You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
another treatment. These herbs for the steam bath will last a week. Then I<br />
will pick them fresh for you again.”<br />
They nodded happily.<br />
“Before you take her home, I would like to say the <strong>Maya</strong> prayers for<br />
her, <strong>with</strong> your permission,” I said.<br />
“Yes, of course,” they answered in unison.<br />
It was a moving moment for me. I felt her pulse and, by its rhythm,<br />
instantly knew which prayer to use. I repeated the prayer three times over<br />
her right wrist, three times over her left wrist, and three times over her<br />
forehead. As I looked down at her, cuddled comfortably in her mother’s lap,<br />
our eyes met. She reminded me of a helpless, innocent creature one might<br />
encounter in the bush. I badly wanted to help this child and said an extra<br />
prayer for myself.<br />
The family left in much better spirits than when they arrived. The father<br />
carried his daughter in his arms to the truck, where he placed her tenderly<br />
on her mother’s lap. He covered Shajira <strong>with</strong> a blanket and rolled up the<br />
window. Good. Very smart, I thought.<br />
Over the next few months, Shajira and her parents returned twice<br />
weekly for treatments, prayers, and herbs. For the first month, there was no<br />
improvement. But none of us lost faith. We consoled and encouraged each<br />
other and continued <strong>with</strong> the treatment program. I conferred several times<br />
<strong>with</strong> Don Elijio, who agreed completely <strong>with</strong> the course of treatment I had<br />
prescribed.<br />
By the fifth week, Shajira was able to stand up unassisted. By the sixth<br />
week she could take halting steps, dragging her right leg. The treatments<br />
were still painful, but she was now comfortable enough <strong>with</strong> me so that I<br />
could manage to keep her laughing and hopeful.<br />
Things really began to improve by the beginning of the third month. By<br />
now she could walk from the truck to the treatment room. The next week,<br />
she returned to school for the first time since her illness.<br />
After twelve weeks, Shajira was 95 percent recovered. She still had<br />
residual tenderness in the spinal column, but her sacrum was no longer<br />
sensitive and she had regained full use of her legs.<br />
I can’t tell you how happy it made me to see her running and playing in<br />
the schoolyard.