Health outreach Wednesday day 3: training and clinic

After breakfast, Emmanuel brought Dr. Bernard to Yamp while Rolf went to pick up Demalesh from Dibate.  Demalesh translated for Minah and I while we did a morning of health training with our Gumuz staff.  We talked about diarhea, worms, hygiene and using medicine properly.  There were definitely some new ideas that were learned especially in the area of worms.  They know only what they see and so the idea of invisible hookworms sucking their blood, causing anemia, bloated tummies, etc was very new for them.  And since tapeworms break off in 1 cm pieces, they had no idea that eating raw meat can result in tapeworms growing several metres inside their bodies.  Shocking really but true.  Eating raw meat is a rather normal occurrence here.


Andrea supplied the tea and bread for our teabreak and Dr. Bernard’s wife, Carole and Minah’s daughter Millie helped our kids with some school work.  The highlight for them was making and using salt clay (homemade clay) to mold different animals which they then baked and painted.

I served lunch at 1pm (injera and pumpkin and shiro (bean) wat prepared by Mesalech and quesadillas for those who don’t enjoy injera).  Demalash and Demis joined us for lunch as well since they were part of both the morning and afternoon program.   They enjoyed ferenjie (foreigner) size cups of coffee. 

At 2:30, we began our 2^nd clinic day and we were more efficient than the previous day but still averaged about 15-20 patients per room.  We finished at 6:30pm (yes a little later this day) and we had to ask 5 people to return the next day.

There were many similar cases to the previous day but it became more and more obvious to us all that alcohol is a much bigger problem than any of us imagined.  Alcohol is affecting every family from the old to the young.  Children are being given alcohol, youth are drinking, pregnant and nursing mothers are drinking, fathers and the elderly are drinking excessive amounts of alcohol....most on a daily basis.  This is not the traditional soured sorghum drink (keya) that they make in their homes, this is the strong stuff they trade their grain for in Dibate.  They buy it by the jerrican.  We knew it was being used for weddings but didn’t realize it was actually being drunk on a daily basis in homes.

Minah and I could see Fetal alcohol syndrome children and we saw several alcoholics.  I discovered that most of the women that I meet with each Thursday drink atleast a little each day and are married to men who drink excessively.  One of them came in the morning with a gash on her head from her husband who had beat her.  Children are not fed properly because their parents are drinking....it affects each home.

Inwardly I was weeping and outwardly, I translated for Minah about the need to stop before they destroyed their health and home completely.  Some men and women were ready for change while others just wanted a quick fix for their present ailment. 

Many trips down to our house for water or some medication and my sciatic nerve on my left hip (which first began hurting during my last pregnancy) began acting up.   How do the women manage here?  Giving birth to more than 8 children and carrying heavy loads of firewood and water on a daily basis!  They just live with pain.

And then it was time for supper, the kids were happy to help me put the pizza together and again we were able to eat by 7pm.  Everyone was tired but the Lord continued to grant us energy.

Rolf and Jim finished the framing and about ½ of the plywood walls and ceiling.  Rolf was asked to fix the well which he was able to do and the community had water again.  We began praying for rain.  It was another hot and very humid day....rain was near.