Last night, though, was very different. It was about 8:30 and we had only been cleaning for a little bit when we heard screams coming from the main house. The main house is attached to the nursery and is where all the adopted kids and family of TLC’s founder live. We stood there wondering for a moment if the kids were just rough housing, when we heard screams for help and one of the kids ran in and grabbed my night shift leader. In the next hour, we found out that a gas heater in one of the boys’ rooms upstairs had exploded, his room was on fire, and he had been badly burned. We rushed buckets of water upstairs and hurriedly carried the children downstairs into our nursery. It was really difficult because the kids were all in shock. Many had seen their brother’s burnt face as he ran out of the house screaming. (He ran to the yard and finally ended up jumping in the pool.) There was a 14 year old boy we found curled up in a corner of the kitchen unable to move, another boy was shaking too hard to hold a cup of milk, still another just stared unseeingly into space, and a little girl kept repeating over and over how scared she was. The boy who was burnt was quickly driven to the hospital (which is faster than waiting for an ambulance). Once we had all of the main house kids safely in our nursery, we wrapped them in blankets and hugged them tightly and told them they were safe. They were terrified for their brother. Most of the main house kids are kids who never got adopted, so the founder’s family adopted them. And to them, family is priceless. Soon after we got them into the nursery, we gathered around and prayed. I was surprised at how some of the youngest had the most profound prayers. One little boy asked for angelic presence in his brother’s hospital room! Praying together really seemed to calm them, although they were still very much afraid. Eventually we sent the younger ones to sleep at a volunteer’s cottage who they knew pretty well. The older ones watched a movie with another volunteer in their living room. And later we found out that the boy who had been burned was stable. Please pray for his healing and for the other children to have peace.
The rest of the night was pretty rough for us. Night staff was pretty shaken. The sounds of the boy’s screaming were haunting and I found myself jumping every time someone walked into the room. It wasn’t until I called someone and asked them to pray for me that I was finally able to calm down. Still, the light from the rising sun was a welcome sight. Dawn was beautiful and it was as if everything that happened the night before was just a vague dream.
In other news, on Friday I was able to join in on a trip to the hospital to pick up a newborn. When we got there, though, the baby hadn’t been born yet and we were asked to temporarily take care of the one year old sister. Pippa, one of the ladies who helps run TLC, wasn’t pleased although she mentioned it wasn’t rare for the hospitals to only tell her half-truths. So we took the little girl, Phiphi, for the night and went back today to return Phiphi and to pick up the newborn. (The mother wanted to keep Phiphi but felt she would be unable to also care for the newborn.) Since I’ve been here at TLC, we’ve had 5 adoptions and 2 babies come in. By the way, our new baby is gorgeous! In the picture, she is less than 24 hrs. old. -Laura
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