blood

Bolivian hospitals never cease to amaze me.  I don't know how they accomplish anything because the system is so backwards and the staff is incredibly unorganized.  I spent most of this week at the hospital, and every time I go, there seems to be some new ridiculous thing that blows the other ridiculous things out of the water.  Last night, I found myself cutting through dark hallways carrying an open vile of blood, which was resting precariously inside a hole on the top of a cardboard box that was wrapped in shiny, "happy birthday" wrapping paper...

Yesterday evening, I came across one of the girls who I hadn't seen in a few days and noticed that she was really sick.  She was complaining of excruciating pain in her feet, her back, and her joints and could barely move.  So I took her to the pediatric emergency room because she's only 14.  She was running a fever of 104 and had an open, bloody throat infection that every doctor in emergency wanted to see.  Two hours later, the doctors finally give her something to lower the fever, which helped her joints start to loosen up.

One of the ladies from the night shelter is taking the girl back to the hospital today to pick up her blood work and get some specific treatment. We're hoping to get her into a girls' home, but we were told we'd have to wait until Wednesday because this weekend is Carnaval.  

This girl is only 14 but is already smoking crack cocaine on a fairly regular basis.  Her mom ditched the kids and took off to Buenos Aires a little over 2 years ago, so she and her sister are both on the streets in Cocha.  Both sisters come and go from the bridge quite often.

The girls are definitely more transient than the guys.  They come and go every few weeks or days but tend to stay in specific areas. I really need to get a foot in the door with some other groups in different parts of the city where the girls stay.  The problem is that some of those areas are incredibly dangerous, and I can't just go barging in.  So I'm praying for open doors.