The Ant Bite

By Dr. Stephanie Ball, Lalmba Kenya Medical Director 2017-2018

(www.oneyearinkenya.blog)

Ouch. An ant bite. That is what it takes to get me indoors to the keyboard to write about this week. The ant probably climbed into my pants to get out of the sun. Some would say she was smarter than me. After all, I was outside in the hot sun, in equatorial Africa, in the middle of the afternoon, doing rather than thinking.

So, what am I avoiding? The reality of Africa that I witnessed this week, I think.

The man leading the Public Heath Team asked me to accompany him on 2 home visits, to the families with a malnourished infant or young child. The idea is to visit where people live, and ask about such topics as breastfeeding, cleanliness, illness, sources of water and income, and how these affect the family.  Both families welcomed us in to their homes and made sure we all had a place to sit, even if they had to borrow chairs.  We asked questions like “Do you teach the children to wash face and hands before eating? Do you use soap? Do you boil or treat your water? Is there a latrine? Where does money come from? How many meals did the child eat yesterday? Did you feed the child breast milk or cow’s milk and/or other food?”  The houses are built with local resources: Sticks or poles in a network to make a cylinder, filled and covered with clay, and roofed with grass thatch. The first family has both a mother and father, with their 6 children. Their only source of support is farming their plot of land. The father looks very thin and ill, and he says he has tuberculosis. The mother looks healthy, and she tells us she is HIV positive, but her youngest, 6 months old, has been born negative and stayed negative while she has been breastfeeding.  We all sit on the wooden couch and chairs. The floor is dirt, packed and smooth. We can see a pair of men’s shoes, some clothing, and a tin watering can tucked up where the ceiling meets the wall. Two young boys are hiding among the maize stalks when we arrive, and they stay there during our visit. A small girl, maybe three years old, plays quietly in the shade right outside the house. They obtain water from a nearby river, and “take it like it comes.”

The next house is smaller and even poorer. It has one room, with a sheet (or what looks like a very old dust-ruffle) hung across a string as a room-divider. We are allowed to peek at the bedroom, where there is a single full-size mattress on the floor for the parents and four children. The one chair, a folding wooden one with a broken back, is given to me, and is clearly meant as the best seat in the house. The other health worker sits on a square plastic container that looks like a gas can, and the mom disappears for a minute and comes back with two plastic chairs from a neighbor. We meet just with the mother, and the malnourished child stands by her side. The baby is almost two years old, and is quite thin and quiet.  The father is away working, which he does whenever he can get a contract. She is preparing some maize from their fields, which she tends while the dad is away. Sometimes, when he comes home, they are able to go shopping to buy soap and other things they cannot grow. Both parents are HIV+ and under care. I am sitting right next to the place for the cooking fire. There is a support for a pot above the small wood fire, well protected from the wind. When asked the question about water preparation, the mother explains that she filters the pond water with a tea strainer to remove impurities.

Neither family has an outhouse or latrine, soap, or clean water. I see one small solar lantern at the first house, but no other electric device of any kind. They do not have phones or any mode of transportation other than by foot. They do have iron age tools like a heavy hoe, and a machete. We brought them only questions. Vaccinations and vitamins are given at Lalmba’s facility in Ochuna, as are once weekly cooking and nutrition lessons with a meal for each mother and child, shared around the demonstration kitchen. Sometimes, a week’s supply of supplemental food can be sent home for each child.

I am face-to-face with my inability to transform these families’ situations, and the many others all around me. My Lalmba teachers tell me that being here with people, spending my time and compassion, is my job right now. Pema Chondren advises that we must begin where we are, and that we cannot have compassion for others until we can discover that compassion for ourselves. So, I am praying for the strength to do this hard work, which at times feels like doing nothing. At other times it is an enormous burden and I run away into outdoor work and ant bites! Another wise man, Jimmy K, wrote, “Understanding comes slowly, over a period of time…” Patience and compassion—may you have all you need of both this week.

TEMBEA NA MIMI 2019

(Walk With Me)

Perhaps you’re looking for a different experience of Africa?  Consider joining my team as we walk across the great Rift Valley all the way to Lalmba’s project on Lake Victoria, Kenya.  This is no ordinary adventure; you’ll walk with me to experience the people’s plight and to help us tell the story.  You’ll walk with me to help raise money and awareness for our work. I’m looking for 10 strong walkers who want to help, traversing 160 miles, one step at a time.  Contact Jeff at lalmba@lalmba.org or 303-485-1810, if you’re interested. Or, just fill out the online application and Jeff will contact you.

Lalmba supporter and former peace corps volunteer in Ethiopia, Gloria Curtis, has fashioned 25 more exquisite Ethiopian cross necklaces for us to offer to you.  The Ethiopian cross is a unique and ancient design very different from the Latin cross, and worn by the rich and poor alike throughout Ethiopia.

Gloria learned how to make Ethiopian jewelry while living there in the 1960’s, and has graced Lalmba with her artwork.

Each necklace is unique with varied color schemes and matching earrings.

Be one of the first 25 to donate $100 or more to Lalmba, tell us you want a necklace, and we’ll send you one of Gloria’s masterpieces.  (The first 13 online donors and 12 earliest mail-in postmarks)

Donate online www.lalmba.org/donate/  or via check in the mail.

Be sure to note ’necklace’ on your donation.

Thank you again, Gloria, for these beautiful gifts to support Lalmba’s work in your beloved Ethiopia!