clinicals and adventures in the sky

Whew! This week has been very full, mostly with lots and lots of time spent in the hospital. It has been wonderful though and I think each of us saw amazing things.  But, we also were able to do some fun and adventuresome things as well.  We just arrived back in Choma this afternoon, and I think it’s safe to say we are all exhausted.

Here is a recap of my week—

Monday we spent listening to lectures about malaria from a very passionate doctor.  He knows a whole lot about mosquitoes!! He works in a malaria research institute that’s part of the hospital.  We saw where they breed mosquitoes to do testing, saw the mice which the mosquitoes feed off of, and the traps that are used to catch “wild” mosquitoes that are tested.  Things have improved over the years.  The researchers used to have to use themselves as bait at night to catch mosquitoes, and would even stick their arms in the mosquito cages to allow the mosquitoes to feed every few days.  Talk about self-sacrifice!  The workers were constantly getting malaria!  Luckily the system has changed since.

Tuesday Dana and I followed around the Nursing Officer of the Hospital, equivalent to a House Supervisor.  Miriam was awesome to work with, and to say I was impressed with her would be an understatement.  I wasn’t expecting much, just because of different cultural norms and the way I had seen nurses work within the hospital.  However, she challenged the nurses who came in to give report and questioned some of the care that was given.  She is very organized and obviously respected by everyone.  The hospital is extremely understaffed (almost always just 1 nurse for a whole unit), and Miriam knows each staff member’s name including the nursing students who are doing clinicals at the hospital.  While I was following Miriam, she gave Dana and I the task of updating the statistics of the hospital for the last 3 months.  The most common diagnosis were things we do not see in the states on a regular basis- such as tuberculosis, epilepsy (they have an incredibly high rate of this but I’m not sure why), meningitis, and dehydration.

One sad case Miriam was working through this week was about a woman who was admitted with burns covering 60% of her body.  Her 2 year old son was also admitted with severe burns, and she was 8 months pregnant.  She went in to labor shortly after she was admitted due to all the stress, and gave birth to a stillborn baby.  Her 2 yo died shortly after as well.  Her home was set on fire and boarded up from the outside, most likely from her husband’s girlfriend.  It was incredibly sad, and it seemed like the bad news wouldn’t end for her.  When I was there seeing her, they still hadn’t told her that her son passed away- and it had been at least 1 day since it happened!  The woman was incredibly beautiful.  She was one of the prettiest Zambian women I have seen so far.  She does have an incredible support system though.  She had about 50 visitors, and her mother never left her side.  Thankfully, Zambian police are investigating the situation, and the girlfriend is in jail.  Their system is different- the offender is considered guilty unless proven otherwise.  This woman needs prayer.  Her life has turned upside down in a matter of a few days. 

Another awful thing I saw was some very emaciated adults, all of whom are HIV +.  They were actively dying and were suffering from wasting syndrome.  I was rounding on many women with the same illness performing vital signs.  I went to one woman and got my stethoscope out to listen to her heart rate, but my stethoscope was sitting on top of her ribs.  I couldn’t hear anything because not one part of her chest cavity was smooth enough.  That was a first, and it bothered me so much!

Amidst all this sadness is happiness as well! I was able to help assist in a delivery this week.  I would have caught the baby myself, but the baby was breech and a nurse needed to help the mom deliver the baby- naturally.  It was very interesting to see, and is something that rarely happens in the states.  The baby boy transitioned well and was very handsome!  About 3 minutes after delivery, the mom stood up and dressed.  She finished dressing and starting walking to the postpartum side.  I still can’t get over it!  The women are supposed to continue lying down for an hour, according to their policy, but they never do.  She was up and out of there! 

