Ann in Benin: 2009

Friday, August 21, 2009

Pictures!

Me on my motorbike!

Playing a drum in the village of Sinisson. This is the chief next to me!

This is a pictures of "les pagnes" or fabric in a market. Women in Benin would by a large piece of fabric and then go to a seamstress to have a dress made. Everyone had dresses like this and they wore them everyday!

This is a typical African meal- rice with a sauce over it and then potatoes and other veggies!

This is the clinic that I spent all my time at! There are actually 2 buildings but this building is the one where patients are seen. The other has Dr Martin's office and the pharmacy.

Thank You!

Hi friends and family,

I want to thank you all for your prayers and support during my 2 months in Benin. It has been wonderful sharing stories and pictures with many of you! This trip is one that has made a huge impact on how I look at the world and has definitely given me a vision for what type of work I want to do in the future. Thank you for all your prayers and encouragement!

I am going to post several photos for those of you that haven't gotten a chance to see them yet!

Blessings,

Ann

Saturday, July 25, 2009

I'm Home!!

Hey everyone!

I made it home safe and sound from Benin this afternoon! I had good flights and smooth transitions between the two!

Thanks for your prayers and support!! I will post some pictures soon...after I sleep a bit!!

Later!

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Heading home!

Hey everyone, it's Josh again posting for Ann.
I spoke with her briefly today because she wanted me to let everyone know that she is doing fine and is starting her travels back home tomorrow. It sounds like she had a great but exhausting last couple of days. She promises to update when she gets back to the states. Be praying for her as she travels over the next few days!

Monday, July 20, 2009

Finally an update!!

Hi everyone!

I apologize for the huge delay in updates!! The connection has been awful here!! I am using Dr Martin’s cell phone to connect today!

I am going to post all the updates that I have written since last week- its super long so don’t read all of it if you don’t want to!! I am leaving N’Dali Thursday morning so I will try to make one last post on Wednesday before I go! I will be traveling to the city of Cotonou all day Thursday and doing some sight-seeing on the way! My plane leaves Friday evening so I will get to spend all day Friday hanging out in Cotonou! Should be fun! My plane gets to the states Saturday afternoon. Please be praying for safe travels for me!

Here is my weekend update:

This weekend has been pretty good and has gone by quickly! Saturday morning I spent some quality time with Mama Ben at the market and then I went with her to the hair salon and watched her get her hair done for over 2 hours! It was long but it was fun to chat with all the ladies in the salon! Saturday afternoon I washed clothes that I’ll need for the trip to Cotonou and for the way home and then I walked around Dr Martin’s neighborhood with Mama Ben and the kids! It was a nice Saturday!
Sunday has also been good! Dr Martin told me a few days ago that he wanted me to sing for everyone in church but I am thankful that I didn’t have to! We never prepared a song in time for church today so instead I gave a little thank you talk at the end of the service! At this church, before anyone starts giving announcements or does a sermon they always yell, “Alleluia!” and everyone yells back “Amen!” So I decided to do the same before I started talking! It was funny to watch the reactions on peoples’ faces! It must have been funny for the congregation to watch a white girl yell “Alleluia!” I could tell by the look on their faces afterwards that they weren’t expecting it! Ha! Everyone laughed and yelled “Amen” back so it was all good!

Sunday afternoon I spent with Sonsona; we hung out at her place for a bit and then drove around N’Dali on the motorbike! It’s really cool how God has changed my heart about her…I used to be so mad at her everyday because she was one of the nurses who was not always kind to the patients, but now I am getting to know her and am learning that she actually works very hard and she has become one of my closest friends here! Amazing!! I never would have guessed that during the first few weeks of June!

Que Dieu vous bénisse! (God bless!)

Update for Friday:
Hey,

Today has been busy at the clinic! This morning after devotions we took the group photo of all the staff at the clinic! We got almost everyone in it and had to teach a patient how to use my camera so everyone could be in the picture! It was pretty funny but the sick guy figured it out and the picture turned out well!
I got to teach pregnant women today using the pamphlets I made! The morning ended up being a little more disorganized than I thought…I wasn’t planning on the midwife wanting to help but she decided that she wanted to help translate so we taught in one big group instead of little ones. It was frustrating because I knew that not all the women understood, but I went around and spoke with the women afterwards to make sure they understood and they did. I got a picture with all the women holding their pamphlets and that was definitely a special moment today- all my hard work paid off! All in all it turned out ok and hopefully the women will remember what they’ve learned!

The rest of the morning was alright- I helped the midwife with prenatal consultations which is a tiring task! The midwife had a bad attitude all morning so it just made the morning difficult! I really like working with pregnant moms though so I enjoyed helping where I could!

I’m not sure what this weekend will look like…I found out yesterday that I might be singing in front of the entire church Sunday as a final farewell! Ah! Other than that probably just chilling with the Osse family and getting ready to go!!
Take care and have a good weekend!

Updates from last Wednesday and Thursday

Hi everyone,
Yesterday and today have been pretty good! It seems that the days have become a little longer…probably because I know I will be coming home soon!
Yesterday was a busy day! I went to a village in the morning with Philippe to watch him give a health and Bible lesson. It is always fun to visit villages and go around and greet people knowing only the word for “hi!” and “I’m fine!” Ha it was a great visit though and at the end of the lessons the women and children danced for me! Philippe told me I should dance with them so I jumped in and Philippe got a video of the whole thing. It was pretty funny!!

