It is pouring rain this morning. It makes patterns on the ocean surface. A lone man swims in the pebbled waters. His strong arms in rhythmic succession moving his body seamlessly across the coolness. He is swimming towards the distant rainbow where the sea meets the sky.
There is a motorcyclist that passes by with an umbrella attached to his bike. It has an attachment to cover the rear. It would be completely useless in a sideways slanting monsoon back home.
Today I feel stronger, more alert and find I am eager for the challenges that come with long patient lines. The antibiotics must be turning me around.
Joe is in his second day of running his own assignment: nutrition. He and his interpreter greet every patient, obtain a height and weight and calculate a ‘Z Score’ which tells us the degree of malnutrition in each child. He works diligently, always with his cheering squad of children at the window behind him. When the work is done, he will join them on the other side, much to everyone’s delight.
Pascal, my interpreter, has vanished. Charles has taken his place. Charles is a well dressed Tanzanian in a suit. He tells me he is the chairman of an overseeing church organization whose name I don’t catch. He carries himself with confidence and a sense of importance. For a moment I am flush with a sense of inadequacy but it quickly passes as I realize God has hand picked him for me and me for him. He tells me later that he thinks I must be a good nurse because I’m always busy helping others and moving back and forth a lot and, indeed, I have been in constant motion.
We begin by seeing our interpreters and support staff but this quickly evolves into something else.
Kelly gives me my own line for those she wants seen on the sly, that is out of the main queue. In this line, I also put Dr. Salma’s patients who are waiting for blood sugar tests which I have been doing for her. In between, I am consulting with Pat, Dr. Vic and Dr. Ahmad while giving shots for pharmacy and even doing tests on my own patients. Apparently, being pulled hither and yon gives the air of good nursing and this makes me laugh suspiciously.
The cool breeze from the window helps to give me a moment to refocus on my priorities but I am abruptly interrupted by a raucous runaway cow-drawn cart that rushes across the playground. I catch only a glimpse as it flashes past. It is not long, however, before it comes trotting reasonably back with its human commander back in the lead with no apparent injuries!
On this final day of clinic, I think of this school’s motto:
Coming together is
a Beginning
Keeping together is
a Progress
Working together is
a Success
In the beginning, we came together as random Developing Workers team members. We joined with other workers from different countries in two different clinics and made progress as we cared for the communities. In working together, we became a family, God’s family, to many who have never seen Him. And in this, we find a success that will last for eternity.
Grateful,
Z-Anne-zibar Friday, September 9, 2022
Tripping with God: Stories of Faith and Inspiration 