Iska

This has by far been the busiest week yet since I have gotten here, and my favorite as well. I am privileged beyond words. I wish you could all witness what I am watching unfold as I type this. Hannatou* is laying in bed singing. Nana* is stading up clapping. Saratou* is smiling ear to ear clapping while laying in bed and the other nine women I am watching are trying to sleep while these three won’t stop. I can only laugh. They are the true picture of beauty.

Last Thursday an anesthesia provider arrived from the states to be here for a week. A huge answer to pray. He could only be here just under a week so we pushed through and did twelve surgeries during his time here. Long days. A few cases of malaria. Two women returning back to the operating room because of bleeding... in the same day. Lots of singing. Knitting. Coloring. Laughing. We made it through. Out of the twelve women, twelve are dry so far. It’s incredible. In all my previous trips here and stents of surgeries, never have I seen all the women dry for this long together. I am filled with such joy!

I was not scheduled to be at work right now. It’s 10:15pm and at 7:30 I got a text saying the nurse who was on brought her sick baby to work with her so it could sleep next to her here. I am here now. She is at home. I don’t mind it. It just makes me laugh that she would think that was an ok thing to do, to bring her sick baby to work with her. She speaks hausa and French. I don’t. Let’s just say handing over the patients was interesting with me and a French language book. Night time here is one of my favorite times with the women. They are relaxed and chatty. They lay in bed and talk to each other and try to talk to me and laugh and say babu hausa, no hausa. Aque hausa, there is a little hausa, I tell them. Kadunk a dunk, small small, I say. They laugh. They sing. I shake, they laugh more.

During this process of opening this hospital I keep referring to it as the birthing process. This past week was a big push. The times up until here have been contractions. Some big and some small. The water breaking was the first surgery. Contractions started building with the grand opening. Surgeries continued. We realized we were going to have to change our course of action with anesthesia and things paused. An epidural was put in so we could rest. Anesthesia showed up last week and we pushed through. By the middle of April we will close for a few weeks due to the intense heat and then I feel like the birthing process will be over and we will start the growing process.

Some things that have happened since my last blog… the weather has been interesting. I feel like I haven’t seen a blue sky in weeks. The dust has been so thick and the wind, iska, has been pretty constant. No major dust storms yet. I had been looking forward to one. I think I have changed my mind. Yes, I would like to experience one, but even with this constant blowing of the wind off the desert, I never feel clean. The children look like the have put powder on their faces because of the dust turning them white. Men with once black hair now have grey. One of our cleaners shaved his head yesterday and when asked why, he said the dust was turning it white, and it was. My house is in a constant state of dirtiness. I had it cleaned today and had my mosquito net washed. It was turning brown. Coming home to a dusted, clean place made my day. It wasn’t the easiest thing for me when I hired someone to come clean my place once a week. I figured I could do it and be fine. With the long hours and constant need for dusting, it’s been a huge help. Also, it helps the community and families to hire someone so I don’t mind anymore.

I feel like there has been a plague of crickets. When I say crickets, I don’t mean the cute, tiny Jiminy Cricket types. I guess these could dress in a suite and top hat and carry a cane because they are so big! They are everywhere and fly around right outside my door under my light. At night it sounds like someone is knocking because they run into the metal door.

Another answer to prayer is that the container with supplies arrived yesterday. It’s like Christmas when a container arrives. I was helping sort out what belonged to us and what belonged to the leprosy hospital we share a compound with. I was excited for our supplies but almost even more so for them. The guy unloading for their side spoke English so we chatted and when the magnesium sulfate was pulled out he got so excited. This is used for pre-eclampsia in pregnant women and he said they had been out of it for so long. This and other drugs made him so excited. It was great to share in his joy. It’s not an easy place to be when you can only get so much in the country. They really do the best with what they have and they do it well.

Before Dr. Steve left here he shared a story with us a few times. It has stuck with me since. It’s from 2 Samuel chapter 24. I won’t type it all here because it’s too long but I encourage you to read it.

…I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.

2 Samuel 24:24

A thought to leave you with…

(*Names have been changed to protect the privacy of the patients.)