A Fresh Breath

Happy Birthday Kelsey!

I surprised one of my best friends In Chicago with a birthday call this morning and she did not recognize my voice even though I told her my name.. twice. She claims it was because it was such an unexpected call, but clearly, this reaction was an early sign of aging;) Love you Helen!

Because of the nature of the things at the hospital lately, I had not the slightest idea of what this day would bring. As Kristi and I approached the hospital, we noticed several children running around outside… were those… no… were those our patients?! Two little girls around the age of 3 came running to us, giggling with ear to ear smiles and IV canulas still in their little hands. Not only were they healthy again, but they had pulled me back to my center: this is why I do what I do here. I breathed a sigh of relief as I followed their cute little butts back into the children’s ward to begin a day I knew was going to be great.

My patient interaction has significantly increased since Kristi’s arrival, and I love it. We function as a team. She is the doctor and I am well, the physician’s assistant haha. I know what is going on with everyone and I really like that. I feel very connected and plugged in. Our patients are doing well, but we get just as many as we sent home the day before. Typhoid and malaria. Typhoid and malaria. It is so predictable. If someone would just fix our water system, we could get rid of this problem!! It is totally preventable and this blasted government will not do a darn thing about it!

We had a little boy today who has meningitis, the first I have observed since I have been here. On top of that, he is hydrocephalus, making it impossible for his 4 year old frame to hold his massive head up right. He just lays there. Perfectly still. All day. Time must pass so slowly for him, and I do not know what we will be able to do for him.

I had another first today: we have an emaciated old man who came in completely dehydrated with a blood pressure of 40/20!! You are wondering how the man was alive, and I will tell you I am still wondering that myself. It has to be something he has been dealing with for a while, otherwise this man would have kicked the bucket today. He is not out of the woods yet, but we are hopeful.

Back to the children’s ward. I mentioned the two little girls who came to great us. One of them was the granddaughter of the Kitiak chief who came over to our house the other evening. This strong, quiet man is revered in this community, well respected as a man and as a leader devoted to his people. I was so happy we were able to care for and help someone so dear to him because he does so many good things for us. She is by far the most happy, active little kid we have had here. She was the life of the party, and I hate to say this, but I am almost sad she’s better because I won’t get to see her tomorrow!

Tomorrow… I will not be at the hospital tomorrow I just remembered.

I am actually going to Tamale to get an extension on my passport. It is the most ridiculous thing as I had taken care of this in the U.S. before I left. As it turns out, regardless of how long I said I was going to be here, if it was longer than 60 days, I have to pay more money and apply for an extension. Real cool, Ghana. But I have the best news, it just so happens Abraham is in Tamale visiting Zee so I will get to see them both again!! I am so very happy about this.  

I got the greatest footage of Saboba for you today. I turned my video on and just started walking from my house all the way through town to see Joe and Pastor Jideoh. Kristi and I ran into some of the funniest things while the camera was rolling. On top of that, I got the best monologue from Pastor Jidoh, so most of you can meet him. He is just hilarious. I am trying to accumulate personal introductions from these people so you can understand why I love them so much.

Speaking of love, Pastor Jidoh knows how much I love these egg sandwiches he served me once and insisted we have some before we left to check on some of our patients this evening. The power went out at his house, so we sat out in the courtyard under a blanket of stars, sipping pineapple tea and eating egg sandwiches laughing and talking. He blesses me so much and I will never be able to repay him for his endless generosity. It is memories like tonight that are going to make me cry when I am gone. I just know it.

Today was truly a great day, and I needed a good one like this.  

Though you do not have round huts and a starry, summery night to sit in, take time for friends and strangers alike and be good to them. The more you give, the more you receive.

Here's To You, Billy

Billy Joel was in Saboba today. I had his best hits reel running through my mind from the moment I met Bilijo in bed five of the male ward. I know his name isn’t exactly Billy Joel, but the way he said it, all I could think of was “Uptown Girl.” I couldn’t tell you anything else about Bilijo, other than he has typhoid and malaria like everyone else in the hospital, because Kristi and I were feverishly working our way through rounds, but I do appreciate him giving me songs to hum while I worked.

After today, I feel like a professional prescriptionist. We were a little down in numbers today, so I wrote prescriptions and filled out some basic insurance information while Kristi did her doctor thing, assessing each patient and charting. As I have said before, we make a great team. She asked the new admits how they are doing and we hear abdominal pains, vomiting and dizziness, boom. Typhoid and malaria. I had Ciprofloxacin and Artusentate/Amodiaquine and the appropriate dosages written down before I finished the first line of “The Longest Time.” Thanks Billy. I am learning so much. We have been tossing around a few team name ideas, but I don’t think we’ve found the right one yet. It has to fit just right, and I take these tasks very seriously.

You know that Precious has won the cutest baby contest for all times, but I did have the pleasure of meeting the world’s happiest baby in a hospital today. She was cracking me up. I do not usually see babies with such giggly dispositions for such a young age here. They are either too sick to be happy or ghastly afraid of my white skin, so this was a nice change. While it wasn’t quite to this extent, I did feel like I was watching the laughing babies on that Youtube video that went viral.

The book I am reading, was reading I should say, got canned. I couldn’t take it anymore. Page 98 and we have his SECOND attempt at a proposal, which was so not romantic and severely under-planned, so I tossed it. I have higher expectations that than. I started looking through the pile Dr. Jean brought me and found one about a “shy librarian from Louisiana” who answers a personal ad for a wife from a rancher in Montana. Montana?!?! It has to be good!! Those are my people and they are not pushovers. In fact I hope they fight the whole book and realize half way through they feel something for each other, but they don’t let on until the end. Yes, some sass would be good.

Trinity came over tonight. I wrote her a math test to quiz her on what we have been learning and she told me this morning I was “quite the examiner.” I guess the test I wrote packed some heat, which really was not my intention. However, I was quite proud of some of the problems I made up. I am very anxious to see how she does on it. We actually ended up talking the most of the time she was here, which was so great. She is one of my favorites here. She is the only girl my age I am friends with, so I always love our time together. I love on her any chance I get. I get to know her in pieces. Tonight we talked for a long time about her family situation and how that has shaped her. It is a sad story, but she, like most people I meet her, finds a million reasons to be thankful. She’s such a sweet girl.

I find I miss the weirdest things… like cereal. I love cereal and though Cinnamon Toast Crunch is not on my Top 4 favorites list, it sounded so good to me tonight, so I made it up. Powdered milk, corn flakes, sugar and cinnamon. Simple yes, but at this stage of the game, oh so satisfying.

Keep praying for our hospital.

I hope you are all doing well. I am hearing news of babies and I am HAPPY. Katie and Jenny, two of my dearest in Helena, are expecting in July, the super cute girl who cuts my hair just found out she is expecting and so one of my aunties!!!!  Mills baby #25 woo woo!!

Much love to you all.

"The Warrior Is A Child"

I had a rather interesting learning experience about myself this afternoon. I had my nose in my novel I about a wedding planner who is losing her hope in the magic of love and the super hot NHL player who can’t let anyone in this afternoon, and I found myself disgusted. Page 60 and we’re really falling in love?! Please. I cannot handle pushovers. Not only was their falling in love too easy, but his confession of his love to her was hardly warm enough to melt the ice he stakes on much less the reader’s! Another thing. I have grown up with manly men so I understand, somewhat, how men think or don’t think rather, and I guarantee our hockey player was not thinking about the girl during the first game of the Stanley Cup. Women who write books like this DO NOT know the last thing about a man in the heat of competition. I just could not take this seriously.

