#23 Women Rock & #24 Memorial day

Today Maggie and I took a road trip to Seneca Falls to the National Women’s Hall of Fame and the Women’s Rights National Historical Park.
Our first stop was the National Women’s Hall of Fame (http://www.greatwomen.org/home.php), “Showcasing great women….Inspiring all!” The Hall of Fame was created in 1969 and pays tribute to some of the greatest women in the history of the United States. Inside the Hall, there are posters on each woman with a small biography listing her contribution to society. Some led the way in women’s rights, government, the humanities, the arts, athletics, business, education, philanthropy, religion, science and medicine. It is a lot of reading, but all very interesting. The admission to the Hall of Fame is $3 per person, but we had a coupon, so it cost us a whopping $1.50 for each of us to enter!

Our next stop was the Visitor’s Center for the Women’s Rights National Historical Park (http://www.nps.gov/wori/). There is no longer a charge to go to the sites of this Park. The Visitor Center is a beautiful building showcasing an exhibit on the history of Women’s Rights and a life-size sculpture of some of the individuals who attended the first Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls on July 19 and 20, 1848. The Convention took place at the Wesleyan Chapel, which is next to the Visitor’s Center, and is currently under renovation. There are a few other places that you have drive to that are part of the park and we decided to visit them after lunch.

After lunch we went to Elizabeth Cady Stanton House. Elizabeth Cady Stanton is believed to be the one who was the driving force of the Convention and she was an important leader in the women's rights movement. The final location was the M'Clitock House which is important because it is where the Declaration of Sentiments was drafted. The Declaration of Sentiments is the document that was presented at the Convention. It is based upon the Declaration of Independence and proclaimed that “all men and women are created equal”.
I feel as a woman that it is important for me to go and see things like this. Learn about the women who paved the way for me and to CELEBRATE them. It was not that long ago that I was in High school and I was told by a guidance counselor that I “did not need to take a full course load because I was a girl”….yes, truly! And as I travel to other countries where women are treated “less than” I remember how far we have come thanks to these women and I’m so very grateful. I do however, realize that in some arenas here in the US and globally there is much yet to go.

While we were in Waterloo at the M’Clitock house, we discovered that Waterloo was the birthplace of Memorial Day, and they have a Memorial Day museum (http://www.waterloony.com/MdayMus.html). WELL, since it IS Memorial Day Weekend, we HAD to go. So, an impromptu addition to my list ………..making it #24! They ask for a $3 donation to enter. Memorial Day was created out of the Civil War. In 1865, Henry C. Wells, a local Druggist, proposed that a commemoration be held to honor the sacrifice of those who died in the war, and on May 5, 1866 the first Memorial Day was held.

Our day was rich in history. We are so blessed in NY to have all of this right in our own backyard….how many don’t ever take advantage of it? How many don’t even know that history pivotal to this country that happened right here in NY or who these important women and individual were or what they did?.......it’s all there for us to see and learn from and for a whopping $4.50 admission for all the things we did all day!.......come on America!

#22 Donating my hair

Today I cut nearly 10 inches off my hair to donate it to www.childrenwithhairloss.us . I debated about which organization to donate it to, but they are a small independent organization and I thought that since they were not as stringent as the "big" players I would give them my hair since they appeared to be doing good work for some suffering children. Well, obviously I have been planning it awhile (since I have had to grow my hair out for awhile now) and my hair dresser has been helping by coloring only the top of my head (which I did not donate) and patiently trimming only a tiny bit off each time I went for months and months now. So what made me want to do this? Back in September when I started making my list, God prompted me to put this on my "secret list". I kept it a secret until recently because I was not doing it because "I'm a good person" etc. etc..., but simply because God told me to do it. You see, if you ask me what is the one physical attribute that I most prize myself on, I will tell you.......MY HAIR. Thus, God has asked me during this 40 things I must do before I turn 40, was that I needed to give that up. I needed to sacrifice it to benefit others. And because I don't want the glory for this, because it is God to told me to do this--He needs to get the Glory, I really did not want to tell people I was planning on doing this until right before (or right after)I did it, cause many people just DONT understand all that. Why now?, why not in June when I initially planned on doing it? Well coming back from Ethiopia I felt it was time for some changes in me and this was the perfect time for that change, so today was the day. Was I nervous? Apprehensive maybe, but not nervous. I trust Rachael, and as with every task that God has placed on this list of 40 things.......I had peace, almost a little too much peace cause Rachael told me I needed to be more excited :). I love the change, and I am excited, I like the peace.......its good to feel the quiet..................

#20 Travel and See Ethiopia

On April 1, I set off to Ethiopia for a Journey of a Lifetime! You see, I have traveled before to Europe, the Caribbean and Central America, but this was my first trip to Africa.

