Complicated Things Made Simple

Photo: The "waiting room" at the Shalom Center.

Photo: Jocelyn with the physical therapist.

I just love Lima. It is a thriving metropolis of chaos and excitement. I have not spent much time in Lima for a few years. Most of my recent trips to Peru have involved one or two day stays in Lima with continued travel to outlying cities or communities. For the past week, I have spent all of my time in Lima. I have missed the “City of Kings.”

One thing that can’t be said about Lima any longer is that it is a “third world” city. No, by any measure – Lima is a first world city surrounded by third world poverty. In all of the parts of the city that cater to tourists and international travelers, the streets are clean, the amenities plentiful and the visible luxuries are all around. However, if you travel a short distance to the north, south, or east you will quickly run into some of the most impoverished communities in the world. Communities like Pamplona, San Juan de Miraflores, and Nueva Esperanza – places with pot-hole ridden streets, garbage strewn side walks and massive unemployment.

Yesterday afternoon I went to such a place.

I have been to the Shalom Center many times before. However, this was a new experience. The center has recently changed locations; and this was my first visit to the new Shalom Center.

Reverend Pat Blanchard has built a place for special needs children to come and receive therapy. She has collected a number of professionals (physical and occupational therapists, speech pathologists) and built a clinic around the needs of the children of Pamplona living in extreme poverty. Children with complex developmental issues and severe physical handicaps.

Yesterday afternoon, as I sat in the central room of the center and watched the children awaiting appointments sing and dance with their mothers, it suddenly became clear to me that the real “healing” that happens at the Shalom Center is well beyond the work of the therapists. Yesterday I came to understand that the true healing comes in the way of love.

Jocelyn is a severely handicapped child. She was born with Cerebral Palsy. Her life has been anything but easy. Last year, because of a mounting array of medical complications, she had a feeding tube placed. Her body is emaciated. Her muscles are twisted and distorted. Yet, she has a spirit that is evident in her angelic eyes and the gentle smile on her lips.

Yesterday afternoon, as I watched Jocelyn receive physical therapy, I saw a smile come accross her thin face. I witnessed a smile that seemed to transcend all of the apparent suffering that I could witness in her twisted and frail body. I saw a little girl responded fully to the gentle touch and the loving kindness that the physical therapist used to soften her rigid muscles and to straighten her crooked limbs.

I wish I could say that I witnessed miraculous healing. I wish I could say that her body was straightened. I wish I could say that Jocelyn was healed and free of pain and suffering. I can’t say any of those things.

Rather, what I did see was the sort of healing that comes from years of dedicated work and compassion. I saw a little girl respond to the loving way that everyone at the Shalom Center interacted with her. I saw a mother, a woman who takes sole care of this little girl with very little resources, relax and soften her furrowed brow. I saw a smile on Jocelyn’s face that expressed the healing happening inside of her – in spite of the physical limitations her body possesses.