Are you hearing this? This is honestly the conversation I was having in my head while reading this afternoon. This is not how hopeless romantics read books- I know this- so I am having somewhat of an identity crisis. My brothers are not going to believe me, but I think I might be a lot more rational than I ever thought.

While I am not at liberty to discuss this in detail, things at the hospital are in a bit of an upheaval right now. We are experiencing unrest driven by greed and selfishness in which ultimately the innocent will suffer from. It is wrong on so many levels. If you are a praying person, I would beg you to keep the hospital, Dr. Jean and the people of Saboba who will suffer from this in your prayers. I know that God is notorious for making something great out of awful experiences, especially when change is needed, and that just might be what will happen in Saboba.  

I do not like what I feel right now. I feel distrust. I feel disappointment and anger, and I feel myself callusing because there are people here who Dr. Jean and consequently myself, have trusted that causing all these problems. How much more Dr. Jean feels… The injustice I see here is overwhelming, and I feel myself slipping into my own reality because I literally cannot comprehend why people do some of the things they do. Some things you cannot believe until you see them with your own eyes, and even then, you still cannot believe it.

I forgot to mention yesterday that we were graced with a visit from one of the chiefs, which was a really big deal. Kristi and I just stared at him during his visit with Dr.  Jean, in awe of how cool it was that a chief was sitting in our living room. He had gotten word of all this and came to get the scoop from Dr. Jean. I have liked this man from the first time I met him. He is very wise and very good at managing people. He is exactly who you want on your side during times like these. It’s all about who you know.
However, there is beauty in struggle. There are so many examples of this in nature, in life and in relationships. Greatness is never achieved without overcoming adversity. It is an opportunity to grow, to stretch and let God mold you into something better. This is not new to me as I have experience this before, like every day of my college basketball career (!!), God’s peace in amidst chaos. It’s like I am standing in the middle of an intersection with cars and trucks blowing by and angry gust of wind swirling around me and yet nothing can hit me. I am safe, enveloped in the quiet, strong arms of peace.

I was doing rounds today with Kristi- all of our patients are doing well by the way! The miracle, ectopic lady is doing so well, and I smile the whole time I am at her bed. Our cholera patient went home today! I walked by his room, just to peek my head in and he was sitting up on the edge of his bed. He saw me, smiled his huge, white Ghanaian smile and waved. I was so relieved. Obviously, I have no experience with cholera other than the movie “The Painted Veil” which is very good by the way, but apparently, fluids and the same antibiotic I am taking for an anti-malarial work like a charm. You can recover just as quickly if it is not at an advanced stage as it can take your life. Cholera, stay away from Saboba.

I was the most grossed out today as I have ever been… ever. It made me feel better knowing that Dr. Jean, in her 30 years of surgery had never seen anything like it either. Because I know there are people reading this who are not fascinated with gross things like I am, I will try and be lady-like about this. However, if you want more details, email me because I would love to elaborate.

We had just finished rounds in the female ward with Dr. Jean who had JUST arrived when we saw a woman being wheeled in, curled over one side, moaning in agonizing pain. Dr. Jean called it from the distance. She had some kind of prolapse, and it was bleeding everywhere. We hoisted the poor woman on the bed and took a look… it was just awful. An absolute disaster. Dr. Jean suspected she had polyp burst in addition to an anal prolapse, and it was bleeding so profusely, I had to run and grab a suture kit for Dr. Jean who had to sew her on the bed and put things back in their rightful position...  with not anesthesia of any kind. It was brutal. It was estimated she had lots maybe 5 liters of blood in only a few hours. We had to ship her to Tamale because it was so severe. Thank GOD Dr. Jean arrived when she did…

I hit a brick wall at about 11 o’clock this morning shortly after this incident. I was nearly asleep standing up and my stomach felt queasy. I couldn’t chance this so I left.“Oh no no no you are not getting sick!!” I told myself as I walked home. I was convinced I could sleep this off. I woke up, sweating of course, two hours later and felt so much better. I do not know what that was all about, but I am so very thankful it did not escalate. I cannot afford to get sick here. There is too much to do!

 Tomorrow we will be an interesting day, as it is expected much of this hospital stuff will come to a head, so keep us in your prayers over here.

There are many of you I am praying for too. Our issues here are no bigger than yours, and I would encourage you to find the same peace I have found. It is there waiting for you. You do not have to fight the battles you are fighting by yourself. God will do that for you and give you peace on all sides. And if you are fighting, it is ok to set down your sword and cry. It doesn’t mean you are not strong, it means you feel because your ability to love. I had to call home yesterday and do just that, and my mom sent me this song a dear friend of ours used to sing:

Unafraid because His armor is the best

But even soldiers need a quiet place to rest

People say that I'm amazing

Never face retreat

But they don't see the enemies

That lay me at His feet

They don't know that I go running home when I fall down

They don't know who picks me up when no one is around

I drop my sword and cry for just a while

'Cause deep inside this armor

The warrior is a child

Lipuul Love (and what NOT to say to U.S. girls)

If I was in the Hollywood, movie-making scene, other than starring in the movies themselves and having my handsome co-stars take me out to dinner, I think I would like to be the person responsible for putting the movie to music and make it come to life. I put music to my own life as a way of cataloging my experiences, and for my own amusement. For instance, does “Who’s that Lady?” really play when I walk through the door? Not likely, but I crack myself up thinking it does. I know I have been thrown around in the back seat driving down the dusty road to Damongo to “Magic Carpet Ride” and watched the sunrise from Mole to the Lion King sunrise song and danced out of bed in the morning to “Stayin Alive” as a little pick-me-up.

Life sounds good here.

However, Sunday as I rode on the back of a motorcycle into a small village about an hour’s drive from Saboba, there was no music. Only the quiet hum the motorcycle and a song in Twi I just learned. I sighed breathed deeply, taking in the fresh, cool morning air. It felt good, and I needed to breathe.

God knows what we need exactly when we need it, and Sunday, He used Jonah to do just that. Jonah had asked me to go with him to a church plant in one of the villages and because of the situation at the hospital, I did not want to leave Kristi, even though she is perfectly capable of handling herself, and wasn’t happy about going. We had a cholera patient coming in and I was intrigued and wanted to be in on the action. How bad was it? Rice water stool bad?! All I could think about was the movie “The Painted Veil.” I couldn’t back out on Jonah, so I convinced myself out the door this was the better option. The less exposure to cholera the better right? Not convinced, I climbed on the back. My attitude was poor today and I needed to pull it together.

Nothing will lift your spirits like a solid dose of Jonah Manyan. We headed west towards a small town of Wapuli and talked the majority of the way over the pleasant drone of the motorcycle. He always knows what to say, he always speaks truth and believes in the best and he has such great perspective. There was a lot I needed to get off my chest, which I hadn’t realized until I starting talking. The more I talked, the more I had to say, and the more words came out, the more relieved I felt. He is always so encouraging to me, and I find his love for people because of his love for Christ deeply inspiring.

Arrived in Wapuli, only to find they had not come yet. Imagine our church services  in the U.S. operating like this. Maybe the inevitable sibling fights or being late because it was a bad morning would cease.