My biggest fear about Ethiopia was that I was not going to be able to handle the poverty and illness that I would see there. I was worried that when I saw the “starving children of Ethiopia" that I would cry and cry and be whomped by what I was going to see once I got there. But it’s amazing how when you turn it all over to God, how he can make it ok. Not once did I cry over with what I saw. I felt totally at peace the entire time. I saw Ethiopia through God’s eyes. I was not overwhelmed by Ethiopia. The people are beautiful and gentle and kind, the countryside spectacular. I expected more poverty, more something......but that's not what I saw.......They are a very tidy and organized people and take a lot of pride in their appearance and their country, it is very clean. I didn't mind when the children stare in these small towns for I really was the ONLY white person in many towns (and Michael the only Asian)....they yell....YOU YOU YOU and CHINA,CHINA, CHINA at us or foreigner in Amharic but from the little ones its cute.


I got all my shots, packed all the medications....Although I had EVERYTHING that I thought I needed (or could want)....I felt not quite ready when it came down to going and really could have used a few days more of preparation (I'm a preparer!). The night before I was up until wee hours of the night finishing everything and I barely slept, but I guess it was a good thing as I slept my way to Egypt and then Ethiopia!

I was traveling over to Ethiopia with Team 1 (the first team to go to Langano) and Michael a member of Team 2, a Physician who works in another HIV clinic here in Rochester, and my traveling companion for the vacation part of my trip.


4/3/10
We arrived at something like 3 something AM in Addis Ababa without any problems! The only glitch coming through customs was the I-stat machine that I was carrying (a special machine to test blood--that was worth over $10,000)--but once I took it out and explained it etc, they let us pass. Dan and Kim met us and brought us to SIM Headquarters for our first shower in 2 days (It was GLORIOUS!) and a nap.

We then headed out with Team 1 to Debre Zeit (Mount of Olives) to Babogaya, SIM's Rest and Conference Center, to spend the Easter Holiday weekend as everything shuts down and there is no way any of us can travel anywhere. Along the way, we saw people getting ready for their traditional Easter feast with a HUGE market for cattle, sheep and lamb. Easter is the one time of year that everyone will eat a big meal and the children get spoiled with new clothes etc.

Babogaya is a beautiful place of peace and relaxation where the missionaries used to be able to come and refuel. With a lake, flowers, birds--a paradise, however due to a tragedy it is currently closed except for by special permission. So pray that it will be one day be restored to its original intent. The only NOT so peaceful thing about it was night time when the hyenas outside the compound howled all night long and then the Islamic chanting began. The BEST piece of advice I got before I left on my trip---EAR PLUGS....I had a whole bag of them!

4/4/10: Resurrection Sunday
Happy Easter! We awoke and had a lovely breakfast that we made together then traveled back to Addis Ababa to go to church at IEC (International Evangelical Church). Then we had a traditional Ethiopian Feast at Hotel Ghion. Yummmmmy! After lunch, Andrea (Kim and Dan's Daughter who was ending her visit to Ethiopia) wanted to show us her Boarding school.

4/5/10: Michael and I venture off on our adventure. At 5am, Dan dropped us off on the Selam Bus to Dessie. It is a "tourist" bus from Addis to Dessie where the HIV clinic is that Michael worked before. It was supposed to be 9 hours,but it took 10 but it was actually air conditioned, was like a greyhound, they served us a biscuit and juice for breakfast, stopped for 25 minutes for lunch and took 2 "bush" breaks.....we befriended a couple who are here volunteering who had a guide working for them and their guide has totally helped us set things up for the rest of our trip!!!! a TOTAL BLESSING (as we were winging it a bit---those of you who know me know that was definitely stretching me!).

The scenery was breathtaking. Sometimes we were so high that we were above the clouds, the hills and mountains reminded me of Lord of the Rings. Depending upon where we were, the huts may have been made from straw or from rock. At times you felt like you were back in medieval times.

Once in Dessie, we made it to the HIV clinic things had changed in 3 years and they were functioning really well and the people who have AIDS have access to ARV's. Just that morning they saw 140 patients-OH MY!

I had a sweet interaction with a little boy at the AIDS clinic. It was pouring rain and we were stuck there trying to ride out the rain. He was about 2 years old and he stood there clutching his bag of fruit from the nurse. He looked so sad. I sat there smiling at him and trying to make him smile--HE WOULD NOT. I tried and tried....finally I asked him mom if I could give him gum and she said yes. I gave it to him and he stood there with it, just holding it up in the air. So I went back over and broke it in half and put half in his mouth and half in my mouth and started chewing and he chewed. I blew little bubbles.... I made faces.....Nothing. His mom was laughing. One of the clinic ladies came out and made him put down his fruit and shake my hand and say his name---still no smile. A little while later He went to leave and then I got it........he half smiled and said Ciao! and the little blue gum fell out of his mouth...I was so sad for him, I HAD to give him another and he clutched it in his hand as they ran off into the rain.