Last night I went in to work a couple hours in the male ward.  I had been there earlier in the day with Laura and really enjoyed talking with some of the Zambian nursing students.  We talked about dating and relationships, and it was so funny to hear what they think about it.  They were asking if I would ever marry a black man, why am I not married, and they were concerned I would confuse guys with my relationship status because of a ring I wear on my right hand.  We talked with them for an hour and had a ball.  One of the girls wants to meet Laura’s brother.  Her friend said, “What if he doesn’t like you?” She responded, “Oh, I will make him love me.”  We told her his name, and she said she loved him already.  The Zambian women would love to marry American men, because they are more faithful in marriages.  It’s not a big deal for married Zambian men to have girlfriends.  Their wives even know about it sometimes.  It is a huge problem, and is one of the major factors of the HIV/AIDS epidemic here.  Jessica was pretty serious about wanting to meet Laura’s brother.  It was pretty funny! But anyway, when I was working last night, a 21 yo male came in with a compound fracture in his calf.  I was able to help admit him, and between a couple of us we started an IV, irrigated his wound, and got him settled in for the night.  The night shift nurses are very lazy.  They work 7 nights in a row, and then have 7 nights off.  So, they are always tired, and are allowed to sleep at night.  Andrea and I were pretty much given free reign with this man.  I think we did very well!

As for our adventures, we climbed a water tower in Macha yesterday, and today we got to ride in a prop plane!  The water tower was terrifying.  I don’t like heights all that much, and climbing a perfectly vertical ladder to the top was not my favorite.  We are estimating it was about 5 stories high.  However, the view at the top was a-mazing!  We could see the hospital where we were all 3 weeks, and the different surrounding villages.  Check out the pictures! I’m glad I did it, but I don’t think I ever need to do it again : )

The prop plane was by far my favorite.  It was like a roller coaster ride.  I had never been in a plane that small before, and it feels much differently.  Our pilot was a German missionary.  He was a hoot, and had a blast taking us up.  He dipped up and down a lot, and turned the plane from side to side, where we were looking straight down.  He enjoys his job!  It was awesome and only totaled about $6.  Can’t beat that!

Everyone on the team continues to do well.  We experienced some rough stuff this past week, and we all had our weak moments handling it all.  We have had good discussions about what we are seeing, and it always helps to talk it through.  There were many more stories I could tell, both good and bad!  I am trying to record them all so I don’t forget.  The experience is priceless and I am trying to take advantage of it all.  I received surprise gifts and letters this week from home and that was so fun.  My chocolate supply is now abundant, and I am one happy girl.  Reading the letters gave me a great taste of home too!  I loved it!  I am continuing to stock up on plenty of souvenirs.  Everything is so cheap, and there are so many things I want to remember!  We are down to 30 days, and I am trying to soak it up.  Time has gone quickly, but I know I will be ready for home too! 

I am including lots of pictures this week! Enjoy--



I helped this beautiful baby girl's mom labor!



This is where all deliveries happen. Notice the only privacy between beds are shower curtains!

16 year old Rachael and her new baby girl (same baby as the 1st)! This is the mom I helped labor last week that ended up needing a c-section.  She was a trooper!

 

I can't remember if I have mentioned how each person greets one another after church. Exiting the service, you go down the line shaking hands with each person, and then join the line to shake hands with the people behind you.  I love this tradition! This is Bud going down the line!



Here you can get an idea of how many people it can be. I would say this was about 2/3 of the people last Sunday. It takes a while : )

This 3 yo guy is a favorite of everyone who works in Peds.  He broke one of his femurs and will be in traction for 4 weeks! He is very squirmy and quite animated!

This is a little boy in the malnourished area of the Peds ward. Look at how skinny his upper arm is- one of the biggest indicators of malnutrition in children.  His name is Blessed.

Dana and I at the top of the tower. Check out that view!

The monster- 90 rungs of steepness to the top.

They were obviously a little more comfortable than I was.  They were getting their picture so it looked like they were falling down backwards!

Our group for the flight! The 2 girls next to me are from the Netherlands, and are also studying abroad.  We have run in to them several times this week.

bugs and stuff

Our home away from home in Choma.