We jumped back on the motorcycle on continued to the second village. I had thought he only went to Wapuli every other Sunday, but as it turns out he goes to two different villages. I believe it is about 15 miles to Wapuli and just as far onto Lifuul, so totally driving time one way was over an hour and I loved it.

The village of Lifuul will have a special place in my heart. Jonah had told me on the way that he had only been coming to Lifuul for a year now after he had heard from a high school boy from here that there were no churches. Not only were there no churches, they had never, ever heard about Jesus.

Regardless of your view of God, you have heard about him and this guy named Jesus from somewhere in your lifetime. Maybe your super Catholic, crazy grandma used to drag you to mass when you were little or your kid goes to church with the family down the road or maybe you yourself have been fortunate enough to be raised with the knowledge and understanding that you have hope and life through Jesus Christ. Can you imagine? It’s 2011 and until last year, these people thought ancestral worship and pagan sacrifices to all their gods had never once heard such a concept. And Pastor Jonah, along with his associate pastor have introduced them, gently, from the very beginning to the our Lord. What an absolutely incredible thing to be a part of. He says he doesn’t go to preach. He loves to teach and that’s what he does. I asked him several questions about this like how exactly do you introduce something like this to a culture of people who knows nothing, has never even heard, the good news. You start small, you build relationships and be patient as these things take time. Those are wise words coming from a man who has no motorcycle of his home or a steady income.  

When we arrived in Lipuul at the school house where they meet, I saw little faces peek over the top of wall. I smiled and waved as I walked into the room to meet them. There, eagerly awaiting Jonah’s arrival, where about 10 small children with smiles on their faces. I was instantly hit with emotion. THIS was his congregation? This is who he drives all this way for every other Sunday? Jonah would. I felt so privileged to be there, to see what I saw and be able to take it with me where ever I go.

Our congregation continued to grow as time when on. While there were only a few old people, the vast majority of the classroom were children under 10. That is a beautiful way to effect a population. Get the kids and they will change their family.

They kept coming. I couldn’t believe it, and somehow there was always room for them. They gave tithe and offerings in an open Bible with only a few coins. That was it, but it was so much. I counted as Jonah and I were about to leave. Get this- there were 106 little bodies in that room, including Jonah and I by the time we left. He asked me if I had anything to say to them, which I did, and close in prayer for them. I was so delighted to be in one this. My favorite part about this whole story is that initially, 10 kids were worth it for Jonah.

We stopped on the way to Wapuli so I could observe yam farming first hand, which is very labor intense for not a lot of yield. They make a mound about 3 or 4 feet high, plant, let grow about 4 months and yield ONE yam per mound. John Deere needs to come up with a solution stat. The farmer has happy we stopped by and that Jonah had dug a few mounds for him during his demo, so he gave us a small roasted yam for the road and 7 large yams to take, which went on my lap. It was quit comical actually. I wanted to try my hand at yam farming just to say I did it, but Jonah would not like me as it was “unladylike” because it is “hard work.” HARD WORK?! The women here way harder than men do! They do is haul water, cook and push out babies all day! I decided I was not going to fight this one. Yet again Toto finds herself out of Kansas.  

Wapuli was a similar format though we did not stay as long. There were maybe 30 people there who were mostly young adults. This church had been here for 2 years now and Jonah was working hard to get them land to build. Again, he would and he will.

Though I did not take my Nikon, I did get great photos from this endeavor.

Jonah is EXACTLY why I want to make a lot of money. I just wish so badly I could buy him a brand new motorcycle, sturdy enough to weather the rainy season on his Sunday visits and transport a woman in labor safely to a hospital (he does this all the time).

I am so thankful for this day.

Here’s what went down today:

-The ectopic pregnancy lady is doing WONDERFULLY!! I had to take her picture today because I needed a face to this miracle I witnessed. Thank you so much for praying.

-The cholera patient who came in is doing well also, which is great. They were fortunate to have caught it early that it shouldn’t advance.

-I forgot to tell you earlier, Banbu was discharged to go to Tamale to a specialist. I never got to say goodbye, which is a bummer but I think she is suppose to come back, so I am really hoping I see her again.

-Though my visa is for 3 months, the actual stamp in my passport expires after 60 days, which is April 3^rd. I have to pay more money and fill out all this paper work and get passport photos all over again, which thoroughly annoys me. It is just the way it is though. There is a little shanty hut that does them here, which was odd to me they had those capanbilities in such a little hut.

 Imagine this- no make-up, hair slicked back and the perma glow forming sweat beads all over my face.

Driver’s license pictures and passport photos are not never good no matter how hard you try, so you can imagine how this one looked!

-Precious took her briads out so I never got to take a picture of her with them in. She is still as cute as ever. Her and Patience were both wearing pale yellow dresses today and they looked SO beautiful! And that I did take a picture of.

-I took my camera to the hospital today and got some priceless photos I will post eventually so you can have a better understanding of how things work around here. They will shock you!

-I talked to my mom and dad today, which was great, except that during that conversation I realized I miss my people! It is good to be here, though it has been challenging lately, but it will be so nice to see family and friends again.

-Oh my gosh. How could I forget?! Today “de Prince” told me that I looked like a man!!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Yes, that is exactly what he said and I was shocked. I walk like a man and I run like a man. I handle this with good nature because he is not meaning to insult me, but I did do him a huge favor and inform him that is the WORST THING YOU COULD SAY TO A GIRL!! An American girl that is! I told him girls want to be beautiful and skinny and well, not manly! I am too embarrassed to say the rest of the details, but basically, he meant I was strong, like athletic and tall. He’s also turned into a shameless flirt so he was trying to flatter me. Awkward. So awkward. I was so happy I was almost back to my house, “Well, see ya later!”

I should have been in bed hours ago, but I guilted myself into finishing this so I would not be behind. You are welcome! I sacrificed my beauty sleep for this, and since I look like a man, I better get some serious shut eye!

P.S. Not proof reading because I am too tired, so my apologies.

Ectopic

I have had my nose in lots of books since I have been in Ghana. I am starting to feel a little bit like those people who ride ponies, paint and read all the time and I really like it! I have read about Ghana, the Konkombas and other tribes, medical books, a Dirk Pitt story (yes please) and National Geographic, but I will be honest. I am really needing a 10 on the sappy scale that does not require me to think.

Enter Dr. Jean. This woman reads more than any human I have ever observed and she flies through books. There are shelves and shelves of books in this house. She loaned me probably more novels than I will be able to read, which I appreciated, but I like to read a few at a time in case one doesn’t quite suit my mood at the time.

I opened the first one, read the last page as I usually do. Those of you that think I just defied the cardinal rule of reading- chill. I forget it after page 2 anyway. I just have to know if there is a kiss on the last page.
Here was the opening line of Firefly Beach, “The house smelled like Christmas cookies. Butter, sugar, ginger and spice. The aroma filled….”

I slammed the front cover. I cannot read about food. I just can’t. And Christmas! I love Christmas- family, songs, SNOW… Oh what I would give to not be in 120 degree weather right now in a pool of cold water on a mountain!

 I tossed that one aside and grabbed the next one off the pile. Summer Light. This looks sappy enough. Back page? No kiss but there was talk of wedding. Right on.

