We wake to the sounds of declaring roosters, distant priests chanting and wildly chirping birds. It is dark, and the air has a quiet balmy breeze that reminds us that our hot restless sleep under the mosquito nets might be overshadowed by the morning’s peace. We go out on the veranda and look East as sun rises over the hills. Our quiet solitude is broken by the hurried bustle of voices as our cooks arrive to start the day’s meals. They enter with gusto, arms full of supplies, with confident vigor as they start to move about the kitchen.
They soon are working alongside each other, with one obvious commander. Cooking for ferenjis (white people) takes special care so we don’t get parasites, and they do this with a glint of humor in their eyes. Frail white people we are. I instantly feel like a wimp, as I compare my life with theirs. They are loving and gracious, and any time one of us would enter the kitchen, it was like we ourselves were a parasite to them. All eyes turned to see what we needed, and anything we asked for was granted. They know the doctors are here to help their people, and they want us to have as much energy as possible as we start our day.
And, they know what our hearts will encounter within the halls of Gimbie Hospital.
Day One in the operating room is chaotic. The doctors scurry madly to assess the equipment on hand and to supplement it with the equipment they were able to get through customs. We knew that gauze was re-washed and suture was scarce and that electricity sometimes failed. As they discuss position on the first case, a sense of urgency prevails. They want to complete as many surgeries as possible and this is no time to waste time and energy. Within minutes, they are ready. Jisse Fufa, age 45, is led into the room. She has had her prolapse for two years, and had just walked two hours to get to Gimbie.
There is little time or the language to sooth her fears, so I assume the role of looking deeply within her eyes and smiling, sharing the task of holding her hand and stroking her face with the nurse anesthetist.
