1) Snapping
Every day I am thinking about the financial status of the hospital. We have excellent support from AHI and other very generous donors, but the day to day operating expenses are still difficult. This difficulty comes from 70% of our patients not being able to pay their full bill and the fact that the hospital receives no government support. So I've been working on a section of our website designed to help with operational expenses. This means that I've almost always got my SLR camera on me. It's not uncommon for me to hear people shouting at me "Snap me! Snap me!"
Just the other day, a man on a moto drove up to me and asked for me to 'Snap' him. I obliged. Then he pressed me, "Make sure to send this picture to America!"
So here you go, Mr. Man on a Moto that I have no idea what your name is. Here's your picture being sent to Americans:
2) Treasure
I walked into the isolation room. The woman lying on the bed
is cachectic, easily less than 80 lbs, I can just look and see almost every
bone in her body. Her body is just being consumed by HIV and TB. As I enter,
she looks up and smiles. I sit on the bed and glance down and notice a Bible
opened to Isaiah 34; ‘Interesting choice,’ I think to myself. I ask her what she’s
reading. She grins and responds, “The Bible.” To which I respond, ‘Oh, what are
you learning about?’ For the first time, she is not smiling. She looks down
sheepishly. Her family member pipes up from the corner, ‘She can’t read. She’s
just looking at the pages.’
I’m caught totally off guard. It hadn’t even crossed my mind
that someone could treasure God’s word so much to just look at pages of text
you can’t read. Now I’m the one looking embarrassed. I mutter some
acknowledgement to the family and rush into the medical stuff where I feel
safe. Even still, I take my many blessings for granted.
3) Spatula
CHO: “Did you leave a spatula on the floor?”
Me: “Spatula?”
CHO: “Yeah, you know a vaginal spatula?”
Me: “What‽‽‽”
CHO: “Did you do an exam on a woman recently?”
Me: Trying to hold back on laughing in his face. “Oh, you mean a speculum...”
Heh… I may be calling that tool a vaginal spatula from now
on.
I had to look up Is 34. Kinda tough read at first. Perhaps the lady in isolation is the night creature in verse 14, and in v 17 He has cast his lot for her.
ReplyDeleteBut I think the first part fits, too. Hard not to feel existential anger on her behalf, and I’m only reading a description of her.