I settled back down into my reclined position, ready for escape, but escape to a place that did not make me aware of what I do not have right now.

“The lake was so deep it had no bottom. When it froze, the ice was thirty feet deep. Mountains rose to the north…”

Are you serious?! I sat straight up. What kind of sick joke was this? Honestly. Here I am, trying to maintain my cravings for cooler temperatures and familiar food, in this foreign land and I just can’t get a break!

I know for a fact I heard God quietly chuckle as I stomped out of my room to stick my head in the freezer. 

We lounged around the rest of the afternoon, ate dinner and went Pastor Jidoh’s. He told me he was having trouble with his lap top connect to the only wireless hotspot in Sababa- the World Vision Headquarters. Being the super techy person that I am, I thought I would look at it for him and tell him what little I know. However, the little I know is a whole lot around here, so yes, I guess I am super techy.

We always show up at their dinner time and they always insist that we eat. Bob likes to eat early, so when we go on evening visits we usually appear around supper time. I have said this before, but I am so thankful that “No thank you” is a perfectly acceptable thing to say here.

Pastor Jidoh, though sick with typhoid, hasn’t skipped a beat. He had Kristi and I laughing so hard last night. We were telling him about the conversation we had with Joe about eating dog. I forgot to mention to you then that they are the one Ghanaian family who names their dogs as if they are pets but still eats them. Most recently, their dog Faith was served as the main course. Faith?!

Their mangy little mut sauntered over to us like it knew we were talking about its friends.

“Do  this one have a name?” Kristi asked.

They rattle off something in Konkomba in unison.

“It means ‘In God’s timing’ like in God’s timing we will eat it!”

This is too much. I didn’t bring my big camera otherwise I could have caught this whole conversation on film, because it only got more comical.

Kristi was explaining to him that we do not eat our dogs and they are treated  better than we treat other humans sometimes! “People will spend hundreds of dollars just grooming them”, Kristi explained.

Note: Thank goodness she is a Texas farm girl so we can rule ourselves out of all over-bearing American categories.

Naturally, our audience was floored by this bit of information. That’s when Pastor Jidoh decided that upon our return to America, he will follow with an application to be a pet groomer in the States.

“I’ll wash it nice and clean and bath it. And when it dies, I will give it a very nice burial with a little coffin. I will bury the dog in my stomach and bury the coffin in the ground and they’ll never know!”

I was doubled over laughing. Ghana humor. I will get him talking on video so you can see how funny he is and how animated he is when he talks. He always cracks himself up too.

What really made this conversation great is that even though we had did not take their kind offer for dinner, Pastor Jidoh had Joe go get us bread, eggs and tea because he knows how much I love those things. I felt almost embarrassed because he did NOT need to do this but he said he just loves our company so much and that God has blessed him so much, it’s the least he can do. This man has forever changed my few on hospitality.

My phone rang as we were chatting over egg sandwiches and pineapple tea, the ideal meal at 9:30 at night. It was Dr. Jean, and she wanted to talk to Kristi. She was questioning her on a patient she had seen that morning on rounds and I felt her mood change even though her voice stayed even. Reader’s Digest version: we had to rush a woman in suspected sickle cells crisis into surgery to hopefully save her insides from a complete blood blockage.

To add to the complexity of this situation, labs showed the woman’s hemoglobin to be 2.2, which is hardly life-sustaining and she was heading into a rather messy surgery where she would lose more. Recall the blood bank situation here- there is none and people do not like to donate their blood. They will if they get money out of it, but also I think there is a general lack of education here and they simply don’t understand that you are literally giving someone life when you give your blood.

Kristi and I felt helpless. There has to be some way to get this woman blood. He family had gone to look for donors and we hastily went through the hospital, asking nurses what type they were. I do not want to portray that the nurses, of all people, were not willing, but some were not. Not unless they were paid. This is beyond my comprehension and I was at the point where I though a quiver of verbal darts to throw, it was a waste of my time. Luckily, Kristi managed to find two nurses in the male ward and I had called my friend Moses, bless his heart, who sleeping to come.
In the middle of our walk to the lab, the power went out and it was the blackest black I have ever seen in my life. WHY NOW? I looked towards the direction of the theater, only to see a thick curtain of darkness.

I knew that Dr. Jean, the seasoned veteran,  had her head lamp just in case, but the woman on the table needed all the help she could get and surgery in a sea of ebony was not helping.  

“God please… ”

There is a generator in the theater, but as with most things here, it doesn’t work. The lights needed to come on. I felt stranded, but thankfully, one of the nurses was with us. Their night vision is superhuman, and we grabbed hands and he slowly lead us through the night.

The lights flickered back on just as we got the outpatient area where the lab was, and I was so relieved.

When I returned to the theater, I walked into a mess. I am not used to seeing so much blood outside of someone and it was a bit unsettling. She had a ruptured ectopic pregnancy that no could have detected. She did not even know she was pregnant, and she would have bled to death if Dr. Jean had not operated.

Fortunately, the surgery went well and we now had a reason for this woman’s sever pain.

We returned to the house at almost 2 am this morning in a daze. There had been so much to this day.

There is no logical explanation for why this woman is still alive.

This leaves me only a day behind instead of two! I had such a wonderful Sunday thanks to Jonah and you must hear about it. However as with the trend of the last few days, I am too tired to continue.

Thank you for all your prayers. It means so much.

Banbu

Sorry. No Jim or Harry tonight. The hospital mixed with the heat has sucked my energy again, which I really resent. I am a personal fan or the Energizer bunny mode, so when I get tired, I get frustrated. However, I am a fighter and that is precisely why I have not gone to bed yet. I have too many things to do.

Dr. Jean had meetings again today, and really, just needed rest, so I helped Kristi with rounds again. We did the ENTIRE hospital, and it went quite well. Because we are not Dr. Jean, this was quite an accomplishment. Not as many crazy things as yesterday, but the day was certainly eventful. There  are many astounding things about life here, but one I keep coming back to is the general lack of education here. There was a very sick, tiny little lady who had to be rushed into an emergency C-section. She has pneumonia and the grandma and aunties of the baby had yet to let the baby eat from the mama because she was sick. It had been over 24 hours! It was just ridiculous, and now the baby has a fever of well over 100 degrees, and things are not looking good.
There have been too many other things going on these last few days that I have not had a chance to introduce you to someone new. Her name is Bandu. She is 9 and has that sweet sparkle in her eye which made me adore her from the first time I saw her. However, the hospital here, or really any place, is not an ideal place to meet a kid you really like. Her situation is difficult. Her right knee has surpassed her thigh in diameter and is filled with a raging, fleshing-eating infection. When I first met her a few days ago, it appeared she may have an abscess  or possibly a tumor. Her family, who has not purchased national health insurance for 9 Ghana cedis a year, took her for X-rays earlier, which showed no indication of serious damage to the bone.

Though her spirits are still high, her knee is getting worse. In only a few days, the infection has managed to dig a whole from one side of her knee to the other large enough I could stick my pinky through it. It is awful. The drainage and odor I observed as they changed the dressing today made my skin crawl. I felt so bad for this little girl. Just the other day I was saying how I do not like wearing long things skirts like they do here because they confine my range of motion so that if the occasion arose, I could not run properly in such a outfit. I had this problem as a child when my mom made me wear tights that inevitable sagged to my knees. I couldn’t run!

