My Beloved Mosquito Net

I have been in Tchad for over a month now. I have become accustomed to many different things, one of them being bugs. I still have a few minor freak outs, however, most times insects don't faze me. I have seen, and killed, many bugs and as a result am now pretty confident of my insect-killing capabilities. 

Maybe I got a little too comfortable, or cocky. Whatever you want to call it. But, I began reading outside of my net. In the past, I would dive straight under my mosquito net, where I knew there were no bugs. However, if you aren't lying down, my cot can be very uncomfortable.  I hate reading laying down. This means that as soon as I enter my hut, I go to sleep. (I was going to sleep at 8pm every night!!) While under the net, I would try to read, or do something else, only to give up in frustration. That is why I was very happy to have acquired insect-killing techniques, making me no longer scared. Sitting outside of my mosquito net was glorious! It was so spacious and comfortable-- I could do anything I wanted now. (Within reason of course). 

One fateful night, I was sitting outside of my mosquito net reading. I turned to grab some paper and saw a centipede sitting not even a foot away. (That is the poisonous one right? Whichever one is the poisonous, scary looking one, THAT was what was sitting next to me). Thank God I have learned to stifle my screams. I quickly got up and looked for something to kill it with. All I had was my 100% deet insect repellent that doesn't work as well as I thought it would. (I don't even wear insect repellent anymore because the bugs here are on another level). I prayed that the insect repellent would be useful now, even if only for this.

It may not repel insects as well as I would like, but it sure does kill them quickly. I doused the centipede with the insect repellent, prepared to run if it tried to attack me.  It helplessly jumped and wiggled around and finally died in a stiff, circumflex position. I gave a sigh of relief and tried to get comfortable once again. But a frog came bounding in my direction. I jumped as high as the frog did. I still don't understand why I was so afraid of the frog. (I am still afraid of these frogs. Just a small side note...The guys and I had another incident that reflected the cockroach incident from the "Nasaras and Bugs" post. Except, I wasn't the hero this time, one of the Bere boys was). I was so riled up that I climbed back into my mosquito net. There was no way of getting rid of the frog. 

All in all, I had an epiphany about my mosquito net. My mosquito net is very essential for this trip.  Of course it does the obvious things, like keep the malaria infested mosquitoes out. (Well, all the mosquitoes out). Even people in America understand that beauty of that concept. However, this trip has rocked my world.  Things as simple as a mosquito net are seen in a new light. I have obtained a more full and meaningful understanding of things that matter even more than my simple mosquito net.

The mosquito net has become my protector. Every morning, when I wake up, there is a ring of insect corpses around my cot, and mouse poop above my head. Although I slept peacefully in my cot, there was a war taking place outside my mosquito net. Sometimes I will wake up and see (or hear) the battles, but I am always comforted by my net.  It always keeps the bad things out. Without fail, my mosquito net always wins the fight. 

To be honest, every once in a while a cricket or two gets inside my net. Yeah, it sucks. It can be very difficult, but they are small compared to the dead bugs I find outside of my net. Like God, my mosquito net helps me through those struggles. 

That's just it. God does so much in our lives. Some things are seen (or heard), but most things aren't. We get so caught up with the crickets -- the small trials and struggles in life -- we forget that God is carrying us through the storm. He meets us in our suffering, wrapping His loving arms around us.

"Not everything we got through has a purpose, but we can be purposeful in everything we go through. Not everything has a reason, but there is a reason to get through everything." (I forget where I found this quote. I think it's from Ellen G. White). James 1:2-4 says that we should be happy for the trials in life. Suffering produces endurance (or patience, like it says in the Bible), and endurance gives shape to your character.  When life becomes more than we can handle, we can rest in God. He can handle what we can't, helping us through our stuggles. When we emerge from the storm clouds, we will be changed people. People who reflect the character of Christ more and more each day.  

***Thanks Taleah for making me reexamine scripture. Loved the article by the way.  

Update on Everyone's Health

Sorry I never gave an update on my health.  I am doing much better. I hae 4 swollen lymph node because of a scalp infection. The infection is still present but has significantly decreased.  Now, I only have two swollen lymph nodes and they seem to be decreasing in size. The itching is subsided with the lymph nodes as well. 

In regards to the hives, it turns out I was having an allergic reaction to malarone (my malaria medicine). I decided to stop taking the medicine and try taking a natural remedy in its place. All you have to do is boil the leaves of a neem tree and drink it.  It is disgustingly bitter, but I don't want malaria.  I already stopped using insect repellent and stopped wearing long sleeves at night. (It's too hot for sleeves)! I need some form of defense against malaria in addition to my mosquito net.  

