we all walked past them.  It brought tears to my eyes and was incredibly humbling --- these dear children, that have so little, greeted us with such warm hospitality.

As we trained the students on personal hygiene, we practiced washing hands and brushing teeth.  The basin of water the children used to wash their hands was tar black when they finished; it seemed as if they hadn’t washed their hands in weeks.  And as they brushed their teeth for the first time, the children’s poor little gums started to bleed because many of them had never brushed their teeth before.  Heart-wrenching.

It was fun to watch the service team and the students interact though.  They would brush in little circles in the front of their mouth and in the back, then brush their tongue; they would practice spitting their toothpaste out and rinsing their mouths.  Priceless! 

The next day as we interviewed a few of the village families, one father told us that his son had rushed home from school to tell his family about the foreigners he had met.  The son immediately showed his father the health kit he had received (the group donated soap, a toothbrush, and toothpaste to each student) and he demonstrated in great detail how to brush his teeth.  When he had finished teaching his father, the son placed his toothbrush prominently on the kitchen counter.

The time we spent digging for the cistern are some of my most memorable moments from the trip.  The government officials, the school leaders, and the local villagers all wanted to help with the digging to show their support of the project.  For an entire afternoon, our team and the local people worked side-by-side to chisel away the boulders, shovel the dirt, and haul the debris away.  As we were working, our many differences didn’t matter; we were all united in our desire to provide fresh water to the elementary school.  Even though most of us could not communicate, we shared smiles, encouraging words (like “jia you!” which means, “Keep going! You can do it!”) and snacks (although our new Chinese friends didn’t like the Skittles I gave them.  I tried not to take it personally… I definitely learned that from now on I’ll only share my special American candy with people who will really appreciate it!)  

One of the government officials enjoyed teasing me while we were working.  He would come up to wherever I was working and dig beside me; then it would turn into a competition to see who could hoe and remove the dirt the fastest.  I obviously lost every time!  Then, as a peace-offering, he would try to teach me how to properly use the hoe.  Hysterical.  

When we left the elementary school, the principal continually told us thank you, and one of the teachers actually followed us onto our bus in order to shake hands with each of us individually.  You could see it in their eyes just how grateful they were.

From an organizational standpoint, the significance of our trip can be summarized in an event that occurred on the last day.  As we were talking with the government official, he requested that we return to the village to teach English lessons to some of the local officials.  Although it may seem miniscule, his request holds great value.  The leader’s desire for CWEF to return to the village signifies a continued and deeper relationship.  As we’ve discussed, relationships or “guanxi” are of the upmost importance in doing business in China; and from our perspective, building and maintaining relationships is the key to broadening the scope of our work.  Our hope is that with the leader’s request and others like it, more doors will open for CWEF to touch the people in Yunnan.

On a personal level, the blessings from this trip were abundant.  We helped the villagers while continuing to build relationships with the local leaders.  Moreover, I was also greatly blessed by my California team members.  I was so encouraged by this group (even though they teased me for being a country (MO) girl :) and I was moved by the sacrifices they made to come and serve the villagers.  It is so uplifting to see how people all around the world have a heart for the people in Yunnan.  Love you guys!

The service team with the elementary school students

Banana plantations covered the sides of the mountains.

Gorgeous!

Megan & Me on a bamboo suspension bridge over the river. 

Pretty scary!

The villagers were part of the Miao (called Hmong in the U.S.) minority group; this woman is wearing typical miao dress.

Remembering those in Qinghai Province

One week ago, April 14, 2010, a 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck the Qinghai Province in western China killing 2,039 people.  

I did not feel the physical affects of the earthquake (Qinghai is north of the Yunnan Province, bordering Tibet); however, I have been personally impacted by the immense loss of life.

My Tibetan friend Jack is from the Qinghai Province; he is a student in Kunming, but his entire family still lives in Qinghai.  I asked him yesterday if his family was doing okay. He responded with a devastating "no".  Jack's brother, sister-in-law, nephew, aunt, two cousins, and a friend all died in the earthquake.  


Please remember Jack, his family, and all those affected by the earthquake.  Ask that they would be given comfort and strength as they mourn the loss of life.  And pr-y that in some way He would use this terrible natural disaster for His good and for His glory.

BBQ Bonanza

A night of BBQ, tea, and good friends:

The classic look Li ying and I give each other : )

Making a Difference

Before CWEF chose the rural village as a project site, the villagers spent 90 minutes every day hauling buckets of water from the water source to their homes.  Rarely washing their hands and only bathing twice a year were a way of life and a reality to living in rural Yunnan.

CWEF, in partnership with the local Poverty Alleviation Office, recognized the need of fresh water in the village and implemented a water system last year. The system brought fresh water to the doorstep of the 41 households in the village, but most importantly it also provided water to the local middle and elementary schools.  The 320 students in the middle school and 240 students in elementary school now benefit daily from the work of CWEF.

Last week my service team traveled to the same village to further our development work in the elementary school. Although the schools now had water, there was no place for the students to wash their hands. The goal of our service project was to build sinks at the local elementary school.  Mixing concrete, pouring concrete slabs, and hauling and laying bricks filled our work days. It was hard work, but it was completed with a smile, knowing how many children would benefit from the sinks.

Laying cement

Our time in the village involved much more than just physical labor. We taught three English lessons at the local elementary school, hiked to the water source, picked tea leaves for the local farmers, and learned the villagers’ minority dances around a bonfire the last night.

Teaching an English lesson on fruit

Rolling tea leaves

We also researched how our water project impacted daily life by conducting interviews with village families. As we interviewed one woman, her face lit up as she told us that the CWEF water project changed her life.  She is seventy years-old and was forced to haul water every day.  She said she would never be able to thank us for helping her.  Another family also gushed with appreciation to CWEF saying that the water system had saved them from many effects of the Yunnan drought.  The woman said she didn’t want to think about how much they would have suffered from the drought if CWEF hadn’t implemented a water system.

A village woman we interviewed

It is evident that the water system and the sinks my service team built at the elementary school have greatly affected the villagers. How encouraging to know that the two separate weeks of work we did in the village have produced daily benefits for the villagers.  

Picture courtesy of Bernice - she's so artistic!

Teaching elementary students to count

Meg & Me  - we were quite the pair : )

Clearing the area for the sinks

Teaching English

Morning exercises.  So precious!

Mixing concrete

Birthday cards! Thank you all so much

View from the elementary school

So creative

Amazing.

James looking as fabulous as ever! 

Laying bricks

Elementary School Principal and myself at the water source

Takes me back to the endless piles of dishes at Ross Street!  teasing friends, teasing - that was a joke.

Working with a villager

Crazy camera settings

"Shout! Throw your hands up and Shout!"  haha.  Teaching us their minority dance at the bonfire.

My new friend



The fruits of our labor!

Two of my Favorite People

Mary & Trey:

Congratulations on your engagement! How exciting!!!!!

Hooray for friends and upcoming weddings.  Love you both!

Time Magazine Photo Essay

This week, Time Magazine published a photo essay on the Yunnan Drought.  Check it out:

Photos: China's Drought

P.S. Good news is that we did receive a little bit of rainfall this week! Not a significant amount, but enough to lift peoples' spirits.  Keep pr-ying and break out a rain dance if need be! : )  (although it sounds like MO doesn't need anymore rain - send some of it our direction please!)