Just for today

On Friday, I got to work on female ward, my favorite ward, with Allison. The morning went well with rounds, Allison and I both had successful IV starts, and Allison got her first urinary catheter successfully. Allison was a joy to work with. Sometimes there are people that you connect with immediately, and Allison is one of those people to me. As the morning progressed forward, we continued our nursing responsibilities—caring for the impoverished with compassion. After lunch, we were obligated to bring Nazifa to a dressing change for her burns. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday is burn dressing day. Our supplies are running short and my heart continues to break as I know her body will never heal to its previous state. As her screaming began to dissipate from the medication, we went about removing her dirty dressings. We removed the gauze that was soaked with her blood and pus, peeling skin away from her body. The gauze peels away, debriding her wounds and bringing fresh, raw skin to exposure of the afternoon air. Her wounds are healing. We know this because the edges are approximating, her wounds are bleeding, and she has no signs or symptoms of infection. As I was scrubbing her raw, bleeding skin, a wave of nausea met my stomach. I kept telling myself over and over again, Meghan you are fine, you have seen much worse than this before. In fact, you have been doing this three times a week for the last three or four weeks. But this feeling deep within my gut would not dissipate. I had to sit down, and Miss Bingham told me they had everything under control and that I could step out into the fresh air. I removed my blood stained gloves and walked outside. I took a deep breath and sat down on the bench outside of minor theatre. In my head I repeated the following words, “I will not get sick, I will not get sick, I will not get sick.” A few minutes later, I overcame my upset stomach and returned to minor theatre. We finished up with Nazifa and brought her back to her bed to rest. The nurses said there was nothing else Allison and I could do so we went to other wards to help as needed. In peds, a nurse asked me to help find a vein on a child needing fluid replacement therapy. After the first failed attempt, a wave of nausea hit again. I walked outside to embrace the breeze, but this time the nausea persisted. Miss Susan insisted I return to the house and she escorted me the entire way. She was very sweet and made sure to keep me steady as I weakly walked to the house. When I got to my room I embraced the coolness of the hard cement bathroom floor. I felt so awful I didn’t even care if the ants crawled over my feet or if the rats came out of the towel cubbord for a visit. All I desired was the coolness the cement floor offered. Unfortunately, the nausea overwhelmed my body and I gave in to the urge to vomit (tapika) the rest of the night. I slept in my top bunk, with my basin by my side. Miss Janice asked if I could stomach some pills, and there was no way I could keep anything down long enough to have therapeutic effects. I resorted to the injection. It’s not many times you can say your teacher has seen your bare bottom or given you an injection. But, this is Africa. The Phenergan burned and I felt a new sympathy for my patients. Soon enough, I was passed out on my bunk. At two am I woke up feeling weak, but better. I somehow managed to climb down my bunk and maneuver a path through the darkenss to the bathroom. I rinsed out my basin and cleaned myself up. Then I returned to the heights of my bunk. As morning dawn began to pour light through the window, I knew I needed to get out of my bed. Today was the day scheduled for us to teach the seventh graders down at the school about HIV/AIDS and sex. There was no way I was going to miss out on this opportunity to teach the young girls about saving themselves for marriage.

The advisors requested us to teach on the topic because many people in the villages have been trying to persuade young children to have sex with them. Many times they offer valuables in return for sex. This is a common problem in the surrounding village because there is a myth that having sex with a virgin will cure you from AIDS. We split the class up with us women teaching the girls, and the men teaching the boys. We emphasized that this is not true, and that you can run away from people who want such things. Kellum began discussing what your body does as your grow and reach puberty. She also described how AIDS can be transmitted from person to person. Then Allison and Erin discussed sex as a gift from God that is only to be opened after one is married, and only to be shared with your husband. Alaina followed with a story from the Bible in Genesis 39 about Joseph and Potiphars wife. She discussed how Joseph wanted to honor God, and remain pure. He denied Potiphar’s wife’s request to sleep with her, and he physically ran from her. She emphasized that they can physically run away from those who want them to have sex with them. Then Anna continued by having a girl read from the Swahili Bible some passages about how your body is the holy temple of God. She talked about keeping the house of God clean and pure. Ashli followed by telling a personal story about a commitment she made with her parents, when she was around their age, to save herself for her husband. I was blessed to end our topic of discussion with a prayer—asking for guidance and strength to remain pure. Our translator did not always understand our English, and we hope and pray that the message got across to the young girls. Our hearts reach out for these young souls to know the truth, and to know that they can remain pure, or start new today and be pure. Before we left, we decided to sing a song for the girls—

            Father God, just for today

            Help me walk your narrow way

            Help me stand, when I might fall

            Give me strength to hear your call

            May my steps be worship

            May my thoughts be praise

            May my words bring honor to your name

As we were gathering our possessions to return home, the girls asked us to teach them the song. We wrote the words on the chalkboard, as well as a paper copy for future reference, and sang the song a few more times, teaching them the words and the tune. Smiles spread across their faces. As we departed the school grounds, all of the girls escorted us. They reached for our hands, and shouted, “Asante, asante sana, asante!” Which means thank you, thank you very much, thank you. When we arrived back at the house, they sang us a song about the flowers and showed us a dance. We took a few last pictures and said our goodbyes. The love that these girls showed us is indescribable. I cannot fathom having so little and being so full of joy. These precious girls are an example to me, and I never want to forget what I have learned from them. You can find joy in the smallest things, and you can brighten someone’s day by a smile and holding their hand. I have learned that I need to be thankful for what I do have, and that I can do anything with Christ who strengthens me.

I overexerted myself this morning, and took a three hour nap. I still had not eaten any food, and attempted my first meal at lunctime. After I got a few crackers down, I could feel the strength returning to my body. It was a downhill battle from here!