4/6/10 This afternoon, we hired a driver and started our Journey toward Lalibella. We started off in a van with 3 Ethiopian men, during a torrential rainstorm and the driver was driving WAY too fast and then they pull out the chat (a stimulant that they chew).....and I start feeling WAY out of my comfort zone. This is one of the only times in Ethiopia where I was feeling so uncomfortable and nervous that I almost started to cry because I felt unsafe. But I just started Praying like a mad woman!!!! The rain stopped, one man got out at the next stop and my BP started to decline....

That evening we made it to Woldia. As usual had to get creative with the mosquito nets (there were never hooks to hang them from). And while hanging mine, I squash a mosquito and blood smears across the wall......WHO'S BLOOD???! So much for DEET!

4/7/10 Today was the first time I had no running water in the morning (but it would NOT be the last!). We visited Michael's friend Seada at the HIV clinic in Woldia before heading to Lalibela.

We arrived in the afternoon and I went to see the Rock Hewn Churches there. Michael had seen them before, and we were low on money so I set out to see them with a guide where we climbed up and down rock and mountain for hours. These churches that are from the 12th century and were carved from the ground up. Each of the churches is still manned by a priest who sits there in the dark bothered by tourist all day long (poor things). My guide, Belay, was very informative and helpful and kept me safe all afternoon.That in of it self was a HUGE leap of faith....I had to go off by myself with some stranger and TRUST that he was going to return me to the hotel. Because of COURSE you know he had to ask me if I wanted an Ethiopian husband and didn't I want babies......I promptly made up a story about how I had a boyfriend that I was madly in love with and nope I did not want children (ANYTHING to dissuade this MAN!).

There were lots of street boys in Lalibella who will tell you a story and try to get you to give you money. We met a young man who did not beg, or tell stories, all he wanted was to shine Michael's shoes. He practiced his English and helped Michael with his Amharic and spent a couple hours with us. We ended up giving him money...not because he asked, but because he was willing to work for it.

NO HOT WATER in hotel.....and it is our most expensive hotel.....

4/8/10 Today we flew to Axum. I started not to feel well, so we had to take part of the afternoon off so I could rest, but praise God it passed. We were able to visit the Stellae field and Queen of Sheba's swimming pool with our guide Ephram.

4/9/10 Ephram drove us out to the Quarry where they made the Stellae, then we saw Queen Sheba's Palace, Ezana's Inscription, and the Tombs on Kaleb and Gebrel Meskel (even though they were not buried there--as they were buried in the monasteries, but the tombs were made for them). After a break for lunch --because everything closes for 2 hours when it is HOTTER THAN HOT here, we went to the Church of St. Mary Zion where the Ark of the Covenant is said to be kept. It was neat to be there and I think that it felt like a holy place to me. I could go into the new church, but not the old one--no women allowed--but Michael could. We went to one shop and the market, since this is a touristy place I think they mark the prices up a bit.

It was a great week seeing the historical sights and talking with the people. We tended to eat the same food every day.....because that is all the restaurants have available in these rural places, it is very limited. You ask for something off the menu, but nothing is available. So, we have omelets for breakfast, spaghetti for lunch, Injera with Shiro Feses (almost like a refried bean but runny) for dinner.. but I liked it so no worries.

4/10/10: I developed a rash the night before and it is really bothersome and not going away. Our excursion is over and we have to fly back to Addis Ababa, but of course our flight is delayed and we have no way of getting ahold of Dan who is already at the airport waiting....poor Dan!

Everyone is here!!! Team 1 and Team 2....the whole gang! So we shopped until we dropped then had a lovely dinner and celebrated Gary's Birthday (a day early) before Team 1 flew home.

4/11/10-4/16/10 Time in Langano
This week was mostly about serving, see the Mission's trip blog....but I thought I would write about some of the other moments of the week.

Our home away from home was a beautiful cabin by the lake called the "beach house". It had solar electricity that worked at night (well sometimes) and solar powered water that worked....well 3 of the 5 nights that we were there (and I don't think ever in the morning)...and the problem with that is that our toilets were regular flushing toilets! Team 1 did not have these issues......hmmmm???

The cooks, amazing....Fresh roasted buna at every meal.....home made bread that is to die for.. I ate so well in Ethiopia, I think that if I did not walk so much I would have GAINED weight!

I was out of clothes, and we had no water....I had some rain water, so Terry and I shared it. She rinsed her hair and I washed my clothes , yes in her dirty water (Would you do this normally Susan??--NO! STRETCH!).....then hung my clothes out to dry, and what does it do??? RAIN! So I pull the clothes line inside.....