This week, our team has continued staying in Choma, traveling to Macha’s Hospital Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  This week has not disappointed us in what we have been able to see and be a part of.  Monday I was on the Maternity ward, and my goal was to either deliver two babies, or twins! Haha!  When we (Sarahlyn, Liz, and I) arrived on the ward, three mothers were in labor, two with live babies, and another who they thought would deliver a stillborn baby.  The mother came in a couple days prior, saying she had not felt her baby move for a while.  The nurses were unable to find a fetal heart rate, and concluded that the baby had most likely died.  However, the nurses do not tell the mother when they suspect a stillborn baby.  Death is hardly talked about.  Also, the midwife never says, “It’s a boy!”  Instead the midwife holds the baby up for the mom to see, and the mother announces the sex of the baby.  This is one of the ways they check the neurological state of the mother after giving birth! Anyway, I was excited about there being three women in active labor, but I was informed we had to go to a special lecture being given on malaria.  I was so disappointed I had to attend when I knew what I might miss out on.  The other girls had never even seen a birth, so I let them stay so they might have that opportunity.  After just 1 ½ hours, I came back and ALL three of the mothers had delivered!  I was shocked and frustrated I missed it all.  Liz was able to help with the delivery of one baby boy, just until they realized his cord was wrapped around his neck; at that point, the midwife took over!  Sarahlyn was able to deliver the other two babies, one being the stillborn, and the other a very healthy little girl.  They loved their experiences, although the stillborn baby put a damper on the day.  That mother saw her baby, and looked away pretty quickly.  No bonding is supposed to be allowed in these kinds of events.  They quickly hid the baby in a closet.  The girls said the mother started shaking with emotion.  Poor girl!

After lunch on Monday, I came back to the labour suite to find a 16 year old who was 4 cm dilated.  I was able to help her labor for a while and I loved it!  She hardly understood English at all, so communicating was a bit of a challenge.  We demonstrated how to breathe through her pain, and after several times, she caught on.  She even started doing it on her own, and seemed to understand what we were helping her with. When contractions would begin, she would reach her hand out for us to hold. She did not have anyone else there with her, and we were her support- much different than in the states!! I was also was able to check her a few times (sorry if that’s too much!) to see her progress.  She did not progress much while I was with, but it is also her first child.  The poor girl was also sick.  One of my instructors seemed to think that she had malaria, and she was so hot and sick to her stomach.  But, she was not hooked up to a single machine!  We used a fetoscope to listen to the baby’s heart rate, and even listened with a Doppler, but that was the only “technology” used.  I had to leave before my patient was able to deliver, and I hated that, but it was still a good day.  She probably delivered that evening, and may have even gone home that same day.  Most women are discharged 4 hours after delivery, as long as mom and baby are both stable.  They often walk home for miles with their baby on their back, and then resume chores.  It is amazing!

Wednesday I went to the A.R.T. (Anti-Retroviral Treatment) clinic with Laura.  I wasn’t all that excited about this part of my clinicals, but I ended up really enjoying it.  I started off with Agatha, a nurse, who counts the number of pills each HIV + patient gets.  By counting the pills, they are able to tell the patient’s adherence to their medication.  If they are not adherent, they cannot receive more pills until they go to counseling.  It is a great program, and so many people benefit from it.  I also sat in with a clinician who assesses each patient who comes in.  The patients are asked if they have any pain or other complaints.  Quite a few shared at least one thing either as a side effect of their medication or a symptom of the disease process.  I was very impressed with how healthy the people looked who came in.  The clinic was extremely busy with patients, and none of them “looked” like they had HIV from the outside.  However, many did describe pains associated with the disease.  In the male ward, there were plenty of men who had wasting syndrome who were quite literally skin and bones.  They are men who have lived with the disease for a long time, and it is finally taking its toll on their body.  Often times, they don’t have the energy or immune system to fight off much of anything at this point and pass away.  So, I was able to see a clear picture of how this disease can look like on both sides of the spectrum. 

