The Whirlwind

On the 13th (day after my birthday) we headed back to take the team to fly out for the states. Somewhere on the drive, we got a call that Sarah wanted me to fly up and meet her further north to help with some of the special needs kids who were up there getting surgeries. We got the team a good meal, did some sightseeing and got them to the airport for their flight late that night. I have to say I enjoyed my night in the hotel and a chance to relax briefly. The next morning, I went back to the airport for my own flight to meet Sarah. I'm up here now and spent pretty much all day yesterday at Indian hospitals. There are still 3 kids in the hospital getting stable enough to leave. Medical stuff is a stretch for me, but I am happy to be here to help Sarah and give her some company. The challenge was I had only packed for an overnight that is now turning into a several day trip though. That's ok though, cause it's a bit of an adventure.

When I got here, there was a woman with Sarah. As we could get a few moments of privacy, Sarah filled me in that she met this woman randomly at a coffee shop and she is homeless and depressed after just having lost her mother, who was her only family member. Sarah offered her a position as the woman spoke English and had some other skills, so she was traveling around with us. Only, as time went on, the woman seemed to get stranger and more unstable (for my psych friends, I'm thinking mood disorder plus schizophrenia...Is that schizo-affective?). I think there is definitely mental illness present. After several strange encounters and dreams, we felt it best to part ways with the woman who was getting more and more demanding and was unwilling to do the job Sarah was offering her. We somewhat had to escape from her at a time when she was not paying attention to us. I am hopeful that she will get all the help she needs. It is such a struggle to balance the desire to help others while also maintaining personal safety. She was given many chances and opportunities by Sarah (probably more than I would have had the heart to give, unfortunately) but she did not accept them, and at that point it's hard to do anything else for someone. I just pray she will receive the emotional, mental, spiritual and physical help and healing she needs.

For now we go on to more hospitals....