Ravioli, Spiders and Hospital Tour

Post #3 from Galmi, Niger, West Africa (see posts #1 and 2 below this message)

We have ALL of our suitcases! Praise the Lord! I was finally able to enjoy the pool today. Swimming in Africa – I honestly never thought we’d be doing that! Thank you for all your prayers.

Thank God for ravioli. Tonight I was so tired at dinnertime. We had been busy this afternoon unpacking our suitcases and found we have to unpack in stages because it gets so hot. We have to stop, wipe the sweat and rest for awhile – the heat just zaps all our energy. One of the first things I unpacked was a can of Ravioli. A friend of a friend (thanks Manda!) suggested I pack a can of ravioli just in case the food was really bad here and the kids wouldn’t eat anything. That can of ravioli was like an oasis in the dessert. Dinner in a can! Thank you Chef Boy-R-Dee. Now, what to do for dinner tomorrow?

Last night we had our first dinner guest. Jeannie, a long-term missionary from California, stopped by at dinnertime so we invited her to stay. This was the first meal I cooked in Niger and we had a guest to enjoy it with us! Good thing she didn’t come tonight – dinner in a can only serves so many.

As I’m writing this blog I am stamping my feet with my skirt tucked between my legs because I’m scared to death a spider will crawl up my legs! A few nights ago, in this very room, one guy had a “husband of the scorpion” white spider crawl over his foot and actually chase him when he jumped up. He happened to have his camera next to the computer and was able to snap a picture of it. This thing is almost as big as my hand! Thanks, George, for my recent sleepless nights. I’m hoping the sound of my feet will keep the spider away. That WILL work, don’t you agree?

Ben did a surgery on a patient he never thought he’d see – a MAN! It’s not often that an Ob/Gyn does surgery on a man but I guess all bladders look the same. The man had six dime-sized stones in his bladder. His family asked to take the stones home to show others – they looked just like real rocks. Ben also had to tell a 39 year-old woman she had end-stage breast cancer. He was surprised by her lack of emotion. I wonder, is this cultural or was this just the way she was?

Yesterday I took a heart-wrenching tour of the SIM hospital. As I suspected, the most difficult patients to see were the children. One little boy, probably 4 or 5 years old, had severe burns from spilling boiling water all over his face and hands. A 6-year-old girl was lying in bed with her broken leg in traction (a cast would not work for a break like this) – she will lay like this for six weeks.. These injuries happen to children in the United States too, but in the U.S. the children have distractions to take their mind off their situation. When Joel got his tonsils removed, he got ice cream, popsicles, cartoons, video games and just about anything else he wanted. These children don’t even have air conditioning or a private room.

Continuing on the tour I stood in the doorway of a hot room filled with 10 mothers and their young children, mostly babies. These babies are so sick that I would put them in danger by walking into the room. Each mother’s face looked so helpless, so distraught, so empty. The smiles are gone. Because I could not enter the room, I felt compelled to look each mother in the eye and express my sympathy. Frustrated by not knowing Hausa, their native language, I searched for a way to convey my heart. Weeping, I put both hands over my heart hoping they understood. Each mom acknowledged me with a nod.

SIM Hospital is doing everything they can with the resources available. But they need doctors! Where are the pediatricians and neonatologists? I used to work in the marketing department of a hospital. One of the responsibilities we had was to help doctors get patients. Get patients?! Here they are! In Niger.

When I visited the Obstetrics room, I met 10 women who had recently delivered babies. I love babies! And two of the mothers were lying there with twins! As I walked over to one new baby, his three-year-old brother ran screaming – he was scared to death of the white woman! All the mothers thought this was so funny.

I wonder – how am I perceived? I’m walking through the hospital but am I welcome here or am I just a “rich white woman” on a tour like Princess Diana or the Queen?

I did learn a little more about SIM’s ministry here. SIM uses their hospital as the draw, or the “platform,” for sharing the gospel. Every person in the waiting room sees the “Jesus Video,” the story of Jesus. In addition, SIM believes having the local people ministering to their own is the best testimony, so they have an evangelist from local Christian churches pray with each patient before surgery. All of the people I have met have been awesome, quality people who truly care about their work and the people here.

Back to sleep. All three kids are finally on their normal schedule and sleeping well. People tell me it takes one day to adjust for every hour of time difference. Their sleep improved on day five in Niger and it’s a five hour time difference, so I guess they’re right.

Joel got a mosquito bite. I’ve never worried about a bite before; it seems funny to worry about such a little thing. We’re all on anti-malarial medicine, so we just have to assume it will be O.K. but it does make me nervous.

One note I forgot to mention in my past blog: Before we landed in Galmi, the pilot of the single-engine plane had to buzz over the airstrip before landing just to make sure it was free of people and donkey carts. “We’re not in Kansas anymore Toto.”

AHHH! A small “husband of the scorpion” just ran past my feet and, if that wasn’t enough, a three-inch grasshopper slammed into my back. I’m done. I’m going to bed (AFTER I check the sheets for visitors). FYI, it was 102 degrees today.