Move to the nutrition center

June 27, 2012

A couple days ago we moved to out of the Roberts house and to the nutrition center.  To be honest it has taken some getting use to.  We have no running water out there, and get our water from a well, and there is also no electricity.  It kinda feels like we are camping.  Our house has no furniture ( no beds, table, or shelves for clothes or food)  We have mattress that we sleep on that are on the floor.  We have constructed to rows of shelves out of plywood and bricks.  We are able to use that as our make shift kitchen.  The shelves hold most of our cooking utensils and stove.  To cook we have a three burner camp stove.

I was told when coming out here what our accommodations would be like…. But I won’t lie it was kind of a shock.  We have been staying with the Roberts while the nutrition center/ our house was finished and we got use to  having running water, toilets, electricity and a kitchen.  So to be without the things we are so used to, takes some getting used to.  The plan is to get some furniture like beds, table, chairs and hopefully shelves.  But I am not sure when.  I have learned that things take a long time to get done here.  Nothing is simple.  There is no quick trip to Walmart, or the hardware store.  Our little village market has the bare essentials and not much else.  Most things you have to get in the capital which is a 6 hr plus drive away.

Washing our dishes today made me miss a dishwasher and my mother’s beautiful kitchen.  Here I was squatting in the wet sand/mud (it had rained really hard this afternoon) washing dishes with well water that basically looked like water that came from a ditch.  Our security guard who works at night draws up water from our well and fills a big container every night for us.  Then we are able to have water to filter to drink, water for taking bucket showers, washing clothes and water to clean our dishes.  As I was squatting in the mud trying to scrub crusty rice out of the pressure cooker I started to question how clean our dishes were getting. Was I really getting the dishes clean when the water I was using to wash was cloudy, with floating particles that were undeterminable?  I mean sure the dishes didn’t have any more food on them but what organisms were hiding in the murky water I was using to clean the dishes?  I decided it was best to ignore the murky water with the questionable floating particles and focus more on getting food off the dishes.  I have been told that once the dishes are dry that it kills any organisms left from the water.  I can only hope that is true….

For our shower we have a raised cement square slab with a drain in the middle.  The shower is outside the house. For the four walls surrounding our shower we have what is called secos.  They are a woven grass like fence that is about 6 ft high.  The grass is woven tightly together and sturdy sticks are used to hold it in place.  We fill buckets from our water bin that comes from our well and carry it to our shower.  I felt slightly exposed the first time I used it.  Even though I knew that the secos were good protection from prying eyes, I just wasn’t used to the fact that I was showering outside in the wilds of Africa, using a bucket to scoop water up to pour on my head with water that looked like it came from a pond.  And like the dishes I wondered how clean I was really getting.  But I think the shower will eventually grow on me.  Not many people get to look at the stars as they shower, or take a shower out in the rain.

Our bathroom is a short walk outside our house.  It is a brick outhouse, which currently has no door.  There is no toilet, just a cement floor with a hole in the ground.  I am not sure who designed the hole that is our toilet but I am sure it was a man because he wasn’t thinking of women when he designed the hole.  The hole is shaped kinda like a saddle; bigger in the back with a long skinny front.  It’s great for guys to use because they can aim, but it is a little harder for us girls.  They say practice makes perfect so I guess I will be a pro in no time at all!! ;]   So at the moment until they put a door on our bathroom I can enjoy the view of the African wilderness and giant termite hill 40 ft in front of me. 

Sleeping under a mosquito net has taken some getting used to.  I try and spread it out so that it won’t touch me in the night, but no matter how many things I use to way it down it seems to come loose and attack me in the night.  I have a love hate relationship with my mosquito net.  And if it would only stay where I put it we would get a long great! It’s frustrating when you get in to bed at night and the opening to the net won’t stay shut.  It can’t protect me from the mosquitoes if there are open spaces where the bugs/mosquitoes can get in. Then there is the problem with the beds getting dirty.  Sleeping on a mattress on the ground means you are constantly in contact with sand, dirt and bugs.  A bed is something that is meant to stay clean and dirt free.  But it’s so easy here in Africa to track sand inside because it sticks to your feet, which then can transfer to your bed. It’s even worse if your feet are wet!!  I feel like I am constantly brushing sand and dead bugs off of my bed.  I think I need to start having a bucket of water by my bed so I can wash my feet before I get in.

At the moment we are still working on completing the other buildings that make up the nutrition center.  We got our first pts today, three malnourished babies all under the age of two.  Thankfully they are still able to eat so we didn’t have to put feedings tubes down them.  But if there isn’t any improvement in the next few days we might have to use feeding tubes.  I still have a couple night left in my night shift rotation but we soon have to work out some sort of schedule between Athens, Bronwyn and I to be able to feed these babies around the clock.  We will be taking turns waking the mothers up every two hours to make sure their babies get fed during the night.  Athens and I will rotate days between the hospital and nutrition center starting this next month.

Since moving out to the nutrition center I have been praying for strength and patience.  Every day it gets a little easier living out there and adjusting to our living situation.  Once the shock wears off I think it will be easier.  Getting some furniture will also help.  At the moment we are still living out of our bags.  The big thing I have learned about myself is how much I took running water for granted.  Washing dishes, clothes, taking a shower, and purifying your water takes time and is a lot of work.  I miss being able to simply lift a handle and out streams clean water!!  There are very few people here that have running water, and I get a glimpse of how they live their life every day.