10/1/07 and 10/2/07
The only exciting thin that happened yesterday, other than the fact that I successfully sent you my two weeks worth of emails which makes me very happy is that as I was walking to the market to stock up on fruits and vegetables, I found the entire season two AND THREE of Prison Break – each compressed onto 1 dvd. The downside – they have been dubbed over in French. The upside – there are English subtitles and they cost me a total of six bucks. I'm very excited about it and so are Tig and Ashley.
I ended up not leaving Atakpame until around 3:00 because I didn't want to walk six kilometers at the hottest part of the day. So I stayed (and walked to the market at the hottest part of the day) watched a movie and then left in a taxi with Ashley. I walked back with a really heavy pack (I have started stocking up on non-perishables for standfast), but I made it. I stopped to say hello to Lili and then got back to my house just in time to unpack a little and shower before it was completely dark around 6:30 – 7:00.
I ate a couple of bananas and then soaked my thumb while reading a novel called "when the Elephants Dance." It is my other thumb that I am now soaking. My blistered thumb seems to be healing now – slowly, but nevertheless on its way to getting better. On my other thumb I got a deep paper cut from a blade of grass when I was making braided grass bracelets for the little children at the soccer field. It was doing fine until now. A little white circle has formed under the skin and it hurts like crazy especially every time I bump it which is often. Soaking it didn't help – it is now swollen and throbbing constantly. I am afraid I might have gotten a tiny piece of dirt or dust in it which is now causing it to swell to the extent that I can't bend it. It is amazing how the littlest things become an issue here and if I can't keep the tiniest cuts from getting infected with a whole med kit at my disposal, imagine the problems other people have. I will call the medunit and ask them for advice.
I made myself French toast for breakfast with bread and eggs I brought from Atakpame.
Maybe I am just a wimp, but my finger really really hurts. It hasn't stopped throbbing all day. I called the medunit and the PCMO was going to have me come down to Lome, but I am not too keen on going all the way to Lome because I cut my thumb on a blade of grass. I remembered that I have medicine from when I got my mole taken off – so I am going to start on some erythromycine tonight and hopefully that will help.
Today I didn't do much of anything. I wanted to do laundry, but with my thumb I can't. I did learn how to draw manioc leaves, ademan leaves and gboma leaves – three important nutrient filled green leafy vegetables. Lili's younger brother, I think his name is Kossi (it is one of the many K names), went off and found me an example of each so I could draw them. I did that in the morning – Lili had gone to Notse. I made myself a guacamole sandwhich for lunch and then taught Lili's younger brother and the two little girls how to play UNO. It was fun. When Lili cam back, she told me about her formation on how to treat sexually transmitted infections. I am going to read the booklet they gave her tonight.
As it was getting dark, a young girl – 10, 11, 12 ? – taught me how to cut up manioc to make fufu and the days of the week in Ewe. Let's see if I can remember: dzoda, blada, kuda, yawoda, fida, mleda, kosida. Yay. One tiny step forward. I think manioc is kind of like yucca because it has the string running through the middle which you have to cut out to make fufu.
This evening I guess I am just going to read the booklet on STIs (sexually transmitted infections) and soak my finger. You don't realize how much you use your thumbs until you have one that is "out of order." Try cutting an onion without using your left thumb . . .
10/3/07 and 10/4/07
A baby died in my village today. A baby belonging to one of the women I sat with and pushed corn off the cob with. No one knows of what. They just buried him . . . That is so sad. He seemed to be healthy. I wonder what he died of. It is important to know so as to prevent other deaths.
Yesterday I woke up and my thumb had swollen even more and the tip was filled with pus and blood. I called my PCMO and she said to come to Lome. I left around 9:30, took a moto and then a cab. It was a relatively uneventful trip (I have gotten lucky so far transportation wise) and the same driver offered to take me all the way to the medunit.