I was thinking yesterday, that there are so many little things I haven’t talked about in Zambia yet, like food, creatures, and other things.  So, I thought I would give you a picture of some of the normal, everyday things we see or run into.  First of all there are so many spiders, lizards, grasshoppers, mosquitoes, flies, and cockroaches.  There are also so many more cats and dogs here than I expected, which has been great being the pet lover I am.  But seriously, the cockroaches are everywhere, including the kitchen.  We all try to avoid the kitchen at night, because they all come out.  Judy, one of the leaders of our trip, and I spent about 45 minutes a couple nights ago rewashing all the silverware we eat on every day.  We doused it in boiling water, and then put it away in Tupperware containers that are cockroach proof!  Before, you would open the drawer and cockroaches would literally run across the fork you were about to pick up.  SO disgusting!  This is one part of Africa I don’t think I could ever get used to.  Thankfully our cook, Mrs. Bota, loves the new Tupperware and is all for it.  Mrs. Bota is a wonderful lady and a great cook!!  Everything we eat is made from scratch and most of our meat is extremely fresh.  A couple days ago one of the helpers at the house was carrying in 2 chickens.  That night we ate fried chicken and it was soo good!  Mrs. Bota cooks more American meals for us 6 of the 7 days each week.  We have a macaroni-type meal, chicken salad, fried chicken, beef stew, fish, and chicken stir-fry are the main meals.  Cabbage is the main vegetable eaten here, besides corn, and there is always rice or nshima.  Our team also goes through Peanut butter like nobody’s business.  It’s pretty unreal how fast we go through a supersized container of it!  Mrs. Bota also enjoys making treats for us once in a while like peanut-butter cookies or banana bread.  It all tastes a little bit differently, but we all really enjoy the food.  I don’t think anyone has lost weight!

We have also pass monkeys each time we are coming to or from clinical.  I have yet to get one on camera yet.  I’ll have to try again tomorrow!  Also, the transportation here is a hoot.  Each time we leave in our land cruisers, we pass several trucks that are full to the brim.  People sit outside of windows and stand up in the back of the truck.  There are sometimes probably 30 people in one truck (they have longer beds here).  Several we have seen recently have goats and pigs in the stuffed in the bottom of the truck, and then they have built a second level to the truck bed that holds people and luggage.  It is the weirdest thing.  The trucks are always dragging and never move very fast.  I shared on Facebook last week that we saw a man on a bike that had a goat strapped on the back of the bike.  I’m sure he was going to sell it.  It was a pretty funny sight!  One more I have to share-- one of the male patients had a cat and three kittens under his hospital bed.  I have no idea why, but it seemed a little out of place to me.  I am still surprised when I see these things, even 5 weeks later!

Life here in Zambia has continued to be eye-opening and I feel like I have really settled in here.  Everyone remains healthy, and our team continues to become closer.  I have made some great friends who will remain friends long after we leave!  I have started to become homesick, but I am confident this is where I am supposed to be.  I am excited about the next few Sundays.  We volunteered to sing a couple songs at church, and before we knew it, they gave us 45 minutes in the middle of the service to not only sing, but preach!  One of the girls is preparing a short sermon, and we had choir practice today in preparation for Sunday.  We are going to sing “Oh Happy Day” from Sister Act II, “Down to the River to Pray,” and a hymn we haven’t decided on yet.  We plan on acting “Oh Happy Day” out just as much as it is in the movie.  I think it will be pretty fun and it will definitely be a hit!  Thank you for your continued support and prayers.  They are still being felt and answered this far away! 

P.S. I will try posting more pics later- the internet is not cooperating!

This past week I also went to the orphanage to paint nails! It was a big hit! This is Colo painting my nails!

hard realities

This week has opened my eyes to some of the more painful things you come in contact with being in the bush.  There have definitely been some highlights of this week, but the things that really impacted me most were the tough stuff.

