Meeting Our Dear Sister Niurka - Monday, December 11

Today was a day I had been looking forward to for about two weeks.  The missionary sister, Teresa, that I had posted about earlier took me to meet a very special sister.  Her name is Niurka.  If any of you would like to read the article Teresa wrote about her you can do so in the March 1, 2008 Watchtower (pg. 24), in the article "I have never felt such love".  As you will find out in the article, Niurka was not born blind, but was born with a genetic disease called Marfan syndrome, which has caused her blindness and deafness at a later age.  Teresa was the one who originally found Niurka and continued to study with her to the point of baptism.  Although the local missionary home was relocated to Santaigo about two years ago, Teresa makes it a point to visit Niurka, who lives in Moca  (about 30 minutes from Santiago), every chance she can.  As you will read in the article, Niurka is totally blind, but as far as her hearing, she can hear a little if you talk loudly in her ear with the help of her hearing aids.  Teresa did need to talk directly into Niurka's ear to talk with her today, and Niurka was able to respond correctly. Since there was a long period of time between when her world went "silent" and Teresa meeting her, she had forgotten how to use words.  It would be as if a person were bedbound and they were suddenly able to walk.  Their muscles would have to be retrained on how to support the weight of the body, and to function normally.  Teresa had taught Niurka ASL (American Sign Language), knowing the eventually her hearing will go also.  Niurka has a sister that has the same condition, and a brother that has already passed away from it. 

Teresa was able to obtain a pair of hearing aids from a friend in the states whose parent had passed away.  Even though the hearing aids are not tuned into her specific hearing loss, it is better than what they had to work with before.

Getting the opportunity to meet and talk (sign) with such a remarkable person is something that I consider a special treasure that I can take home with me.  Being here and getting to work with the deaf and deaf/blind that are treated worse than dirt, it helps recognize the struggles that they have to overcome in order to learn about Jehovah and see the appreciation that they have for the promises Jehovah give to us all.

Here are some pictures of her house and our dear sister Niurka:

James (Dad) meeting Niurka.

Teresa spelling by use of Tactile - meaning she either fingerspells a word (as she is doing here) or signs normally into her hands - you have to go very slow with her since her learning and comprehension level is not what it used to be

Teresa had me do Tactile with her so that Niurka could get used to others person's signing styles - we did just fine - She does tire very easily and Teresa would have to go back to voicing to her in Spanish in her ear

This is Niurka's NEW house - her sister won the lottery (literally) and started this house for them - but never finished it - yes that is a chicken in the living room - there were many that constantly kept coming in the house

Niurka has learned to read Braille - so this is her God's Love book in Braille

Me signing "if" with Niurka

This is their kitchen area

This is the dining room

Here is one of the pesky chickens that continually bothered us

The road leading to Niurka's house is dirt all the way - this is an area of the road that has such deep potholes in it that we had to get out and walk in the mud or else the car would bottom out with the extra weight - this causes a problem when it is raining for the brothers and sisters to be able to get to Niurka to be able to pick her up - since she cannot see the roads and their condition she cannot understand why they sometimes don't pick her up