Thursday, December 2, 2010

An Inspiration!

You have all heard me talk about Mana Aurora, the Mozambican nurse who works with us in the Baby House.  I believe the last time I mentioned her she had come back from her month long vacation time, and I was THRILLED!  Well in one of my last days at the center working with her she sat me down to have a chat.
SIDE NOTE- I was SO excited that I could have a real talk with her in Portuguese, understand everything she was saying, and get my ideas across without any translation help!  We have certainly laughed together and thought about my first months when all I did was smile and nod if she spoke and pray she wasn't telling me something very important about a sick child.
So she was asking me for a notebook that she could call her own.  She wants to use it to learn!  She wants to write down illnesses we see, how we decide to treat, and then how well it works (follow up...we've been trying to teach her follow up since she came to work with us!!!!!).  I was absolutely blown away.  She even gave me examples.
She said...like if I call you because someone has a bad cough, you say he or she has crackles in their lungs and start them on amoxicilin.  Then in 7 days when their course is complete I'll write whether they are better or not...then I can learn how to treat things and won't have to call you for everything!
I know her being able to treat the children on her own is a long way away, but the fact that she would initiate this learning on her own is UNHEARD of among most of the Mozambican staff.  I was very blessed and excited to think that my job is to pour into someone who really wants to learn and has grabbed hold of the vision that one day we won't be there and she'll be taking care of the babies on her own!!!
Please be praying for Aurora who has gone through much loss in the last few months and has many stresses in her life we can't even begin to understand.  She supports her family, her children's families, and her sisters, not to mention a few other community members.  She is an amazing Christian woman who I respect and am certainly blessed to be working with.  I pray God continues to give her wisdom in treating the kids and directs our relationships and how we work alongside and teach her!

2 comments:

  1. oh how very very far that woman has come since she arrived! I miss her so so much!!!! I'm excited for her and ya'll and her relationship with the kids! She is truly a blessing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. She truly is...daily I thank God for her!

    ReplyDelete