Here is Lesbia's recipe for baked oatmeal. It is kind of like a cake, but it is really good in a bowl with some milk and bananas. She wrote it for me on Saturday morning, and I translated it for everyone -- there has been some talk about including it in the St. John cookbook.
Baked Oatmeal
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup oil
1 cup sugar
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
3 cups oatmeal
2 T cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix all liquid ingredients (eggs, milk, oil.)
Add the rest of the ingredients. Place the mix in a baking pan (9" by 13") and bake for 30-40 minutes.
Well, this morning is our final morning in Matagalpa, and the Rooster did not disappoint. In fact, he was up earlier than ever. I first heard him at 3:58 am, and I have not been back to sleep since. I finally gave up around 5:15 and got in the shower.
I laid in bed thinking a lot about Oliver and Perla ("Pearl" in English). They are the little children Mary Ann blogged about last night. I am still processing that experience...and really the whole week in general. But these two little ones got to all of us yesterday.
Oliver came in with his mother, Sonia, and she first sat down with me to be screened for reading glasses after she passed her distance exam. Ryan said he thought the little boy was blind, but maybe we could have Gary take a look after Sonia was done. Sonia did in fact need a pair of reading glasses. While I worked with her, I asked her about Oliver. She said that he had been born that way, and he could not see at all. The saddest part: she had two year old daughter, Pearl, at home with the same condition. I took one of our "registration slips" and filled it out with Oliver´s name and age, and Ryan and I walked them over to sit down with Gary. Sonia also shared with Alex (who pinch-hit for Luanne and interpreted for Gary yesterday, thanks Alex!) that Oliver had in fact had eye surgery in the past. Gary had a hard time getting a reading on Oliver´s eyes. He wasn´t entirely sure, I don´t think, what they had done to his eyes.
Gary asked Sonia about Pearl, and she said she was outside, so he asked her to bring her in. Pearl was a little peanut and like Oliver, looked younger than she is. As Mary Ann said, when he looked in Pearl´s eyes, her corneas were so cloudy and very blue. As Alex told Sonia that there was little we could do, and asked her to bring in the paperwork from Oliver´s surgery, Sonia got tears in her eyes. I couldn´t even imagine. She is 29, so almost exactly my age, and here she is with two children, 9 and 2, that cannot see. Pearl was grasping at her mother´s breast, trying to nurse. I am sure that since she cannot see, this still brings her a great deal of comfort.
Sonia returned later in the day with the surgery paperwork. I am not sure that it really helped provide much more information, but Omar said that there is a possibility of help being provided to them, and he took her outside to talk to her some more.
I wonder, what is next for Sonia, Oliver, and Pearl? I read these stories in People Magazine or see them on the news about Americans who bring children from other countries to the US so they can recieve medical care for serious problem. I wonder, is this a good idea? If, say, we were able to bring this family to the US for treatment, how would that go? How would we teach them about our way of life, our conveniences? Then how would we send them back home? Is the end result worth it? Would that be fair to them? I would think yes, but I would also think maybe no. I suppose the best home for them is that the government here can provide some kind of care, or maybe eventually medical treatment, that could help these children see. I doubt they get to recieve much education since they probably cannot attend a regular school. I doubt Sonia recieves any help. I am sure she cannot leave them alone, and that must wear on her greatly.
Finally, I worry, what if they have more children? What kind of burden will this put on her? Gary said it is very likely that this was caused by some sort of STD or toxoplasmosis, but we will never really know. Either way, it sounds like Sonia and her husband should not have anymore children. But how does she know that?
Before Sonia left, I hugged her with tears in my eyes, too, and I told her she was a good mother, and that this was not her fault. I hope she knows that. But I imagine that must haunt her every day, even though she does not know what caused it.
I don´t mean to leave such a sad post, but this is what we´ve seen, where we have been. It was a good day, Friday. And I think that we will all remember Oliver and Pearl. And we pray for you and your dear Mama.