Wednesday we spent the day at Macha Hospital, where we were split into several small groups.  I was placed with Amelia and Joe, and we were assigned to the Pediatrics unit.  I had an idea of what I was in for based on what other students saw the Monday before when we had our hospital tour.  We had very limited time in the wards on Monday, but the Pediatrics group from that day shared a story that was painful to hear.  I took care of that patient today and tonight my heart is heavy for that little boy and another girl in particular.  Let me give you a little background on the boy.  He is a two year old who fell in to an open fire, and he has 2^nd and 3^rd degree burns covering 45% of his little body.  Second degree burns are the most painful, because the nerve endings have been reached and are exposed, but not burned.  Any air movement can be extremely painful.  This boy had burns on his perineum, whole back, an arm, and part of his head and face.  It was incredibly painful to see this child.  He was in a bed laying down, with a wire rack sitting over him with blanket coverings- this way no air was moving around him, and the flies and other “bad things” couldn’t enter.  This boy has never had any pain medications since he has been burned.  This is unreal.  I could hardly stand it and seriously contemplated sneaking him some morphine. 

He was being debrided twice a day.  I knew I would not be able to handle it, and let Amelia and Joe do that task.  My stomach was super uneasy and I felt like I would bawl through the whole thing if I went in to the room to watch.  However, from the nursing station I was able to see some of what they were doing and heard him crying.  He has cried himself hoarse, and he hardly has any vocals left at all.  His breathing rate is out of control, and his stomach is full of misplaced fluids in the body.  He is so pale and dehydrated.  I could go on and on, but I think you can probably visualize the picture I am trying to create.  We were very surprised he has lived as long as he has, and are concerned he may not make it.  The debriding consisted of the nurse bathing the boy with soapy water (not what we would do at all in the states), and then debriding with normal saline, and finishing by rubbing sliver nitrate on all the affected areas.   Silver nitrate is very painful.  I have teared up and prayed so many times about this little boy.  I can’t stand it for him.

While Amelia and Joe worked with that boy, I worked with a severely malnourished girl.  Her name is Annah, and she is 22 months old.  Annah’s skin was sloughing off because of her lack of adequate nutrition.  Her mother and father both stayed very close to her the whole time, which I really enjoyed seeing.  Often times just the mothers stay with the children.  Annah had a hemoglobin level of 4.4 this morning, indicating she was also severely anemic.  She was started on a special diet for malnourished children that begin with small amounts of protein that increase as they are able to tolerate more.  We started a blood transfusion on her this morning to get her hemoglobin levels at a more appropriate level.   She also needed to be debrided in the areas where her skin was shedding the most.  I was able to perform this task with the assistance of Jefferson, the pediatric nurse.  She whimpered through the whole thing, but it was not nearly as traumatic as the boy.  After debriding I applied an antibiotic ointment to all of the areas.  She looked incredibly frail, weak, and absolutely exhausted.  Annah did not have an ounce of energy when I saw her in the morning.  I was so happy to see her after our lunch break sitting up eating a piece of bread.  I think the blood transfusion helped her a lot.  God knew I needed to see at least a little progress in one of the children today.

Now, on a much happier note, the three girls who went to the Maternity ward all got to deliver a baby!  Macha usually has about 50 births per month, and they hit a busy day.  I am so hoping I have the same opportunity! That would be amazing.  Also, in a little bit of down time on the floor, Amelia, Joe, and I went in to one of the pediatric rooms and starting talking with the parents.  They began teaching us the Tonga words for parts of the body.  We learned quite a few, and they laughed and laughed at us trying to say them correctly.  They thought they were hilarious when they taught us how to say “breasts” and “buttocks” in their language.  It was wonderful to see them enjoy us, and see their spirits lifted for even just a few minutes.  The other groups saw some pretty great things as well.  Even though it was a hard day, and very painful at times, I know this is what life looks like for so many of these people. 

