Here is a quick list of the things that have happened in the last week:
- T began eating solid food (well “soft foods without rice”), and he LOVES it!
- I was scolded yesterday by him for not visiting on Saturday since I have visited EVERY single day since he was admitted. It broke my heart to walk in, and first thing have him ask through motions why he didn’t see me yesterday? It was humbling to realize how taking those 10 minutes out every day really does mean something, even if it is just to play a game, hold a hand, or give a backrub. I apologized from the bottom of my heart, told him how wonderful he looked, he forgave me and then beat me at several games of cards to prove his point....
- T was promoted to move to bed #2 because he is no longer the patient on the unit requiring the most observation--success!
- I learned how to make rice cereal (because African food is too spicy for a mouth that hadn’t eaten food in 2 years)
- I finished my training as a charge nurse on the ward and made it through my first two evening shifts as a manager/helper/fellow nurse/resource/leader to my friends and patients
- I learned that a can of Coca-Cola contains approximately the same amount of Phosphorus as a can of Ensure. --Mr. T is very happy about this one!
- I’ve been able to see a ton of former patients both at the Hope Center and in the Outpatient Tent. It’s such a joy to see familiar faces, ones that you wish you could keep tabs on for years to come.
- I attended my first African football game! It was amazing, crazy fun, very sweaty, and our crew team beat a local team!
- After a long weekend of family hangouts several friends all packed their bags and headed home to various continents.
- My bunkmate and I moved from the front cubby to the back of our cabin, literally doubling our sleeping space. Wall to wall we now have about 5.5 feet by 7 feet instead of 5.5X5.5
- Even though it insanely hard saying goodbye to people who have gotten so close, it has its perks. I am unashamed to say that you get great stuff as parting gifts! A few of my favorites have been bottles of lotion, clothing, shoes, and other miscellaneous things your friends don’t want to lug home.
- After saying a bunch of goodbyes I was homesick for the first time since arriving on this big white ship.....
- And this is the one I want to leave you with. For the last two days I have had the honor of helping a fellow crew member from Sierra Leone apply for college in the United States! For me, that experience was ushered along by my parents. But who do you turn to when you have had to fight for every single thing you have ever had? We are the same age, but I have not experienced even 1/8th of the things he has. I have never had to face insane poverty, civil war, homelessness, abandonment, and all the other things that come with being born into a third world country. It left me thinking, if you take away the country in which I was born, the parents to whom I was born, the people who have impacted my life and steered me along the “right” path what would be left? What is at the core of me as a human? What would my life look like? Would I have the strength to fight for a future, or would I succumb to what is easy- drugs, corruption, and all the other things poverty goes hand in hand with. What would that look like for me, a path so far from my story? I would love to say “YES”, I am a fighter and I would conquer it! But would I? Would I have a story like Papanie’s, going from living on the streets, abandoned by his only family to finishing a top five prestigious secondary school in Sierra Leone 12th out of a class of 75? So as I leave you tonight I want you all to also cheer alongside Papanie-- who as of a few hours ago is a College applicant! You can read more of his story here: http://www.mercyships.org/blog/entry/a-joy-to-work-with
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