In Good Hands
May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.
1 Thessalonians 3: 12
Last week, just a few hours after I finished my last post, I started feeling sick to my stomach for the second night in a row. My head was hurting which was making me feel more nauseous and I just wanted to go to sleep. Had I been in America I wouldn't have thought anything of this. I would've assumed it was something I ate or that I hadn't drank enough water. I would've gone to bed and waited for whatever was bothering me to pass on it's own. But...I'm not in America.
When I told Anita, the young woman who lives with me, that I was going to bed before 8 PM for the second night in a row she went to tell my friend Junior immediately and within minutes he was in my room. (As I said in my FAQ post, I am very well taken care of here) Junior and Pastor Umba insisted that we go to the hospital the next day despite my insistence that I was ok. But when I woke up the next morning with my head still aching and my stomach feeling uneasy, I agreed that we should go just to get checked out.
We went to a small hospital in town called Shalom and luckily we were the only people there. I paid a small fee, around $1.50 to see the doctor who upon hearing my symptoms ordered lab tests for parasites. After paying another small fee I had my finger pricked and the technician returned thirty minutes later with my results. 5 strains of Malaria. Now before you freak out, Malaria is very very very common here. It is spread by mosquitos and everyone is very aware of the symptoms because everyone has had it multiple times. While I take an antimalarial medication daily, it only treats symptoms in the event that I become infected. It does not prevent me from getting the disease. There is no vaccine. That being said, I knew I would get it sooner or later. It was inevitable. Having all five strains was a bit shocking, but I credit the antimalarial drugs for minimizing my symptoms. The doctor assured me that after three days of antibiotics I would be fine.
When I came out of the doctor's office with the results I walked up to Junior and handed him the report. He found the big number 5 written at the bottom of the page and his eyes got big. He looked up at me and we both just burst into laughter. Malaria is a very serious disease that if left untreated can be deadly and not a laughing matter, but in this situation laughing was all we could do. We were both in shock and disbelief at the ridiculousness of the situation. Of course I would have all five strands of malaria. I paid just over $7.00 for my antibiotics and spent the rest of the day recovering. By the third day of medication I was feeling back to my normal self. I will go back to the hospital later this week to be sure that no strains are still lingering.
On Saturday I spent most of the day at my friend Venance's home. Venance is one of the bus drivers for the school and is on call 24/7, especially when teams from the U.S are here. His bus route starts every day at 5 AM and he doesn't get back from dropping of the last child until 7 PM. When I say he is the best driver I have ever seen, I mean it. He is amazing. And he does all of this while smiling and cracking jokes. Venance and I became friends last year during our mission trip. He was always looking out for me and we would try to communicate with each other, him only speaking Swahili and me speaking only English. Since returning in June, we have become even better friends. He has such a calm and gentle presence in which I find peace and joy, and he never fails to make me laugh. We talk every day and as my Swahili improves, so does his English. He is one of my best friends here. So several weeks back when he invited me to come to his home (this is a big deal in African culture) I was beyond excited.
Earlier this week he told me that I would come on Saturday with our friends Baraka and Moses. We got to his home around 10:30 and Venance, his wife Deborah, and three beautiful boys greeted us with huge smiles. We sat in their living room and drank tea and ate tacos, listened to music, talked, and laughed for hours before Deborah served us a huge lunch of ugali, beans, greens, chicken and bananas. I don't think anyone stopped smiling the entire time we were there. As we were leaving I thanked them for everything and in return they thanked me. When I asked them why they were thanking me, they said because I came to their home and it made them all so happy. They said I was welcome to come back again and again.
As Junior and I stood in the lobby of the hospital laughing and hugging, finding the humor and joy in a time that others may have been crying, and as I sat in Venance's living room surrounded by love and laughter and delicious food, I thanked God for the amazing people He has already placed in my life here in Tanzania. For friends who insist I go to the doctor and recognize when I am not myself, who don't take an insincere 'I'm fine' for an answer and who laugh with me through all things, who welcome me into their home and share with me all that they have. I want to be more like these people every day. I want to love and laugh and work and share like they do, because they are doing life RIGHT.
