Darkness or Light

Can you imagine being without electricity for almost 72 hours straight? No lights, fans, refrigerator, washing machine, charging cell phones and computers…nothing. As I write this our little city of Fria has just endured 3 days without power anywhere in the city because the factory workers were on strike. Thankfully the Coleman’s have a generator, so we were able to use power from it for a few hours a day to print,  charge computers and phones, and do other tasks. Without the generator these past few days  would have been even more frustrating and difficult. Tonight, around 9:30, the real electricity finally returned! It was amazing. My first thoughts were Praise God, because although we were able to get electricity from the generator it wasn’t the same as having the real thing. So then I started to think…

Is that how it is with God? We go about our lives in the dark; struggling, frustrated, not able to complete important tasks because we lack light or power. Sometimes we can find light for our lives in “generators”, but it doesn’t last, eventually the gas runs out. We have moments where we think “Oh, I’ve finally found the light!” “I’ve found the truth!” But if this light and truth doesn’t last is it the real deal? On the other hand, when we find Christ and open the door at which God has been knocking, light floods our soul. A real, lasting Light and Power fills us. Unlike the power from generator-like sources, this Source will not run out or falter. Is that why Jesus invites us to come “out of the darkness into His marvelous light”? [2 Peter 2:9] He invites us to experience the His wonderful power flooding our souls. After becoming accustomed to living with electricity, its difficult if not impossible to go back to living without, and so it is with Christ. Once you allow Him into your life, its almost crazy to even think about returning to the frustrations and difficulties of your former life in the darkness.

Sadly, my time here in Guinea is coming to an end. As I reflect on these past months, I pray that I have aided at least one person in coming further our of the darkness and into the light of God. There’s so much spiritual darkness here and its easy to believe that I don’t have what it will take to make a difference among the people. Yet, the more I think the more I realize that the little things I say or do, and whether I choose to walk in darkness or light can have a great influence on whether those around me will make the decision to continue to walk in or turn from their life of difficulty and frustration in the darkness. My prayer is that more people here in Guinea will get to experience that moment when the Light comes on in their lives and they’ll stop looking to other sources to produce light and power that will only fade after a time. Over these previous months I pray that I’ve planted many seeds and now I must pray that God will nurture them and draw these individuals to Him, the true source of Light and Power.

“For you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light” Ephesians 5:8

March 17 – Stop Smoking Clinic

The clinic is over! The stop smoking clinic was one of my major tasks to accomplish while here in Guinea, and it went very well.

The first night of the clinic we had a decent size crowd to begin with, maybe 10-15 people. By the end of the 1st night we had around 20-30 people. Day 2 was a little discouraging at first because not many people were there when it was time to begin, but as the night went on more people came, mostly young people. Throughout the following 8 nights we had anywhere from 25-35 people in attendance, outside of church and team members who were there to support the program in various ways. 50%, if not more, were young people probably 18 and younger. The rest of the participants were probably in their 20s or 30s. There was one older man there that came every night and successfully quit smoking.

The young people were so interested in what was taking place each night, some even took notes. I don’t know if they were all smokers, maybe they smoked once or twice, or only occasionally. Either way they are all now more informed about the dangers of tobacco and the lies produced by the manufacturing companies. We even dedicated a night specifically to marijuana. That was the most interesting night. There was an older gentleman there who was amazed by all the facts and everything I shared. This man quit smoking cigarettes 5 or 6 years ago and was coming to the program as a support person. But he was literally shocked by all the facts and dangers about marijuana. I said something about how the effects of marijuana on the brain aren’t reversible and showed a picture of the brain activity of an abuser and he was like…..”Wait, wait, Miss….what you’re saying is serious! Noooo…you’re saying this is what happens to the brain. This is serious!” He must have stopped the presentation 5 or 6 times to interject or ask questions. All the students were laughing at him because, as we found out later, he used to smoke marijuana and was probably worried about the effects it would have on his life. All in all it was a good night. Marijuana is a big thing among the young people here so I hope that the information given sunk in and that they’ll share it with others. Many students skip school to hang out in unfinished houses and smoke marijuana. When I say many, I don’t mean 5 or 6. I mean groups of kids, lots of them from every school. Probably like 20 or more from a school…and there’s a school around every corner. Within 5-10 minutes of where I’m living there are 3 big schools (those are just the ones I know of, there’s probably more). Sometimes when I’m walking to the market I’ll see so many kids skipping school, just hanging out, walking around….anything as long as they’re not in school.

