So this is a funny one...Laura, Sam, and I took a little trip to the city this afternoon. It was all to pick up an important letter Laura needed, but we also ate a good dinner and had wonderful chats. But all of that is for another post...this one is reserved for the CRAZY, totally out of place, hysterical car we saw on the way home.
On first glance Sam or Laura said something along the lines of, "Wish we could ride behind that car the whole way home!" This was in reference to the VERY large picture of a man in military uniform with the insignia, Ranger, on the spare tire cover hanging on the back of the car. That was funny enough.
Then we did some investigating. Turns out the driver was the guy pictured on the back of the car...hilarious. And there were tv/dvd players in the back of the headrests...ok this might be somewhat normal to you who live in the States but I have only ever seen one other car with tv's in it and that was in South Africa! Then we read on the top of his front windshield that it said "Rick Ross" in HUGE letters. Next we ended up almost behind him again and read that engraved on the back above the license plate it read "The Boss" in gold letters! Then we notice the rims...HUGE sliver rims...where does he think he is?? Then, we see that in his side view mirror it also says "Boss"...so every time he checks for traffic he's reminded he's Boss. Too funny!
As we discover each of this funny items we keep getting death stares from the lady in the passenger's seat...what do you expect woman? You are riding with Ranger Rick Ross the Boss with your music BLARING in a car that would draw attention to itself in America not to mention here! We did discuss getting his autograph at one point but decided the passenger might lose her mind due to jealousy.
Too funny...it brought us all a good laugh and made the terrible traffic on our way home a bit more bearable! Oh and I failed to mention that all of these little additions were on a Mitsubishi...too too funny!
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Oh What a Weekend...
So...I have worked for the past 4 days and had the on call phone over night for the past 5 nights. I'm not complaining...I did it to myself. Other people offered to switch days with me but since I love a consistent schedule I declined the offers and each time I work the weekend (once a month for Jan-Feb and then every 3rd weekend after that) I'll work Thursday night through Tuesday morning.
Anyway the point of this is to tell you about some of the CRAZY things that happened over this weekend. It certainly wasn't a simple, straight-forward, you can work 4 days in a row kind of weekend...instead...
#1- I spent Friday morning attempting to diagnose 2 little babies with HIGH fevers...turns out one had a urine infection and the other had a cough/cold/sinus infection. Let me just say, trying to get urine from 2 little babies can prove WAY more difficult than you would ever think!
#2- A little girl in the girl's area fell in the shower Friday afternoon and split her head open. Praise God for our Mozambican nurses who wrapped up her head and were calling for a driver to bring her to hospital before I got to the clinic. She now has about 8 stitches in the back of her head, but all is well!
#3- I was summoned to the clinic again about 7:00pm (when trying to finish up giving out meds in the baby house and nursery and controlling all the fevers before leaving them for the night). One of the boys had split his nose open...I'm pretty sure a sling shot and rocks were involved because Rebecca (another nurse) pulled a piece of rock out of the wound. Anyway, I ended up bringing him for stitches. Thank you Tracey for driving us since ALL the other center cars were being used. It took 5 of us to hold him down...5...including the guard from outside the clinic. Seriously out of control! Before we left he wouldn't even walk properly and wouldn't open his eye...when we pulled back into the center he wanted to go watch the movie that is always on Friday nights. And...when asked who did that to his nose he answered...the hospital! Gotta love the jokesters!
#4- Saturday ran relatively smoothly...saw too many kids to count and checked in on all those who had been sick on Friday...plus covered the Baby House where crazy kids were choosing not the eat and having random fevers and things of that sort. And by the end of the day was called to the girl's area because one little girl had injured her foot...it was swollen, tender, and she wouldn't walk on it...but she could wiggle her toes and honestly I couldn't face sending her to hospital. So a little ice and ibuprofen was all she got from me...I'll be back in the morning I said and I'll check on it then.
#5- Sunday morning was again OUT OF CONTROL...before 10am I had seen at least 5 center kids...one with a high fever and groin pain...one who had sliced his hand open and could really have used stitches but I steri stripped it together instead...one with strep throat...and I couldn't even tell you what else. Oh my friend with the foot injury was a bit better...no hospital was a good choice!
#6- Sunday afternoon brought a gross abscess under someone's arm, a community woman with extreme abdominal pain (I have no idea what is causing your abdominal pain I wanted to say!), one girl with a strange rash on her face, a girl in the girl's area with a serious chest infection (she had already been on antibiotics for 4 days but was still having fevers...fever treated...will check again later), fever and groin pain from the morning is better, dressing changed on our friend with the stitches in the back of her head, and the discovery that our friend with the stitch in his nose has pulled it out...yep that's right...he told me it dried up and fell out...biggest load of you know what I've ever heard...oh well I told him...if it opens up again and your nose falls off don't come crying to me! And our director called me about another kid with a terrible wound under his arm...changed that dressing, changed his medication, and am praying it improves. I'm sure there were 14 other things I dealt with that I couldn't even begin to remember...
