The Children of Bethlehem

MOP Reflections: Journal Excerpt 2

Caressing a young-un

  Visiting Bethlehem, the children’s centre, was - as always - a touching experience. We started by simply dressing and feeding the children, but this still got to me. Firstly, I could barely put on a diaper, and the entire situation was compounded by the fact that their limbs are usually bent out of shape, so dressing them is not straightforward. Also compounded by the fact that I am not a naturally gentle person, so I was trying to be extra gentle with them, but it actually requires a bit of man-handling because they can’t bend their limbs on their own so we’ve gotta do it for them. But once that was done, it was basically time for feeding them, which is a whole new ball game.

Say Hello to the Good Shepherd Crew

MOP Reflections: Journal Excerpt 1

With Donahue at Good Shepherd

Today we visited Good Shepherd, the men’s home, residence to 3 memorable characters: 1) Donahue* - tiny crippled guy (man) in a wheelchair (he has tiny feet so can’t walk) but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with his mind. Nada. 2) Walden* - another fully grown man in a wheelchair who has a speech impediment and crossed eyes and maaaaaaybe is a little slow, but otherwise, he’s normal-functioning. 3) Andrew* - who is a big, chubby, mentally challenged guy who talks in short phrases, simple words or relies on gestures. Andrew’s prime idiosyncrasy: affection. He literally greets and hugs you like you’re family, and continues to hug you throughout the day. Oh, I’ll add one more memorable guy to the list: 4) Dave* - more mentally challenged than Andrew in that he can’t really form words (I barely understood when he said his name. Imagine talking with your mouth open. That’s how he sounds), he can’t feed himself, and is somewhat unresponsive to external stimuli, although he does walk & move around on his own. 
  So what struck me about these 4?

Working with the Missionaries of the Poor (MOP)

MOP Reflections: Introduction

It's high time I documented this experience, but I have a hard time talking about service sometimes. I so hold myself to a high standard of being genuine that I worry about my words not doing this experience justice. Yet, I've made several volunteer trips to MOP, Jamaica, with my family, and each has undeniably changed our perspectives and left a deep impact on our lives. It is definitely something worth sharing, so here we go! (Skip to the end to see the video compilation)

Volunteer Crew 2016