Anyway, the clinic was a success. At the end there were about 15 people who received certificates. Hopefully that’s at least 15 people who will not pick up a cigarette (or joint) again, or if they never smoked they won’t ever stop. The  biggest blessing was that some of the young people are actually interested in our church. During the clinic we would pray at the beginning and end of each lecture and emphasis throughout the lecture that cessation is possible when you give your will to God and that God will give you power and strength to fight the addiction. One of the youth made a comment that we “speak about God as if He’s real” and he said he wants to come to our church and find out more about why we speak of God like this. The majority of the people who came were Muslim, so to hear that from a Muslim young person was amazing. Many are respectful but to say they want to attend the church…that’s unheard of.

God is blessing in many ways and I just thank Him for using me and the rest of our team through this clinic. We not only want to show people how to quit smoking and live a healthier and better life, but we also want to show them the love of God and Christ. We want to share that God loves you so much and wants you to be in the best health and take care of the bodies He has given us. Our mission is to share Christ in all that we do and I think we definitely did that at the clinic. So I thank God. And I thank everyone for all their prayers!

~Alex

King Jesus is a listenin’…

About a year ago when I decided I wanted to take some months and serve as a missionary there were a few obstacles I had to overcome.

First I had to get over the fear/sadness of being away from my family and friends for possibly a year. Then I had to figure out where in the world I was gonna go. Was I going to end up in the bushes somewhere on a tiny island that no one has every heard of or teach in big morally corrupt city? As you all know by now I ended up in Guinea, which is somewhere between the boonies and corruption.

So I have a destination and its time to fundraise (oh joy ;/) but there’s still one big hairy obstacle in my way… L-O-A-N-S. Yes, the loan companies had started calling, the sad lot of the majority of college grads. I had no idea what to do. Letters were written, phone calls were made, but I had no assurance of getting my loans put on hold. I was told I had to wait until October to apply, and then told I had to make my account current. Then told I had to wait for this and that and the other. I prayed a lot and decided to step out on faith and just go. I figured God wouldn’t have brought me through the application process, fundraising, and training just for me to not come to Guinea.

When I finally was able to get in touch with the loan company from over here in Guinea, which is NOT easy! I had to Skype them late at night when its normal business hours over in the USA and the internet connection is better here. And when I say better I don’t mean high speed internet, I mean that it doesn’t kick me off every 5 minutes and it only takes a few minutes to load web pages. You didn’t know internet like that still existed huh? Well it does here in Guinea!! No high-speed wireless for me! Anyway… I was finally able to get in touch with the loan company in December and applied for the forbearance over the phone (Skype). They told me that it would be 10 business days before an approval or denial letter arrived at my home. So my dad and I waited… and waited… and waited. Every time I emailed them or we talked on the phone I asked if the letter came. The letter never came. So I decide to call (Skype) up the loan company one day and ask about my loans. They tell me that the forbearance was denied and I should have gotten a letter, which my dad never received. My next question for the loan folks was what do I do now? They said I had to make my account current before I could take any further action on my loan situation. By the grace of God and with the help of my parents I was able to bring my account up to date (that is a miracle in and of itself).

Next step: call and try to consolidate loans, get an extension or something. Remember how I said the internet connection is not always so great here? Yea well the time I tried to get something worked out with an extension the connection cut out while I was in the middle of my conversation with the loan guy…very frustrating. By now I’m past the point of frustration and just ready to give up. I had begun formulating a plan to just stay in Guinea forever and change my identity in hopes that the loan companies wouldn’t come after me. It was really starting to sound like a good idea, stay here, start a garden, live off the land…yea sounds good. BUT…

About 2 weeks ago, my dad and I tried to Skype the loan company again. I wasn’t looking forward to the call because I figured it wasn’t going to do any good and I’d be in the same position as before calling them. But alas we called anyway because we had to. So after a few attempts we finally get connected and have a decent enough connection that the customer service rep can hear me with minimal echo. I go through my story about how I’m calling from overseas and I’m a missionary who is broke and living off of less than $200 a month so I definitely don’t have money to make a $500 something dollar payment on my loans every month. I’ve sung this song so many times I can do it in my sleep and I figure this time won’t make a difference. That is until the loan lady says: “I think I can help you with the forbearance.” My first instinct was to say “Hey lady we already tried that and it didn’t work so just help me with the extension and consolidation like I asked.” But thank God I kept my mouth shut and listened as the beginning of a miracle took place. She didn’t only apply me for the loan but read me the agreement over the phone! She asked if I agree to all this formal loan business and I said “Yes ma’am”. I was dumbfounded and confused. I asked a few questions before getting off the phone about if it doesn’t get approved or something like that. Then my dad and I talked about the strange conversation we had just finished. I’m pretty sure we were bother confused and wondering what had just happened. Looking back, I was confused but had a sense of peace. We decided to just wait and see what happened… the worst thing that could happen would be a rejection right?

