Written Friday, October 5, 2012

Off to a slow start today, not too much on my plate. . .no complaints here, its hot, and yesterday was a long day.

Yesterday (Thursday) I went out into the campu or “matu” (the bush I guess you could say) with a colleague from my one organization, Despertai. We do home visits to check in on people, talk to them about good health practices, taking medicine, getting to the hospital when they are sick etc… each month we decide on a topic to discuss during the month when the activista’s go on these visits. This month the discussion is about malaria.

We went to three different houses yesterday, walking from 8am until about noon. It was a long walk, in hot sun, but totally worth it. I got to see a whole different part of Quissico, on the other side of the lagoon, in the bush, where I finally felt like I was “in Africa”.  The home visits that I have been on have been mostly on the hillside along the lagoon, this trip was in the opposite direction, so I got to experience a totally different environment. It was beautiful in its own way.

Each home visit went well, my activista took the lead, talking about some medicinal plants that we discussed earlier in the month, about some home remedies that help prevent malaria, and aid in the recuperation process if someone does have malaria. She also stressed how important it was to get to the hospital to receive appropriate medication that would aid more so than any homeopathic remedy. People were very receptive towards the information that we shared, I talked about the importance of using a mosquito net, and if they don’t have one, using long pants and shirts during the night.

During one of the home visits, I had a very harsh wake-up call. To tell this part, I am going to copy a segment from my personal journal that I write in at night –

“I had my first true encounter with a person that has fully formed AIDS. He was a boy who couldn’t have been more than 12 years old. Tall and gangly, the child wore tattered pants that were tied up with a frayed rope around his protruding hip-bones. You could see every rib in his chest, and his shoulder bones stuck out of his body menacingly, like spikes. His eyes were yellow from constant bouts of malaria, the skin on his chest, and part of his face were scabbed – literally decaying in front of me. To see this suffering, to smell, yes smell (for the stench was almost unbearable) a decomposing person, to know that there was nothing that anyone could do for him . . .the word ‘heartbreaking’ just doesn’t do it justice.”

I have never felt so helpless in my entire life, for there was literally nothing I could do for this boy. This child, this boy who should be happy and healthy, playing with friends, looking forward to his future, is instead wishing for the day that his suffering would be over. He had been taking the medication for HIV, but for a month he went without it because they were unable to get to the hospital. His virus (I am assuming) took that time to build up a resistance to the medication, and when he finally was able to start taking it again, the medication did no good. Not to mention he was not getting proper nutrition (due to the heat and lack of rain for the gardens).

I know that this experience is just one of the many I am going to have here. I feel I’ve been living in a happy little ‘bubble’ if you will of my organizations, and time spent with neighbors etc. It was a shocking experience, one that is hard to explain how it made me feel. I hate to think about how it makes ME feel, when he is the one who is suffering. I’m such an American that way. . .thinking about how other people’s suffering affects ME. . . self-centered.

Anyway, the rest of the day went well, I hung out at Angela’s house to be there when some guys came to fix the bed frame, spent the evening with her and Sota, and came home to sleep.

Like I said, I don’t have too much going on today, probably going to take a trip into the town here soon, just to go for a nice walk and see some people. Tomorrow I’m thinking about going to the lagoon, and probably will spend the evening packing up for my move on Sunday. I am going to pay someone with a truck to help me move my things. It’s a bit of a walk, and I have 2 bags and 2 boxes. . not something I want to carry across town haha.

That’s all for now kids-

X’s and O’s

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