Final Statements

Friends,
American life has become normal to me again since I have been back for over three weeks now. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t constantly think of my times in Burkina. Grocery shopping- there are so many choices! Driving- very uninteresting without having to weave around road hazards and stray dogs. Conversation- straightforward and effortless now that it is my own language! My feet no longer are red at the end of the day (from the dirt) and I don’t have to worry about where I am getting my drinking water from. If I eat a meal outside there aren’t flies swarming and I can count on my internet connection to last long enough to send more than one e-mail. These are all differences that I never thought of when I went to Burkina, and differences that I got used to. But these differences made me realize that living life in another culture is sometimes difficult merely because it is not familiar.

I am so amazed looking back at how perfectly my trip to Burkina was molded. From the time I e-mailed Dr. Kohol about the possibility of working with him this summer to the time I stepped back into the Indianapolis Airport I was confident that this was where God wanted me to be. I had some doubts, frustrations, and times I felt useless along the way, but all of these quickly dissolved from various encouragements from other people and from God. It was so rewarding to have patients ask me if I would be coming back to work the next morning; they wanted me to help them even though I couldn’t communicate with them very well!

The language barrier was probably one of the hardest things about my trip to Burkina. Imagine being in a situation where you see something that you just want to say something about, or really want to tell someone an important piece of information, and yet you cannot. I experienced that multiple times a day. One of my favorite things was taking walks around the area becoming familiar with the green-suited guards in front of some businesses and saying hello to the neighbors with their goats grazing a few yards away. I loved each time I got to give malaria treatment to a patient- apologizing for sticking them with a needle and assuring them that the stay shouldn’t be too long. They were always so much happier the next day, it was truly amazing.

I miss my African family and the kisses and hugs from my sisters there. I miss the simplicity of life and the hum of motorbikes driving by. I miss fresh juicy mangoes and fried plantanes. So do I want to go back? I am willing. There are lots of reasons I would say yes, but now more reasons I would say no after knowing what it is really like. If Jesus has the path of my life paved towards Burkina, I’ll follow it in a second. But its not as easy as I originally thought.

Thanks again for encouraging me and praying for me. If you think of Burkina, please pray and remember the Kohols and the clinic as there are always daily struggles.

A Few Pictures

To the Left: Nema and Felix in front of the hospital and underneath is rush hour in Burkina

This is Felix helping me with the local anesthesia before giving stitches
To the left is an African trash truck and below is me with my African sisters

back home

I’m writing this in the midst of my travels back to America. It takes me over 30 hours to get home with all the layovers, but this extra time gives me room to take in the changes and get used to seeing so many white people! The first thing I did in America after calling home was buy and apple and a smoothie. I really missed those things. Leaving Burkina was difficult for me, especially saying goodbye to the girls and Felix and Nema. I may never get to come back to a six year old girl yelling my name upon arrival and demanding I give her a kiss while she clings to my leg making it impossible to walk.

Friday, my last day at the clinic was a rainy day, which I thought appropriate for the feelings of grey I was experiencing. The day did not go without laughter, however, as many of the workers hung around outside singing French songs and teaching some dance moves.
The week at the clinic was relatively busy, and the Navigator team came by a couple days to tour the facilities and help out. It was wonderful to get to stand and pray with some of the girls by the 3 bricks stacked on top of each other marking where Felix hopes the maternity will be built in the near future. There is plenty of extra land, and he is just waiting for God to bring the funds.

I took care of a woman with a severe pelvic infection (something not uncommon here) for several days. Here the patients have to pay for everything before they receive the treatment, so it was surprising to see how much medicine was going to go into her for the three days of hospital treatment (4 different antibiotics around the clock for the different kinds of infection it could be). A boy fell in a fire and had to have his wounds dressed several times during the week. I was impressed with his strength (he was probably 3 or 4) to stand there as his raw skin was cleansed all over his back, legs, and buttocks.

The past six weeks have certainly been an adventure for me, and I thank you for going on it with me. It feels strange to be able to communicate with people so easily and know that I really am getting my point across to them correctly. I have learned so many things, I’m still sorting it all out, so once I have some succinct way of explaining it, I’ll let you know! God has been so good to me in every way during the past weeks, he has really been my provider.

Hopefully now that I have better internet connection I’ll get to post some pictures for you to see! Thank you so much!!