After we got back I finally printed off all my pamphlets for the pregnant women and went to the copy place to make copies for tomorrow! (Dad I kept thinking about you and thinking that I was in the “DigiCopy of Africa” ha!) I then had a nice long lunch break that included a nap and came back to help with a delivery! A baby boy was born feet first so it was tough to get him out…Dr Martin helped though and the baby was just fine! I was definitely tired afterwards though! I took the nurse Sonsona home so she could shower and change before she had to work all night. While I was with her she gave me the gift that her friend, Ymoru, gave me. This was by far the most bizarre gift I have ever received! It was a big statue of a village woman with a plate on her head with 4 people in it. So strange! The best and weirdest part is that my name is on the bottom by the woman’s feet! I laughed so hard when I saw it because it is just so strange! I am excited to bring it home and show everyone!

Today has been a bit of a slower day. I helped out in the clinic this morning and then worked on a Powerpoint presentation a bit for Dr Martin. This afternoon after I ate lunch and chilled for a bit I went back to his house to lay in the sun! I spent about a half hour in the sun and Mama Ben kept telling me it was too hot and too sunny! Ha! It was funny though and I sure didn’t mind relaxing in the sun! This afternoon there isn’t much to do at the clinic…I have finished most of my little projects for Dr Martin and there aren’t many sick people today. I know tomorrow will be busy though so I don’t mind a break in the action!

Finally an update!!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Hello!

Yesterday was a busy day here at the clinic. When I came to the clinic yesterday morning a woman came via motorbike very pregnant. The nurses examined her and found out she was ready to deliver! She delivered her first baby within 20 minutes of arriving. She was pregnant with twins so the second baby arrived one hour later and I got to turn her head and pull her out! That was pretty exciting! After that there were just a ton of sick people today so I was helping the nurses and checking on the babies so it was a little nuts!

Sunday night I had a fun night at Dr Martin’s; I taught everyone how to do cartwheels and handstands- including Dr Martin! He already knew how to do them so I got a video of him doing gymnastics! It was pretty funny! I don’t think I will ever get tired of hanging out with him and his family!!

Today has been an interesting day! I helped out at the clinic for a few hours and then Philippe, one of the staff at the clinic, took me to the village of Sinisson to watch how the village women make cheese! It was really interesting and I got to watch each step! The little old lady started with just milk over a fire and used leaves and parts of a tree to make the milk hard and eventually turn into cheese. I have videos and pictures of each step of the process! When she was done she gave me the cheese she made and I got a picture with her and her husband inside their hut! It was a fun morning! I slept for awhile when I got back…apparently I got tired just watching the women?! This afternoon I have been working on a Powerpoint presentation for Dr Martin of all our village pictures and favorite Bible verses. It is almost finished and is looking pretty good! He always has some little project for me to work on!

That’s all for now! I’m getting pretty excited that I will be coming home next week!! Yay!!

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Weekend update

Hi everyone!

It is a hot Sunday here today…very sunny and humid! I think I am finally getting some sun, though, so I’m happy!

This weekend has been a good one! Saturday morning I went running with Sonsona and then went over to Dr Martin’s house for awhile to hang out with his family. They got out their “beach chair” for me and I got to lay in the sun for an hour- I was so excited! Ha that was my first time all summer! Dr Martin’s wife (we call her Mama Ben) kept saying, “Ann are you crazy? Why are you laying in the sun? You are going to get sick!” I tried to explain to her that this is a normal activity for white people but she still didn’t get it! Ha! I watched a bit of Spiderman 2 in French with the kids and then visited the Seminary of N’Dali with Mama Ben. The seminary was just a bunch of houses and huts with one building that had classrooms. Several families lived around the classroom building and we visited a few of the women who lived there. I then spent some time chilling in my room- I ended up getting a bad headache so I was thankful I didn’t have any major plans yesterday. I spent the evening with Dr Martin’s family and then went to bed!

Today I went to church with the midwife, Hortense. She goes to a different evangelical church than Dr Martin but it seemed pretty much the same. The main difference was that the service was in Bariba, not French. I didn’t understand a lot of it but it was still fun to observe the people there and how they worship! I then went back to the catholic center for lunch and then visited the nurse, Sonsona. She took me on a motorbike ride to see the cotton factory that is just outside of N’Dali. We wanted to walk around but the guard wouldn’t let us in! He told us to come back tomorrow- bummer! I got a picture with him outside of the factory and he thought that was pretty funny! It was still a fun visit even though we didn’t go inside!

I’ll be heading to Dr Martin’s soon to hang out with the kids (we’ve been playing a lot of Mancala and the card game Memory lately!) and then have dinner! Then it’s the start of my last full week at the clinic- time is flying!!

Friday, July 10, 2009

Hi!!

Bon soir ma famille et mes amis!

I’m sorry that I haven’t written in several days! Life has been busy and the internet connection has been bad…Typical week in Africa! I hope you all enjoyed the pictures Josh put up for me (Thanks Josh!!!) Now you can kind of get an idea for what this place looks like!

Now I have to try to remember the events from this week…Wednesday I helped give vaccinations. We didn’t have many women and children come this week so it didn’t take long! One of the nurses was sick Wednesday so I chauffeured her to the hospital lab to get results from a test and then took her home. I was at the clinic a lot this week so I liked little outings like that! Wednesday night after eating at Dr Martin’s, I drove the motor bike back to the catholic center (usually I take the car at night) and I followed Dr Martin because he wanted to bring medicine that he bought to the clinic after I made it back safely to the catholic center. I was on a main road near the catholic center when all of a sudden my motor bike started slowly down and then stopped. I tried to accelerate but I wasn’t able to move! My motorbike had run out of gas in the middle of the road! Thankfully we were past the main busy road in town where there are a ton of huge trucks and motorbikes! I was also thankful that Dr Martin was right in front of me and all I had to do was yell his name and he stopped and ran out and helped me! God is good and He is definitely watching out for me! That could have ended up way different if I was alone! Praise God!

