EASTER WEEK
This is a short week for us because everyone gets off on Friday and Mondayfor Easter, it's also really busy because everyone is trying to get intoclinic before they go on holiday. So clinic has been hectic. I'd saythings are definitely getting to me a little more this week - our kids arejust really hard. Some things I've seen:

- A mom worried about how much school her child is missing to come to appointments at the clinic to get blood work and drug refills. She fears that one day the whole country will start to think that all people with HIV are inherently stupid, when the truth is that many of them were just sick too often to attend school.
- Absent fathers. This is not really something I see, so much as someone I don't see, ever. When the kids tell us who lives at home the word"Dad" pretty much never comes up. Usually Mom tells us how she found outshe had HIV, got herself tested, put herself and her baby on HIV medicationsand was shortly thereafter left by a husband who wasn't interested inknowing his status or being associated with an HIV+ person. I hear aboutolder brothers (20's) who are more interested in sleeping all day thenwaking up to help their young siblings take their ARVs. I hear aboutunemployed boyfriends living off of single mothers. I fear this place has adeeply scarred view of manhood though I can't understand why or how such athing would've deteriorated to such a point. One woman said "Eh, men? Someof them are good for something, but most of them are good for nothing".
- Eight people, at least 1/2 of whom are HIV+, living off of 150Pula a week ($40).

Yesterday I got to go to an outreach clinic. Outreach clinics are community clinics where Baylor docs mentor local docs on how to give good pediatric HIV care. This trip definitely opened my eyes to how different the care isat Baylor clinic vs. the local world. It was a small two room clinic with await room overflowing with kids and adults to be seen. The doctors"clinic"room was about a 10x10ft space with some chairs, a desk, and an examining table (which was never cleaned the whole day we were there). The medical officer (they're not called doctors here) didn't have a stethoscope or an otoscope, didn't wash his hands all day and did not do anything that I would call a physical exam all day. But this is why Baylor is there to mentor right? So it is good that Baylor is not only striving to provide excellent care to our patients in clinic but also trying to take that care out to community doctors and empower them to treat people with a higher level of care as well.

Today was wonderful, I spent the day at the SOS children's orphanage inTlokweng. There's 170 orphans who live in 16 different houses (12kids/house and 2 "mothers"/house). Each house has two mothers so that the whole compound is split into these family units. It was beautiful to see the kids taking care of one another and refreshing to play with them outside for the day (the spontaneous dance party was by far my favorite part). I often feel separated from our patients in clinic because of the language - so it was such a gift and answered prayer to be able to just love on these kids for the day without language being an issue, because kids tend to be less hung up on words than adults. They were all so happy, and fed and well taken care of yet still desperate for attention and love. So it was aprivilege to be able to fill a small hole for them today by simply being willing to be a human jungle gym. It also never ceases to amaze me how the Lord is working in so many ways.That we don't so much "take" Him to people or "make" His plans come to fruition so much as be allowed to participate in the plans and actions He has already put into motion. I talked with a 19 yo girl named Maple at the orphanage today who has been befriended by Christians from Guatemala whovolunteer at SOS sometimes when they have time off from teaching at a local school. They have impacted her so deeply that she says she wants to go to Guatemala and study the Bible someday.

So I'm not sure that my entry this week has an overarching point. I feel privileged this week to have been able to love simply in Christ's name. I feel burdened by the suffering of His people in this place. I am continually awed by the beauty and strength of people who are suffering and poor but persevering. Please continue in prayer for me that God grants me opportunities to love His people well and connect with the culture here. Please pray for Christ to continue to bring hope and love to the people, and little people (those are children), here in Gabarone.

(you can also pray I don't get eaten by an alligator or a hippo when I gocamping up in Tuli park this weekend. We're staying by the Limpopo river andI'm not pumped about all the wildlife.)