Piojos!

Hi everyone!

Piojos! Piojos! Everywhere!

To wrap up this week, we went out to Pan De Vida on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Thursday is a day for the advanced kids Faye was out this week, so we stepped in to teach her class. I could say over and over again how incredibly smart and eager they are to learn!

There was a family of 8 kids that came to school...one of the very poorest of families that lives right on the edge of the dump mound. I noticed that about three or four of them had little jumpy things in their hair...yes...Lice, translated in Spanish, Piojos (pronounced pee-oh-hose). I learned that one of the girls has had them so bad that maggots, at one point, started boring holes into her head through the scratch wounds. Dennis had to take her to the hospital. Every time they come to the school, which isn't very often for unknown reasons, the older siblings give each of the younger siblings a shower that they have in the bathroom. After school, Joel and I helped to carry water back to their house so I could get a chance to talk to the mom about the problem. The "house" is in unimaginable condition. There are two couches sitting outside with the stuffing coming out and the inside consists of two bare matresses (probably found in the dump). No kitchen, no bathroom, no windows...as far as I could see. I let mom know about the problem and told her that I could treat the lice on Friday if the kids came to school. She agreed and then asked if we had any clothes we could give her for her kids. When I got back to the school, I told Pastor Luis what had happened and he let me know that it would be a good thing to treat for the lice, but warned me against giving clothes. I learned that what happened to Jackie (her new clothes being sold right off her back for money for drugs) has also happened in this family. I was heartbroken. As you know, before we left, we collected 8 boxes of kid's clothing to donate...I don't know which parents will sell it and which ones will be responsible! Lucky for me, Lupita, Pastor Luis' wife knows exactly who needs what and what sizes and she knows which parents will be responsible. It sounds like she's the lady for the job, so on this Wednesday, we will be bringing the clothes to school to sort through and hand out to the kids.

So, Friday I treated three kids for lice. One was a little girl, separate from that family, who I fell in love with!

She had the longest, hardest to brush hair EVER! Her mom comes to school to help out and when she saw that I had lice shampoo, she alerted me that her daughter had "piojos" and could I please treat her. I also treated two from the family of 8. The one who had previously had the worst case of head lice ever, was so afraid when I brought her to the chair to shampoo her that she was crying. I'm sure she was terrified from the last time. As soon as I started rubbing in the shampoo, she calmed down and actually dozed off from the "scalp massage." I was happy to help as I know she is terribly neglected at home.

I had two bottles of shampoo and only got to 3 kids! I'm going to need GALLONS of the stuff....however, I know that I can't eradicate the problem on my own so I'm thinking of maybe doing 5 or so kids/month. The lice shampoo is expensive $5-$7/bottle, and to be truthful, Mayonnaise actually works better...however, it's a matter of parent compliance and neglect. I can't send a kid home with mayonnaise in his/her hair and expect the mom to actually wash it out or do the second treatment, unless I know the mom and she demonstrates understanding of the process. We also can't expect for them to put all the clothes into plastic bags until the lice are dead (where will they get the bags from?), or to iron the bare mattress to kill the lice either (where are they going to get an iron?). They are living in a condition where lice are inevitable 100% of the time.

My heart was broken after school on Friday. I only got 3 kids, and there were others coming up to me all day asking me to look at their piojos and see that they had it too...I'm just a drop in the bucket as far as this matter is concerned! My plan is to teach the much more effective, less expensive and less harmful mayonnaise method to the ladies who help at the school so that they will know how to treat the kids who get it really bad.

Saturday we came back and my only patient that showed up was the little girl who's mom comes to help. I bought some conditioner to put in her hair to help comp out the nits and dead lice. As I was doing so, I told the mom that "if this happens again, my husband knows how to cut hair (yes, he actually does) and that next time, we will use mayonnaise." I told her that at my job in the US, we recommend the same mayonnaise treatment. She was appalled and wide- eyed to hear that, yes, we actually have piojos in the United States too. I was sad the other girls didn't come..they needed to be treated, but I can only trust that the first treatment will allay the lice atleast for a little bit.

In the meantime, Joel was having a blast with the kids. They LOVE him! He took over Faye's class on Thursday and Friday and did a great job! He lifts them up into the air, and spins them around, and lets them sit on his lap and hug him! He might be one of the only positive male influences in their lives and I think God is really using him in that area.

On Saturday, they have kind of a Sunday School where they learn songs and Bible Verses, etc. Their memory verse is " I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6). They know it in English and Spanish!

To wrap up the weekend, we went to church today (Sunday) and went to Dennis and Faye's for lunch. They have a BBQ grill that they made hamburgers on. It was totally gourmet...We felt like we were at Red Robin! We had fresh Guacamole with our burgers, and Strawberry Shortcake for dessert! Thanks Dennis and Faye.

Thanks everyone for your continued support and encouragement. Please remember that we wouldn't be down here without you. We love you and appreciate you.

Leslie and Joel