Where's the Doc when you need him?!

Tonight at dinner Dave was talking about someone who was going to "burn out" soon if things don't change (no, it wasn't either of us) :).


A minute later Megan said, "What does 'fire up' mean?" :)

Speaking of burn, it was a medical day here in Kitongo. We thought we had had enough medical issues after yesterday, when Jake dislocated his finger. He was out hiking with our team from Cardwell and fell against a rock and his finger wasn't looking so good when he came in the house. So we prayed for him, called our doc friend who works in Mwanza and he told me how to fix it. Josh held his wrist tight, and I yanked gently guided it back. It slipped right back into place, and quickly too! It's pretty swollen and bruised today, but it's healing up. 
SO, I thought I had done my good medical deed for the week and then there were some more today. One was a widow who lives near us, who brought her young daughter this morning. She had sores all over her head which looked a lot like the sores the local kids usually get, except now they were kinda' raw and hurting her. I gave her some cream which is supposed to help and was able to pray with her--that was a blessing for me. They are always happy to pray with you, which I think is awesome.

This afternoon another mama that I know came with a friend and brought her little boy. This is the same boy who was here a couple months back with a hole in his tiny little leg several centimeters deep. It was oozing at the time, and she said she had been to the government hospital, so I sent her back again for her scheduled appointment.

Today he had a sore at least two inches long and an inch or so wide on his neck, inside the folds. It looked really gross to me, like it had been burned badly. She said the same thing, but she said it had just started as a little sore. As I was calling our friend Liz (Doc's wife who is a nurse), it occurred to me to ask her how long it had taken to get that big. "Only four days." Megan had a staff infection when she was a baby and it grew by leaps and bounds, so we thought that is probably what it was. Liz and I talked it out and I cleaned it up and sent mama to the town for some antibiotics for the baby. There are local clinics, but the fact is that they are pretty much useless and most often don't have any medicine. However, if something goes wrong, it can land back in your own lap. I did encourage this young mama to please come SOONER next time so that it doesn't get so bad. I was actually thankful to see her crying, because sometimes it just seems like people don't care, and they rarely show emotion. It also seemed like she would go get the medicine and follow through, and I hope that is the case.

This is definitely one of the blessings of living here in the village. It is awesome to have simple medicines that can help the people and keep children healthier. Just a little triple-antibiotic does wonders! I am amazed at the things that they leave that heal up better than I would ever have dreamed. And if they are open, there is basic health information that can help them live healthier lives. They are just simple farmers and they work so hard to get food on the table. They believe whatever they hear, which is why they will go get two antibiotic pills when they don't feel well, or put their red dawa (medicine) all over a burn or a sore or a broken foot, or whatever ails them. But they are also grateful for any help we give them, and we pray they see that we love them and that GOD loves them.