The days pass and I count every business day. I wait for a call or email or smoke signal from my dad telling me the fate of our strange conversation. As the days pass, I think about my loans more and more during my free time. I try not to worry and remember that God is in control, but I’m a worrier by nature. Finally tonight (its Sunday the 1st as I write) I get a call from my dad saying my loans were approved for the forbearance! I didn’t think I heard him correctly so I asked: “I was approved for the forbearance???” The next thing I said was “Hallelujah, Thank You Jesus, Praise GOD!” I can’t explain how happy I am. God is truly amazing and on time. It makes me wanna cry.

I’m not sure why I was approved now as oppose to 2 months ago. I take that back, I do know why….God is why. For whatever reason He saw fit to delay the forbearance until now. I’m so grateful for what He’s done. King Jesus listens when we pray! He’s a powerful God and He’s in control of ALL things. Just when we feel that all hope is gone, He shows up and shows out. God never ignores our prayers, sometimes we just don’t hear when He tells us to wait.

I want to thank everyone who’s been praying with me over the past months, probably since last March or April when I made this decision. You’re as much a part and witness of this miracle as I am! Thanks Dad for being patient with me and the loan people and everything else you’ve helped me with since I’m not home to do it myself. And of course I want to give thanks, glory, praise and honor to my God and Father in Heaven. I serve a very much living and powerful God. He knows, He sees and He cares. He’s SO concerned with us and our problems.

 

Proverbs 15:29 “He hears the prayer of the righteous”

Philippians 4:6 “Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God”

James 5:16 “The effective prayer of a righteous man (or woman) can accomplish much”

AMEN AMEN and AMEN!

God is powerful and willing to answer our prayers…all it requires from us is a little faith and giving up the problem to Him.
So I dare you…step out on faith. Let go of your problem and let God. It may be small compared to my loans or much bigger, but God sits high enough and looks low enough to handle them all.

What a MIGHTY God I serve!

Just some pictures…

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Not many but a few pics from my time so far in Guinea. Tenneh’s birthday, Marguerite's graduation, Chelcie’s birthday. Maybe some other randoms.  Enjoy. I’ll try to get better about pics.

Parenting 101...

Another Sabbath is over and a new week awaits me. Today I had the privilege of experiencing dealing with kids, not that I haven’t dealt with them before but today really tested my patience! There are 3 families that make up our missionary team, plus us two student missionaries. So after eating Sabbath lunch I kinda helped keep 3 of the kids occupied. 3 kids, aged 7, 6, and 4. What an afternoon! We started with a bible game, then did some bible questions and then a puzzle of Noah’s ark. After having worship to end the Sabbath, I read two stories to them and then let them color. During those few activities which spanned maybe 4 hours, I can’t count how many times I had to ask them to talk quieter, stop aggravating each other, wait to answer until I call on the, stop talking while I’m reading, share, stop arguing and trying to tell each other what to do! Individually they’re really good kids, but put the 3 together and its a recipe for disaster. They always want to out-do each other and get the other in trouble. At any given moment one of them is saying, “Aunty Alexandria she did this or he did that or he’s not listening, etc etc etc!” By the end of the evening my patience was waning and all I wanted to do was make them sit in separate corners and stare at the wall so they couldn’t disrupt each other. In the end kids will be kids. Apparently they’re gonna try their best to bother each other and prove themselves as the best and get each other in trouble and boss each other around. They’re kids and they’re learning and its the responsibility of parents, aunts, uncles, older people to teach, guide, and show them the proper way to behave even if they’re getting on our last nerve and we want to just end it all and punish them.

