Neighbor girl
Ryan and I were almost back from a market trip to town when Hermano Osvaldo came trotting up.
"Mamita!" he said, excited, "There is a girl in the neighborhood who is sick, will you come visit her with me?"
He told me she was about twenty years old, and had been suffering a fever for several days. I knew there wasn't much I could do in the way of treatment, but at least I could visit and assess the situation and provide some comfort measures.
I walked quickly to our house to gather a few supplies. I took an old plastic market bag, and threw in some random items from the kitchen, from around my room and from my first aid kit--wash clothes, cough drops, pen, paper, tylenol, a jar of Vick's Vapor Rub, some peppermint tea, a bag of mangos from the Misión, a waterbottle filled with clean water, hand sanitizer, a few lemons, and my Spanish pocket dictionary.
Our thermometer battery is dead, and my stethoscope was stolen with the box of supplies in Tarapoto, but I determined I could manage without them.
Osvaldo and I walked for about ten minutes down dirt paths, ducking under trees. I did a great more ducking than Osvaldo, as he only comes up to about my shoulder.
We found the thatch roof house easily. I was introduced to the family of about eight and gave them the mangos for a gift. We found the girl, sleeping in her hammock inside. She looked a little droopy, and was very hoarse, but I was able to do a thorough assesment and ask her many questions. Then I just sat on the floor and talked to her.
It was interesting to find out what she thought caused her illness. I asked about her family, found out who else had been sick and what had been done to help them back to health.
I left her with ingredients for lemon peppermint tea, and showed a sister how to make it. I also gave her the Vick's vapor rub, to soothe the sore throat and runny nose.
"Drink lots and lots of water," I said, "and try to sleep a lot, too. I'll be back to tomorrow, and we'll see how things are going."
"Mamita!" he said, excited, "There is a girl in the neighborhood who is sick, will you come visit her with me?"
He told me she was about twenty years old, and had been suffering a fever for several days. I knew there wasn't much I could do in the way of treatment, but at least I could visit and assess the situation and provide some comfort measures.
I walked quickly to our house to gather a few supplies. I took an old plastic market bag, and threw in some random items from the kitchen, from around my room and from my first aid kit--wash clothes, cough drops, pen, paper, tylenol, a jar of Vick's Vapor Rub, some peppermint tea, a bag of mangos from the Misión, a waterbottle filled with clean water, hand sanitizer, a few lemons, and my Spanish pocket dictionary.
Our thermometer battery is dead, and my stethoscope was stolen with the box of supplies in Tarapoto, but I determined I could manage without them.
Osvaldo and I walked for about ten minutes down dirt paths, ducking under trees. I did a great more ducking than Osvaldo, as he only comes up to about my shoulder.
We found the thatch roof house easily. I was introduced to the family of about eight and gave them the mangos for a gift. We found the girl, sleeping in her hammock inside. She looked a little droopy, and was very hoarse, but I was able to do a thorough assesment and ask her many questions. Then I just sat on the floor and talked to her.
It was interesting to find out what she thought caused her illness. I asked about her family, found out who else had been sick and what had been done to help them back to health.
I left her with ingredients for lemon peppermint tea, and showed a sister how to make it. I also gave her the Vick's vapor rub, to soothe the sore throat and runny nose.
"Drink lots and lots of water," I said, "and try to sleep a lot, too. I'll be back to tomorrow, and we'll see how things are going."
posted by Ansley at 11:33 AM
1 Comments:
That's awesome, Ansley. It's so neat to read about how the Lord has been using you to comfort others.
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