After looking at my finger, it was decided that it would have to be drained out, but the other PCMO, the one who is very good at that sort of thing, wasn't going to be back until around 4:00. So I got to go to the Bureau and use internet and I even took advantage of the opportunity to check out materials on moringa and child trafficking in Togo from the PCV resource library.
At 4:00, I went back and they cut all the skin on the tip of my thumb away and drained it. It didn't hurt too much because they had given me a Tylenol with codeine and spread a topical numbing cream on it. Now it just looks like a big, deep popped blister because they cut all the dead skin away.
I also took advantage of the time in Lome to check out hotels for my Dad when he comes to visit. In the evening I did more internet, ate a lovely chicken sandwich at the medunit, took a shower and went to bed.
It so happened that I didn't really have to worry about getting back in time for Emmanuelle's arrival – she was supposed to come to Avassikpe today, Thursday, because she was at the med unit too. I did have to cancel my Ewe lesson this morning though . . .
I just learned that the baby that was born at the dispensaire yesterday died and the baby that was being born as I arrived today died too . . . three dead babies. Lili's explanation for the death of the first newborn . . . tetanus. The second stillborn baby Kassim said died because the mother waited too long at the house and when she arrived, both she and the baby were tired. Kassim's explanation for the death of the infant of my neighbors is that the baby was severely anemic and needed a blood transfusion, but because of the rain and everything, they didn't get to Notse in time. I am a little depressed. I feel as though there have been three needless deaths in the past 24 hours.
This morning I took a bush taxi with another volunteer from my stage who is posted in the Kara region. We sat at the station for over an hour, but once we were finally on our way I got to Agbatitoe quickly. The trip was uneventful except for a laughing attack that came over the other girl (her name is also Danielle) and I as we tried to eat a whole cucumber (yes, a cucumber) and the slimy seeds kept blowing all over us.
When I got to Avassikpe (by moto) I thought Lili was in the middle of a delivery and so I went home, made lunch and banana bread (with my rotten bananas) and took a shower. I was heading to the dispensaire as a neighbor woman intercepted me and had me sit and push corn off the cob with her which I was happy to do. When I finally made my way to the dispensaire I found that Lili had gone to Notse. I talked a bit with her brothers about the babies' deaths and then she arrived and shortly after the safety and security officer arrived. I had almost forgotten that he was scheduled to visit. He informally interviewed me on my integration in my village, my sense of security etc. It went well as I truly love my village and have no complaints. As he was leaving, it started to pour. I love how the storms roll in – a wall of rain and you hear the rain before you feel it.
I got soaked because as I was trying to dump water into my cistern from buckets that I had placed under the leaks in my gutter system, I dumped it all down my skirt (the only semi clean cloths I had left).
I am trying to take the bandage off my thumb for the first time and it is stuck to the wound. Ouch. I just got the band-aid off after soaking and tearing a bit. What I see is making me a little sick to my stomach. There is a hold in my thumb. Seriously. And a really thick layer of sking (several layers) is dead and white all around it. I know I have to clean it out, but I'm a baby . . . I don't even want to look at it. It is disgusting. I wonder if I will ever be able to end my thumb again . . . it is really gross. I know it is just skin, but seriously, there is at least a millimeter deep of skin missing from my thumb. It is making me feel really nauseous. I am going to bed to read. Hopefully it will be all healed when I wake up. Yeah. Wishful thinking. I am so worried about getting infected again and meanwhile I have no clean clothes and can't do laundry.
10/5/07
My thumb looks a lot better this morning. The skin around the hole has turned pinkish again and so I am not so worried that my whole thumb will fall off. The problem with my antibacterial medicine (cepholexen), though, is that it makes you constipated. Great. Just what I need – to sit for longer periods of time in my latrine. At least the insecticide I bought works really well. Dad researched my mosquito problem and read online that tiny styrofoam balls help keep the mosquitoes away. As soon as I find some Styrofoam, I might try that . . .