In this I see how God is with us, His children. It’s different, yet so similar. I’m sure that if we were to look through God’s eyes we would see how silly, annoying, obnoxious, and childish we act. Always try to blame someone else for our actions, wanting to prove ourselves to be better people or Christians that the person sitting on the pew in front of us. We’re very effective at knowing how to grate on each others nerves and boss each other around, just because we think we’re more righteous or holy or sanctified that the next person. But unlike us humans God’s patience is lasting and doesn’t get tried as easy. I’m sure God sits and looks at us and wonders if we’ll ever learn to stop acting so childish and silly. Instead of getting aggravated and just giving up, God looks at us with the tender compassionate eyes of a Father and gently corrects us and tries to guide us in the correct way. Like a loving parent who only wants the best for their child and doesn’t want them to go through life fighting over silly stuff with the people they interact with….God wants what is best for us and wants us to learn how to act as Christians, and more importantly as His children. Children are a reflection of their parents and God corrects and reproves us so that daily our we will be changed to look and act more and more like Him until we reflect His character perfectly, by the grace of God.

So I thank God for being patient, loving, and extremely slow to anger and aggravate when I get to acting like the kids were this evening. What a patient God, and for this I am ever grateful because I know at times I can act really childish and want to try to prove myself better than the next person instead of helping that person.  God help me day by day to be less like child like and reflect His character more.

And a big shout-out to all you parents and teachers out there, especially my parents! I’m sure dealing with your kids, especially if you had more than one was no walk in the park. Being a parent is not easy and its a huge responsibility. Patience is truly a virtue that one learns when dealing with kids!

~Alex

Thanks for all your prayers! Please continue to pray for the work here among the people of Guinea. Changes are taking place in the church and its good! Pray for the country of Guinea. Also pray for me as I go to the hospital to shadow during the week, that I’ll be a light to the people I come in contact with and that when and if I’m asked questions about Christianity or my beliefs I’ll have the words to say…in French :)

A New Year… (1/3/09)

2009 is gone, 2010 is here. It’s a little hard for me to believe that it’s actually 2010. Leaving behind the problems of 2009 and facing the challenges that lie ahead in 2010.

The holiday season was good here, relaxing. For Christmas we didn’t do too much. We had a gift exchange/appreciation with the missionary team. Good food, good times, good people. Christmas was a pretty relaxed day, had Christmas dinner and just relaxed. I like Christmas here because there wasn’t the hype that the media and stores put into it. There wasn’t all the pressure to buy huge expensive gifts..at least not for me. But I guess its different for the average Guinean.

Most people here are Muslim so they don’t really celebrate Christmas for the birth of Jesus, its just another holiday to have parties, eat food, and take off from work. Everyone saves their money and they buy lots of food and fabric for new clothes. So I guess spending is the same here since everyone is broke come January. Christmas and New Years are party times!

New Years was fun, just stayed up watching movies. It was kinda strange since this was probably the 1st New Years where I wasn’t able to watch the peach drop in downtown Atlanta or any of the New Years eve programs they have on TV. I didn’t even realize when it turned to 2010. But the people in the neighborhood knew, they partied ALL night long.

We had communion this past Friday (the 1st). It was a nice way to bring in the new year and the Sabbath.

Health talks are going well at church, kinda. We’ve been stuck on the protein section of nutrition for the last few weeks because most people don’t want to see that meat was never intended to remain part of our diets. It’s a struggle for a lot of people to fathom the idea of giving up meat. I know it was a struggle for me, I never thought I could give up meat…but I did. Doing these health talks is really teaching me a lot and confirming/solidifying a lot of things. I’m starting to really see just how dangerous meat is and how God wants the best for us…and meat is not the best. Its hard to convey this idea to the people, and I’m sure if someone had given me this information a few years ago I would have reacted the same way they are reacting to me. Even before coming here I would have said that eating meat is a personal choice between an individual and God, but now I’m seeing that God wants us to get rid of meat from our diets not only for our physical health, but also for our spiritual health. Today’s meat is so full of disease and sickness, it causes and/or is linked to the majority of health issues. Also, we don’t need meat in our diet to have all that our bodies require for sustenance. God gave Adam and Eve a simple diet that would ensure they were in the best physical, mental and spiritual health. God tried to bring the Israelites back to the original diet when He brought them out of Egypt, but because they moaned, groaned and complained God gave them quail. Along with that quail came sickness, disease, and a drastic decrease in longevity. God only wants the best for us, but so often we try to ignore what God deems as best…thinking we know better than God. Hmmm, its something when the creation thinks they know better than the Creator!?! Anyway, that’s where I am with health talks. Next week I’m gonna press on to fat..so we’ll see how that goes.

