Humbled

There's a pervasive idea that we should give/help only when we have more than we need/want. When we have an excess, sure, we can give to others. 

Here at the camp I see how wrong that idea is. All you need is a generous heart. The people I am meeting here are teaching me so much, I'm starting to doubt that I came here to help them. They are the ones helping me! 

I started a project to screen all the residents >40 and the pregnant ladies for diabetes and high blood pressure. That means I have been walking around the camp visiting the rooms and talking to them (through a translator) to ask them to fast for 12hrs and come see me in the morning. And they smile at me, invite me for dinner, for a cup of tea, the kids jump in my arms, or follow me around everywhere. They left everything behind, fleeing for their lives. They have nothing, but what little they have, they're willing to share. 

I'm humbled by their generosity, and I only hope I can learn from them. 

A few general pictures of the camp to give you all an idea of how things are:

Entrance to the abandoned factory converted into living quarters

Corridors

Corridors

Some families closed up little corridors and use adjacent rooms as rooms in a house

Cooking facilities 

The delicious food provided by us by some of the refugees, who insisted we all come to dinner, then actually came back to the clinic the next day and brought us another plateful! 

Here they are! I asked them to teach me how to make it. Hopefully that will work!! 

The tents outside -- it's too cold now, so they're being moved in, but some don't want to, because the rooms are all close together. In the tents they have more privacy

The UNHCR is responsible for registering them and also provide the tents, blankets and other necessities

There's even a little library!!