Malaria and More!

June 18th, 2018 by alexroney

This last week has been incredibly eventful. I don’t even know where to begin. Well let’s see if I can pick up from where I left off last time. So last weekend we got to bike to the small Fulani church. The Fulani’s are a people group spread across a large portion of West Africa. Now when I say small, I mean small. Like very small. As in one room. But the people are absolutely awesome and Pastor Alex is an awesome guy. Also every time he greets me (we see him in the hospital occasionally because he works at the pharmacy) he says, “You have a great name” and then shakes my hand. But man oh man is church different here. Their worship portion of church is much closer to a concert or a party. They love their music. They love when everyone is involved in the service. Last week they had testimonies for a good portion of the service. The teaching is actually pretty solid. Pastor Alex does a good job. This past weekend we did attend a church that was… different. More on that to come. So this last week I was in the hospital following my mom most days. When I wasn’t following her I was with Dr. Foile. Dr. Foile lived here for much of his life growing up and it seems as if everyone here knows him. He is very experienced with the way medicine works here and maybe even more experienced with how surgery works here. So I’ve been able to sit in on a few surgeries which is the coolest. I’ve seen a few hernia repairs, typhoid perforations, and even an amputation. I’m really getting my money’s worth of exposure to the field of healthcare.

 

We have also been able to go explore some nearby places. There is a formation known as an escarpment which can be seen very close to Nalerigu. This past weekend we got to explore the escarpment at a few places. First on Saturday, the Haun’s (one of the families that live here) took us out about 20 minutes outside of town. So first I need to explain what the escarpment is. It’s a very gradual climb up to a high point and then drops off quickly. It’s really quite beautiful. So after one of the bumpiest rides of all time we got there. It was a short walk out to the cliff. The escarpment overlooks a vast area of very flat land and is remarkable. You can see all the way to Burkina Faso (country to the north of Ghana). I’ve heard from many that we picked the right time of the year to see it. Since we’re here at the beginning of rainy season, everything is lush and very very green. Once you get to the edge there a lot of places to climb around which I thought was awesome (I’m still a kid). Coming back, it was a beautiful evening. There was a slight breeze and the sun was well on its way down. Little side note: I was kinda starting to feel bad but I didn’t think much of it. After we got back to the house I really wasn’t feeling well so the next morning, I slept in a little and then came to rounds at the hospital a little late. Apparently my mom had let Dr. Foile know about my symptoms and so I walk in and he asks how I’m doing. I let him know about how I’m feeling and he says, “You’ve probably got Malaria”. So that sucks but I’m getting medicine for it now and hopefully I’ll be feeling better in a few days. Thats why I’m typing this blog post at 10 in the morning. Anyway, after we finished rounding we headed of to church. This time we went to one of the biggest churches in town. It was founded by the same people who started the medical center (Dr. Foile’s father and others). Now keep in mind I was not feeling the best at this time but the service drug on for-ev-er (Sandlot style). The worship part of the service was about an hour and as loud as could be. Then we did a conga line as my mom described it for the offering. And then later in the service we did that again… I’m still not sure what the second time was for. But just when I was feeling like the service had to be about over the pastor started their message for the day. The message could have been delivered in about a minute but this church was rather charismatic. I was actually wondering if the pastor had to do vocal warm ups so his voice wouldn’t give out. So we showed up at about 9:45 and didn’t leave until 1:00. Needless to say I hope we go back to the small church next week. After church we got food and then headed to a town called Nakpanduri. We went and explored the escarpment there as well. I think I may have worried my mom more this time though because I went climbing (sorry mom), but I can’t help it. It’s just so fun! So after climbing around and a rock about the size of a truck that rocked back and forth, we headed into Nakpanduri to see Madam Denise. Now I cannot do this woman justice with words on a page. She has to be the most eccentric person I’ve ever met. She lives by herself in the smallest house of all time. One room that is divided by a curtain into a living room and a bedroom. She loves her animals. She has a goat, a monkey, two dogs, a lot of chickens, even more donkeys, and a ton of doves. She also loves her trees. And just nature in general. I think if she had the opportunity to go back in time before many modern technologies she would. And she would be the happiest person alive. I’ve never met anyone who loves nature as much as she does. I don’t even know how to begin to describe her. If you want to know more information then ask me in person and I’ll be able to capture Madam Denise much better.

 

I think thats about all for now. But yeah if y’all don’t mind please keep me in your prayers because I’ve been feeling pretty crappy. And if you don’t mind praying for my mom and I, we are both missing home dearly. Thank you all again for your thoughts.

 

*Update: Found out I do not have Malaria. Thank you for continued prayers.

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