Time is getting ready to fly by, they were telling me that after January things pass super fast. Before I know it I’ll be on a plane back to the states. I’ll try to keep everyone updated on things here. Mangos are starting to bud, so maybe by February I’ll have my first mango, I’m excited :)  French is getting better. I’m understanding a lot more, even though I’m still hesitant to speak most of the time. I’m trying to force myself to speak though because I know that’s the only way I’ll learn to speak properly and get better.

Thank you everyone for your prayers and for reading my blog. Here’s a few things I’d like you to remember in your prayers…

Prayer requests:

1. The Fria church, continued growth and searching for the truth.
2. The Adventist school here in Fria
3. My health talks, that people would be receptive and realize I’m just presenting truth
4. We need a bulb for the projector so we can have the stop smoking clinic soon
5. The country of Guinea

Thanks :) God Bless and Happy New Year!

~Alex

P.s. here’s a bible verse for the new year:

Casting all your cares on Him, because He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7

If the reference is wrong sorry, but I’m pretty sure its in 1st Peter 5. But the point is to cast all your worries on God. He cares about us and our problems and is willing to take care of them. So don’t bring any of your worries from 2009 into 2010, cast them at the foot of the cross and let Jesus take care of them. Start 2010 with a clear slate and let God handle the problems that will come this year. He offers to take care of them because He loves and cares for us so much.

Just in case you aren’t sure what I look like over here. Me in my African dress and my mosquito net in the background.

End of the year update….

 

It’s been a long time since I’ve updated my blog…I figure it’s about time that I give an update of what’s going on over here.

Thanksgiving has come and gone; Christmas is a few days away. Time is flying! The picture at the top is of me and the kids on the team on Thanksgiving day. They’re fun. Thanksgiving was good! We had dinner together as a team and then we watched Fireproof. That’s a really good movie that I think everyone should watch, it’s a Christian film produced by the same people who made Facing the Giants. Anyway its a good movie that you should see if you haven’t seen it yet.

Since I last updated one of our church members got really sick and was in the hospital for 2-3 weeks. It wasn’t looking good for a while, but praise God that she’s out of the hospital and back at church. Truly her story is a miracle because if you saw her in the hospital bed you wouldn’t think she’d be here today. While in the hospital she had some days were she was unresponsive, not able to recognize people, not eating, etc. But the little church here in Fria banded together and someone was always there with her at the hospital to give her family a break when needed, and most of all we prayed. We prayed and God heard and answered. It was a miracle that she came out of the hospital and is in good health now! God still works miracles, Amen!

Other than that… health talks at church are going well. Right now we’re talking about Nutrition. I introduced the idea of vegetarianism and the original diet a few weeks ago. I’m not sure how well its being digested. I’m getting lots of questions, but I’m just gonna present the facts and answers questions as best as I can. Doing these health talks is teaching me a lot and showing me things I need to change concerning my own health and eating habits. All the research and preparation I’m doing reminds me that my body is God’s temple and I have to be cautious about what I put into it and how I treat it. And I’m seeing more fully the dangers of meat eating.

Shadowing at the hospital is cool. Seeing a lot of malaria, malnutrition, and measles. Practicing my French at hospital too. I’m getting to know all the people there kinda. We speak with my French/English mixture. They try to explain things and help me understand. They’re nice. I like them. That’s what being a missionary is about huh? Forming relationships with people even when you can’t always understand each other. I just pray that I’ll eventually know enough French to tell them about Jesus. Some have asked me questions about Adventists, like what makes us different from other Christians. I try to explain using the few words I know, but I usually only get one small point across. It’s so hard when there’s a language barrier and you don’t know if you’re communicating your ideas correctly. But I pray that God will give me the words to tell them about the saving love of Jesus and God’s mercy.

Well that’s it for now. Christmas is in a few days so Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays!! It’s hard for me to believe that Christmas is in a week and it’ll be 2010 in 2 weeks!!! Time is flying! And it doesn’t help that I’ve been in summer since May. No fall, no winter…so it definitely doesn’t feel like Christmas time. It feels like Christmas in July! 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!! Thanks for reading!