Our last night we went out on Lake Langano to go "hippo hunting" or should I say spotting. The boat was stuck in the water so we had to get into the water to push it. Don't worry! Langano is safe to swim in ---no Shisto! It was a beautiful night, but my illness had progressed to a point that I was looking (and feeling) like poop!....

Packing up to go home was a hoot.....no electricity....no water. Have you ever tried to put up a clothes line in the rain when it is dark with a headlamp to find out that is a foot to short? when its the exact same same line you took down the day before? Oh and did I mention it's 5:45am!

4/16/10 We headed back to Addis Ababa for our tours at the different hospitals, then headed back to Debre Zeit so that Team 2 could experience the R&R. We tried a new restaurant while there and I tried Asa Lublub.....which I think was a mistake. It was a fish dish which I believe caused me to get sick JUST as I was flying home!

4/17/10 We headed back to Addis Ababa through terrible traffic and then spent the day shopping. Most importantly we went to Mokkaar and I got 2 kilos of Coffee!.....packing...then dinner at Yod where they have dancing and traditional food. Unfortunately my tummy could not really handle Ethiopian food (which I really like)...and I was too exhausted to enjoy the evening. I crawled into bed at 11:45 to sleep for a little over an hour before we had to get up and go to the airport.

4/18/10: The eternal Sunday.......I pretty much slept anywhere and everywhere I could. On a bench, in a chair. Through meals.....that is how I made it home, I slept!

Overall I had wonderful experience. I commented in my other blog about being sick and pressing on. The traveling part went very smoothly. My preparation paid off. The only thing I "forgot" to pack was my slips......really, my skirts were not see-through, so who cared? not me! ......When someone needed xyz....."Susan had it".....that always makes me feel good. I like being the prepared one, I like taking care of people. Everyone was very kind to us. I forgot to say that I dressed very conservatively while Michael and I traveled as Ethiopia is an Orthodox and Muslim country. I always wore a skirt and I wore a bandanna as a head covering. Perhaps that helped, I'm not sure, but men treated me with respect. With that one exception, I never felt unsafe (and I even walked down the street once by myself). I felt at home there, I felt at peace there, I felt calm there.

#18- Ripppppppppppppppppppp

If you are squeemish about posts that have TMI, well let me tell you to stop reading RIGHT NOW!. #18 was to wax my legs (which I have never had done to me before --although I tried doing it once myself--I know OUCH), so I decided to do it prior to my trip to Ethiopia so that I would not have to worry about it while traveling in Africa.

For those of you who don't know about the process of waxing, the worst thing......growing the hair out! For one month I had to NOT shave my legs. THAT is torture!!!.....The most embarrassing thing was that I had to go to Florida for a funeral one week before I was ready to do this. I wore black stockings to hide the hairs sticking out from under my skirt but when we got back to my aunts house I let those babies come busting out from under my capri's (it was HOT)... I had more hair than my Dad!.....oh my family LAUGHED!!! (I'm so glad I could provide some comic relief....we needed it anyway!)

I should have gone to a spa where someone does it all the time as it would have been faster but I had a girl at work who does it as her side job come to my house. Poor thing.......she said she had never seen such hairy knees! I made her WORK for her money.

I'll admit......it's torture....and the benefits, well they did not last terribly long for me......but since we did not always have running water in Ethiopia, it was WELL worth it, at least upon my return to the US, I was not a hairy monster!

Would I do it again? Only if I was going to Africa or someplace like that, but this time I would go to a specialist who ONLY does legs and would zip, zip, rip, rip and be done with it in no time flat.....get the torture over fast!

So people ask, what you gonna wax next??? hmmmmmm, Ill have to think about that??? eeeks!

#21 Missions trip

Photos from the home visit

Latrine project , Clinic Staff , Sunrise over lake Langano

Malnutrition day and Patients listening to HIV lesson

Its been a month since I left on the journey of a lifetime and I have been back for two weeks and I think that I'm finally ready to talk about it and share the details of my trip.

You see, this was my first missions trip and I guess I was not quite prepared for the impact that it was going to have on me emotionally. I have traveled oversees before and to some poor countries, but I had never been "called" to serve internationally so I was a little worried about what its impact was going to be on me when I was over there, not even thinking that I would have issues upon my return.

I'm a preparer...... I make my lists, I like plans and order, when I don't have that I tend to get very anxious and then I "might" just lose it. God told me that the thing I was to do on this trip was to let HIM lead (a common theme through most of my 40 things) and to let go of the reigns a bit, what that was to look like I had no idea, and I have to say that in of itself was a bit un-nerving. But with everything else on my list I was ready to take the leap and go!