Thursday was an intense day…Dr Martin had a meeting with all the staff because several of them weren’t working like they were supposed to. He told three of them to go home and not work for one week. He wants them to think about whether or not they still want to work here. Everyone was in a weird mood all morning and it wasn’t the best day to work. I did get to help deliver a baby boy yesterday morning which was good! He was strong, cried a lot and wasn’t underweight! The past few deliveries have been scary- lots of small babies and lots of babies needing resuscitations. I also got to work more since several of the staff weren’t there. I bandaged wounds by myself and just ran around more doing random things for the nurses which I liked! Thursday afternoon and evening I worked on my brochure for the pregnant women. I stayed with Dr Martin until almost 9pm at the clinic! It was a long, late night last night! I am just about finished with it and I was hoping to give the brochures out today for the prenatal consultations but unfortunately it’s not quite ready! Next week I can, though! It has been raining a ton over the past few days so when it let up last night, these huge flying ant-like bugs came out in the thousands! I have never seen so many bugs like I did last night! Each room in the clinic was filled with them last night since we were a big light source for the bugs! It was SO nasty and I got a video of the bugs swarming around Dr Martin! Eww!

Today has been a pretty busy day as well. I helped take vital signs of all the women waiting for prenatal consultations, gave shots to some sick people, and helped monitor a woman in labor who had a baby with a slower than normal heartbeat. I listened to the baby’s heartbeat through a big ear cone thingy…It worked but it was hard to use! We ended up sending the mother to the hospital for a C-section because her baby was suffering. This past week at the catholic center my lunches have been pretty bad…usually rice, spaghetti noodles or cous cous with nasty fish on top! Gross! I asked that they would stop giving me fish because I just can’t eat it anymore. I have had it almost every day since June! I’m done! I have been so hungry every afternoon because the meals are small and pretty bad. I went over to Dr Martin’s this afternoon to get a snack and his wife ended up making me fish and yams! Ah! At least her fish is cooked well and seasoned! I just can’t get away from fish yet I guess…

I’m not sure what my plans are for this weekend…I will probably go running tomorrow morning with the nurse Sonsona and then who knows what for the rest of the day! I have left my braids in all week but I think I will take them out tomorrow- my head itches like crazy every day!

I think that’s all for now! I’ll write again when I can!!

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

More Pictures!

Pictures and Videos!

Hey Everybody! Ann mailed me a memory card with several pictures and videos that she wanted posted on her blog so that we could all better understand her experience! Here they are!

-Josh

Hi friends and fam!

It has been a very hot and humid past two days, which makes working in the clinic without any fans or air conditioning very tiring! Uff da!

These past two days have been pretty average days at the clinic- no births and or anything else like that to report! I’ve just been helping out with injections and little things like that. One exciting piece of news is that I had the idea over the weekend to put together a pamphlet of information for pregnant moms about all sorts of random things like what their diet should be like, when to come to the clinic, and vaccinations they should get. There have been several deaths of babies over the past 2 weeks due to mothers not knowing the signs of complications or just lack of knowledge. So this has inspired me to put something together to hopefully prevent deaths of babies due to uneducated mothers! I made a rough draft of the pamphlet yesterday and when I showed Dr Martin he looked up at me with a huge smile and said, “God bless you!” So I guess he liked it! He told me to start typing it up on the computer, so that’s what I have been up to! I am excited to have a project to work on since it has been the same old same old at the clinic everyday! I am hoping to making 3 different versions- one in French and the other two in the two most common tribal languages here in N’Dali. I think this could really impact the clinic if it works!

I think that is all my news for now! Take care and I will write again soon!

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Update for this weekend!

Hello,

I hope everyone had a nice 4th of July weekend!

I have some catching up to do! Saturday was a fun, busy day. I went running in the morning with two of the nurses from the clinic and one of their nephews. One of the nurses was trying to convince us that she can run for an hour but in reality she was only able to run for about 2 minutes and then she walked and then sat and waited for us to be done…It was pretty funny!! I then went to the hair salon after that and got fake blond hair braided in with my hair. It sounds pretty hideous but it doesn’t look TOO bad…I look like a hippie and I think I’ll only leave it in for about a week! Its super itchy and feels like hay is in my hair! I washed all my clothes by hand during the afternoon with the help of Dr Martin’s wife. It was a lot of work but it was nice to be outside and do something productive! And now I have enough clean clothes to make it to the end which is nice! I spent the evening at Dr Martin’s house hanging out with his kids and watching the news.

Today has been a pretty relaxing Sunday. Church was long as usual this morning, but it was Children’s Sunday so lots of kids were singing and dancing all morning. It was fun to watch! When I went back to the Catholic center for lunch, it was some kid’s first communion so his huge family was there eating lunch. A small marching band was also there playing music for him which seemed really random to me! I got some funny pictures of the sisters dancing along to the marching band, though! I then read a bit this afternoon and just relaxed in my room! I’ll go to Dr Martin’s soon for some hang-out time and dinner! Then it’s back to the grind tomorrow!

Update for Thursday & Friday

Hi everyone!
Happy early July 4th! I wish I could come home for the weekend and be at the lake with my family!!

The past two days have been good. Thursday I went to the village of Sinisson with the nurse Jechonias to visit sick people there. There were tons of little villages spread out all over the African bush! We visited several of the little villages and didn’t find too many sick people which was good. I scared many little village children with my white skin- I got a picture of one of them running away crying! Ha! Each little village was composed of just one family. There was one little village we visited where one man had four wives and I think about 40 children?! A few of them were sick so we spent the majority of our time there! It was a good morning all in all and it was nice to be out of the clinic and outside in the fresh air!

The afternoon I spent helping at the clinic and then spent the evening with Dr Martin and his wife. Kadi went and got the kids today from the city of Parakou where they go to school so it will be fun to see them tonight!