I've already had a malaria scare. We were having a meeting in the SM hut and I was very cold. The ceiling fan was up pretty high. However, the fan only cools the room to the point you don't want to kill yourself anymore. I tried to tell myself I get cold easily, there is nothing wrong with me.  But, I saw Zach dripping sweat, while I had goose bumps.  Finally, I told everyone my symptoms, and left to speak with Dr. Bland. Dr. Bland sent me to get tested for malaria and typhoid because everything seemed to be going wrong with my health.  

Praise God the test came back negative. I was already close to a major break down with the possibility of having malaria. I wasn't sure how I would handle actually having malaria.  It turns out Zach was the one with malaria. He was sweating perfusely because he had a temperature of 100.5 F. His test results reveiled he had 0.25 of malaria.  Most people only have 0.05 when they get tested.  

They started Zach on intense treatment. He was out for a week; malaria wiped him out. I actually was able to help him by selling him some of my malarone pills. Malarone is gold in Tchad.  It is very hard to come by and very expensive.  I was able to get over 200 tablets of malarone for a decent price. Of course, I had to haggle with my medical insurance to cover the charges first. (I'm like a drug dealer now).

If I didn't have the malarone for Zach, he would have had to take quinine. Quinine is the strongest malaria medication at the hospital. If it weren't for the horrific side effects everyone would gladly take it.  This is how the side effects were explained to me: "You feel nauseous and practically go deaf. You have headaches with quinine and lose your appetite. Dr. Bland lost 25 pounds the first time he had malaria. You have to be babied and cooed into eating. You eat anything and everything you want to eat, but the trick is keeping it down. Basically, you rather have malaria than take quinine.  The side effects of the medication are far worse than the illness itself."

Malarone is the next strongest medicine and there aren't as many side effects. Let's be real, I rather have a severe allergic reaction, while trying to treat my malaria with malarone, then take quinine.  I'm glad I am able to save people from the torture of quinine. 

Currently, Zach is doing much better.  He has significantly improve. There are no symptoms of malaria present, and Zach is back to his usual self. Josh was just diagnosed with malaria, but he only had 0.05. He is still able to play basketball and keep up with everyone else.  The symptoms of malaria hit him in waves, and being sick makes him miss home (especially his mom). All in all, he should be back in the game in no time. 

Just a small side note.  I totally won the bet! Josh, Daniel and I bet on who would get malaria first.  My prize is a meal in Paris on our trip back.  It is super expensive there! I don't know what meal I want, but I have 6 more months to figure it out.

Continue to keep the health of everyone in your prayers.  In total, 7 people got sick with malaria (the count includes the doctor - yes we only have one doctor right now - the dentist, SMs and bere boys) and 1 person got typhoid in the past week.  Malaria is really bad this year.  Project 21 is hoping we can get a grant for DDT to eradicate malaria, but we are still working on writing it up. DDT got approved in Tchad this year (maybe a month ago). Pray that everyone is able to keep good health, and we can get the grant we want. 

_____________________________

My mother has told me that a few people have asked how they can contact me.  You can email me at Shannicebaker@gmail.com. My internet is very spotty. I can only access my email and post blogs off of an iPad app. That means no facebook or anything else.  I am still testing the waters to see what else I can acess. 

Nasaras and bugs...

I just felt the need to tell you about my funny night. Like most nights Josh, Daniel, and I were hanging out in the SM hut.  There is a shower attached to the side of the SM hut, so one by one we take showers before going home.

This particular night, Josh and I had already taken our showers. When Daniel went in for his shower, we heard him yell, "Guys, there is a bat in the shower!" We both knew there was a bat that slept in the shower every night. As soon as you turn on the lights the bat flights out. We told Daniel to turn the lights on and it worked.

Maybe two seconds later we heard him scream even louder, "There's a cockroach in the shower! Somebody kill it!!" Josh grabbed the broom and went to kill the cockroach and I continued reading. I knew it was bad when Josh began screaming. (Daniel is the one who is scared of most things...I don't know how he has lasted this long in Tchad). Both of the guys ran back into the SM hut and begged me to kill the cockroach. I laughed so hard! It was ironic how these boys wanted the girl to kill the cockroach. They didn't care and there wasn't the slightest hint of shame when they handed me the broom.

I confidently got up, ready to kill the cockroach. (I really hate cockroaches, but someone had to kill it). It was huge!! It was one of those Samsung Galaxy cell-phone sized cockroaches. Let's be real, as soon as I saw it, I screamed and ran out of the shower too.  Our security guard and the people at the hospital had a good laugh at us as we were huddled in a group outside of the shower arguing over who should kill it.   

We came up with multiple ways for the cockroach to die, but no one wanted to put the plans into action. Josh and I would both inch close to the cockroach then chicken out and run away. We didn't want it to fly into our faces. Finally, I mustered up enough courage and grabbed the broom again.  

The cockroach was strategically sitting on the inside of the door frame.  You had to slide past it to achieve a good smashing angle. I carefully ran past it, praying my presence wouldn't disturb the cockroach. 

