Last night I was on FB, chatting with some boys from Iglesia en Transformación until almost 3 a.m. They couldn't sleep because they are worried about our friend Clara.
If you have been walking with me for a while, you know Clara as the woman who got Leukemia, was sick in the hospital, I went to visit her and puked all over the famous Hospital Escuela, she got better, got pregnant, got worse, stopped all meds, got better, gave birth, lost the baby 3 days later, was told she was free of Leukemia about a year ago, got pregnant again a few months ago, was hospitalized, lost the second baby, and now is in very grave condition in the hospital again.
This is Clara in May 2014 - healthy, happy and so proud she learned how to swim!
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| Clara always smiled when she swam. She was one of the last to learn. It was scary and challenging. But Clara learned to swim! |
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| Clara with her two daughters. Karla, on the right, became a very good swimmer. She loved sharing this experience with her mother.
Now that you have met Clara, let me tell you a little more about her. She is someone who taught me about faith. When she was first diagnosed with Leukemia we were very scared. It was Clara who stood strongest. Later she said that her faith did waiver. All I can say is that I never saw it. Clara's words and actions, even at the most difficult times, were always positive. She is a woman of great faith.
On Sunday when I got home from the retreat, Fany said that she talked to someone at church who told her Clara was very, very sick and needed 10 pints of blood. In Honduras I often hear the word "grave" to describe someone's condition. It seems like sometimes the term is thrown around too loosely. I hoped that was the case for Clara. But I was worried.
Then last night the boys started writing to me on Facebook. One of them went Saturday to donate blood. Let me take a minute to tell you about this boy. His name is Fabricio and if you read my blog regularly, you may remember him as the boy who went with me the last time we attempted to give blood. It was a horrible, all day event at Hospital Escuela - the toughest hospital in Tegucigalpa. We had tickets for my first soccer game that day and we almost missed the game because Fabricio was not going to leave until he completed his mission.
That is how I first bonded with Fabricio and learned what a faithful friend he is. He had never met Clara, but he was willing to give up the soccer game and the ticket he already paid for to help someone he didn't know. I was impressed and have respected Fabricio from that day forward.
Since that time Fabricio has come out of his shell a little. He learned to play the drums and is now part of the church band. Several times when he was feeling down, he has reached out to me and we talk. I am honored to help. Although we no longer attend the same church, our relationship is strong. Last week he said that I am the only one who knows, but he is moving to Spain. His mother lives in Spain and his brother left in December to live with her. In March Fabricio will go too. I am excited for him. It will be a much better environment for him. In Honduras he is lonely and I don't need to tell you about the danger and the economy. I predict Fabricio will thrive in Spain.
Last night Fabricio was really wound up. He had gone to give blood on Friday. Luis (another boy I admire immensely) and Kevin went yesterday, but Fabricio is worried that Clara is going to die and it seems to him that nobody else is doing much about it. Now Clara needs TWENTY pints of blood. He was calling all of his friends and asking them to donate blood. He got one friend who goes to school right by my house to donate, so I agreed to pick up both boys and take them to donate.
After we had a game plan in place, Fabricio said he was feeling better and could sleep. I could tell he was still anxious.
Today I picked them up and we headed out, each of us thinking we knew where we were going, but we got lost. Luckily Fany's husband, Santos, is in town and with a couple of phone calls we made it to La Cruz Roja (the Red Cross). I was amazed at what a different experience it was to give blood at the Red Cross as opposed to our last experience at Hospital Escuela. There was NO wait and the people were super nice! Unfortunately, first my blood did not want to come out at all for the finger stick test, and then they said my Hemoglobin was too low.
I am surprised because I ate more meat at the retreat last weekend that I have eaten in months and every meal had salad as well as vegetables. But they said I cannot give blood and will not be eligible to try again for three months. I was super bummed. Really upset. I wanted to cry but I didn't want to upset Fabricio. I am one of the healthiest eaters I know! How could this be?
Fabricio's friend was able to donate. We learned that 8 other people had come earlier in the day, but only 2 of the eight were able to donate. Which means that Clara has only received 3 of the 20 pints of blood she needs.
Fabricio was not satisfied with this result. He said he was going to get back on Facebook and keep asking people to donate. But so far that has not been effective. Here are some photos he was using for his campaign:
 
Luis is the first photo. Fabricio and his sign are the second photo.
Since Fabricio was not feeling content with his efforts I figured I could walk along side him for the rest of the day. I mentioned that one of the nurses had told me to ask the police to donate. Fabricio said that he had seen a lot of military men come in when he donated, so we talked about where we could go and how we could get the police or military police to donate.
First we stopped at one police post where I felt really out of place. The people were super nice, but the room was tiny and they brought in someone "handcuffed" behind his back with a shoelace, sat him down next to me and started interrogating him. I did feel that God was with us though because as the guy at the desk said he would need to talk to his boss, the boss walked right in. Then the boss said he would need to talk to his boss and at that moment the phone rang with his boss on the other end. So he talked to his boss and told us to come back in the morning when there would be more people gathered before they headed out for their shifts. Police in Honduras can take time from their work day to give blood if they choose to! While it suits us well on this occasion, I am not sure I like the concept overall, considering there are more homicides here than any place on earth, and almost none of them are solved. But now is not the time for me to preach about that.
They told us we should go to a bigger post where there would be more people meandering around. So we went, but it was closed. The people at the gate told us there is a specific place to go with social workers who keep a list of blood donors. They gave us directions and told us to go tomorrow during business hours. We went to one more small police post and they told us to come back at 6:30 a.m. so we can talk to the head guy before role call at 7:30 a.m.
So that is the plan. We also stopped by Dr. Gustavo's office. That was my brainstorm. I was thinking about my low hemoglobin and said that I was going to ask Dr. Gustavo about how to fix it in case Clara is still needing blood in May, when I am eligible to try again. Then I realized Dr. Gustavo has a radio program which a lot of people listen to every day. I told Fabricio that we were not going to say a word about the radio program, but if it was God's plan, Dr Gustavo would mention it himself. And guess what!?!?!?!!!!!! He asked for the information about how to donate so that he can share it with his listeners tomorrow! I almost jumped out of my seat, I was so excited. Fabricio and I believe that could be a big help.
Tomorrow at 8:30 I have to call and remind Dr Gustavo to talk about Clara. At 11 a.m. I have a meeting about renewing my residency. Then Fabricio and I will go to the office of social services to see if we can find more donors.
It is crazy to realize you live in a place where you can simply die if you don't have enough people close to you to donate the blood you need. Blood can be purchased, but Clara needs so much... And blood is really expensive.
Fabricio and I are talking about giving blood regularly, even when we don't have friends in the hospital. It feels like the right thing to do. Especially since the Red Cross makes it easy (if you don't have low hemoglobin) with no wait and a comfortable environment.
It is such an honor to know young men like Luis and Fabricio. Against all odds, they have grown into incredible examples for the rest of the world, young and old. I am proud to be part of their lives and will continue to do anything I can to support them.
Please keep Clara and her family in your prayers. Praise God for people like Fabricio who puts his whole life on hold to fight for the life of someone he still has never spoken to. And pray that people will respond as Dr. Gustavo speaks on the radio tomorrow while Fabricio and I go back out hunting for blood.
On a different note, the fire season is here again. The mountains are full of fires and the city is getting full of smoke. And my house is full of ants.
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