Today (Friday) has been a normal day- not many sick people at the clinic but lots of pregnant women came for prenatal consultations. I didn’t help with those today but I instead taught an aide at the clinic, Paul, how to use Powerpoint and Excel. The rest of the day has been pretty slow- not a ton to do around here and it’s been very very hot and humid so the day has been dragging on. Thankfully tomorrow is Saturday and I will get a break from the clinic and will get a chance to catch up on sleep!

I hope everyone is well and has a great holiday weekend! I am thinking of you all and am excited that I will be coming home in a few weeks!!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Update for Tuesday!

Hi!

Today has been a pretty uneventful day compared to some of the other days I’ve had! It was so hard to get out of bed this morning after the events yesterday! This morning was pretty normal- helped see patients and held a few babies! I also helped give vaccinations today but we didn’t have very many women come. I learned that the mother who delivered the twins yesterday should have had a C-section right away because the delivery was just too difficult. That is standard procedure here in Africa for a baby that is born bottom first…so I’m sure it’s like that in America too. That poor woman! I saw her today and she looked pretty good and she said she got lots of rest last night. However, the baby boy that was born second was having seizures so the whole family went to the hospital this morning to try and find a treatment for him. The father resisted at first for who knows why but thankfully he changed his mind and they went!
This afternoon I had time for a nice solid nap! I definitely needed it! I then visited one of the nurses Sonsona and another nurse Francine who lives nearby. I had the chance to talk with Sonsona today about her past; I learned she grew up Muslim and all her family members are still Muslim except for her older sister and her. No one in her family knows that she is a Christian and she is going to tell everyone when she goes home next month I guess! I talked through a devotion that I will be giving at the clinic with her and shared with her how I do devotions every day. She seemed really interested and listened as I tried to explain everything in French so that was good! I am just praying that God can use me in the ways He wants because I am clueless as to what exactly to talk about with her or share with her!

When I visited the nurse Francine she was in the middle of packing up all her things and using motorbikes to move her table, bed and bookshelf! I couldn’t believe that the guys who were helping her were able to balance all the huge pieces of furniture on their motorbikes! I got some pretty good pictures of the process!

I think that is all for now, I’ll be going for dinner soon and then will be ready for bed!! These days have been pretty tiring but good!

Monday update (posted today)

Wow I just had an absolutely exhausting afternoon! When I came back to the clinic this afternoon around four, I had barely walked in the door when the nurses told me a woman was just about ready to deliver her baby. I ran in and the head was coming out as I got there! I helped clean up the baby boy (I’m getting pretty good at that!); he was about 8lbs which is pretty impressive for Africa! Right as I was finishing up in that room and leaving another grabbed me and pulled me into another room to help her deliver twins! The woman grabbed my hand and said “Tantie don’t leave!” so I stayed with her and held her hand for about 3 hours! Her labor and delivery was extremely difficult and stressful. Her first baby came bottom first and it took the woman over an hour to get her out…I almost had to drive her to the hospital to have a C-section because it was taking too long. Dr Martin asked if I could drive her and I gulped and said yes! The hospital is almost an hour away and that would have been a very stressful drive. Thankfully Jesus heard our prayers and helped us deliver her! We had to resuscitate her after she was born but she came through and looks beautiful now! The second baby came out with its arm over its head and was very big, so he was a very hard delivery. Dr Martin and I had to resuscitate him for about 15 minutes until he finally breathed on his own. That was so stressful and I think I prayed nonstop the entire time for that little guy. He pulled through and is now breathing on his own! Praise God that both babies and the mother are doing well! It is truly by the grace of God!!

I am about ready to crash- I’m off to dinner soon at Dr Martin’s and then straight to bed! Ha!

Monday, June 29, 2009

Adventerous weekend!

Hi!
I hope everyone had a nice weekend! This weekend for me has been full of adventures to say the least! Ha!

I left for the wedding early Saturday morning with Dr Martin and his family. We left around 7:30 and got to the city of Djougou by 9:30. The wedding was supposed to start at 10 but since this is Africa the church didn’t even fill up until 10:45! We sang for awhile and listened to the choir and the groom and the best man then danced down the aisle- ha! Very different than the US! The bride and the maid of honor then followed a little while later. The pastor gave a very long message and then the normal wedding stuff happened like the “I do’s” and rings and stuff! After that part was over, everyone danced to the front to greet the bride and groom and gave them their gifts. It was very interesting to observe all the differences! The wedding was about 4 hours long total…way longer than I expected! The bride and groom weren’t very affectionate…which was weird to observe! The final kiss was just a kiss on each cheek and that was about it! I learned later that public affection is not common here and just minor things like that are allowed!
After the wedding, Dr Martin, his wife and I drove a few hours north to see the scenery and spend the night in a different city. The northern part of Benin is beautiful! There a tons of huge hills covered in green and I just had the “George of the Jungle” theme song running through my head the whole time- the landscape totally looked like that! Ha! We spent the night at a Catholic center in a city that I can not pronounce or spell! When I woke up Sunday morning I was covered in bugs bites- I got eaten alive by mosquitos all throughout the night! I counted and have more than 15 bug bites on each shoulder and about the same number on my face and eyelids! No fun! I look and feel like I have chicken pox! Sunday morning we went and looked at a waterfall that was about 30 minutes outside of the city. We took a van there that looked like it was going to fall apart and the road was extremely bumpy- it was an experience just getting there! When we got to the waterfall sight we had to climb to the actual waterfall. We had the help of two men and we slowly made it to the large waterfall. It was a beautiful sight hidden in the African bush! I got lots of pretty pictures and got a video of the 2 African boys jumping from the waterfall! They were nuts!