And to think, this girl may not have that problem because this knee may hold her back for the rest of her life. It is so hard because we do not have what she needs at this hospital, her family cannot continue to afford treatment and she could very well need an amputation. These things make me so sad.

I went to visit her this evening. She had moved outside with her family to eat supper, so I sat in the cool Saboba breeze trying to talk to my friend. We had to have a translator which makes small talk an entirely too big because it draws an audience. She was happy I took her picture today and said she wanted a copy. I am pretty sure that is because I gave her a bouncy ball a few days ago and won her over. The mother invited me to eat with them, which was very kind. Not that I would have accepted anyway, but I this typhoid is just really something. It is everywhere and I can’t take chances.

I prayed for Banbu before I left and I prayed she would be healed. The girl needs a miracle, and I hope you will pray too.

I will write more tomorrow when I am actually awake. I just had to at least tell you about Banbu.

Much love to you!

Oh- Precious got her hair down yesterday so now she has little braids all over and it is the cutest thing. Picture to follow. I just put up new ones on facebook today so you can see some more pictures!

The Spin Zone

Pardon the slue of anecdotes from earlier years, but this one must be told.

I spent a lot of time at the Whitlock house in middle school and high school. My best friend Austin and I had no trouble entertaining ourselves. We sang. We danced. We made forts. We cooked and failed (macaroni and cheese does not come in soup form). We had photo shoots, which have only becoming painful reminders of the pinnacle of our awkward stage. We talked about boys all the time, yet really, had nothing to talk about. We were skipped like flat rocks on a beach, yet we convinced ourselves that someday we would be proud owners of the Old Navy jean franchise, a representation of the “it” girl status we knew we were destined for… we hoped. She is now happily married and I am doing exactly what I want, so in our own ways, we are who we both wanted to be. OH could we make up stories! 99% of them were love stories of young, shameless dreamers with untamed imaginations. I know for a fact if Taylor Swift would have grown up along Road 8, she would have been our other best friend.

We were not always so painfully girlish, though my brothers would probably disagree. We rode our horses in the dry lake between our houses and drove her grandpa’s French imported 1977 Peugeot that had a chain you pulled to turn it off to the voice of Harry Conick Jr. We knew him so well that we just called him Harry. And Jim, too. We knew Jim Croce quite well. We can still tell you what street Big Jim Walker lived on and the names of both of Rapid Roy’s tattoos.

 One summer day while listening to a record of Jim, we decided to put some ants that were bothering us on the record to see how long it would take them to spin off. Jim was just about to explain why you don’t tug on Superman’s cape when ant #1 lost his grip and went flying off the record into the nearby wall. There is no use explaining how or why that was so funny. You just have to take my word for it. Again! Place ant on record, who instantly tries to scurry off the merri-go-round of death, and start the song over again. WHAM!! The burst of laughter started all over again. Slightly morbid? Yes, but so amusing.

I thought of those ants today while Kristi and I were in the middle of rounds. At what point where we going to lose our grip, spin off and hit the wall? It was absolutely crazy today. Dr. Jean, bless her heart, has so many responsibilities and must tend to administrative issues in addition to seeing patients and operating. I seriously do not know how this woman does this all by herself. Note: another doctor needed in Saboba! Kristi was left to do rounds along with Richy Rich. We would team up and do the female ward like we did yesterday and Richard would do the male and children ward. Easy enough right? We had done this yesterday and worked out a lot of the kinks in the system, so Round 2 should not be a problem.

Oh naivety. You can be so cruel.

We got to the hospital around 9 and did not finish rounds until mid afternoon. Things were going quite smoothly this morning until the doors flew open to make way for the gurney bringing a new patient. She was a school girl as she had a uniform on and she was seizing. We dropped what we were doing and immediately tended to her. Rounds would just have to wait. She had collapsed at school after running and was now seizing. Four of her friends had come with her. I am imagining one of my best friends in such a situation and I guarantee I would not be as stoic as they were. They are Africa strong like all the people here. It is not that they don’t feel, they just have an emotional fortitude that we simply do not have in the U.S. Once we got her somewhat managed, the doors flew open again. Another gurney bringing another unconscious girl from same high school into the ward. What is going on here?! Did someone put something in the water to make these girls drop like flies?! This was ridiculous, and thankfully there was not a third. We had to monitor them both closely but still try to work our way around to all patients. Seizure after seizure all day for the first girl. It was not fun, and I felt myself go into detachment mode because you can’t afford to look at things from the perspective you normally do and get things done. Yes, it is important to feel and let your patients see your heart, but when crisis mode kicks in, you have to detach, even just a little, to be objective and make sound judgments.

Typhoid… it is sweeping Saboba because there is no clean water. It’s really that simple. Clean water like from the sink you keep running when you are not paying attention. Our cows drink cleaner water than they do here. Life is so unfair… I cannot tell you how many times I have thought that being here. I grew up so privileged- healthy, educated and deeply loved. I want to feel bad sometimes that I have been so unbelievably blessed in my life, but I know that I was placed exactly where God wanted me. I did not choose my upbringing, but I can choose what to do with it. I am responsible now and I must be faithful with what God has given me and multiple it.

I have learned a wealth of information these last few days being so actively involved in rounds. Even though today was absolutely nuts, I loved it because I was right in the middle of it all. I could go through the ward in my head and tell you about every patient because I know them. Let me remind you, I have zero medical credibility or knowledge base for which to be of any medical help, but I do have common sense (no comment Dad). I can talk to people and I can get things done. Kristi and I have made a great team, and we have learned so much together. It is unfortunate that Dr. Jean has had to be so tied up with meetings, but it has given us a great opportunity to learn and work together. There are so many things I could say about how different things are in the U.S, but for one, the names of medication are different than they are in the U.S. if we even have them in the U.S! For Kristi it was like starting over again. This is where my inexperience really comes in handy- I don’t know it because I haven’t learned it yet, so it is not frustrating to me as I do not have the expectation of myself yet.

By the end of this, I will know exactly what do to for you if you have typhoid or malaria.

There was one woman with a threatened abortion, meaning baby might lose its life by natural causes, admitted last night for reasons that were not yet declared. Kristi, looking through her labs, realized she had not yet been tested for typhoid and wrote for blood work. Smart, smart move. Just the night before, Dr. Jean was telling us about how pregnant women can lose their babies if they have typhoid. As it turns out, the woman had typhoid, which we knew how to treat because of our random discussion last night.

It was such an exhausting day for us, and yet, I reiterate, this is what Dr. Jean does every day by herself.

We had to come back to the house to detox for a few and we sat in our room like mummies for an immeasurable amount of time. We were dazed. After dinner, we went over to Pastor Jidoh’s to visit. He is not well and has typhoid and malaria too. Not good, but he is still has funny and smiley as ever. These people are amazing.
Joe walked us home as he usually does for the sake of his own peace of mind. When we got outside the house, we noticed Bob’s two dogs doing lounging around as they usually do. I am not really sure how it came up, but for the next 15 minutes, we got from dear, sweet Joe a how to kill and eat a dog in detailed fashion. Kristi and I were dying, and he was not getting why this was so funny to us. He went into Teacher Joe mode and was being very thorough in his explanations. He was not joking around or trying to be funny, you just take a really heavy object and hit it hard on the head, skin it, cut it up and eat it. “It is very sweet” as they say here for things that are delicious. Dog really is somewhat of a delicacy here, which I knew, but Joe went so far as to say that you know it is going to be a good Christmas if you get dog for the big family dinner. It was just hilarious. Joe Joe and his Bow Wow Puppy Chow.

