One Word

If I had to pick one word to describe this first week here it would be overwhelming.

There is an overwhelming amount of learning in hospital. Last week started with a suicide and I become an ICU nurse. Monday I was responsible for two wards with 3 doctors discussing patients and several other visiting medical/ nursing professionals. Thankfully, one of the other missionary nurses joined us (tho not her regular wards) and between her and the doctors I think some learning occurred :). I've learned anesthesia monitoring under ketamine and under a spinal, how to read an ECG (yes, I have not learned how to recognize even a normal ECG lol) and how to do PV's (that was just looking, don't think I'll have to be doing those on my own for a while... I think). Its hard to know if I am missing anything with the nurse I am shadowing busy and away from hospital a lot of the time, but the doctors here are pretty fabulous (which I realize is a HUGE concession on my part lol) And then the innumerable amount of dressing changes (yes my favourite part). But it is so frustrating not to be able to talk to my patients aside from twayenu mawni, shakamenu mwani, namanish deyi mwani, tunasakilili mwani... come please, sit please, I've finished, thank you... Today tho, I did go up to the hospital and make a list of all the patients with significant dressings and hopefully I can come up with some sort of system for recording patients and monitoring progress and then have some semblance of order with the dressing changes!

Living takes an overwhelming new meaning... where do you get groceries when the closest stores are hours away? How do you learn to use a gas stove? What do you cook with no oven? How can you tell when someone really needs help and when they are just trying to see what they can get? How do you cope with a new culture that bears no resemblance to your own in any way, when 3 minutes walk outside your door people are living in mud and brick one room houses and cooking over a fire? How do you complain about not having enough when every night your belly is full, even tho the food boxes that where sent last year haven't arrived? How difficult is it to learn that sometimes you need to ask for help, sometimes self sufficiency is pride and sometimes asking for help is a God lesson. How do you make sense of a suicide that is a cultural thing- you have spited me so I will do this to hurt you. What about when that person comes to hospital hoping for help after drinking insecticide- do you think maybe she realized what she had done and hoped it could be reversible? Is she in heaven now? Did she know Christ as her saviour? Did she know God loved her? What about learning a new language just to be able to communicate with your closest neighbour? And not just words and random phrases, but tenses and sentence structure and grammar. And what about your white neighbours. the other missionaries- learning their personalities and pet peeves and how I will fit into this new work/ home setting. So many many questions and very few answers right now.


The people are overwhelmingly beautiful and their culture and language. Sweet and shy with big chocolate eyes. The anyana, the children are so endearing with their big grins or timid smiles and fuzzy  woollen heads, holding out their hands or snuggling in. The ankaka- the grandparents especially are so sweet with their Lunda customs and their wrinkled leathery skin and greying hair.

The place is overwhelmingly beautiful... there are no words... Oh Lord my God when I in awesome wonder/ consider all the worlds Thy hands have made,/ I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,/ Thy power throughout the universe displayed,/ then sings my soul my Saviour God to Thee,/ How great Thou art!



But most of all, I have been, I am overwhelmingly blessed! For every unspoken thought, every fear, every worry, God has provided and is providing. I am blessed to have hot showers and clean water and a kitchen full of food and two sweet little girls down the road to come for sleep overs! The language is intense, but I can communicate some and there are translators and people to learn from. No grocery stores nearby, but God has provided first boxes from Waub GH and then the generosity of friends, great generosity! Missing the friends and family and way of life back home, but God has provided Himself, the eternal God, the everlasting arms, the everlasting Father. So much uncertainty, searching for things, so many new things to learn and new expectations to meet, but oh it is so wonderful to fall back into 'old habits'. Not the bad kind that cause problems, I have lots of those :S but the good kind- can't get the door opened?  Pray! Looking for something specific? Pray! Needing help? Pray! Sometimes, I can hardly lift my eyes and the words aren't even in my mouth and the answer is there- before they call I will answer.

This week has been an overwhelming, steep learning curve, but I have been overwhelmingly blessed through it. I have felt the everlasting arms and known the 'more grace' of God. And, I think I'm ready for the start of week two... by His grace!

Mr. Shawni Chiya preaching under his tree in Chiya

the anyana of Chiya

 The amama of Chiya

 

The Zambezi River at Sunset

one of the guest houses on the Station

The Zambezi in daylight