~Alex

Made in the USA…

Nov 8, 2009

So today I decided to take some time to write about an interesting aspect of my experience here in Guinea. I’m not sure how to start so I think I’ll just start…

Being an American in Guinea is interesting. Everyone knows you’re a stranger and once they hear you talk they know you’re American. It’s almost like having a tattoo on my forehead that says “MADE IN USA”. And in the mind of the people here USA= Easy Fortune and Fame. Some of things I’ve experienced so far:

• When someone found out I was from the states they said they want to go back with me, or something to that effect.
• Some guys have followed the other missionary around almost worshipping him because he’s American.
• Everyone wants to be like Akon and go to the states and get rich and famous.

Also people like to ask if I’m married. Most girls my age are married with 2 or 3 kids. So for me to be unmarried is strange to them. If they find our I’m not married they ask why, as if something is wrong with me lol. Talk about cultural differences. A man has told me that he’d leave his wife to marry me. HAH! Well I didn’t understand him so they person who was with me told me what they said. Now this man who said that was old, probably old enough to be my dad or my grandfather! Nasty man. When people say crazy stuff like them I just look at them and laugh, say no and walk away. These folks. And most of them have multiple wives. What makes them think I’d want to be one of multiple wives to an old man??? Oh these people.

I laugh at it but its really not funny. That’s a huge cultural difference. It’s not uncommon for a girl to get married around 15 years old. And they usually get married to an old man. Men don’t get married until they’re in their late 20’s or 30’s here. So its not strange for there to be a big age gap between husband and wife.

So yea, that’s just one interesting thing I’ve noticed over here. Its strange but don’t worry I definitely won’t be coming home with anyone! lol

 

here’s some pics from the waterfall we went to last Sunday.

Push and shove, worms and malaria…10/30/09

This past week I finally started shadowing at the hospital!! WOOOO Praise God! Anyway…This week I followed Dr. Balde because Dr. Dah (who I’ll normally be shadowing) had to be at meetings all week. Dr. Balde is a general physician who likes pediatrics. So in the morning he does his rounds in the pediatric wing. I guess he’s going to switch to peds?? I’m not sure how that works here. But….it was interesting to see some of the differences in health care. Such as…

• Cleanliness, has a whole different meaning here. Most of the rooms are small and have multiple patients in them. The rooms we visited had 2 or 3 or sometimes more patients in them depending on the size of the room. Privacy is nonexistent here. Also the rooms are very closed in. There are windows but no one opens them, not sure why. When we go on rounds in the morning sometimes the doctor or nurse will open the window to air out the smell, but I think that might be the only reason they open the windows …because of the smells. It’s kinda hard seeing all the closed windows and dark rooms when there’s so much fresh air and sunshine outside. I’m telling the people at church home important these things are but at the hospital they don’t even crack the window for fresh air unless it stinks. I don’t have much say at the hospital so I keep my mouth shut, plus I don’t speak enough French to tell them. But I can tell the people at church..and you! Open your windows!! Sunlight and fresh air are good!!!!
• There aren’t really private practices here. Everyone goes to the hospital and the doctors see you in their offices and diagnose you or refer you to the lab or the pharmacy or somewhere.
• There’s no such thing as appointments. So basically the best strategy is to get to the hospital as early as possible and get a consultation type paper. That gets you in to see the doctor that deals with whatever your problem is. Then you go to their office and hand them the card and they call you in when they get to your card. Having an appointment means nothing. Getting your card into the hands of the doctor first means everything. Sometimes when you open the door to call the next patient a flood of arms come at you with papers and cards and trying to get them into your hand first. Sometimes they even try to push themselves in or they’ll walk in while you’re in the middle of examining or talking with another patient…that’s why they lock their doors here. They WILL knock you down to see the doctor and tell every kinda sob story to try to get in quicker.
• Being an “El Hadj” or older man gets you in to see the doctor fast…even if you have no papers. That’s Muslim culture. I mean what can you do if an older, revered man comes and wants to see you right away…you can’t turn him away. Either because he’s a respected religious leader or he’s the old man who watched you grow up and will still reprimand you.
• There’s a prescription for EVERYTHING. It doesn’t seem like many tests are done to confirm things. Like if you have the symptoms of malaria they just write you a prescription for medicine…even though it’s usually malaria since this is a malaria hot spot, but still. So whether its worms, malaria, sore throat, cough…whatever you’ll get a prescription. One incident that I thought was funny was that the doctor sent someone to have an x-ray of their sinuses because they were congested and stuff but no one is sent to the lab to confirm malaria or worms or stuff. Funny huh?

