Dr. Caroline... Medicine woman

Not really! Ha. This morning Rebekah and I read a book and made a craft with some of the 2nd graders. Their classroom had no lights, only the hole in the corrugated steel that forms the door. The structure was completed entirely of branches (as posts and beams) and corrugated steel on the walls and ceiling. Carroll is going to buy some clear corrugated plastic to make skylights so they can see in there. The kids loved the craft and cheered and screamed when we pulled out a camera to take their picture at the end.

The second half of the day was spent in the clinic, where Dr. Caroline learned to identify scabies and saw some really horrible cases. One girl came in with a fever of 104. Her untreated malaria had turned into Blackwater fever, and we are all praying that she comes through. Her parents won't take her to the hospital because that would mean they would have to take off from work. What a dreadful decision to make as a parent! We saw more than 200 kids, and will be seeing many more tomorrow.

Tonight we had dinner at an Indian restaurant which was delicious!! All the same recognizable food from home... sort of! I finally washed my hair today---a must after treating all those sick children. We are going through the hand sanitizer fast!

FYI, it takes us several days to see the posts that you all are adding. We can't understand why. Sometimes we can see what is posted immediately, and then the next time we look, our site has reverted to the previous day's. That seems much in line with all the other strange things of this land. This place sometimes feels like I am on another planet. I have never ever ever seen anything like this, not even a photo. If something doesn't make sense, that means it fits right in with the rest of our experiences. It will be a pleasure to join the teachers for a dinner tomorrow at a restaurant in their honor. Hopefully we can really get to know some of them. They are truly dedicated professionals who put their heart in to their work for these children. They have so little!

I'll write again when I can, but the computer is often tied up and when it's free it's past my bedtime. Hope you are doing well!