The first week of my life in Ethiopia was an experience that really helped me to trust in God, and it helped to prepare me so much for living in Langano for our second week, for I already felt "at home" in Ethiopia by the time that my team had arrived. See the "Traveling to Ethiopia" blog for more on that journey as this blog is dedicated to my time serving at SIM's clinic at Langano.

Just as Michael and I ended our vacation and were joining up with our Team who was arriving from the US I got ill. I first came down with a very strange rash and within a day or two started feeling terrible with a cough that turned into nasal congestion that was so bad that my nose was like a faucet and at night I thought I would drown in my own congestion (my poor room-mates had to listen to me hack all night long and gurgle in my snot!). So my entire week of seeing patients I felt like absolute poop, but I pressed on because I had to. I don't think I complained or really let on to everyone how very ill I felt, for what else could I do but take anything and everything I could (thank goodness I'm a walking pharmacy) to feel better and chug along.

The enemy could try to steal joy, or peace from me by making me sick, but he didn't....the time was still so blessed.

Each day we would go up to the dining area for breakfast at 7ish then meet with Kim and Dan for morning prayers where we would pray for SIM missionaries and things going on in the world. Then we would head to the clinic where one of our team members would do devotions with the clinic staff and we would have prayer time with the clinic staff. Sometimes one of us would pray in English and sometimes one of the clinic staff would pray in Amharic. There was one man who was their evangelist staff member that when he prayed---whoooah, watch out, you FELT things move! Already at this time patients were lined up outside the clinic, so before clinic started they would do some type of educational class for the patients. On Monday, Dr. Michael was able to give a lesson to the patients on HIV/AIDS before clinic opened which was they paid very close attention to and the patients asked LOTS of questions and it even stirred one woman to come and ask me to have her and her baby tested for HIV (both were negative I am happy to say).

When working in the clinic I usually worked along side a local nurse (well at the beginning anyway). This would help to teach them some medical skills and they would translate for me. At times, we would have to have another translator come in and help us because the people speak Ormo and many of the nurses mainly speak Amharic so when the language got trickier we needed a specific translator to help us out. What surprised me, was there were moments when I was listening to them speak and I understood what the woman had told me before it was translated for me. I'm not sure if it was body language or the familiarity of the complaint we were discussing, but it was almost surreal to me in the few cases when language was temporarily not a barrier.

Monday was women's health and a catch up for general medicine day. I have to say that I was a little disappointed for most of the day as I was doing women's health (and GYN exams) most of the day, while Michael got much more "fun" and exciting things. I had to remind myself that I was glad that my skills and talents of being able to do pelvic exams were being able to be used, and I did not whine about it, but I soooo did not want to get labeled as being the resident gynecologist for the week. It was a VERY busy day in the clinic and we were EXHAUSTED, I saw more patients in 1 day than I see in almost a week in the US!. There was a family that Adonish (the nurse I worked with that day) and I tested for HIV as the baby presented with a skin condition that is very common in HIV disease, so I encouraged them to be tested. They agreed and we were happy and surprised that they were all negative--what a praise! My sickest patient was a little baby with malaria who needed a blood transfusion, which he needed to get at another hospital--hopefully his father will be able to make the trek to that hospital to get it as it is so very far away.

Tuesday was my best and favorite day of my entire time in Langano, it was the most varied and had two of the best spiritual moments for me. During the morning I saw patients in the clinic and I was seeing a woman for a complaint that I was becoming very familiar with, menstrual irregularities and the desire for pregnancy. This is something that a lot of Oromo women seek care for and I had seen a number of women the day before for this complaint. While I was seeing the patient the nurse I was working with said something to me about her praying for a child and it grieved her so......well I took that opportunity and said, we could pray for her right now if she would like? She said yes, so I laid my hands on her belly and prayed. WHICH LET ME TELL YOU IS SOOOOOO NOT ME---that is all GOD! That is something that I would normally not do, I'm just not that bold, but I felt the tug to do it, so I did it and it was awesome!

After a few hours I went to to the malnutrition station. It was malnutrition day where we weighed and measured children who are enrolled into the program to give them nutritional supplementation as there are lots of hungry malnourished kids. Mostly its little babies in the program, but their older siblings were there with them so in between handing out supplements I was sticking stickers on the kids until the man I was working with finished distributing and we had to work again, then the kids scurries away and it was all business.

