Little Piece of the Puzzle

I've arrived! After a hectic journey, I've finally made it to Noepe, Togo. Let's start at the beginning of the story because its worth sharing. We left Worcester last Thursday to head to the Cape Town Airport to begin our journey. To save money we booked the flight with the most amount of layovers lol. First we stopped in Johannesburg where we sat on the plane for an hour waiting on the tarmack for other people to board. Then we headed for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where it was smooth sailing. I enjoyed a couple movies on the flight, slept and relaxed. Then that came to a crashing halt as we arrived in Nigeria... Apparently we booked a flight with an airline they said did not exist haha. After fighting for two hours with the airport staff and the plane being held up for us, they gave us tickets with a different airline and we boarded and took off. Because of our delays in Nigeria our luggage did not make the flight leaving me to spend my first night sleeping in my underwear with a bath towel as a blanket. Thank goodness its warm! Atlast we got a call late Saturday that our bags had arrived! Woohoo! When we got to the airport the two baggage guys were drunk and said they didnt know where our luggage was. We had to physically go to the back area (where no man ever gets to go haha) to pick up our pieces that had been sitting there all along. Oh the joys of travel! All of this to say that life is a journey. There are going to be bumps along the way but its what makes you stronger. It also makes for a good story. Nobody ever wants to hear you say, ya everything went perfectly... They want to hear the crazy stuff, because that's what epic stories are made of. If you can, enjoy the journey, don't rush to the next thing when life is easier. Embrace the difficulties, learn from them and try to have some fun in the meantime. In a nutshell that is the beginning of this adventure, one I cannot wait to see unfold. 

We have been in Noepe now for a few days and were given a run through of what to expect from our time here and I'm so excited to get to work. I will be working in the clinic 5 days a week and on the side doing teachings on health, sanitation and wound care to the locals. We might also have the opportunity to work alongside a school teaching children. The clinic has been closed since arriving as the amazing woman (they call Mama Amy) has been away. It will be reopened on Monday where we'll get incredible experience dealing with malaria, TB, typhoid and any other tropical disease you can imagine. We will also be giving vaccinations, doing wound care, and assisting with the possibility of performing child deliveries. They deliver about 5 babies a week! People come from all of the surrounding villages to come to the clinic as this is the only one available to them. 

Because we're not able to work in the clinic quite yet they didnt want us just sitting around, so they put us to work. I've had the privilege of working and learning a lot in the kitchen alongside this amazingly strong woman named Abigail. She came here from Ghana to work and go to school. She has graduated, gotten married and now runs the kitchen on base. Im inspired by her strength and her passion for cooking.

                  The lovely Abigail

     Me working hard cutting vegetables

I also participated in some physical labour jobs since ive been here, and let me tell you... These people work hard! We picked up trash from around the base and then had to sort garbage! We needed to sort the garbage into recycling and compost and then take them to the appropriate areas... After dumping the mucky slawp and what remained of the vegetables you have to hand wash the bins. Not my favourite job haha. But you certainly feel like you've earned your dinner that night.

             Trip to the Noepe market

Since arriving I've heard a lot about the area and the surrounding villages and I'm looking forward to learning more. One of my favourite discoveries was hearing about the water pump. This area was is need of a clean water source, so a group of missionaries raised the funds and built a safe water pump where everyone from surrounding villages could access it. To my amazement the story gets better... The local people came to the missionaries and asked if there was any way they could contribute. So a deal was made. A man has been designated the controller of the water and they keep it locked during certain hours so that the pump does not get abused. Also people pay (a very small fee) each time to retrieve water because they value it so much they wanted to be able to pay for it themselves if it ever broke. They did not want to rely on other people to take care of it, they wanted to take ownership and take care of their people. So this man who recieves no money for his time, collects the money and locks and unlocks this pump every day to make sure these villages always have access to a clean water source. My mind was blown when I heard this story. 

       This is the beautiful water pump

Well my friends, I hope you have enjoyed following me on this journey yet again. I'll do my best to update you but our internet access is unreliable. I love you all and miss you tremendously. Until next time :)

Meghan

Heal with LOVE

The lovely IPHC ladies on our last night before outreach

This past week we've had classes morning and night with meetings in the afternoons and I am beat! It's crunch time! This is it! This is the moment I've been working so hard for... I can almost see the finish line! We had our last exam Monday night and I'm so glad that's over with! Now it's real!! We head to Togo on Thursday at 8pm... It's been a tough go getting to this point but I'm finally here, and it feels soooo good! (Victory dance to come later... And you should all know by now, I've got some awesome dance moves haha)

                           An amazing day at Hout Bay with wonderful people

I'd say the most difficult thing about this past week besides the intense amount of class work, packing and preparing for Togo is saying goodbye to such amazing people! I've really grown to love this place and the people here have made this experience one of a life time! Over the past three months I've been so blessed by the incredible adventures, the opportunity to learn and laugh harder then I have in a while. 

I've always known this about myself but it's becoming more and more obvious in my life all of the time. I thrive off of my relationships. I need people in my life or I'll go crazy. Meeting people who are like me, who also just want to make an impact on this world really inspire me. I've been encouraged and grown so much by these friendships that my mind is blown. I'm truly thankful for the impact they've all had on my life. 

                            Packing up supplies for Togo

Over the past three months I've gained a lot of knowledge about health care in developing nations and am so excited to put it to use. I actually got a little practise yesterday when a soccer game went wrong and one of the guys got his face stepped on with a cleat. Hurray for butterfly stitches! One of the most valuable lesson I've learned since being here is about the idea of healing with love. That we look at the whole person, and our motives are to actually help people. I know the power of love , but to apply it to health care is a new concept. If you listen compassionately, and give people the time and care they need there is a lot that you can do for them, even if you can't heal them with medicine. I hope that I can be an example of love in the field and touch lives everywhere I go.  

The last few weeks we've learned about prenatal care, stress management, first aid, and now we're learning about venomous snakes and spider bites! It's pretty fascinating and scary at the same time. I now feel fairly prepared for anything we could see in the bush bush. 

A few things I've learned about our time in Togo is pretty exciting. We will be working at the clinic in Noepe every day, and teaching a lot of practical skills in the village. Fingers are crossed to deliver a baby, because that would be an incredible experience. We will not have running water and will be showering from a bucket. We'll be living a very simple life without the pleasures of our western world. Our laundry will be hand wash only and the temperatures are around 40c every day. Im actually really looking forward to a time of being unplugged and just purely focused on the medicine. I hope to connect to wifi but I really don't know what to expect. I will do my best to keep in touch via my blog and Facebook/Instagram with some amazing stories and photographs. 

               The Cape of Good Hope... Where the Atlantic and Indian Ocean meet

I realized that over the course of my time here I've talked very little about my adventures, so I wanted to elaborate about some new and incredible experiences I've had. Since arriving I've had the pleasure of traveling from Worcester into Cape Town and really seeing the beauty of this place. I've had the chance to kick some butt and get some huge bruises paint balling for my first time. 

The wild life is incredible here! I can't believe that when you just go out for a hike or a picnic you get interrupted by an ostrich... Some of my favourite places I've experienced here are Hout Bay, the old biscuit mill, Cape Town board walk, waterfall hiking at Limietberg, and for the first time ever ... shark cage diving in Dansbaai, and the list goes on! The adventures and experiences are limitless here! 

Well my friends it's time for me to pack and get on a plane. I will do my very best to stay in touch! Thank you for all of your love and support on this journey! And I cannot wait to talk, with you again :)

Meghan