#7- Back to the baby house...one of our little friends has vomited twice...I pick him up and discover he is breathing 56 times a minute, retracting to his back bone, and nasal flaring (for all you non-medical people out there...that means he wasn't breathing well at all!). After 4 puffs of salbutamol he was a bit more under control. I put him down to give out meds...was back an hour and half later and he looked about as bad again...more puffs of salbutamol. Came back again at 10pm...after puffs he didn't improve...nebulizer with salbutamol...finally sounding better. Came back at midnight...another nebulizer and I decided he'd be ok until 6am. 6am Monday morning rolled around VERY quickly...more salbutamol puffs...back to sleep for an hour before the day starts.
#8- In the midst of breathing issues I received a text from one of our pastors about a lady who lives at the Bocaria (city garbage dump) that was very ill and needed to get to the hospital. After several phone calls and attempting to figure out what was going on, where they were, and who to send...I handed our ambulance keys to a driver and sent him to pick her up and drop her off. An hour or so later I find out they didn't have the money for her to be seen and now our driver is stuck in the middle of all the decision making...nothing is ever simple. I call him and say...you are not to stay with them for the night...if they want to be brought home, bring them, but you come back to the center. If he has to be out all night for a good reason that is one thing...but seriously it's not safe...I feel like a mom...but seriously! Come to find out he didn't get home until 11:30 even after my instructions.
#9- Monday brought about more problems of it's own...the girl's tias came to me about the girl with a chest infection (she wasn't looking good at all...I said if she spikes another fever she's going to the hospital). One of the girls in the baby house had an allergic reaction to who knows what...eyes and mouth swelled up. Our friend with the terrible breathing was finally looking better and controllable Monday night. The babies in the Bercario were actually quite well minus a terrible diaper rash...yuck! Oh and needing to start one of them on antifungal treatment for her thrush that won't disappear! Plans were made for all the consults of the week...Sheri brought me coffee...Praise the Lord! Rebecca helped me prepare meds...I would have never made it to our weekly staff business meeting if she didn't. Then it was found out that one of our newest little boys might have chicken pox...you've got to be kidding me. He got isolated into the clinic, a substitute tia was called in, he had a high temperature by the end of the night. I still had notes to write, charts to update...and finally got to the birthday party of one of our missionaries as the tables were being put away.
Oh what a weekend it was...today was much better...just a trip to the grocery store...a long nap...administration work for the milk program...and now I'm off to dinner and movie watching with a few of the girls here at the center!
I'll just add in the 2 funniest non-medical things that happened as well...
#1 has to be the stunt that Adilson (one of our oldest baby house kids) pulled Sunday before dinner time. Before every meal the babies wash their hands. They do this by the tias pouring soapy water over their hands into a bucket. Well, while most of the babies were getting their hands washed little Adilson needed to go potty. So instead of waiting 2.5 seconds for someone to be able to take him he pulled his pants down and weed all over the place...in the clean hand washing water, on the other babies...I know you're probably laughing...and I've had a few good laughs about it too...but seriously his behavior is out of control...please be praying for us and the tias!
#2 would be the experience I had with a HUGE centipede in the bercario (nursery). It appeared out of the laundry room and was going straight for all the babies. One of the tias leaped for the insect spray while the other stood frozen. The spray was not even beginning to stop it, so I started kicking it toward the door as the tia continued with the spraying. Finally the other tia springs to action...thinking the broom was the best choice. By this time I have already attempted to step on it but it didn't die...it was a resilient little thing. Finally it was swept outside then they wanted me to call for a boy to come kill it...instead I took the broom and started whacking it...it still didn't die. Finally in desperation I stomped on it, twisted my foot a few times, and then had to wipe it's guts off my shoe...GROSS! But at least everyone was safe from the HUGE centipede with large pinchers on the front that had attempted to attack our precious babies!
Anyway the point of this is to tell you about some of the CRAZY things that happened over this weekend. It certainly wasn't a simple, straight-forward, you can work 4 days in a row kind of weekend...instead...
#1- I spent Friday morning attempting to diagnose 2 little babies with HIGH fevers...turns out one had a urine infection and the other had a cough/cold/sinus infection. Let me just say, trying to get urine from 2 little babies can prove WAY more difficult than you would ever think!