In the afternoon Bonnie and I were blessed with the opportunity to go on a home visit with Laura, one of the Missionary Nurses. It was to the home of a woman who had delivered over the weekend at the clinic. They do home visits not only from a medical perspective to check on mom and baby, but also for the cultural and spiritual benefit that a visit provides. This was her first child, but she is the step mom to 6 children. She lived in a grass hut and because we were women and medical people we were allowed into the bedroom area to check on her and the baby. After we checked on the baby, we were able to pray a blessing over her and the baby. Her neighbor was helping to take care of her and made us stay for coffee. Its a very social thing and they want to serve us so we had to stay. So we stayed and chatted and played with the kids (I had stickers and lollipops in my bag--I had to tell them to take the wrappers off for one kid popped it in his mouth wrapper and all!) while she set to work on our wonderful coffee experience. To make coffee they take the beans and wet them and put them on a tin plate and roast them over a fire (which yes is inside the hut). Then they ground the coffee with some cloves and added it to the water (I just kept thinking---don't think about where the water came from--its been boiled....oh but where did the water come from that they just washed the cups with--don't think about it Susan!) along with sugar, salt and cream, then it sits for a bit almost like a french press. It is so HOT and they fill the cup all the way to the rim and there are no handle but it is sooooooooo yummmmmmyyy, which is good thing cause custom and edicate dictate that you drink more than one cup (usually 3) but today we only had to drink 2 which is a good thing cause I thought my bladder would burst. The kids were cute and and the visit wonderful! The only thing I could have done without was the flies, they were everywhere!! After our visit we went out to check a village latrine project. SIM has plan to build a certain number of latrines but they ask for village participation and this village needed to dig the hole by a certain date and we were going to check on it. We were nearly mobbed by children as we went to check on it, but it was indeed completed on time! That night I was so exhausted from such a wonderful day that I crashed in my bed with the lights on, people talking....and everything.......

Wednesday I awoke early and spent a little time with God down by the lake watching the sun rise. I followed a path down to what I thought was the beach, but as I was standing in the mud, I was thinking, this just can't be right. I had walked down there using my head lantern and as I'm standing there alone the thought struck me.....LORD, I really DON'T need to see a Hippo, PLEASE don't let me see a Hippo as I'm standing here in this mud. The Lord is was listening and I'm happy to say, that I did not cross paths with a Hippo that morning and once the Sun came up and I found the correct path to the beach, it was a beautiful and peaceful way to start the day. Wednesday was prenatal day. Lots and lots of pregnant bellies to measure and listen to fetal heart tones. Every woman wanted to know "how far along they were". The big excitement of the day was that one of my patients did not make it to the clinic and delivered her baby on a donkey cart coming over the container bridge into the compound. Once she was checked out by one of the NP's I had the opportunity to take care of the mom and baby. It was a humbling experience to have to clean up this woman who had just given birth. I can honestly say that I have never had to do that before and if I had to do that in the US, I would probably think ewwwh, yuck, why me? But that is not what was going through my mind when I went and found a cloth to clean her up. I was thinking I hope I'm gentle and kind enough, I hope she is blessed by this. Once I got mom all cleaned up then I took the baby and and the baby his very first bath and dressed him up in cute little baby clothes that they send all their babies home in.

Thursday- we had no water in clinic today. We had not had water or electricity at our cabin on other days. I had become queen of collecting rain water in buckets at night so that we had water to wash our faces with in the morning. I don't think we ever had water in the morning and we only had water 3 out of the 5 evenings we were there. You see it was solar controlled and at first the guards had forgotten to move the panels before......but by Thursday it was cloudy and rainy---no sun--no water or power. Its hard to see patients when you have no running water!

It was a day of difficult cases.....one of the guards came in with a very sore leg after getting an injection a week before. I diagnosed him with a probable DVT that was probably due to infection. Kim pulled out the Doppler and the two of us were trying to do an ultrasound on him to see if we could follow the flow ( I was thinking--I should have had a crash course from my friend Neal before I left!). He was VERY sick and we took him to Addis Ababa with us the next day so that he could see a specialist. There was a boy that Kim wanted me to see that had spina bifida and club foot. There was a baby with a double cleft lip and palate, there was more malaria, and strange rashes....it was a busy last day. But we were able to fit in that evening "Hippo Hunting", not really hunting, but spotting out on Lake Langano. the rain had stopped so it was a nice relaxing evening out on the lake.

Friday we got up very early in the morning to make the 3-4 hour drive from Langano back to Addis Ababa so that we could do a few very special tours.

We were able to visit the Fistula Hospital, which treats women for free who have had a fistula from childbirth. There is a large number of women with this injury from having children when either too young or because they are too small because of poor nutrition to properly deliver them. It is an amazing facility that produces healing and restoration to these women who are otherwise rejected and shunned from their communities. The grounds are filled with lush gardens filled with gorgeous flowers, the women walk around with beautiful handmade afghan shawls that have made for them by volunteers from around the globe, it truly is an amazing place that could bring tears to your eyes. You would expect the hospital to smell due to the nature of fistulas, but it doesn't....it's immaculate and fresh and just a beautiful place of healing. If you want to know more about it, watch the move "A Walk to Beautiful".