The Pediatric group!

Hah! Look at these happy faces.  Clearly the girls who delivered babies : )

A picture up in the Peds ward. I love it! Notice the spider on the far left- they are everywhere!!

This pretty much only covers today, but I wanted to share; and I think it was good for me to write it all out, too!  Please pray for us as we will continue to be at Macha the next two weeks.  I'm sure we will encounter much more of this hardship. 

"auntie sarah"



I love these purple trees, they are all over the place!



Wow, I can’t believe we have finished our third week here!  We have traveled quite a bit this week, just as the last.  People have remained healthy this week, and our team is continuing to go strong. 

This week I experienced my favorite day in Zambia so far.  We went out to a village and were part of “a day in the life of a village member.”  It was a blast!  We visited a Pastor and his wife’s home, along with their 11 children!  They are considered very wealthy.  What makes them wealthy is the amount of animals they have, the number of buildings/huts, the amount of land they have, their material items, and their abundance of food.  They had it all!  Their home is split up by individual buildings- the living area is a separate building, the girls and boys each had separate huts, they had a separate place to prepare food with an attached dining room, and so on.  This particular home had two latrines which is very uncommon!  There were probably a total of 10 of these huts all clustered together.  They also had a satellite television! We were lucky to receive a tour of most of the buildings.  It was comfortable living (even by my standards!), and I would love to be able to spend a few nights there with the family.  One of our Professors said the family was brave to have such a home, because that allows poor families to go to them for assistance.  The family currently has three other families and two orphans living with them, just so the main family can help share the wealth. 



Lots of hard work here.



While there we helped shell corn (breaking dried kernels off the cob), polish the corn (softening it back up with water and mixing it), and then finally grinding it into a soft powder.  Corn, or maize, is the staple food, and they work on preparing corn in its different stages on a daily basis.  It takes a lot of muscle perform all three.  I was impressed with how quickly the women work and get it done.  Along with the corn, we helped to shell peanuts.  The peanuts are much softer than at home, and so delicious!  We have bought boiled, salted peanuts from street vendors a couple times now.  Then we went to the well, where they fill up several jugs (each about 50 gallons).  They have enough of these jugs that they only have to go to the well about every three days.  The walk was about a mile long, but they hooked two cows up to a wagon to transport all the water back.  The well is a social gathering.  Other families were coming to fill up as well, and I noticed many of them have much smaller jugs, and had to carry them home.  We were there for about 45 minutes filling up.  All of us that went took turns pumping the water, and again, it was a lot of work!  The Zambians kept showing us up with how quickly they worked.  It turned out to be a joke, and they had some good laughs at us! Once we arrived back to the village, we went to go see the garden.  This was an incredibly impressive operation!  It was about another mile walk to garden, down a slight hill.  The husband of the main family noticed that when the wet season begins, water collects in the bottom.  He and his 8 sons spent a month and built a pretty large dam at the base of the hill.  They now have a retention pond that is full of water (and fish!) all year long, lasting through the whole dry season.  The family has moved their garden close to the water, and purchased a manual pump, that they can then water their garden with all year long.  It was great to see this!  The garden is watered daily, and they have very green crops including rape, cabbage, onions, lettuce, tomatoes, and potatoes.  We helped water the garden, and the stream of water was pretty powerful.  Everyone us were able to appreciate the work this took!  After arriving back from the garden, we finished up playing “duck-duck-goose.”  That is a favorite with the children!  We then thanked the husband and wife for our wonderful day, by presenting them with sugar, salt, cooking oil, and flour.   It was amazing to see an authentic village and what a normal day looks like for those people! 

