Of all Saturdays, today was a really good Saturday.
I spent the morning decorating cupcakes with kids who were suffering from cancer at Hospital Rebagliati. As I got off the bus, I could see the rooms of all the patients from where I was standing. As I walked into the hospital, went past the lobby, and down a dim and narrow hallway, a tight knoght formed in the back of my throat.
I wasn't sure what to expect.
I put on a blue coat, tied up my hair, placed a mask over my mouth, and entered the room, where there were six kids playing bingo.
After setting everything up, and saying hi to all of the kids, we began to teach them how to frost and decorate the cupcakes. We had bought really fun toppings: gummy bears, skittles, vampire mouthes, sprinkles, and gummy worms for the kids to choose from, and together with them, we decorated over 30 cupcakes!
I spent the morning decorating cupcakes with kids who were suffering from cancer at Hospital Rebagliati. As I got off the bus, I could see the rooms of all the patients from where I was standing. As I walked into the hospital, went past the lobby, and down a dim and narrow hallway, a tight knoght formed in the back of my throat.
I wasn't sure what to expect.
I put on a blue coat, tied up my hair, placed a mask over my mouth, and entered the room, where there were six kids playing bingo.
After setting everything up, and saying hi to all of the kids, we began to teach them how to frost and decorate the cupcakes. We had bought really fun toppings: gummy bears, skittles, vampire mouthes, sprinkles, and gummy worms for the kids to choose from, and together with them, we decorated over 30 cupcakes!
My highlight of the visit was meeting Abby. Abby is one of the cancer patients, she's 12 years old, and she lives in Huanuco. You could easily grab Abby's voice, tone, and facial expressions, and you wouldn't even tell that she is suffering from cancer because she's as HEALTHY, VIBRANT, and HAPPY, as any other 12-year-old girl.
She showed us how she knew the words to all of her favorite regaetton songs. She told us that her dad was so overprotective of her that he would kill her is she started dating Carlos, the boy she likes from Huanuco. She told us how she loved to dance, especially to Hindu songs, how her mom was a dancer, and how she wanted to be a doctor when she grew up. Of everything she told us, however, what most impacted me was that she had written a song because she wanted to help other kids going through the same to "stop looking so sad" (in her words).
Abby didn't understand why the kids were walking around with such gloomy faces, thus, she hoped her song would let them live a little bit happier while still in the hospital. Hearing this come out of a twelve year old is what made this Saturday, a really good Saturday. Although part of me wishes that I could spread Abby's happiness to the rest of the kids, the other part of me understands how hard it must be to spend all day, everyday, at a hospital at the age of 6--one of the kids was no older than 3.
She showed us how she knew the words to all of her favorite regaetton songs. She told us that her dad was so overprotective of her that he would kill her is she started dating Carlos, the boy she likes from Huanuco. She told us how she loved to dance, especially to Hindu songs, how her mom was a dancer, and how she wanted to be a doctor when she grew up. Of everything she told us, however, what most impacted me was that she had written a song because she wanted to help other kids going through the same to "stop looking so sad" (in her words).
Abby didn't understand why the kids were walking around with such gloomy faces, thus, she hoped her song would let them live a little bit happier while still in the hospital. Hearing this come out of a twelve year old is what made this Saturday, a really good Saturday. Although part of me wishes that I could spread Abby's happiness to the rest of the kids, the other part of me understands how hard it must be to spend all day, everyday, at a hospital at the age of 6--one of the kids was no older than 3.
Those of you who've attended a Techo build know how rewarding it is to go home at the end of the day knowing that you truly made a difference in someones life. After my first visit to Hospital Rebagliati, I can say that I got the same feeling walking out of the hospital that I get leaving the asentamiento. The magnitude of the help we gave to the kids may not be as tangible as building a home for a family, but it certainly brought joy to the kids faces.