Working as a nurse on the streets:

"When all children on the street wanted to have a white bandage on their hand..."

Elisabeth Lawrence
June 2002

Elisabeth Lawrence is the medical worker of the Odessa street patrol. She is actually our only foreign field worker. Her skills have been very important for out patrol. In addition to her competence she has a special love towards suffering children and she is ready to big sacrifice for them.

Elisabeth comes from Peterborough, England, where she also receives her support from. Working with the Odessa street patrol she has seen many tragical cases. In the following Elisabeth tells about her work on the street:

Children without money and papers don't receive medical treatment

I have been working as a nurse with street children in Ukraine for almost 2
years now. It has been and is a real privilege to be able to show in a
practical way God's love and care for these children. Giving medical care
directly on the street has been quite challenging, especially in the winter
months when it is freezing.

Street children have little or no access to medical care and we know
children who have been refused treatment and thrown out of hospitals.( It
must be remembered that hospitals have very little money and most health
care and any medication must be paid for by the individual requiring it).
The children do not have money and are not registered and therefore can not receive help. I treated one young boy of 10yrs who had been run over by a car and sustained several injuries and a head injury. He should have been admitted to hospital but he was only given stitches and put back on the street. I was able to dress his other wounds and could only advise his
friends not to leave him on his own and what the signs would be if his head
injury was becoming serious and further treatment needed.

Bandage on the hand means that somebody cares...

Much of my work has been in giving first aid which has also had wider
implications and is so much more than " just a plaster".

Many of the children have very little self esteem and do not care what they look like,so it is quite a step forward when they start to come and ask you to treat their wounds and are concerned about infections and how they look.

On one occasion I needed to bandage a boys hand and then found myself surrounded by children all wanting a bandage. Apart from imagining all of Odessa's street children running around with one white hand I realized that it's the fact that someone cares and is prepared to give them individual time and attention that's really important and the not the actual bandage itself.

Diseases and self harming

The children have many health problems due to life on the street the most
common being skin infections, head lice and problems related to glue
sniffing. Life on the street is hard and glue sniffing is a way to forget
for a while the difficulties. I talk with the children to help them
understand about the dangers and long term effects of glue sniffing but know that in reality unless their situation changes they are unlikely to stop.

Many of the children also "self harm" which often involves using glass or a
sharp object to cut themselves. This is in part due to the pain and
rejection they feel and is a way of letting out their anger and hurt.
Recently I have also treated children who "self harmed" as a group after
glue sniffing.

Showing God's love

If these children are going to have a future they need to know there is a
God who loves and cares about their situation and can change it. Giving
Medical care on the street can only treat some of the childrens health needs
but I believe is an important first step in reaching out to and caring
for them with God's love.