The rest of the day we spent driving home- it took almost all day! A couple funny stories happened along the way that made my day! Dr Martin was considering buying a sheep on the way home even though we were hours from home. I thought that was the most random thought ever and didn’t even know he was considering buying a sheep! He decided against it and as we were leaving the falls he saw a baby tree along the side of the road that he decided he wanted to plant in his yard. So he had the help of a village boy and dug up the whole thing! It was quite a process and I thought it was hilarious! We also stopped and bought tons of stone on the way home because Dr Martin wants to eventually build something but he doesn’t know what, so he is going to save the stone until he decides what he wants! Dr Martin is a funny funny guy! My favorite line of his from yesterday is when I asked what happens if I hit a sheep or goat on the way home (I was driving for a bit to give him a break)- he told me that you throw it in the car and bring it home for dinner!! Ha! Only in Africa!

Anyway, it was a good weekend and it has been a pretty normal day at the clinic today! I just helped deliver another baby boy this afternoon- he is very cute and is about 6lbs! Im off to visit one of the pharmacists and then go to Dr Martin’s house for dinner! Later!

Friday, June 26, 2009

Happy Friday!

Yay for the end of another week! I am thankful that the weekend is close- its been a tiring week!

Yesterday I went to the city of Parakou with Dr Martin and his wife! It was quite an adventure! We left N’Dali around 7:30 in the morning and drove for about an hour to the city. Dr Martin worked at a hospital outside the city during the morning and I ran errands with Kadi, Martin’s wife. We stood in line forever to pay an electricity bill for the clinic and then went to the market which is always crazy! I bought African earrings and shoes for a wedding that I am going to tomorrow. Kadi bartered for everything that she bought- which was a lot! She bought lots of vegetables, meat, fruit, spices and a wedding gift. The meat section of the market was particularly interesting- there were cow heads underneath the tables of meat and intestines! So gross! Flies were everywhere and I felt sick to my stomach as we walked through that section! I got a few good pics though! We left in the early afternoon and when we got back to N’Dali I visited one of the nurses from the clinic at her house. Dr Martin asked me to try and have Bible studies with this nurse since she is a new Christian, so I am starting to get to know her better and talk about stuff like that with her! I’ll hopefully start studying the Bible with her next week!

Today was prenatal consultation day at the clinic! We saw about 13 women this morning and I helped measure the bellies and do paperwork! It was a busy morning but was good! I was thankful to have time for a nap this afternoon and then I have just been hanging out with the nurses and aides at the clinic now. Tomorrow I leave for a wedding in the city of Djougou I think? It should be very interesting and I am very excited to go! Weddings in Africa start in the morning and after lunch…I thought that was interesting! I don’t think I have ever been to a morning wedding before!

I will write again when I get back from my weekend adventure! Thank you for your continuous support, prayer and encouragement! It goes a long way and I am so thankful that I have as much support and love as I do!
Have a nice weekend everyone!

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Happy Wednesday!

Hi!

I don't have too much crazy news for today! I helped give vaccinations to about 70 mothers and children with the nurse Francine. I was packed in out tiny little clinic but we got through everyone in about 2 hours! After I vaccinated one of the babies, she peed all over me so I had to sit in wet pants for about 2 hours until lunch! Not so fun! ha but I was happy to shower and change at lunchtime!

This afternoon I helped teach on of the guys at the clinic how to use Microsoft word...he did pretty well! Tonight I am giving Dr Martin's children singing lessons per his request...oh the strange things he has me do! I am happy to help but his requests are so so random!!

I hope everyone is well! Have a good day!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

And the update for yesterday and today!

Hello all,

The internet has been spotty again so I apologize for the delay in updates!

Yesterday was a pretty tiring day! I helped deliver two babies between 2 and 6pm! The first baby was a little girl she was her mother’s 12th baby! I guess 7 of her babies died and only 4 are living. She lives in a village and rarely seeks health care so that is the reason for the deaths of her babies…very sad! The other woman had a little boy and it was her 6th baby. Both deliveries were normal and there were no complications or problems! So that was good! It was so cool to be a part of the experiences and I can definitely see myself doing work like this in the future!!

Last night I had a little motorbike crash! Dr Martin told me that he thought I was ready to drive in the dark to his house for dinner. I wasn’t sure but I thought I could try! I ended up taking the wrong road to his house and the light on my motorbike wasn’t very strong so I ended up driving into a ditch because the road suddenly ended but I couldn’t see it until it was too late! The bike fell on my right leg but I thankfully only have one big bruise and a sore foot! Men ran to help me get the bike out and start it up again so that was good! Dr Martin was so worried about me and let me drive the car back to the catholic center because he felt so bad! Guess I’ll stick to driving during the daytime only! The roads are so bad here and nighttime is so so dark so I think that is the best option!

Today has been a good day- it is a day of prayer and fasting for all Luke Society ministries. So our staff has been praying throughout the day for all the ministries all around the world. Dr Martin put me in charge because all the prayer requests sent from the head office are in English so my job is to explain the requests in French! It has been going well though and everyone is understanding! It’s been interesting to hear what is going on in all the other ministries and each ministry really needs a lot of prayer so this day is definitely needed!

I think that is about it for updates…I’ll be helping out in the clinic this afternoon and then having dinner at Dr Martin’s again! I am still enjoying hanging out with the sisters every night, too! One of the sisters has two little puppies that I like to visit and play with every night. I have learned that people in Africa don’t respect their dogs and they rarely pet them or play with them so these puppies are always happy to see me! I named them Lucy and Jean-Paul and the sisters think that is just hilarious because Africans never give dogs names of people! They think I am a little nuts but we always have fun together!

I'll write again when I can! God bless!

Weekend update!

I wrote this Sunday but here is the update:

I hope everyone is enjoying Father’s day! (Happy Father’s day, Dad!!)

Yesterday was a fun day! I went running in the morning with a nurse from the clinic- its been awhile since I’ve worked out so I am so so sore today! We then drove the motorbike to a village and visited the hospital and the catholic diocese. We got a full tour from the sisters- they showed us the church, kitchen, classrooms and rooms of the children that stay there. While we were talking, one of the children had caught a scorpion and brought it in to show the sister! It was big and gross!!

