How do I aptly prepare my 18 year old daughter for her first trip to a developing nation? And this trip will be especially intense due to the various heart wrenching medical conditions we will see. Our home will be the hospital, not a hotel, for most of the time we are there. Brynn will have a variety of assignments, including scrubbing in during surgeries on occasion if she is needed.
We talk about general safety, how to interact graciously with the culture, how to avoid problems, what to wear and not wear, and the fact that there will be many frustrations, joys, hazards and times when we will feel drunken by the culture. But where do I start with telling her that she won’t return home the same person? That pulsating Africa, with all of its terrors and catapulting strains, will get into her blood and grip her in the heart like little else can affect in the same manner?
I choose to remain silent, and not put words on something I can’t even come to terms with myself. I will listen closely to her while we are there, and I will watch for that hesitant flicker in her eyes, when it is obvious the world has shaken.
(Photo: Joni Kabana)