Talks, taxis, and trees…

It’s been almost a month since I’ve been here. I’m starting to get used to the heat, wearing skirts ALL the time, walking the rocky/dirt roads, walking everywhere, the languages-even though I don’t understand or speak much Susu or French. I’ve quickly developed a love for rain/thunder storms. :) When it gets ready to rain or when it’s raining it feels wonderful outside…almost like air conditioner. I could care less about getting wet anymore because usually its raining so hard it doesn’t matter, I’m too busy enjoying the coolness, or I don’t wanna run, fall and break my ankles on the rocks.

So this past Sabbath I gave my first health talk at church. It was interesting, I felt like no one cared what I said but I have to remember the majority of the members are new Adventists, new Christians even. The topic was just a health overview, basically it was about why health is important and why God has given us health laws. Just a precursor of all that is to come. Next time I’ll talk about sunlight and the benefits of it. We’ll go through the 8 laws of health (nutrition, exercise, water, sunlight, temperance, air, rest, and trust in God) and eventually we’ll get to diseases, hygiene and whatever else there’s time for. Uncle Marc assured me that it’ll get better and there will be so many questions I won’t know what to do. They’re still getting used to me just like I’m getting used to them. I really wish I could speak French so I could talk without a translator, having a translator makes it feel like there’s another barrier between me and them. That’s exactly how I felt when I was in Dominican Republic 2 years ago. I think I eventually go through to the people during those 2 weeks, but there was always that language barrier that seemed to keep me from getting that much closer. Hopefully I’ll be able to get through the barriers here even if I can’t give the health talks in French eventually. I’d really like to give at least one talk in French, like one of the last ones I do. But I guess that really depends on how much and how fast I learn. We shall see about that.

After Sabbath lunch, Auntie Cathy and I (everyone here is either Auntie or Uncle, its a cultural thing and also for the kids on the team..kinda like calling people Miss Pauline or Mr. George…respect). So anyway after lunch we took a trip to the village because someone called her saying they were sick. So we walk to the main road in Fria, about 15-20 mins I think, here we take a taxi car to the village.Let me explain how taxis are here in Guinea… So we walk to where the taxis are, they’re near the market, its basically just a street where all the taxi people park and wait. So we get there and the guy says he’ll take us to where we need to go and there are other people going there too so we all go together….all 8 or 9 of us, and no we’re not in a minivan. It was a regular car, a 5 seater I believe. The drivers here don’t like to waste money or gas so they wait to go to a destination until they have a full load…very full. So we get into the taxi, Auntie Cathy gets in the back seat with like 3 or 4 other people. She tells me to get in the front with this other lady, plus the driver, and there’s a guy who climbs into the trunk….I think it was a station wagon or hatch back type car. So all 8 of us get in the car and someone outside the car give us a push start and we head down the road. Now this car is very umm….rickety. Window is all cracked in the front, I’m surprised he could see through it since it looked like someone bashed every part of the window with a bat. The odometer didn’t work, there were all kinds of smells coming from the car-under the hood and in the car, and who knows what else. BUT..remember how I said they’re pretty thrifty here? So, Fria is a kinda hilly place. So when the cars are going down a slope or hill they coast down, not just take their foot off the gas but the car is off and in neutral. I’m not sure how they manage all this because most cars here are manual but they do it. It was amusing to see them turning the car back on in the middle of the trip when we were going back uphill. So that’s taxis here in Guinea..kinda funny. And Auntie Cathy told me the one we rode in that day was a nice one….hmmm

So anyway back to the village, we go and visit and see the sick people; take some blood pressures and just kinda talk…well I just sit and listen since I can’t speak Susu. I took notice of this little boy; he’s very malnourished and sick. He’s about a year and a half old I think but he looks more like a 6 or 7 month old. It broke my heart to see him looking so thin, nose running, and helpless. Auntie Cathy gave his mother some medicine because he’d been having diarrhea for a week. Keep him in your prayers, he’s pretty sickly for a baby. Village life is so different from where I am. Electricity is basically nonexistent, houses are small and dark, everything is done outside because houses are just for sleeping and storing belongings. We couldn’t stay long because it was going to be dark soon and we needed to get home. Sunday we went out again but to another village, Otamasuria (not sure about the spelling). This village is basically one big family. One man had like 4 wives and like 30 kids, he died about 2 years ago. So this village is made up mostly of his offspring and their families. We stayed for a while and visited. We went there because a set of twins were sick, not sure with what…possibly malaria, but we gave them medicine for their fevers and malaria. Malaria is the first thing you treat for here whenever someone has a fever and other flu-like symptoms, so treat for malaria and rule it out if possible before going onto something else. While we were in this village we walked down to the stream…it was SOOOOOO beautiful. Raw nature, like something you’d only see in a magazine or on exhibit somewhere. I’ll try to attach some pictures below. The water was so cool and refreshing. I also saw part of the process of how charcoal is made…it’s a very long and drawn out process of stacking wood, covering it with leaves and dirt then burning it. I really like this village, I may go spend a few days there before I leave. The people are really nice, they’re poor but they give what they have. They didn’t let us leave without taking a bag of peanuts. But the beauty there is amazing, just pure God-given natural beauty. Once the seasons change, all kinds of fruit will be in abundance, and they grow a lot of things there. Just beautiful and simple. Anyway I believe this is a long enough post. I hope you enjoy! Thanks for all your prayers, I like it here. I’m starting to get busy, but not really. That’ll all change once I start shadowing at the hospital and the stop smoking clinic gets closer. Lots to do but I’ll be sure to keep you posted when I can.

~lots of love coming all the way from Guinea

Alex…p.s. I climbed my first tree here…shocking huh. I felt like such a city girl, but I’m not a city girl