We then went to SIM's ACT AIDS program and had an amazing opportunity to go on a few home visits with them. I went to two homes. One was a 21 year old girl who is an orphan from HIV. Her mother died 6 years ago from AIDS and that is when she was enrolled into the program. She has a 4 year old son and is trying to go to school and has him enrolled in school, she is struggling to juggle all this and finds herself pregnant again and asks for prayer that she will be able to continue school so that she can better her life. The other woman we visited has been diagnosed with AIDS for the past year and is on HIV medications, and she is doing well on them. She was very sick with TB when she was first diagnosed, but she seems to be doing well now, but she seems to isolate her self quite a bit due to her diagnosis and asks for continued prayer for her health. We could not pray for her in her home as her landlord does not allow it.

After this we went to the CURE hospital. CURE is a hospital that provides free care to children to correct cleft palates, club feet etc. It had only been around for two years and is a terrific facility that does some absolutely incredible work! The hospital is filled with beautiful children's mosaics on the walls and the kids were so adorable. I was able to make some of the kids smile with stickers (those stickers--they were the BEST medicine!)

God stretched me in Ethiopia and did something in me while I was there. We did not have water a few too many days out of the week. I actually had a day where I jumped in, got wet, lathered up, went to rinse, water stopped!, but I was resilient.....I was collector of the rainwater....and I had baby wipes (but with my rash I could not use them). I was sick, I was tired, I was dirty. I was out of clean clothes and I had to wash my clothes in someone else's hair rinse water cause we were out of water, it rained on my clean clothes, my clean clothes would not dry, I ate things I would normally never eat (and I don't mean cuisine, I mean I would normally never eat something made by someone at the side of the road---but I did), I did not care about the flies, I did not let things that would bother me in the US bother me. I really feel I was a completely different Susan there. I didn't think about home while I was there. I didn't worry about my house, my dog, my job or even my dad's cancer......I ran away of sorts. I had a sense of peace and a strange calmness about me (which if you know me, you know I am normally anything but calm!)

Perhaps thats why I had such a hard time coming back and assimilating back into life. My first week back, I did not answer my phone much, I really did not want to talk about my trip, I almost wanted to hold it all inside because I was afraid to let any of it go because I might lose a precious bit of it. I felt loney and isolated and I just wanted to cry and I had no idea why. But I understand now, that many people feel that way when they return from a missions trip......I guess I wasn't prepared for running into that brick wall of returning home. All I knew was that I wanted to say there, I wanted to hold onto that calmness and that peace. But now I know, I don't have to be in Ethiopia to trust in God and let him stretch me, I dont have to creap back into my old ways......thats what I need to cling to, thats what I need to remember, I need to remember what it felt like to be there and when I feel that wave of life ready to crash over me I should close my eyes, smell the buna and visualize my life in Ethiopia and regain that peace that God gave to me......for it was a Gift.

Would I do it all over again? Absolutely! Will I go again? We are already talking about a trip for next year. Which if you know me, I'm the kind of person that once I've been someplace I usually don't feel the need to go again because there are so many places in this world to go and see. But with Ethiopia, I feel different, I left part of my heart there.........I have to go back.

#19 Visit Egypt

It all seems like a dream, my one day in Cairo was like I was dropped into a postcard and is almost unreal to me. On my way to Ethiopia, we had 10+ hour layover in Egypt so we arranged an 8 tour of Cairo. This is how I spent Good Friday.

First lesson of Egypt....you have to pay to go to the bathroom. Thankfully, my parents had been to Egypt last year and had passed on a few tidbits of information to me so we were fully prepared with $1 bills for the potty!

We step out of the airport, it is early in the morning and it is already HOT. Although it is April they had unusually hot weather and it was about 100 degrees....

Second lesson.....WATER....we needed water so badly. I was dehydrated from flying. They gave us one little bottle on the bus, but that was not sufficient and we did not stop for lunch for 5 hours later. When it is that hot, this girl is not a camel, she needs water.

Third lesson, Sunscreen....which I had in my carry-on (thanks to good planning). That sun is brutal and glaring. Thank heavens my bottle was sufficient to cover the group as no one else remembered that we were going to be in Egypt and would need it.

First stop, The Pyramids of Cheops, Chephren and Mykerinus. We could get right up to them. Climb on one of them, glance inside (although you could see nothing). They were so large, you just wonder--really--how DID they build these? From a distance, looking at all three, the view is just magnificent and honestly that is when I felt the most like I was just dropped into a postcard. The view was surreal to me, almost fake because it was so unlike anything I had ever seen before.

We then proceeded to the Great Sphinx, the head of a pharaoh with a lion's body, which dates from the time of Chephren. It is large, but up close it is not as large as one would have expected it to be.