This week I have gone to the same orphanage twice.  I have started to develop relationships with these children and they call me “Auntie Sarah.”  As soon as I enter the orphanage, the children come running at us.  They hold their arms up, saying “hold me,” or “babooni,” which means I want a piggy-back ride!  At times you have one on your hip, another one riding on your back, and one pulling on your arm.  The kids at this orphanage seem to yearn for more attention than the other two orphanages.  I don’t know if these children get less attention from the adult workers, or what, but it is sad!  We tried playing games with them, but it turns out to be difficult because all they want is for us to carry them or sit on our laps.  Next time I go, I plan on bringing along some of the nail polish I brought so we have an organized activity…hopefully!  They were most excited to show me “the big lettuce.”  They have a pretty large garden, and they have some lettuce that is about 2 ½ feet tall.  The boys were so proud of it and thought it was beautiful.  They continued to show me the second largest, the third, and so on.  Each time I have gone, they like to show me their crops, particularly their guava and mango trees.  It was good to spend time with these children but it is hard at the same time.  Some of their names are Deborah, Colo, Doro, Dixon, Derrick, Sarah, Mayoba, Sam, Yvonne, Grace, and Christopher.    

Our last adventure was to the Helvies (Mike and Cindy), a missionary couple from Marion, IN.  Both of their children graduated from IWU within the last 5 years, and some people from our group knew the family.  We were invited to their home in Zambia, just to spend the day away.  It was very nice!  Their home made us feel like we were back in the states, and they made us an Americanized meal of Spaghetti, homemade foccacia bread, green beans, spice muffins, and lemonade made from the lemons in their backyard.  It was amazing!!!  They have a puppy who was fun for us all to love on, and we spent the day relaxing at their home.  In the afternoon, our history Professor was asked to speak at the Bible College across the street from the Helvie’s home.  We went to go see him speak to the Bible students (who were all male), and were asked to sing impromptu.  We sang all verses of “Great is Thy Faithfulness” for them, and they really seemed to enjoy it.  One of the guys recorded us.  I found it funny, especially since we weren’t a formal choir and were asked to sing 5 minutes prior.  Our group sat intermingled with the students, and I shared a hymnal with a Zambian man who would have been about my age.  He could not stop smiling, but would hardly look at me.  It was hilarious.  We sang “I Surrender All,” again singing all verses.  Each song took probably 8-10 minutes to sing!  Towards the end of the lecture, we were all aware of the back row of men leaving.  More and more kept leaving, and eventually one walked up to the speaker.  We were quickly informed that there was a fire in the field, behind the Helvie’s.  They were asking all men to go to the field to help combat the fire.  It was crazy!

We went to the backyard of the Helvie’s and sure enough fire was approaching, and there was lots of smoke!  The men scattered.  Some took machetes into the field, trying to cut back the brush, while others lit a fire closer to the house.  This way, when the wild fire reaches the lit fire, there is nothing left for it to burn.  Fighting fire with fire!  We were all freaking out, but the locals were obviously used to these fires during the dry season.  They tamed the fire like it was nothing.  Last year, many families’ gardens were eaten up by the wildfires and many came to the Helvie’s for food.  So, it would be awful if their garden was burned by the fire.  We aren’t sure what started the fire.  It could have been a cigarette, or someone cooking.  Driving through the rural areas, it is not uncommon to see large parts of fields that have burned up.  Just a normal part of summer for these people! 

It has been another busy week.  We finished up our history class (a semester long class packed into 3 weeks), and hopefully that will free us up some.  With 4 hours of history class in the mornings, and then lots of reading at night, our time was quickly consumed!  This continues to be a wonderful experience, and I am loving our frequent trips out in to the community and surrounding villages.  My world has become much bigger in just the last three weeks!  Thank you for the continued prayers.  Much love, Sarah



Andrea, Mel, Emily, Britt, and I standing next to an ant hill.  This is not nearly as big as some of them!





The fire!




Some of the flames were pretty large!





Shelling the corn. I love this picture!



The Chicken Coop.  Notice the "ladder" the chickens use to get in and out of their houses!





The living room at the village we visited.  Very impressive to see this miles and miles away from town.