God has blessed me with generous friends and family. I have received over $300 in donations. Naomi and I were able to do more than we ever dreamed of doing with the money. The yeast infection clinic use to be run out of Naomi's house after the missionary couple left. People would come knocking on her door at various hours of the day (and night) pleading her for treatment. She would invite them in, give them food and a place to stay on top of medication. It was a nice thing to do, but it intruded on Naomi's life and the lives of her children. She and her kids would accommodate for whoever showed up, which meant less sleep and comfort for them.
Thankfully, we had enough money to build a building for the infection clinic all because of your donations. It is still near Naomi's house, however, the patient, Naomi, and her family can all be comfortable now. We were able to buy enough supplies and natural remedies to treat hundreds of people. From huge cases of vinegar and syringes to citron trees, we have all that we need for infection clinic can be self-sustaining.
The building is still in construction, but pictures are soon to follow this post. Once it is finished I will post pictures of the building itself and the many other things your donations have provided. We are now able to brainstorm of ways to help people who can't pay for the treatment and ways to teach prevention. There are many people who have yeast infections that are embarrassed to seek help. We are brainstorming how to reach those people as well.
For example, after one of our health lectures in the bush our CHWs (community health workers) and TBAs (traditional birth attendants) approached us. One of the CHWs asked us why his wife seems to be infertile after she stopped taking contraceptives. They have been trying to have children for two years now without results. I replied that there can be many reasons why they are unable to have children. Therefore, they should ask the doctors for more specifics. However, I listed a few things that can cause infertility in women and men. One of the things I listed was infections.
I quickly explained how infections can add many complications to pregnancies and other simple concept they may have not known. It turned out that his wife seemed to be suffering from yeast infections, therefore the CHW probably had a yeast infection too. Naomi and I told him to come for treatment and thanked him for his honesty. We explained how many people are embarrassed and don't want to talk about things like that. Because they keep their mouths shut they are never able to fix the problem they have been suffering with. I told the CHWs and TBAs to try and keep their ears to the ground for people with medical problems they aren't addressing.
After my comment about people being embarrassed about their medical problems, genital problems in specific, one person after another admitted that they had a problem as well. The whole group, 8 people in total, were struggling with yeast infections. If all the workers in that quartier (small district in Bere) had yeast infections you can imagine how many people in the community have the same problem. Your donations are helping to change many people's lives.
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