Mungu akubariki,
Allee
1 Thessalonians 3: 12
Last week, just a few hours after I finished my last post, I started feeling sick to my stomach for the second night in a row. My head was hurting which was making me feel more nauseous and I just wanted to go to sleep. Had I been in America I wouldn't have thought anything of this. I would've assumed it was something I ate or that I hadn't drank enough water. I would've gone to bed and waited for whatever was bothering me to pass on it's own. But...I'm not in America.
When I told Anita, the young woman who lives with me, that I was going to bed before 8 PM for the second night in a row she went to tell my friend Junior immediately and within minutes he was in my room. (As I said in my FAQ post, I am very well taken care of here) Junior and Pastor Umba insisted that we go to the hospital the next day despite my insistence that I was ok. But when I woke up the next morning with my head still aching and my stomach feeling uneasy, I agreed that we should go just to get checked out.
We went to a small hospital in town called Shalom and luckily we were the only people there. I paid a small fee, around $1.50 to see the doctor who upon hearing my symptoms ordered lab tests for parasites. After paying another small fee I had my finger pricked and the technician returned thirty minutes later with my results. 5 strains of Malaria. Now before you freak out, Malaria is very very very common here. It is spread by mosquitos and everyone is very aware of the symptoms because everyone has had it multiple times. While I take an antimalarial medication daily, it only treats symptoms in the event that I become infected. It does not prevent me from getting the disease. There is no vaccine. That being said, I knew I would get it sooner or later. It was inevitable. Having all five strains was a bit shocking, but I credit the antimalarial drugs for minimizing my symptoms. The doctor assured me that after three days of antibiotics I would be fine.
When I came out of the doctor's office with the results I walked up to Junior and handed him the report. He found the big number 5 written at the bottom of the page and his eyes got big. He looked up at me and we both just burst into laughter. Malaria is a very serious disease that if left untreated can be deadly and not a laughing matter, but in this situation laughing was all we could do. We were both in shock and disbelief at the ridiculousness of the situation. Of course I would have all five strands of malaria. I paid just over $7.00 for my antibiotics and spent the rest of the day recovering. By the third day of medication I was feeling back to my normal self. I will go back to the hospital later this week to be sure that no strains are still lingering.
On Saturday I spent most of the day at my friend Venance's home. Venance is one of the bus drivers for the school and is on call 24/7, especially when teams from the U.S are here. His bus route starts every day at 5 AM and he doesn't get back from dropping of the last child until 7 PM. When I say he is the best driver I have ever seen, I mean it. He is amazing. And he does all of this while smiling and cracking jokes. Venance and I became friends last year during our mission trip. He was always looking out for me and we would try to communicate with each other, him only speaking Swahili and me speaking only English. Since returning in June, we have become even better friends. He has such a calm and gentle presence in which I find peace and joy, and he never fails to make me laugh. We talk every day and as my Swahili improves, so does his English. He is one of my best friends here. So several weeks back when he invited me to come to his home (this is a big deal in African culture) I was beyond excited.
Earlier this week he told me that I would come on Saturday with our friends Baraka and Moses. We got to his home around 10:30 and Venance, his wife Deborah, and three beautiful boys greeted us with huge smiles. We sat in their living room and drank tea and ate tacos, listened to music, talked, and laughed for hours before Deborah served us a huge lunch of ugali, beans, greens, chicken and bananas. I don't think anyone stopped smiling the entire time we were there. As we were leaving I thanked them for everything and in return they thanked me. When I asked them why they were thanking me, they said because I came to their home and it made them all so happy. They said I was welcome to come back again and again.
As Junior and I stood in the lobby of the hospital laughing and hugging, finding the humor and joy in a time that others may have been crying, and as I sat in Venance's living room surrounded by love and laughter and delicious food, I thanked God for the amazing people He has already placed in my life here in Tanzania. For friends who insist I go to the doctor and recognize when I am not myself, who don't take an insincere 'I'm fine' for an answer and who laugh with me through all things, who welcome me into their home and share with me all that they have. I want to be more like these people every day. I want to love and laugh and work and share like they do, because they are doing life RIGHT.
Mungu akubariki,
Allee
The siies have parted and rain is pouring down my face. GOD bless you Allee!
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