Good News About Etienne & Yvonne Update

So, let's start with the good news. The really GREAT news is that Etienne, one of our city's African refugees won the Bill & Melissa Gates Foundation Scholarships this week!! My husband Adam was so happy because he helped Etienne apply for college and scholarships and he particularly enjoyed reading the other recipients who were from ivy league schools. Etienne is the first one in his family to be going to college and will be attending Missouri State in Springfield in the Fall.

Now, for an update on Yvonne. This weekend several fire fighters and police officers surrounded her because they saw her fire and thought that someone was trying to burn down the Bear Creek Bridge, where she has been living. It was just Yvonne's fire to stay warm. When she was suddenly surrounded she screamed and was taken into custody and taken in for a psychiatric evaluation. They have kept her since Saturday, but released her...at the bridge...today. I left her a voice mail on her phone saying, "It's raining, we would be happy to get you a hotel room tonight" but she told her new friend Daniel, a college student, that she didn't want to go. Daniel is disappointed that the mental hospital didn't keep her since he has known her the best the last couple months and says that she needs help. We've learned this past week that since Yvonne is not in her right mind it's been hard helping her. So, what all of us are trying to do is what we think she would like us to do if she were in her right mind. I keep thinking to myself when she is heaven and if she is able to revisit the tape of what is going on I want her to see that we love her, want to help her, and are doing all we can to try and help her.