Although I was able to slide past the cockroach, there were no fail-proof smashing angles available.  I couldn't decide the best way to hit the bug and finally just swung the broom as hard as I could and prayed that it would die.  The guys screamed loudly as they hugged each other and jumped around. Why? The cockroach wasn't dead.  

It had dodged my first attempt, and was still in a bit of a daze. My screams almost harmonized with the guys as I swung the broom like a sledgehammer again. Honestly, the cockroach died after the first swing, but I pulverized the mess out of it.  I wanted to be sure it was completely dead.  

Our screams turned to laughs once the cockroach was dead.  We looked so ridiculous, even for American standards.  Daniel was finally able to take his shower in peace. Too bad Josh and I had a little more screaming to do. 

Papa had come to see what all the commotion was about. He got a good laugh out of the situation. A big bug flew past Josh and I as soon as we entered the hut. Our reaction was a little over the top because we were still on edge from the cockroach. Papa reacted quickly and grabbed the bug. It was a grasshopper...

Normally, I wouldn't be afraid of a grasshopper; they don't bother me, and I don't bother them.  However, this grasshopper was enormous. (You have to remember everything is bigger in Tchad). The grasshopper's legs alone were the length of my index finger. Papa started waving the grasshopper in our faces asking who wanted to eat it.  After a few seconds of that "fun", Josh and I finally (and frantically) yelled for him to kill it.  

It didn't help that the grasshopper had now gotten loose. It had jumped on the counter and almost gotten away, trying to run from Papa with one big leap it abruptly hit the ceiling fan.  Josh and I almost ran through the screen door because the grasshopper had been slingshot-ted  in our direction...well at least half of it was.  

Haha. Long story short my nerves were on edge the whole night.  My heart hurt and I almost lost my voice. (I may be slightly exaggerating). Once I got to my hut I found yet another cockroach!! It definitely wasn't my night. I was able to stifle my scream this time around. However, the presence of the cockroach destroyed the safe-haven illusion I had of my little hut.

When I first arrived in Tchad I distinctly remember saying, "I'd rather have a rat in my hut then a cockroach..." Well, now I have both living with me.

Pictures!!

This is the audience from the first day of lectures. There were about 60 people there.

Dental lecture!! The peole sitting down were waiting to get their teeth pulled.  Everyone else was enjoying our lecture. (The woman in the orange head wrap is holding a severely malnourished baby).

Josh is on the back left. Daniel is on the back right, and Ferdinand is below. 

Everything is bigger in Tchad!! It's a dung beetle.

 

This is the group in Bendele (the bush). From left to right it's: Me, Charis, Papa (Bere boy), Zach, Josh, and Daniel.

Josh, Allah (another Bere boy), and I teaching sabbath school.

First Official Week of Teaching

Other then my physical discomfort this past week has been good.  Our official schedule seems to be coming together.  Mondays are dedicated to public health lectures, and Tuesdays are lessons on nutritional cooking. We are trying to show them how to have a balance diet using their traditional foods. (Diabetes is a big problem here). Wednesdays are dental days.  We give multiple dental lectures and pull teeth all morning long.  Thursdays are the miscellaneous days. We can chose to do whatever productive project for the day. Currently, we are working on a hospital directory and badges for all the staff. Fridays we meet the traditional birth attendants and community health workers. These meetings are continuing education meetings.  We continue to build on the information they already know. 

This past monday our translator didn't come so we weren't able to do much.  We decided to give our public health lecture on Tuesday instead. We went to urgence (it is the emergency pavillion) and gave public health lectures to the waiting patients. The lecture was on personal hyigene.  

It was a lot of fun.  We performed an interactive skit about a family that didn't wash their hands. We showed how the germs spread around and how you could get sick from them.  The laughter and other various reactions of the patients drew a crowd.  We had other demostrations and engaging activities.  Everyone had a great time.  In the end there were approximately 60 in the audience. 

We made a new friend, who became our arabic translator (for free!!), during our lecture.  His name was Ferdinand.  He was very talkative. He told us how he was a public health student doing his residency in  the hospital. He was super excited about Project 21 (this is the public health project I am working under) and promised to help us for the rest of his residency. He also promised to help us learn French.  

It wasn't until the next day that I found out he was the one who yearned for an American wife. Nevertheless, I was already being careful when I spoke with him.  I judged whether he was flirting with me (or not) based on how he treated the guys.  He treated them the same way!! I don't understand, but whatever...I guess he is super friendly.

I wasn't able to pull teeth on dental day. I signed people in, taking down thier contact information and blood pressure. Next time I get to pull teeth though. 

Sabbath school was great! There were about 45 kids there.  We taught them how to sing "Making Melodies," and the kids taught us songs in French.  We had a blast! We hear the children singing the songs every now and then.  They are such a blessing.