Jacob’s Ladder: Day 3 & 4
I forgot to write yesterday. When I got off the phone with Michelle, I went straight to bed. everyone else was already asleep, and the lights were off. Yesterday, we hung gutters on the longs sides of the pavilion that's already up. God brought a little bit of rain to test them... they worked great. They'll be able to catch a good amount of rain water to use around the area. They probably won't have running water for a couple more months. After the gutters, I helped put a railing around a balcony.
So far today we constructed some stairs in one of the bunk houses. As of now, all of the two story buildings have stairs on the outside. We cut out a portion of the upstairs floor to put the stairs inside. This will be helpful during the rainy season so the care takers can stay upstairs and come down when needed.
Fr. Gregory came to visit us today. He founded the Mustard Seed Communities. It was great to hear his vision for MSC. He made me think of Mother Theresa and the great things she did.
I can't leave here without talking about Mark. Mark is one of the residents here. He doesn't have any physical disabilities, but seems to have a very short memory. It's not uncommon for him to ask the same question several times in a short period. He introduces himself to us everyday as if we've never met. He's one of the most innocent people I've ever met. He helps out the staff here doing whatever they ask of him. He's just always so happy, as is everyone who lives here. Mark just kind of wanders around helping where he can. He says goodnight to us before he goes to bed. When he goes to bed, he locks himself in his house like the others are locked in, even though he knows how to unlock it. He seems so happy, but not has happy as Stefan. Stefan, another resident here, loves to run. He's not supposed to just run around, especially when we're out working with power tools, but at least once a day he escapes from the staff and just runs, waving his arms in the air and pumping his fists like Rocky. They eventually catch him and bring him back to his cottage, but he's not sad that he was caught. He's just happy that he was able to run.
To think that MSC got some of these people from insane asylums and cages is just heartbreaking. Some of the children had been kept naked in cages. They would throw their food on the ground, and hose them off when they were dirty. One girl had been found tied up in a chicken coop. When they took her to the hospital, they found 10 maggots in her head. Another boy was found tied up in a pig pen. Many of the children are abandoned at birth when they're found to be disabled.