Blood, Sweat and Tears

What an eventful African week this has been for me. I went to Freda’s garden to help her dig on Wednesday. It was very hard work, they take hoes out to their farmland where they grow corn, sweet potatoes, kasava, beans, and sugar cane, and more. As Freda, her daughter Trinity, and I walked with our tools to the garden, there were many people who had to laugh at me because I was the first white person they’d seen heading out to the garden to dig. Almost everyone we passed had to laugh and make a comment about it. So then basically once at the garden, we just used the hoes to dig up grass and weeds that had grown around the produce. Freda was so sweet because I was having the hardest time distinguishing the weeds from the produce and I’m sure I dug up a lot of her good plants thinking they were weeds. We did not dig for the full 4-5 hours they normally dig because Freda’s daughter had malaria and she needed to get her medication. It was good for me because after an hour and a half my back was really feeling it….these African women are so strong.
After digging, I found out one of our friends, Morgan, had gone into labor. So, I rushed over to the hospital to meet one of my roommates, Renee because she was already there. Within two hours I had seen a full birth from start to finish. Unfortunately, it was a pretty gruesome birth because there was a lot of cutting, blood, crying and horrible smells and even more things I will spare from this blog. No pain medication, no epidurals or anything like that here, so poor Morgan was and is in a lot of pain. I apparently cannot handle blood and birthing very well because I was blacking out and having to sit down the entire time. I would’ve hit the floor hard if Renee hadn’t been there to help me as I started getting dizzy. I had really been hoping that I’d be able to see a baby born here, so I’m thankful for that, but I definitely think it will be the first and last one for my lifetime.
So, the rest of the week has been trying to fit in as many visits to the Suubi women as possible. I’m hoping to see all of them before I leave, but that may not be very realistic. Renee and I have been trying to see about 5 or 6 ladies a day, it’s been really fun so far, I’m so in love with all of them, they each have such great personalities and all so different from the next.
Finally, yesterday we went to the hospital to hand out some food to the pregnancy ward and the accident ward, it’s always a little hard for me to do this mainly because I’m always wishing I could do more than just give them a snack. That’s been a big struggle here all around actually, just wishing you could help everyone and help everyone more than you are capable. I’m thankful for the experiences God has given me here, I’m learning everyday and seeing new things all the time. I can’t wait for tomorrow!!!