Blog #11 from Galmi, Niger, West Africa (#1-10 below this blog)
I’m doing better today. If you couldn’t tell from my last blog, I’ve been battling “the blues” and guilt for feeling low. I got so many wonderful posts and emails from many of you – thanks! You truly lifted my spirits.
Now, on to more important matters: polygamy. During our stay here we’ve learned that many local men have more than one wife. I was originally appalled by this thought for my own family – Ben having another woman living with us. Then, after having the samosa/chicken lady come by weekly and three weeks of Tanti Rabi hand-washing all of our clothes, I’ve been “enlightened.” If Ben wants another wife, that’s fine with me – as long as she can cook or clean, I’m “in.”
In Niger, it’s the beginning of the rainy season and thus planting season. The other doctors and hospital personnel keep telling Ben how slow the hospital is right now because people don’t want to leave their towns / farms to come to the hospital – they have to get their crops planted. That doesn’t mean people don’t need surgery or that they don’t need to come to the hospital, they just don’t come because planting takes precedence. The one little 6-year-old girl who broke her leg is still lying here in her hospital bed, but only due to a lot of convincing from Dr. Christopher. Her father wanted to take her home (they live quite a distance from the hospital) because 1) he needed to plant his crops and 2) he was running out of money and resources to feed himself and his daughter during the hospital stay. Dr. Christopher contacted the local church and they are now making two meals a day for the girl and her father! This act of love convinced the father to allow his daughter to stay until her leg is healed.
Ben has had a rough weekend. On Friday he did a surgery removing a large tumor from a 10-year-old girl’s belly. All weekend he has been managing her care and doing everything he knows to do with very little resources. On Saturday she spiked a fever and began having seizures. Malaria? Brain tumor? The blood tests were negative for malaria and there is no MRI or CAT scan available to look for brain tumors. In the states, Ben would never have done a surgery like this and there would have been numerous physicians managing her care including a pediatrician, oncologist, internal medicine specialist, etc. It is so frustrating for Ben to watch someone suffer without having the resources to help. When Ben arrived at the hospital this morning, he was told that last night at 9 p.m. the little girl died. Could her life have been saved? We’ll never know.
I’ve added some photos of us in Galmi. Don’t laugh at my picture – this was the best I looked all month!
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4 comments:
You look soooo beautiful- seriously. Please share with Ben our sadness. We will be praying for him and for the family of the little girl. I am sure he has a very heavy heart. Can't wait for you to be home so we can really talk to you all. We are starting home to Montana today after our Indiana visit was successufl. Love you
Well it all became clear to me and I don't know why it took so long because now it seems so simple. Your mission and purpose there is to experience and share with all of us in your beautiful vivid way so that we all can become more caring and sensitive and do more for others. When we hear you describe your feelings and experiences, it makes us feel really uncomfortable and spoiled too. If you were having an easy time and loving every minute with no emotions or misery, we wouldn't really be impacted that much- it'd be like you were on vacation. When you write about the sweat dripping down and the spiders- its so much easier to imagine what the lives of the people there are really like- so I guess to accomplish your mission and purpose, you have to be a little miserable and suffer so we GET IT!! I think you also are destined to share this word in a much broader sense to people who have lots and could really help ( Opra Winfrey???? etc) As Ben identifies real things that are needed, maybe you can find a conduit to fill those needs. You're like a reporter who goes to a war not to fight but to be sure people know what it is like- you're a reporter for God about some of his children who have so little and need help. Love you!!
You do look beautiful-all of you-I want to see pictures of your house and the lizard.
Talked to your mom today- she can't wait for you to come home too-hadn't read your blog yet for the last 2 days-this morning I felt to pray for you to be refreshed-I've prayed for you to be cool-obviously not happening-but I'll keep praying for refreshing and purpose and another couple of wives to help you out-sounds like a great idea to me too-
you need another one just to fan you and bring you iced tea!
Hang in there-we can all be praying for more doctors there-and for God to take care of those precious people-you have done an amazing thing Carrie-just your blog has reached so many people about what is going on there-most of us had no idea. I've sent it on to many at FCA
Wow, it sounds like people are really buying into this whole "Africa missions trip" thing! You had me going for a while with all of those vivid stories. Let me tell you, that was a real nice touch when you likened yourself to Princess Di and the Queen (You know, that might have been a little too much). Oh yeah, then there was the whole "bad mother" story...wow, now that was good! The pictures were good too...they look so real. Ah, and then there was the "tripping at the market" story, now that's the kind of story that people really believe - especially if they know mom (You know what they say, "the apples don't "fall" far from the tree!").
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