Day 24

Day 24

June 17, 2011

My body was definitely exhausted today. I think I am just drained mentally and physically for so many reasons. There are some things right now that I really should not have to worry about, but I am. I wish I could just get it all sorted away and don’t look back at my last two weeks here stressed about things that I can’t even control at this moment. Hopefully it all gets worked out so I can put away this dumb computer for the rest of this trip minus to update this blog. I really want to be intentional about the time I am spending here my last two weeks. I know it’s not every day I get to be in India and experience this culture so I continue to thank God for this opportunity. The doctor today was very intentional about asking us what else we wanted to do while we were here. I really appreciate her taking time out to truly accommodate to our experience.

            Besides just being stressed yesterday it was a really good day down in the clinic. We saw a couple of people from Mud Fort who were instructed to come in for some extra tests. This is encouraging to see that people there do want change and they really are listening! It’s really nice to see familiar faces come into the clinic and people begin to recognize you as more than just a foreign visitor. I will definitely miss some of the relationships I have formed over here with the nurses, doctors, and friends.  I also got to draw some blood today which was really fun and exciting to learn. After taking these samples I also got to run some of the tests on them for Malaria and other prevalent diseases. I got a brief Biology review about the five different types of White Blood Cells, the five different types of malaria viruses, as well as observing and separating the components of blood. It’s so nice to be doing hands on work in the clinic again. We have spent so much time traveling, researching, and observing that we have neglected certain opportunities to get the most out of our hands on experience. Next week should also be really exciting and insightful. We will be driving about an hour everyday to go to another Good Sheppard School to work with one of the Health Care Workers. It will be nice to see another clinic and see what work she is doing up at that school.

            School has already started here for the kids. The ones that are going to the school here on base are so bright and egger to get an education. They are always running around here playing on the “swings” which are really just rope attached in between two trees and finding other creative ideas to turn playtime into fun. Every time we walk by the kids find us very interesting wondering why we are so pale. It’s pretty funny. A couple of kids yesterday ran up to come introduce themselves which was super cute and then as we were walking away that just ran up behind us, held our hands, and continued walking with us for a while… It moments like this that make you feel like you are really doing something worthwhile. I might get to only know some of the kids for a few minutes, but it I can make them smile for at least that minute I am doing my job. My only intentions coming over here was to serve and show God’s love. I wanted to be his hands and feet literally, by taking care of medical issues, but it has been so much more than that. I hope I can continue to be open minded and expect the unexpected. I am trying not to get caught up or brought down by the struggles by realized my problems are far less than the ones being suffered her every day.