During the afternoon I did a little laundry and went to the market with Dr Martin’s wife. My dress and skirt were finally finished so I got to pick them up! I plan on wearing them to a wedding next weekend! I will fit in clothing-wise! Yay! I then spent the evening at Dr Martin’s house and hung out with his kids which was fun!

Today we went to a village for church- Dr Martin spoke about circumcision and he had to describe in great detail what it was because many of the villagers had never learned about it before. He used his pinky finger as a visual- it was pretty funny! I got a good picture of him explaining how it works! The service was three hours long, but it was good! We went back to Dr Martin’s home church in N’Dali and went to some meetings so it was a long morning. Dr Martin and his wife help organize microfinance for women here so that they can start their own businesses and earn their own money. So the meeting after church was for that! Pretty cool!
This afternoon I got a chance to rest, drive the motorbike some more (I finally getting the hang of it!) and will go back to Dr Martin’s for dinner. Its been a good weekend!

I hope the internet connection will get better soon- if you don’ t hear from me for awhile, that is probably why! Take care and I will write again soon!

Friday, June 19, 2009

Hi!

Hi all- Sorry I have been out of touch for several days! The internet has been down since Wednesday and I am using a cell phone connected to the computer to be online right now! Ah internet in Africa can be frustrating at times!

Quick update- Wednesday was fun, I went to the nearby city of Parakou with Dr Martin and his wife. We went to the market there and Kady, Martin's wife, bought me a skirt and shirt. Very kind! Also, Dr Martin bought me a motorbike! It was a fun day there and we didn't get back until dinnertime!

Thursday and Friday I have just been helping at the clinic and learning how to drive the motorbike! Its been a little tricky, but I am getting the hang of it! The nurses have been teaching me so its been fun!

Tonight I am going over to Dr Martins for dinner so that should be fun!

I hope the internet will be up and running soon!

later!

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Fun Tuesday!

Bon Soir!

Today has been a big improvement from yesterday! This morning in the clinic was pretty good- we saw sick people as usual and I worked with a nurse who is a good teacher and makes sure I understand everything that is going on (since everyone speaks in tribal languages!) so that was nice! I learned a lot and am getting better every day at giving shots! I thought I was going to get to help deliver twins this morning, but the woman ended up going home because her contractions stopped. Bummer! Maybe tomorrow or the next day though!

This afternoon I visited a satellite clinic that is being built with Dr Martin. We visited a nearby village and greeted the people there. A met the chief and a man who wanted to show me his drum he made. The man started playing his drum and then the chief grabbed my hand and started dancing with me! It was hilarious and Dr Martin got it all on video on my camera! Ha!

We came back to the clinic this evening and I helped give more shots and help a girl who was in a motorbike accident- no major wounds other than a big cut on her leg. I will be going back to the Catholic center for dinner soon! Have a good Tuesday everyone! Later!

Monday, June 15, 2009

Sad day :(

Hi,

Today has been a tough Monday. This morning when I was working in the clinic, a pregnant woman came in with abdominal pain and a fever. She had malaria and it was causing her to have contractions even though she was only six months pregnant. Basically what happened was I was assigned to sit with her and wait for her water to break because it was too late for Dr Martin to give her medication to stop the contractions. The woman had the baby around 1145 and it was too small to save...This was my first delivery and the baby died within a few minutes of being delivered. This was really hard to see and it was shocking to me that all the nurses, the mother and the family did not seem upset by the event. I guess this happens a lot in Benin and the culture believes that the baby only exists outside of the womb, so anything that happens to the baby before it is born or before it looks like a baby is not upsetting. I still was so sad by the entire event and was relieved to go back to my room for lunch and just be sad. Life in Africa can be so hard sometimes.

This afternoon I went to another village with Dr Martin and one of the men from the clinic. It was a good afternoon and we taught about Moses to a group of children and young men. It was fun and I got some good videos of the kids!

Thats all for now, back to the clinic tomorrow morning. Later!

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Update Time!

Hello friends and fam! Its been a few! Hopefully everyone is enjoying their weekend! I just got to the clinic and am happy to finally have some time to check my email and update everyone on my life.

I think I left off on Thursday…we didn’t have many patients come to the clinic Thursday so I spent most of the day chilling with the nurses and getting to know them better! It was definitely a bonding day and it was fun to hang out and take pictures and buy random food from the women who came to the clinic selling things.

Friday I thought I would be helping out with the prenatal exams as every Friday that is what happens at the clinic, but instead Dr Martin wanted me to set up his new computer that he had bought the day earlier. Computers are difficult to set up in Africa! I had to connect all sorts of weird things from the wall to a voltage box to the computer and then we had to figure out which monitor, keyboard and mouse would work! It was a frustrating process! I then installed a bunch of stuff for him and got the internet up and running. By the time I finished it was lunch time and I was happy to go back for a break. When I returned later in the afternoon, twins had been born! I was bummed that I missed that, but the woman who had given birth was bleeding badly so Dr Martin, the nurses and I worked to make the bleeding stop. It was intense and scary for a bit because she lost a lot of blood and we were worried she would go into shock. Luckily she didn’t and she is fine and went home today! Praise God! Friday evening I went to Dr Martin’s house for dinner and stayed for awhile to watch the news and chat. It was a nice evening!

