Pill Popping Party--Tuesday & Wednesday

Hello all. Once again I didn't get a chance to write Tuesday so now I must catch you avid readers up on what's been going on around the center.

Tuesday--First real day back and man was the store busy! Everything from new applications to making sure the store looked presentable was on our list of things to accomplish. 12pm couldn't role around fast enough. After lunch, though, we were extremely slow. One or two customers to the max came in to browse. There was, however, a woman who came in needing a new application. Up until this point I haven't written about the people we interact with. It's not that the stories we hear aren't pitiful and make you want to scream at the government for desolating their own citizens, but this one particular story set a lump in my throat I couldn't pass.

Ms. Bright is a woman about 60 years old. She recently became disabled and is living in the projects a little ways from AO. She said she always thought she was going to be able to work and make a good salary until she was ready to quit. Well, life tossed her around a bit. She did live in Kentucky but she moved back up here (where she grew up). It's like her life did a full-circle. She ends exactly where she started. It's sad because she shouldn't have to end up living in the projects. She's getting some financial help (disability compensation) but not much. She has arthritis in her hands and her right knee easily becomes sore.

With a lump in my throat and tears wanting to flow, I helped her put her groceries in her truck. Her truck is fairly new but thankfully she was able to pay it in full before she got hurt. I told her my dad's story because it was so similar.

My dad was a mounted policeman in Charleston, South Carolina when he and my mom first got married. They lived there for about two years and then moved up to Jersey for family. When my dad was 33, he was hurt on the job, breaking his back. He had to have surgery, getting screws inserted in his back. During that dark time, my parents had to scrimp and save to keep us afloat. My grandparents helped tremendously and when we moved to our current home, things turned for the best.

I encouraged her that things would get better. With a "God bless" I sent her on her way, still trying to swallow that lump in my throat and not quite succeeding.

Taira and I had an assignment from Jim Wilson. He was sending medication our way and we had to sort and pack it up. I thought it would be a quick job. Not so when I walked to the garage and saw two full crates of meds!

The meds will be sent to Zimbabwe June 2nd. They are to be used to cure cholera, treat malaria and clear acne. It's packs a pretty powerful punch in such a little tablet. For every three tablets, a person can be saved from death by cholera. Even though our thumbs began to hurt and we were getting tired, we knew these pills would be saving lives and the more we got out and packed, the better. The missionaries and I ended up packing 30,000 pills in a couple of hours. How awesome is that?!

Last night, the group and I watched "Finding Nemo" and "Mall Cop" (dumbest movie ever) while we took the meds out of their packages and put them in Ziploc bags. It was fun but very tiring and in the morning my hands hurt!

Wednesday--Tired and sore, the missionaries got up for breakfast. The majority of them would be heading off to Nashville for the orientation training. The rest of us (Jonathan, Ayla, Betsy, Adam, Nichole, and I) stayed here and continued doing what we do. There wasn't much to be done at the store today. Another very slow day but I was able to do some office work for Angie so it was all good. I made copies for folders, did some application stuff and then it was lunch time. After lunch, Betsy returned to the desk and I went to the garage to continue popping pills. I sang some songs, talked to Ronnie a bit, and packaged 2,000 pills in four hours. My hands are so sore! Tonight we all got together in Adam's room and did about 4,000. That's 6,000 pills with just six people! Not too shabby. We're all really tired and are sleeping in a bit before breakfast tomorrow morning.

I'm going to bed now. Ciao!