#2- A little girl in the girl's area fell in the shower Friday afternoon and split her head open. Praise God for our Mozambican nurses who wrapped up her head and were calling for a driver to bring her to hospital before I got to the clinic. She now has about 8 stitches in the back of her head, but all is well!
#3- I was summoned to the clinic again about 7:00pm (when trying to finish up giving out meds in the baby house and nursery and controlling all the fevers before leaving them for the night). One of the boys had split his nose open...I'm pretty sure a sling shot and rocks were involved because Rebecca (another nurse) pulled a piece of rock out of the wound. Anyway, I ended up bringing him for stitches. Thank you Tracey for driving us since ALL the other center cars were being used. It took 5 of us to hold him down...5...including the guard from outside the clinic. Seriously out of control! Before we left he wouldn't even walk properly and wouldn't open his eye...when we pulled back into the center he wanted to go watch the movie that is always on Friday nights. And...when asked who did that to his nose he answered...the hospital! Gotta love the jokesters!
#4- Saturday ran relatively smoothly...saw too many kids to count and checked in on all those who had been sick on Friday...plus covered the Baby House where crazy kids were choosing not the eat and having random fevers and things of that sort. And by the end of the day was called to the girl's area because one little girl had injured her foot...it was swollen, tender, and she wouldn't walk on it...but she could wiggle her toes and honestly I couldn't face sending her to hospital. So a little ice and ibuprofen was all she got from me...I'll be back in the morning I said and I'll check on it then.
#5- Sunday morning was again OUT OF CONTROL...before 10am I had seen at least 5 center kids...one with a high fever and groin pain...one who had sliced his hand open and could really have used stitches but I steri stripped it together instead...one with strep throat...and I couldn't even tell you what else. Oh my friend with the foot injury was a bit better...no hospital was a good choice!
#6- Sunday afternoon brought a gross abscess under someone's arm, a community woman with extreme abdominal pain (I have no idea what is causing your abdominal pain I wanted to say!), one girl with a strange rash on her face, a girl in the girl's area with a serious chest infection (she had already been on antibiotics for 4 days but was still having fevers...fever treated...will check again later), fever and groin pain from the morning is better, dressing changed on our friend with the stitches in the back of her head, and the discovery that our friend with the stitch in his nose has pulled it out...yep that's right...he told me it dried up and fell out...biggest load of you know what I've ever heard...oh well I told him...if it opens up again and your nose falls off don't come crying to me! And our director called me about another kid with a terrible wound under his arm...changed that dressing, changed his medication, and am praying it improves. I'm sure there were 14 other things I dealt with that I couldn't even begin to remember...
#7- Back to the baby house...one of our little friends has vomited twice...I pick him up and discover he is breathing 56 times a minute, retracting to his back bone, and nasal flaring (for all you non-medical people out there...that means he wasn't breathing well at all!). After 4 puffs of salbutamol he was a bit more under control. I put him down to give out meds...was back an hour and half later and he looked about as bad again...more puffs of salbutamol. Came back again at 10pm...after puffs he didn't improve...nebulizer with salbutamol...finally sounding better. Came back at midnight...another nebulizer and I decided he'd be ok until 6am. 6am Monday morning rolled around VERY quickly...more salbutamol puffs...back to sleep for an hour before the day starts.
#8- In the midst of breathing issues I received a text from one of our pastors about a lady who lives at the Bocaria (city garbage dump) that was very ill and needed to get to the hospital. After several phone calls and attempting to figure out what was going on, where they were, and who to send...I handed our ambulance keys to a driver and sent him to pick her up and drop her off. An hour or so later I find out they didn't have the money for her to be seen and now our driver is stuck in the middle of all the decision making...nothing is ever simple. I call him and say...you are not to stay with them for the night...if they want to be brought home, bring them, but you come back to the center. If he has to be out all night for a good reason that is one thing...but seriously it's not safe...I feel like a mom...but seriously! Come to find out he didn't get home until 11:30 even after my instructions.
#9- Monday brought about more problems of it's own...the girl's tias came to me about the girl with a chest infection (she wasn't looking good at all...I said if she spikes another fever she's going to the hospital). One of the girls in the baby house had an allergic reaction to who knows what...eyes and mouth swelled up. Our friend with the terrible breathing was finally looking better and controllable Monday night. The babies in the Bercario were actually quite well minus a terrible diaper rash...yuck! Oh and needing to start one of them on antifungal treatment for her thrush that won't disappear! Plans were made for all the consults of the week...Sheri brought me coffee...Praise the Lord! Rebecca helped me prepare meds...I would have never made it to our weekly staff business meeting if she didn't. Then it was found out that one of our newest little boys might have chicken pox...you've got to be kidding me. He got isolated into the clinic, a substitute tia was called in, he had a high temperature by the end of the night. I still had notes to write, charts to update...and finally got to the birthday party of one of our missionaries as the tables were being put away.
