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