After an Egyptian lunch we went to the Egyptian Museum which features artifacts from the Pharaonic period. The museum displays a rare collection of 5000 years of art which is considered the largest most precious collection of Egyptian art in the world. Over 250,000 genuine artifacts are presented, including an exhibit dedicated to Tutankhamen (King Tut) collection of treasure, gold and jewelry which was enclosed in his tomb for over 3,500 years before it was discovered in the 1920 when his tomb was excavated. I have to say that the museum was full of many interesting things, but by this time the sleeping on the plane was starting to kick in and I was starting to fade a bit. Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable but a bit long winded and I think I might have started to fall asleep standing up until we got to the floor with King Tut's stuff. After seeing his tomb and all his things (minus the few things that are out and about on tour)---OH MY!!! How in the world did it all fit in that tiny little tomb??? Those people were some seriously good packers.

We finished the day by shopping at Khan El Khalili Bazaar, one of the most famous and oldest bazaars in the Middle East. The shopping was more like running through the Bazaar as we had very little time so they hurried us so quickly through the bazaar that it almost made you dizzy. The colors and smells were incredible. Bright colors---smells of saffron and other spices. The bazaar however can be a dangerous place so we had a guard who was supposed to be with us at all times.....well whoops, myself and my girlfriend got separated from the group and were on our own for awhile until the frantic guard came and found us, only we did not know that he was our guard, so when he is leading us to our friends we are a bit freaked out that this man in a suit is trying to lead us through the market.

Egypt was a whirlwind of a day, thus it was a bit of overload at times. My visual impression was that it was very dirty as there was lots of garbage in the streets (that bothers me). I did not interact with the people, so I can't comment on that at all. I'm so glad we got this amazing opportunity to see these things. Historically they are pivotal to humanity and society but it seems that what once was has been lost. The things that those ancient people brought to the world, although they have not been forgotten are perhaps lost on those who reside in Egypt. They see the pyramids everyday, they live along side of them, although I don't know much about Egypt , its politics, the country itself....it is just a feeling I have that the people of Egypt don't remember or appreciate the history of the pyramids or the Sphinx. But, isn't that the way it is? Many of us don't remember or don't appreciate our own country's history and how often do we just walk past historical points of interest and never even visit them, learn about the past, those that brought us to where we are today. We need to remember to past in order to move on and create a better and healthier future for our country and our world.

#17 Celebrate St. Patricks Day out

My initial slogan and plan for celebrating St. Patrick's day was "Three Pints in a day", but by the end of the day it became "Hope deferred".

I awoke with this plan in my head. I was going to Donate a pint of blood, then eat a pint of ice-cream and later that evening go out with friends and celebrate St. Patrick's Day and drink a pint of green beer. You see, I have never donated blood, I have never gone out on St. Patrick's Day, and my friend Jessica suggested that I add drinking "green beer" (even though we know its just food coloring in the beer) to the list.

I tried donating blood once in the late 90's but was rejected because of my temperature and they never hunted me down and despite the fact that my parents work at drives all the time, I have never given. But I decided that since my father's life was saved last summer due to someone else giving blood, I wanted to give before I left for Africa as that would take me out of the donating pool for awhile. My friend Maggie had never given before, and although terrified, she agreed to accompany me on this task. We raced to the drive after work and checked in. At first I thought they might reject me based upon my recent vaccinations for Ethiopia, but I knew that I was OK with my timing, I had checked the Red Cross web-site--but no, I had a good screener, I was fine.......but then came the test for anemia...I FAILED......WHAT??? I made her re-test me.......FAILED again.....Me? Anemic? I could not believe it!....I could NOT give blood. I was absolutely crushed. Maggie, who was beyond petrified passed and was ready to donate. Now normally, they do not let anyone near the person donating, but because we were both PA's they let me stay with the the whole time which was TOTALLY awesome!

Well, needless to say, without donating the blood, I did NOT need to eat the ice-cream. So when Maggie and I went to a BBQ after donating I gave our friends the ice-cream....so much for 2 of my 3 pints, only 1 pint left.

Later that evening I met my friends Lance and Mary to celebrate as I have never ventured out on St. Patrick's Day (I'm not that brave a person). They chose a pretty tame bar for us to meet at (no crazy Irish bar--whew!) but there was no green beer to be had, so I had to settle for Guinness (which I have had before, but hey...at least it was a pint!). The company was good and the conversation great. Personally I'm not sure how Lance was standing as he had just returned from Kenya a few days before and now that I understand what that jet lag feels like returning from Africa I have to say that he is SOME friend for going out with me to help me complete something on the list!...that jet lag is awful!

So, the day was not quite what I planned. So I learned that you can plan all you want, but sometimes hope is deferred......not cancelled........just deferred. So I decided that if I get to 40 things and I have room for one more thing, well I might not include this one on the list....it was a bit mild to keep. But for now it is included.