Saturday was quite the day! I got my hair done with Martin’s wife. My entire head was braided and the ends were put into a ponytail. I thought it would look ok; but I ended up hating it!! I had a horrible headache the rest of the day because the braids were so tight and I thought that I looked bald! It only took the hair dresser an hour to do my hair, but it took her four hours to do Martin’s wife….so it made for a really long day at the salon! I was glad to leave! Martin’s wife took out all the braids on the bottom of my head and put them up in a pony for me which helped my headache a lot! I then went to Hortense’s home- she is the midwife from the clinic who is close to my age and is one of my new buddies at the clinic! We hung out at her home for a bit and she bought fabric to make a dress out of for both herself and me! The tailor came over to measure us both and he will have matching dresses ready for us by tomorrow! Hortense and I then went to the market and she bought me a necklace (she is so so kind!) and I bought fabric that you use to wrap around your waist for every day wear. We then drove to a nurse’s house and visited with her for awhile and then I drove Hortense home. It was a busy afternoon and I didn’t get to eat dinner until 9pm!

Today has been a good day; I went to a village this morning with Martin, his wife, and a man who works at the clinic to do ministry. It was quite the experience! The drive there alone was pretty interesting; we drove through the bush on a really really bad road and got stuck a few times! We then were greeted by everyone and had to walk to the far end of the village to set up our little area. We had many children there and a few adults and elders came as well. We sang songs, prayed, taught a little about health, and read bible stories and Dr Martin explained the gospel to them. I think a few of them had already accepted Christ as several children led prayers and songs but a few adults accepted Christ this morning so that was exciting! Dr Martin then presented me to them and they made me say a few words and sing! I definitely wasn’t expecting any of that but I sang for them and thanked them for welcoming me! After that they told me they wanted me to stay until the evening- so I guess I made a good impression! I took several pictures with them and then we headed back! We stopped back at the clinic on the way home and visited the twin boys, I got to hold them and take pictures with them! They are so so cute! We then drove the family and the twins to their home. I’ve spent the rest of the day resting and laying low which has been a nice break in the action! I also took out all the braids and took a shower- I feel so much better! No headache and I have hair again! Ha!

I am definitely starting to miss the comforts of home- I am getting sick of killing bugs in my room before I go to bed every night and I miss the little things like American food, weather, showers, and computers! I am learning a ton every day though and am enjoying my experiences here so I can’ t complain too much!!

Take care and I will update when I get another chance! It’s been great hearing from you through emails and messages! Thank you for your prayers and encouragement- it’s keeping me going! God bless

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Hi!

Well I had good luck for a week and a half- but today I woke up sick to my stomach (with diarrhea…L) I had dinner last night at Dr Martin’s house and his wife told him this morning that something that she put in the cake was not good and caused us all to be sick! Bummer! Luckily I had plenty of meds for this problem packed so I was able to go to the clinic today!

Today we gave vaccinations to mothers and babies. We had about 20-30 moms and babies come in. I gave the majority of the vaccinations today so I am starting to get good at it! Luckily today was the day for moms to get tetanus shots- not too many babies! It still makes me sad to make them cry! Ha.

We finished the majority of our work and saw all the sick patients by noon (usually we don’t get done until around 2) so I got to observe Dr Martin do an ultrasound on a young mom. I got to tell the mom that her baby was a girl and look at the baby on the screen. It was very interesting! I then went back to the Catholic center for lunch (peas in some kind of sauce and a mango!) and then took a long nap! So its been a good day!

Tomorrow Dr Martin is going to the city of Parakou to buy medications and a motorbike for me! I’m not sure if I will be going with him or working at the clinic, though. It will be nice to have my own form of transportation soon. I’m excited!

That’s all for today- it has been cool all day which I have loved! It started raining around eleven and it must be around 70 so it’s a good break from the hot and humid weather!

Have a good day everyone- be blessed!

I make babies cry!!

Salut!

(This blog was supposed to be for yesterday-4/9- but I was unable to connect to the internet until today!)

I am just finishing up another day at the clinic- it was definitely a hard one today! We had our morning devotions as usual and then saw many sick babies and children. Dr Martin told the nurses that I already know how to give shots, so I ended up giving all the shots today. The main type of shots that are given at this clinic are intramuscular- which means you use a really big, long needle. Yikes! The only kind I’ve given at the hospital in the States is one with a short needle (like for insulin). So I had to give babies and little kids big shots and they screamed and cried. Ah it was awful! I had a knot in my stomach after every single shot. One little boy grabbed my hand that I was injecting with while I was injecting the medicine and it freaked me out! That was by far the most stressful part of the day. My first patient that I gave a shot to was an older man from a tribe that only believes in getting injections from a clinic (I guess they believe pills don’t work?!) so he was very calm and didn’t move a muscle! He told the nurses that if he comes back to the clinic, he is going to look for me! Haha.

Working at the clinic over the past two days has been frustrating in a way because the health care here is obviously much different than the U.S. It is hard to watch patients not buy medication they need because they can not afford it and it is also sad to watch the way nurses use supplies as they can’t afford to throw away used supplies as freely as we do in the U.S. The biggest frustration has been seeing the babies and children that come in and are so sick because their mothers don’t know how to care for them. Many of the children have high fevers and are very dehydrated because their mothers neglect them or don’t know what they need. It breaks my heart and I would love to educate every mother that walks into the clinic…but unfortunately I don’t know any of the tribal languages that these mothers speak. The nurses here hardly educate them so it is a frustrating situation!

I am continuing to learn a lot, though, and am getting lots of practice of different nursing skills in! Tomorrow is vaccination day at the clinic for small children, so that will be interesting! It continues to be very hot and humid; the average day is a temperature of 90 degrees with 80% humidity or more! Uff da! I don’t know if I will ever be able to understand how women wear long skirts, shirts, and head coverings in this weather! Everyone asks me if I am cold when it is 80 degrees…ha! Different worlds!

À toute a l’heure! (See you later!)

Monday, June 8, 2009

Hi friends and family,

I hope you are all doing well! I want to thank you all for your prayers and encouragement- I know things wouldn’t be going this smoothly if I didn’t have your support. Thank you thank you!

