Day 4: Where the Wild Things Are

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!
Okay, so we haven't actually seen any of those things yet, but we would like to share a little bit about our experiences with the animal kingdom here so far. . . :-)

1) First of all (and this is especially written for our friends Jeremy and Vince), there are a handful of friendly turkeys that live right next door to the hospital that we pass by on our walk to work--that's right, Turkeys do live in Africa! And we found them just in time for Thanksgiving!

2) We also have a pet gecko that lives in our dining room and sometimes in the guest bathroom down the hall. He's pretty quick, so we don't have a picture of him just yet. I thought of my sister Heather when I first spotted him because she really likes geckos. She also likes little goats, which there are a lot of around here.

3) SNAKES! Lots of patients come to the hospital with snake bites; the poisonous venom causes anticoagulation (in other words, it makes your blood lose its ability to clot. . . which is pretty dangerous if you get a cut and can't stop bleeding!) Mona, one of the missionary ladies here, taught us on the first day to carry flashlights with us when we're out at night and to stay on the paths and out of the grass. Dr. Hewitt even had to amputate a little girl's finger due to a bad snake bite yesterday!

4) I saw my first case of rabies today in a nice young woman who got bit by a mad dog. In Oregon, rabies mostly comes from bats, and even then we hardly ever see it; in fact, I think there are only 1-2 reported cases per year.

5) Albert learned that roosters don't only crow at sunrise (like in the movies) but they actually crow pretty much whenever they're awake.

6) Scientifically speaking, humans are part of the animal kingdom as well, and this is kind of wild. . . the missionary doctors Drs. Faile and Hewitt saw about 100 patients each on Monday! Today Dr. Faile and I saw 65 patients during our clinic day in addition to all our hospital patients we saw on rounds. . . they are very talented and we are all very busy! I am looking forward to learning more so that I can be more helpful soon. By the end of the day I took care of three patients on my own--> I was even allowed to diagnose them and write them prescriptions on my own!

7) Last, but certainly not least, mosquitos have somehow managed to penetrate my 25% DEET protection as I have 3 bites on my right leg today! With so many cases of malaria, I definitely appreciate your prayers that I will not get it myself. I will continue to spray myself, use the nets at night, and take my doxycycline prophylaxis so I should be in good shape, but I always appreciate your prayers as well.

Much love and many blessings!

Nawun Passi Alafia! (God give you health!)