My banana bread also turned out really well even though it is a different recipe that the one I am used to making. This one is made with cinnamon and oil. I prefer our other recipe, but of course I can't remember it exactly even though I only must have made it half a million times (could you send it to me please love?). This one has cinnamon and oil in it which gives it a different flavor and texture.
I talked with Tsevi early in the morning and asked him about the culturally appropriate way of going to pay condolences to a family who has lost a loved-one. I told him that in our culture we sometimes bring a gift of food to help with the family's corporal needs and allow them to concentrate more on their emotional needs. He said that they also give gifts of food. I asked if a banana bread would be appropriate and he said yes. He said he would accompany me to visit the family. As they live diagonally from me, I had noticed a lot of people going to and from their house that morning. I think many people were going to pay their respects and show their support of the family. Apparently the mother of the baby is Tsevi's sister, so I am beginning to connect family relations. We went and Tsevi spoke for me, thankfully, and I gave them my cake. They seemed very sad, especially the mother, which actually was refreshing after everyone else's somewhat nonchalant attitude in response to the baby's death. They also really seemed to appreciate my coming. We also went to see the grandfather and he too seemed very appreciative of the gesture.
Yesterday Lili prompted my early departure for Notse by telling me that people were getting their heads cut off in Notse. We had heard rumors that people had gotten their heads cut off in Vogon (supposedly to use them for Voudou ceremonies in Benin) and Lili told me that the activity had now spread to our prefecture. Therefore, she advised me not to go anywhere alone and said that I should only bike to Notse on market days. Friday is market day in Agbatitoe and Saturday market day in Notse, so I thought I would bike in on Friday, try to pay a visit to the DPS (Prefectural Director of Health) and catch the Safety and Security Officer a second time to ask him about the head chopping
I biked to Notse as it was nearing noon and arrived hot and sweaty around 11:30. Tig arrived later in the day around 2:00 and the Safety and Security Officer arrived around 3:00. I tried to go see the DPS, but he wasn't there. Our Safety and Security Officer hadn't heard about the head chopping and he called a contact who also said that the rumors were, as far as he knew, uncorroborated.
In the afternoon I bought a whole frozen chicken, chopped it up (with clinical gloves on to protect my thumb) as Ashley cringed in the other room and then boiled and fried the pieces before we decided that we would make burritos with chicken, a cheesy salsa dip Heather had received in a package from the U.S., guacamole, rice and home-made tortillas. It was fabulously good, but I ate way too much and am still suffering from painful fullness this morning (the fact that my antibiotics have a tendency to induce constipation doesn't help).
We also had a huge disappointment last night – neither my computer, nor Ashley's computer will read the Prison Break CDs. I know they work because I tried them in the dvd player at the Atakpame maison, but they don't work in the computers. It was a sad time.
10/6/07
I didn't sleep very well. I always feel as though lots of things are biting me when I sleep at Ashley's house without my mosquito net.
I couldn't find eggs anywhere along the street so I had to leave my pancakes half made and go to the market. I want to buy some of my bigger heavier purchases before Dad comes so that I can take advantage of his rental car and transport them to my village. I want a mortar and pestle and a stone slab for crushing spices and a big bag of charcoal, but all I found besides food items was one of the plastic rugs for my bedroom. Tig stayed in the market with me to try to find a mortar and pestle (in a country where every family has one you wouldn't think it would be so difficult to find), despite and impending rainstorm that we got caught in and then had to wade through. Lets just say wading through water here is not pleasant, but the roads were seriously flooded and in some places there was no way around.
When we got back to Ashley's house we made pancakes ate lunch and sat and talked. I am going to take my bike and go buy some pineapples, oranges and perhaps plantains to help me through StandFast. I have already bought mandarin oranges, bananas, a coconut, two avocados, and a dozen eggs. I think I will survive. Later we will go check out this new internet place that Ashley and Heather found and see if it is great as they say. I hope, I hope . . .
Very Happy Birthday Wishes to:
Leigh Ann on the 13th
Dad and Grandpapa on the 16th
Laura on the 27th
Tante Suzanne on the 28th
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