There Will be Bugs

This is the morning routine. I wake up and crawl out of the mosquito netting cocoon, check my shoes to make sure there are no giant cockroaches sleeping in them (there once was), make some breakfast and then boil water to wash the dishes. Pour out any standing water, because this is malaria mosquito habitat. Then close all the screen-less windows to keep all the critters out and clip all the curtains shut with paper clips. At night while cooking dinner, the sun goes down and the mosquitoes start humming, so I put on my mosquito netting “spacesuit” until bedtime. We open the windows and curtains again after sunset. I spray the curtains with bug spray, take a refreshing shower and jump back into the cocoon for some reading before turning out the lights. And hope to fall asleep before the humming on the other side of the net begins again…


Bugs and heat and funky kitchens notwithstanding, all is well and I continue to feel useful and busy and up to the challenge. I taught my first 2 nursing classes this week. My students are a group of 10 who are finishing up their first year of a 2.5 year diploma nursing program. My lectures were on Maternal and Neonatal Mortality, and Diarrhea and Dehydration. I was also able to tag along with the Swedish pediatrician and midwife for pediatric rounds a couple of mornings, which was really enlightening. I go between shock and incredible respect for the nursing and medical staff that care for these very sick tiny people. I saw children with pneumonia, TB meningitis, rheumatic fever, compartment syndrome from a snake bite and jaundiced premies. The fine line between life and death is a constant reminder of the ephemeral nature of our existence. So by comparison, bugs are a small price to pay for the privilege of living.







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