Lice

About 12 days ago I got the horrible news that I had lice in my hair. I did not believe it at first, because I thought lice was only in hair that was oily and dirty. I found out this was not true. I have had lice for almost a month probably because there were eggs in my hair as well. Yeah…I know you are probably thinking…disgusting. Go ahead! Think it! I did and I still do! And it is funny how once one person knows about it here, everyone knows about it (something I would have rather not had everyone and their mother be in on). This whole lice thing was devastating to me. You see, I have become Thai in my heart and there is one thing very important to every girl. This is her hair! Most of you know that I am a hair person already. I like new hair styles and colors that are fun. Now…I like long hair…like at least to your waist... Trust me, this is an important thing for us Thai’s ;-) When I first found out about the lice I thought I would have to shave my head. I felt like a leper in my head. But, all the Thai’s around me consider lice a “no big deal” kind of thing. Many said “Oh, I have had that” and a few said, “I just had that last month…I might still have them in my hair.” I could not believe it! But I got the chemical shampoo and I have stayed up late nights going through every inch of my hair on my own. And then having my friends pick through my hair and make sure they are all gone. We can praise the Lord that the Lice is gone from my head at this time! Now, everyone says that the Lice came from the children at Mahatthai 3 (Our mercy ministry). I am there often with the children and apparently many of the children have lice. And now I know that lice jumps and after two weeks you can have eggs and two weeks later those eggs hatch.
So, last Saturday, I was at Mahatthai—with my new lice free hair-and I was for the first time aware of the fact that when picking the children up, their jumping on my back, sitting in my lap, etc…Their little heads of hair touched every inch of my head of hair. Within ten minutes of a sitting down for Joy Kids, one of the girls said that the little girl in my lap had lice. I got real stiff for a second and then realized that this is my ministry. I can’t let this get in the way of loving on these children. I just have to be aware of the lice and now take precautions for myself. So, from now on, my hair is in a tight bun every time I go to Mahatthai. And every Saturday evening, when I shower, I use the lice treatment. So therefore if any lice jumped onto my head, I will kill it before it can do anything-like lay eggs and multiply. =)
The fun part now is that today, we shampooed all of the girls heads of hair with the lice killing shampoo. We gave them each shower caps as they had to let the shampoo sit in their hair for 15 minutes. It was sweet because they all felt so beautiful with their shower caps on. Too Cute! Next week we will do the process of shampooing again and I will try to remember my Camera so that I can take pictures of this memory. This will not cure the lice issues of the community but, it will help a little.