I’m sorry I haven’t updated for awhile- I didn’t get to use the computer very much this weekend and this is my first chance of going online for more than a few minutes! This weekend was fun- I went to the market Saturday morning to look for material to make a dress. I found some nice material- turquoise with big circles- and only had to pay $6 dollars for it! Then I went to the tailor and she measured me and asked me to choose a style of dress. The African dresses are actually a shirt and skirt, but put on together they look like a dress. So I chose a style and apparently it will be done by Wednesday! I’m excited to wear it and blend in a little better with the people here! I spent Saturday afternoon with Dr Martin’s 3 year old daughter, Kemi. She told her mother, “Je va partir avec tantie Ann!” (I want to go with Auntie Ann!) Ha, so we spent the afternoon at the Catholic center feeding the monkey, coloring, painting fingernails, and looking at the nuns’ crocodile and puppies! This is the most bizarre Catholic center!

On Sunday I went to church with Dr Martin and his family. The service was very interesting- the first hour the children went to a different building for a lesson and all the adults had a lesson in the church. For the second hour everyone came together and we sang songs and gave offering. Then the third and final hour the pastor gave a sermon and the children left again. It was a long morning but good! I didn’t understand much of it as everyone speaks so fast, but I liked worshipping with the Africans here. They said that dancing comes before singing when they worship and I definitely noticed that! It was fun! Sunday afternoon I visited different families from the clinic with Dr Martin. We visited families with children who have never seen a car or a white person so they were pretty scared of us when we drove up! It made for an interesting afternoon!

Today has been very busy in the clinic. I spent the entire day following and observing the nurses. Today was basically a “normal day” where any patient could come in and be seen for any problem. A few people came in with wounds from motorbike accidents or stepping on things, lots of sick children, and a few women came to have pregnancy tests. It was also a sad day because I had to watch lots of little kids and babies get shots and then scream L. It was so sad and so hard to watch!

Life has been good in Benin! My French is coming along well which is great! I am now starting to have trouble speaking English well- I have to think about it a little before I talk. Weird! I am also starting to get to know 2 of the sisters from the Catholic center well which is fun! They come find me when I eat my meals and we hang out for awhile- so its nice to have some friends!

I will write again soon, take care everyone and God bless!

Friday, June 5, 2009

Salut :)

Hey everyone!

It is around 5pm in Benin and I am at the clinic without much work to do at the moment! I feel like I am starting to get used to living in N’Dali and getting used to the people and the culture here. I have a good past 2 days! Yesterday I went to a local hospital with Dr Martin to meet with the doctors there. Unfortunately they were busy so we just walked around and visited a few patients. We then drove to a bigger city, Parakou, to look at the university and departmental hospital. We also ate lunch at a restaurant there and ran into the mayor of N’Dali. When we returned to N’Dali, I spent the rest of the evening hanging out with Dr Martin’s 3 children. It was so much fun! We watched weird African sitcoms and just hung out. I am able to have fairly decent conversations in French and am improving so much every day! I feel like the Africans here understand me much better than when I was in France a few years ago. That is a good feeling for sure!

Today was a great day at the clinic. I arrive at the clinic each morning around 7:30 for devotions with the rest of the clinic staff. We then start to work around 8:00. Today was the day for check-ups for pregnant mothers. The midwife, Ortese, taught me all about the paperwork and examinations for each mother. I first took all the blood pressures, temperatures and weights of the mothers and then got to help with the examinations. I measured all the bellies and had to feel the uterus of each mom. That was a bit shocking at first, but I got used to it after awhile! I left at 1:30 for lunch at the Catholic Center and then Dr Martin said I could rest until 4:00. I am back at the clinic and there aren’t any patients here, so I have some more free time which is nice!

Tomorrow I might be going to the markets with Dr Martin’s wife to look for material to make an African dress for me! The women have beautiful dresses here and I guess it isn’t very expensive to buy material and have one made. I’m pumped!

One thing that I really love about Benin is how friendly all the people are. I hardly notice that I am the only white person in the entire village now! Everyone I see always waves to me and smiles- whether they know me or not! I know not many people come this far north in Benin, so everyone also stares and gets excited when they see a white person. It is very interesting but I am getting used to it!

A few things that I realized I take for granted are: roads (the one highway here is full of huge potholes and you have to swerve or completely stop while driving), safety (nighttime creeps me out here, I never feel completely safe and wish I wasn’t alone in my room!), electricity (every day the electricity goes out for several hours, but you never know when that will be…its usually in the evening so that can be scary too as the sun sets by 8 every night), and air conditioning (the only place that is air conditioned is my room and that is because I am paying a little extra for it! The clinic and all the homes have no air conditioning…I guess everyone here is used to the crazy heat!)

I think that is all for now…I will try to post some pictures soon! I can only use the computer at the clinic and I always forget to bring my cords for my camera…maybe tomorrow or Monday?! Bon soir mes amies!

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

I'm here!

Bonjour! I have arrived safely in Benin. I stayed overnight in a Catholic charity lodging center with Dr Osse and his wife. We drove all day today to N'Dali where I will be staying for the next 2 months. It took us about 7 hours as their is only one highway that goes north and there are tons of huge pot holes along the way. I am really loving Benin despite the extreme heat and humidity! I was expecting desert and it is definitely more like a jungle here! I have a nice room in N'Dali, I am staying at another Catholic lodging place and I have my own room, bathroom and air conditioning! Tomorrow I will be visiting a hospital with Dr Osse and then returning later in the afternoon to work at the clinic. I am very happy to be here and I know I will learn a ton. Thank you for all your prayers and support! I'll write again soon. Blessings!

Sunday, May 31, 2009

Test test 1-2-3

Hi everybody- just seeing if this works! I'm leaving for Benin tomorrow afternoon, I will have a layover in Paris and will arrive in Benin Tuesday evening. I will make sure to give an update when I arrive safely! Here is a map of where Benin is in Africa as many of you have been wondering where it is located!