Oh what a weekend it was...today was much better...just a trip to the grocery store...a long nap...administration work for the milk program...and now I'm off to dinner and movie watching with a few of the girls here at the center!
I'll just add in the 2 funniest non-medical things that happened as well...
#1 has to be the stunt that Adilson (one of our oldest baby house kids) pulled Sunday before dinner time. Before every meal the babies wash their hands. They do this by the tias pouring soapy water over their hands into a bucket. Well, while most of the babies were getting their hands washed little Adilson needed to go potty. So instead of waiting 2.5 seconds for someone to be able to take him he pulled his pants down and weed all over the place...in the clean hand washing water, on the other babies...I know you're probably laughing...and I've had a few good laughs about it too...but seriously his behavior is out of control...please be praying for us and the tias!
#2 would be the experience I had with a HUGE centipede in the bercario (nursery). It appeared out of the laundry room and was going straight for all the babies. One of the tias leaped for the insect spray while the other stood frozen. The spray was not even beginning to stop it, so I started kicking it toward the door as the tia continued with the spraying. Finally the other tia springs to action...thinking the broom was the best choice. By this time I have already attempted to step on it but it didn't die...it was a resilient little thing. Finally it was swept outside then they wanted me to call for a boy to come kill it...instead I took the broom and started whacking it...it still didn't die. Finally in desperation I stomped on it, twisted my foot a few times, and then had to wipe it's guts off my shoe...GROSS! But at least everyone was safe from the HUGE centipede with large pinchers on the front that had attempted to attack our precious babies!
Monday, January 17, 2011
Our God!
So since I was home I have been OBSESSED with a certain song entitled "Our God" by Chris Tomlin. It's not just a small obsession...it's an every time I turn on my brand new ipod (thank you mom and dad!!!) I listen to it at least once if not on repeat. It just reminds me how small and insignificant the little frustrations of life are in comparison to our God. Just read through it and remember how upset you got about the little things of today...
Water You turned into wine
Open the eyes of the blind
There’s no one like You
None like You
Into the darkness You shine
Out of the ashes we rise
There’s no one like You
None like You
Our God is greater, our God is stronger
God You are higher than any other
Our God is Healer, awesome in power
Our God, Our God…
Into the darkness you shining
Out of the ashes we Rise
There’s no One like You
None like You.
Our God is greater, our God is stronger
God You are higher than any other
Our God is Healer, awesome in power
Our God, Our God…
And if Our God is for us, then who could ever stop us
And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?
And if Our God is for us, then who could ever stop us
And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?
What can stand against?
I can't help but stop and thank Him for his sovereignty, grace, mercy, and love when I listen to this. I can't help but adjust my thinking. I can't help but dream HUGE knowing He is with me! That is my prayer for these next few months...that I would learn to live out of the belief that my God is for me and with me in every moment as I follow his call for my life! For now I continue to listen and continue to be changed by Him daily!
Water You turned into wine
Open the eyes of the blind
There’s no one like You
None like You
Into the darkness You shine
Out of the ashes we rise
There’s no one like You
None like You
Our God is greater, our God is stronger
God You are higher than any other
Our God is Healer, awesome in power
Our God, Our God…
Into the darkness you shining
Out of the ashes we Rise
There’s no One like You
None like You.
Our God is greater, our God is stronger
God You are higher than any other
Our God is Healer, awesome in power
Our God, Our God…
And if Our God is for us, then who could ever stop us
And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?
And if Our God is for us, then who could ever stop us
And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?
What can stand against?
I can't help but stop and thank Him for his sovereignty, grace, mercy, and love when I listen to this. I can't help but adjust my thinking. I can't help but dream HUGE knowing He is with me! That is my prayer for these next few months...that I would learn to live out of the belief that my God is for me and with me in every moment as I follow his call for my life! For now I continue to listen and continue to be changed by Him daily!
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Tchau Mana Emily :( e Ate Logo Mana Fiona
And, the second was a very sad goodbye to Emily (on the right above). She is now back in Australia to start university studying economics. I am very excited for her and all that God has planned for her. She was an amazing blessing to all of us here, working in hospitality with our visitors and in the girl's area. She also was a great support system and friend to all of us. Emily, know I am praying for you and already miss you. Several times I have gone to text you only to remember you are no longer skipping around the center. And we had chicken salad for dinner last night and I couldn't help but miss your amazing herb bread. What will we do without cinnamon rolls? This place won't be the same without you! I do pray one day we are brought together again soon (even if it is for your tour of the States...we'll do our best to plan our weddings close together)!
Thank you Fi and Emmie for being great friends! I love you both!
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