I must update you on Hannah’s Week 8 page of my book I love so much. I told you had to go back to Week 6 because she had the audacity to put Taco John’s pictures on Week 7!! I nearly fell out of my chair when I saw Bryce Doak’s face plastered to the page next to an embarrassingly sassy picture of me. SO FUNNY!! It is one of the best one’s yet because it reminds me of ridiculous things I get hung up on. Bryce was my crush of college... deep, wistful sigh. Tall, so very handsome, pre-med, wide receiver and guitar player with a great voice. I can’t help it. I am a sucker for a combo like this even now, so how could you blame a young, impressionable freshman girl? You couldn’t possibly. And though I tell you he was my crush of college, I am positive the grand total amount of time we spent in conversation is probably under 5 minutes. I don’t even know if he knows who I am. I window-shopped ok?

And now, here he is in Ghana, sitting on my desk. It is just too funny. The whole this is just ridiculous, and I am SO amused by such things. Imagine me trying to explain this one. What little credibility and dignity I have to begin with in this department is completely lost with an opening line like, “I am not usually like this…”

However, if he ever finds this out…. he should be flattered:)

See this right here is why I don’t like dumb girls chasing my brothers. I am not a dumb girl, but I can sure act like one, Bryce- case and point. So when girls are really actually dumb, there is no limit to the stupid things they will do to get attention from a handsome boy. Gav, I feel really good about your situation thanks to Sarah. As for Galen, Carroll girls, I know who you are and I am watching very closely from over here.

On that warm and fuzzy note, I will bid you all good night. It has been a great day in Saboba despite the craziness and I hope yours is a blessed day as well.

This evening’s midnight snack- powdered milk with chocolate syrup I made the dark so I couldn’t see it on purpose and toast with garlic powder.

Bacon Booty

Operation Eyebrow Clean Up complete. They are nice and clean and they look so happy. I love plucking my eyebrows. It is like people who like to pick scabs and they, I, just like picking things, I had just finished this tweezing process when Kristi walked into the room saying how bad her eyebrows were. It was too good to be true. I threw her in the special chair, grabbed my tweezers and we went to work. She has very good brows so only minor clean up was needed, just in case you were wondering.

Today was the kind of day that needed a brainless, yet amusing task such as eyebrow tweezing to do before bed to unwind. Dr. Jean had meetings today, and put Kristi and Richy Rich on duty for rounds. Holy Mole what a process that is! I obviously am not the medical student here, but I do know a few things, so I rounded with Kristi and felt we made a very good team. I am so enjoying my times in the lab because I know what I am doing there, but I find it so much more fulfilling to be able to know your patient and be invested in every detail of their well-being. It gets so much more personal and I like it. A lot.

We have a lady in the female ward with a hemoglobin of 4.2, which is ghastly low, and she is in dire need of blood. However, we do not have a blood bank here. This was one of the days where what I would call “necessities” were simply not available. When someone needs blood, their family member or members are tested with the great hope there is a match. If there is, they only have to pay 22 Ghana cedis. If there is no match, like the case of this woman, all you can do is wait until they find a donor and pray it is not too late. When they donor comes, the family pays that individual and they hospital, I believe. It is hard to watch things like that and not be able to do anything. I’m really hoping my A+ will come in handy someday!  

No surgeries today because of meetings but tomorrow, we have some good ones lined up.

Also, I nearly got blown to Togo today by a windstorm. There was a small picture captured of me holding onto a tree for dear life.

I got to talk to my dad today! He started telling me about… I can hardly say it… a special cut of beef he was making for dinner. I never even got the full story because I just had to stop him. I cannot hear things like this. It will send me spiraling into crazy, and that is not a place I would like to be right now anymore than I already am. My flip book my awesome friend Hannah made me for my trip has remained on week 6 instead of 7 because she had the foresight to put Taco John’s food pictures on it in honor of our midnight meals! She nearly did me in!!

My friend Abraham from Damongo called me today as well. I was so delighted to hear from him. I do NOT miss the rat room but I do miss seeing him and the kids. I am really going to make my best effort to see him and Zee again before I leave.

Kristi made me cry I was laughing so hard with all her stories tonight. She was telling me a few of her many stories of interesting patients she has had. One of which, was not exceptionally bright, and she I had the nerve to take advantage of the poor guy. I would never do such a thing…;) She was looking in his ear and very casually said the light was going through and if he could please cover up his other ear. So he did. I am SO using that one!!

The best one  was about the hillbilly from the Ozarks that came in with a “sliver” in his toe, silver being a pellet from his own pellet gun. He said he had already put salami on it but it still did not come out. Wait WHAT? Yep salami. Apparently bacon is where it is at but he had run out of that. What you do is you wrap that sucker in bacon and it’ll pop right out! Works every time.  He came up with this fail-safe option when he got shot in the butt with a pellet once and that piece of bacon on his booty made that pellet jump right out the side of his cheek.

Noted. Dually noted.  

She also worked on my back tonight. Hallelujah! There is the advantage of a DO over an MD! I am so unbelievably out and so grateful. This is going to be quite the process, considering my pelvis is trying to turn itself upside down and sideways. This is more for my mom as opposed to say, everyone else. Requesting full body massage when I get back!

So, I think we are going to call it a day. A really good day. I will have more stories for you tomorrow. Keep that fridge stocked with bacon!

Oh my gosh that sounds so good right now…..

Brake Pedal Needed

Holy Mole. I know I’m not at Mole anymore, but I it must be carried on.

What an exhausting day! I have been at the hospital all day. We got done with our fifth surgery of the day at 6:30 this evening, and then we had to go over to Jonah’s for dinner to meet a group of people visiting him.

And that is why this is going to be in list format. I am too tired!

-The hospital was so crazy today. I can’t even begin to tell you. I don’t know how Dr. Jean does this day after day. It’s exhausting. She had to leave for a meeting and Kristi was thrown into this mess as Dr. Christians. She did well, but it’s just so overwhelming when you can’t speak to the people or they misunderstand you or someone hasn’t done their job correctly, which unfortunately is usually the case here. I did my best to help her, but it was just crazy.

-It took us around 4 hours to do rounds today. Dr. Jean was saving lives and running to meetings the whole time, and that makes getting a single task very hard to complete. She had to pull the placenta out of a woman who was losing blood at rates I have never seen before. Thankfully, her and the baby are doing well.

-I learned a song in Twi, one of the main languages spoken in Ghana, today from my friend Moses. The translation to English says,
Thank Him, Thank Him
Thank the Lord
Because He is Good
And His love endures forever

-Some guy had some crazy auto immune issue (too tired to remember the name of it) that caused both of his pinky toes to pinch themselves off. I kid you not. His pinky toes looked like they were barely attached to his foot. What was left of his bone in each toe was broken and the distal part amputated. That was new.

-We did five surgeries today… I think. I lost count after the third hernia. However we end with a bang, more like a squirt, with a hydrocele. Those things are wild, and I will let you take the liberty of looking that up for yourselves… do it with the door shut though haha! It was so fascinating. I really like surgery a lot. It is such a good way to learn.