I guess I can kinda see why things are done this way. There’s a lot of malaria, worms, sickle cell, and malnutrition related sicknesses here. Not much deviation so why bother looking for something that’s not obvious. Maybe that’s their reasoning. Anyway I like it so far. Working with Dr. Dah will be interesting because she deals with HIV and infectious disease patients I think. So we’ll see what happens next week.

Nothing new outside of that really. Health talks are going well. Tomorrow I do a talk about Air. Last week was Sunlight. I think they’re receiving it well so far. Anyway its almost 4:30p here and we have to leave to go to church soon. Until next time… ~Alex

Thunderstorms…

It’s 4:30 on Friday afternoon. I’m sitting out listening to the rain and enjoying the cool breeze that accompanies it. It’s a wonder how simple things like a thunderstorm become enjoyable. The coolness the comes with the rain is as close to air conditioning as it gets over here. :) I feel like I should write something though provoking, but I’m not sure that I have much to say so I’ll just type and we’ll see.

The rain here in Guinea comes so suddenly, and when it comes its always big and boisterous. Never meek and calm. I don’t think its ever sprinkled or drizzled since I’ve been here. It’s always a big thunderstorm or heavy rain,  comes and passes on, but other times the rain just goes on for what seems like forever….never  trailing off. Like this storm that’s going on right now, I think it’ll last for a while.

Another interesting thing about the rain is that it always seems to slow time down. The raining has been falling for maybe 15 minutes or so but it feels like it’s gonna fall forever. –Commercial: just now there was a HUGE crack of thunder and flash of lightening…nothing like at home. It scared the mess outta me. My heart jumped and I almost threw the computer from my lap! The thunder and lightening here are amazingly beautiful but also dangerous. – Anyway back to my thoughts…So sometimes it feels like it’s going to rain forever, but the sun always comes back out again; at least it does here. Once the sun is out for a few minutes it doesn’t even seem like it was storming. The sun is out bright and hot as ever and we go back to our daily duties; happy for the rain to water and cool things down but glad it’s over.

I feel an analogy coming on… It’s kinda like life. A problem comes on all of a sudden; it’s strong and unrelenting. The problem feels like it’s never gonna go away and seems to last forever. Until one day the sun shines again, the problem is gone and our lives can go back to normal. While the problem is around we worry, pray, and wonder when it’ll go away. We get scared or do all we can to protect ourselves. Then once the problem goes away we get back to life as it once was, forgetting all about the problem we had. Why is it while we’re dealing with a problem we’re so concerned with it that we forget that trouble doesn’t last always. How quickly we forget that God won’t give us more than we can handle. Or that He allows problems to draw us closer to Him and refine our characters. Weeping may endure for a night but JOY comes in the morning. God doesn’t promise that problems won’t come or that they’ll be easy to deal with, but He does promise to provide a way of escape and to make us conquerors through Jesus.

Many times in the past I’ve been so engrossed in my problems that I can’t see beyond on them to the beautiful sun that’s coming. I’m learning little by little to deal with my problems and maybe one day I’ll learn to enjoy my problems, just as I’ve learned to enjoy the rainstorms here. If I look at my problems as an opportunity to grow, refine my character and draw closer to God maybe I won’t fret so much. If I’ve learned to enjoy the rain as a time of peace, reflection, and cool air :) then I can learn to at least deal with my problems. So thank you God for the problems and for the hard, unrelenting rain in Guinea!

~Alex~ aka Flematu (that’s my Susu name, but I’m not sure how you spell it. I’ll have to ask)

 

I meant to upload this pic a few posts back….these are Guinean Francs, the currency here. 1 USD = 5,100 GF approx. So I think this is like $100 dollars so that makes me like 1/2 millionaire in GF lol It was kinda hard getting used to thinking in huge amounts. Like a jar of jelly is 8,000 GF, which is like a dollar and some change. I bought a cell phone here…very basic phone… for 120,000 GF which is 24 dollars. Things seem cheap when you convert is to USD but I had to start thinking in Guinean Francs since cost of living is cheaper here I guess.

Yes we have a stove and oven! No we don’t HAVE to cook on coals. We’re technology savvy over here :) the only annoying thing is that orange regulator in the corner, that controls the flame and how high it is. Took me a while to get good at using it and controlling it well

 

Don’t laugh! that’s me walking to the village with Auntie Cathy. This picture is meant to show you how tall the grass is, it’s probably a lot taller by now. But by November/December it’ll all be gone because dry season will be coming and they’ll burn it all down for planting and stuff.