Come Aboard the Ship!

Come board the Ship!

We finally arrived in Timor Leste (oh, and for the record, its

official name is Timor Leste (I had been calling it East Timor and I

thought those two names were interchangeable, but evidently after

independence in 2002 they officially re-dubbed it Timor Leste). We

have had the kids trickling in for surgery on the ship. People have

been working on the island for months to find people who are

candidates for surgery. Then while we are here, teams go out into

clinics and do further screenings and then bring them aboard for

surgery. The patients have to ride on a little “bandaid boat” from

the island out to where the ship is anchored.

It has been so fun to get to know the people. They are warm and kind

and fun. Since the kids coming onto the ship are not particularly

sick, when they arrive on our unit we basically just entertain them.

We have had fun playing soccer, watching movies, coloring, etc.

Yesterday we learned how to sing “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” in

Tetum. The kids have been coming for a variety of procedures. I have

had the following patients so far (no HIPAA rules apply here

evidently, for the record): One 3 month old here for a cleft lip

surgery, one 11 year old boy from an orphanage here for surgery to

correct his strabismus (lazy eye), one 9 year old here to have a cyst

on his back removed. Cute kids.

It is interesting that we have come so far and have spent so much

money (they said the whole trip is 24 million dollars!) to help people

one by one in places like Timor Leste, which most people have never

heard of. It helps me to appreciate even more the example of the

Savior, and especially the accounts from the Book of Mormon. He

remembers the isles of the sea and people in all nations. And He

healed and blessed the people and He loved the little children. It is

a blessing to have some small taste of the joy that comes from serving

and loving people as He did.