-I’m not really sure what the connection is, but Jonah has some friends from the U.S. that were here this evening with some Ghanaian pastors and a really hilarious man from Liberia. We ate outside in the courtyard of Jonah and Aggie’s compound. She made jolof (Spanish rice) and guinea fowl. It was so good. I literally went into cavewoman mode…. PROTEIN!!

-Pastor Vincent was among the group this evening and he might be my new favorite person. He is SO going in my global network. He just finished building a HUGE outside basketball court in Kumasi. He left Ghana and went to school in the U.S. where he fell in love with basketball, and game back to Ghana to use it to spread the love. “Shoot for Life” is the name of his ministry, and I had the best talk with this man tonight. He is just the coolest. I am going to see if I can work in a few days to stay in Kumasi and play with some kids and help him with a few things. If anyone is looking for a opportunity to do missions and basketball with the coolest guy ever, come to Ghana!! Seriously, he would LOVE to have you!

Oh great. Now my computer is dying just like my ability to form a cohesive thought.

More tomorrow.

Much love!

Just A Litte Bit Of... Celine

Happy Birthday Sid! I played "Queen of the Night" in honor of you today.

CORRECTION FROM YESTERDAY: I usually run everything I learn here through Jonah, but I did not do that with the World Vision water pump fiasco. I would like to correct myself for their sake and say that I misunderstood what I was told. Though I still don’t think the office here is exactly a pillar if all that is good and holy, the World Vision people here are not the dirt bags I accused them of. I asked Jonah about it this morning as I was still irritated about it. This is what is really going on: World Vision drills the bore holes and the community is responsible for their upkeep, as stated in a proposal made by the community of Saboba before drilling even started. World Vision technically as their hands clean even though I personally think if a town is in a water crisis, they should do something.

Now for the main event...

I have been trying to think of the day I first met her, but I hardly remember my life without her. I do credit my discovery of Celine Dion to my friend Maryanne when we were just young starlets. She was my crazy friend, still my crazy friend, and we would crank Celine, sing at the top of our lungs and dance shamelessly down the hallway outside of her room. We idolized her. So beautiful and so very talented. We sewed together in 4-H and had to “model” our clothing at the Park County Fair every summer. The set up was the same every year- the same old monotone lady reading painfully boring scripts about the material used and really lame personal information about each girl. The music, better suited for an elevator specifically for old ladies on their way to church, was the same every year. The Craig girls and their blue-ribbon wool outfits that won every single year, and the stage was the same crusty old rectangle with drab curtains behind it.

Yes, we  were young, but we both knew we were so above this (which is why I made a bathrobe that didn’t fit and a “jumper” with cats on it… please). This whole atmosphere really put a damper on our true talent for the stage and the current set up couldn’t possibly handle the amount of sass and va-voom we were both so capable of. We were going to launch a full-blown revolution. It was time for a runway, some lights and CELINE.

Since then, not a whole lot has changed. I am a little taller, and I do not own or will ever own again clothing with cats on it. Ugh. I still dream of the stage and Celine continues to speak to me. When know I have to clean, like really clean, I bust out Celine. As soon as I hear her voice, the broom is not a broom. OH no no no. It’s a mic stand. The appliances I’m dusting, they are the many adoring fans I reaching out for me to dust their hands with citrus Pledge.

And don’t even get me started on her Christmas music! Though Maryanne did not travel to college with me, I found another friend who shares my love of Celine and Christmas, Miss Elly B. Celine during the Christmas season   is nearly more than either one can stand. It’s just too good. We played “These Are The Special Times” album on the way to practice, on the way back from practice, when we got up in the morning and every time it snowed. Glee’s Lea Michelle is a close second, but no one sings “O Holy Night” like this Celine. No one.

The woman moves me.

It was cooler last night, which means I slept until 7 this morning (yesss!), and was delighted to find that the sweat I was starting to glisten with had attracted all the dirt particles that inevitably appear on my bed. It’s super attractive.

I went to the lab is usual this morning to find Jacob there by himself. Nelson had left for Tamale to pick up some supplies, and he was so relieved to see me. I can’t remember how much I have told you about Jacob, but he is just wonderful. He helps me a lot with my Konkomba at work. I have this little moleskin book from my dear friend Shad I have him write things down for me. He loves to sing and is trying to teach me some songs. He is so sweet and laughs all the time. The harder he laughs of the more excited he gets, the higher is voice is. It is just hysterical.

Today we were swamped as we were down one, but we still managed to have one heck of a good time. I thought I heard him singing “Umbrella” by Rhianna. He looks up at me, sings a few more lines, and asks if I know that song. Yeah I know that song! Beyond amused, I asked him if knew anymore American songs, which he didn’t of the top of his head. So we jammed out to our own version of Umbrella for a while, but I was missing every other word laughing because he sings SO HIGH.

He stops and looks at me, with a test tube that has been used at least 3 times to hold blood in his hand, and says in all seriousness, “You know who I absolutely love? Celine Dion.”

He put his free had on his heart for added sincerity.

Get out.

I started shouting my excitement.

“Yes. I love her. I have every song, and I love the song about how there were nights when the wind was so cold.”

I was dying at this point. I could not believe the conversation I was having in a nasty lab in Saboba, Ghana with a high-pitched man who has barely traveled outside the Northern Region about Celine Dion!! Instantly I thought of my wild, red-headed friend Hannah who does the most convincing rendition of “It’s All Coming Back” of which I do backup vocals for. She is the kind of good that had we known each other when we were young, the revolution of the Park Country Fair “fashion” show would have been executed perfectly and pulled off without a hitch. I am laughing just thinking about her belting this out the way she does.

From that point on, we sang pretty much every song Celine has ever made. It was beautiful. There will be video footage and I am sending it to her with a note telling her that her greatness has reached the far corners of the earth. I would also thank her for inspiring me to be a better woman and giving me songs in my heart. I think we would be really great friends, and I think she will like this video so much, she would probably invite me over for dinner. Jacob would be invited of course.

There is really nothing more I have to tell you that can top that, but I will give the less important details of my day briefly anyway.

After dinner, Jonah came over to help me learn body parts so I can be more personal at the hospital. We usually have no problem communicating, but we were having trouble understanding each other tonight. I was being the methodical American and he was not getting it. I learn language through verb conjugations, and they don’t think like that here, so I am teaching him how to teach me… it was wild. We got it though, so now I can ask the old man with the skin graft how his foot is!

It was a good day, great day because of Celine, and we will have another one tomorrow. We are going to operate on a woman who had a baby a few days ago and most likely still has part of the placenta inside of her. This is will be interesting.  

I am reading a book written by a nurse in the 1950’s about her time here in Saboba and I will leave you with a quote I found, much to my amusement, that I completely identify with.

“The first year you are in Africa and a fly falls into your glass of drinking water at a meal, you ask for a new glass of water. The second year you take a spoon and dip the fly out. The third year you grab that fly, squeeze him and say, ‘Spit that out!’ The fourth year you just say, ‘Protein is protein’ and keep drinking.”

If it was COLD water, I might be accused of third year status.

Perseverance produces character and character produces HOPE.

