It was a few days ago now during my rush to get things done in the hospital that Mohammed Hamdan’s mother approached me at around 2 o’clock (we refer to the mothers of patients as Im (Arabic) or Um (Kurdish) followed by their child’s name). Im Mohammed has been in the hospital now with her son for about 5 months, so we have gotten to know each other fairly well. She has also apparently gotten used to the often frantic nature of my routine and recognized that if I was still running around at 2 o’clock that I probably hadn’t eaten. When I finally got a chance to sit down, she walked into the room with a foot long schnitzel baguette and a liter bottle of Coca-Cola from the hospital mall, just for me. This was an incredible gesture, most people in Gaza live in poverty and here she had spent close to $10 US on me for lunch. This was one of the most powerful gestures anyone has done for me since I’ve been here. Afterward I found out that one of our Iraqi patients of about 9-years-old, who I was helping in the hospital that day, didn't understand and confronted her about why she would buy food for me, she responded by scolding him saying "because he is a good man!"
The doctor’s have exhausted all options to save Mohammed. After his first heart surgery he needed to get strong enough to undergo a second surgery, and he simply has not gotten any stronger. The doctors have just been waiting for him to become stable in his present condition to be transferred to a hospital in Gaza where, in all likelihood, he will not live long. Mohammed and his mother will likely travel either Sunday or Monday back to Gaza, please keep them in your prayers.
Sometimes our Gaza families get left out of some opportunities we have to minister to and connect with our patients because they are not legally allowed to leave the hospital grounds, while our Iraqi families actually live in the same building with us.
So a couple days before I left for Jordan, when the rest of the staff were starting a picnic with the Iraqis on the hospital lawn, I ran through the hospital ward collecting the Palestinian mothers and their kids to join us. They were very grateful to be included, and once again made a bit of a scene having an entourage of half a dozen Palestinian women following behind me as I showed them the way.
So a couple days before I left for Jordan, when the rest of the staff were starting a picnic with the Iraqis on the hospital lawn, I ran through the hospital ward collecting the Palestinian mothers and their kids to join us. They were very grateful to be included, and once again made a bit of a scene having an entourage of half a dozen Palestinian women following behind me as I showed them the way.
I hope you feel like a good man because you really are <3
ReplyDeleteI am so lucky to be the one by your side :)