Romans 5:1-5

Wall Flower

Tension mounts in the kitchen just like the soapy bubbles forming as hot water from the faucet fills the sink. She is exhausted from a long time and on top of that has had to prepare a meal for her family and now she has to do the dishes. A little help from the hubby maybe? Oh that would just be too much to ask!  She marches out to the living room where her husband and arch-nemesis, the 52 inch flat screen tv, reside, and guilts her husband into helping her with the dishes. Though she is getting what she wants in theory, she is not at all satisfied and the man is confused and annoyed.

Was he not doing what she asked? Women…

“I want you to want to help me with the dishes,” she explains.

The man looks at her like she just told a joke, “Why would I want to do the dishes?!”

Boom. Dog house.

Not that my experience at church this morning was anything like that, but for some reason, I thought of this story as I replayed the service this morning in my head.

Kristi and I went to the Church of Pentecost to fulfill our invite from Moses and Emery. We were greeted by the pastor’s wife Caroline, whom I had met at the girls’ program the other day. What a dear woman! She reminds me of my mom, and she is just a peach. She is so kind, and there is just something about her that puts her in a class by herself. She invited us to sit up front with her, which is a very kind gesture, but a little uncomfortable because the entire church is looking at you. This is not the first time this has happened to me.

I noticed this church was set up like most of the others I have been to here- a large building with a seating in the back half, an empty space in the front half with a small stage at the very front. An American thinks wasted space and a Konkomba thinks DANCE FLOOR!!

I have to admit I have been very surprised at myself on Sunday mornings. In any other situation, I am the first person on the dance floor because I love to dance, but here, my heart starts pounding when I am asked to dance. I have declined both offers I have been given jovially and say that I just enjoy watching, which is true, but inside, I am so relieved. From my perspective, it looks ridiculous. If you were to dance like this in America, people would think you are nuts. You body has to do this wet noodle thing with these weird steps, and I honestly think I would like a fool. And dancing in church… SINNER!!! My great grandparents are rolling over in their graves at the thought of me even entertaining such an idea!

Yet, for me to partake in such a thing is an honor to them. They would be so flattered and happy that I am doing my best to become a part of them, and that is straight from Jonah. I will spare you from my thought process that makes me against doing this, but know that is laced with a hint of legalism from my upbringing, and I felt like the husband in the story above and the people here like the pleading wife. Why would I want to do something I don’t want to do? Why dance when I remain completely uninvolved and comfortable? I know I would feel differently if it was dancing as I know it, but I revert back to the super awkward, anti-attention getting little girl I used to be. Look at or laugh at me and I would start crying.

On top of that, Emery introduced us and asked if we would like to share a song. I got that same sinking feeling in my stomach again.  UM NO! I was prepared for this! And I while I can sing, I don’t sing well enough to belt out a solo in front of an entire congregation! I quickly retreated back to the safe confines of my comfort zone in my chair, hoping this service would get over soon.

That’s when it hit me (this happens a lot here).

I have done my very best to involve myself in all aspects of their lives except for this one. I told Jonah in our discussion this afternoon that I didn’t feel like I would be dancing for the right reasons and that it is not how I worship. He said it’s not worshipping, it’s praising God with every fiber of your being. Touché.

Additionally, these people can’t carry a tune in a dump truck!! They have no concept of pitch so really, I have nothing to be afraid of and I should be willing to share because it would mean a lot to them. They don’t care about any of the things that concern me. They are just happy to be alive in the wake of a water crisis and typhoid epidemic and the least they can do is dance and sing to praise God.

The take home message from this is that I need to suck it up and hit the dance floor. Sing and play a song for them. Get over myself. I hate the feeling of fear or anxiety, so you have to do the things that scare you so you get over it. This culture and church services are on the polar opposite end of the spectrum as what I am used to. I have been too proud to partake, and yet I have been dead set on building these relationships but won’t fully come into their world. The God I know and love is the same God they love and dance for.

So this is my declaration to you: next Sunday, there will be dancing. I will be pitting out from anxiety and the heat, but I will do it. I will not be held back my own vanity and comfort level.

On that note, I miss church in Helena like crazy. Oh what I would give to hear Pastor Paul teach and Cari Schlauch sing. I sound like my dad, but except for Pastor Jidoh’s church last Sunday, all I hear is noise amped up by sound systems they don’t know how to run. Quite honestly, I am over the “cultural experience” of church here and would like something without shouting and hollering all the time. Substance, people. We’re going for substance here.

Kristi and I came back a lounged this afternoon.  The thermometer had topped out again. It was miserably hot, and we couldn’t do anything to cool ourselves off. Just sitting even makes you sweat. You get really tired and sleepy but you can’t really sleep because you are so hot. It’s a trip and you’ve just got to wait it out.

We met Joe and his friend Enoch for a walk when things cooled off. We went to the “dump” as they call it here, which is a reservoir they fetch water from. It is a dump!! I knew it was bad, as Saboba is in a water crisis, but I had no idea how bad it was until I saw it for myself. People were gathered around the edge of this stagnant, greenish pond filling their buckets and water cans. It was sickening. It was a typhoid incubator. Preventative medicine here would have to start with engineering.

We popped over the hill as we continued on our walk noticing a group of people huddled around a water pump. Both Krisit and I were so confused as the boys tried to explain. I’ll do my best to pass what we learned along to you.

Bore holes go deep down and bring up fresh, clean water and there is only one that is working (in that part of town) even though they are scattered all over Saboba. World Vision has built most of them, but they have either broken or dried up, and they have not bothered to fix them. I hate to say it, but World Vision in Saboba is corrupt. These people are in a typhoid epidemic and no one is doing anything about it. One of the pumps had a handle that was broke, but other than that, it was perfectly capable of providing these people with another water source. What is even more alarming is that the bore hole that was working, again drilled by World Vision, was working only because the town of Saboba decided to fix it. To cover the cost, the people using it had to pay a fee and today was the first day that it was free again. Like they have money to do that! We were shocked. Absolutely shocked. It is just one social injustice after another here.

Dad, Gavin and Galen, this is where you come in. I feel like you could fix a lot of this with your super handiman, Mr. Fix It ways. I wish I was smart enough and had the man power to do so myself, but this is totally out of my realm, so I’ll just pray.

Bob and Jean got back this evening while we were still out on our walk, so a “normal” week will begin tomorrow morning. I am glad for Kristi so she can get into the swing of things. Her sitting suck stage is over! It’s been nice having her here. I am getting to know her better, and the thing I appreciate most about her is that she laughs with me. I see crazy things all the time, and sometimes I find myself looking around for someone to see what I see, and no one usually does until now. It’s so nice. As Dr. Jeans says, "Humor is the last thing to cross the cultural barrier."

New Cast Member

Andrews- He has like ten Konkomba names like everyone here but this is one of his English names, so that’s what we are going to use. He is the town know-it-all. He is everywhere and he always knows what is going on in a good way. He is a good man and goofy as all get out. I filmed him the other day dancing for his “exercise” because it’s how he stays young. He is just hilarious, and he takes such good care of me. I’m pretty sure he knows where I am at all times, not that I’m hard to find. Now that Kristi is here, if we are ever separated he finds the “other one” to tell us where the “other one” is. He wears wide brimmed, round classes and a hat all the time. Every town has one and Andrews is ours and we love him.   

Hope you all had a wonderful Sunday!

Happy Birthday tomorrow to my dear sister Nicole Leibach who won’t answer her phone for a birthday call!!! Love and miss you!