Meetings and Malaria

Internet at the base has been spotty for a few weeks, and then we haven't had it at all for about a week, so, between that, the busyness of school, and my natural aversion to writing (see: every other post), I haven't had a chance to write for a while. But there has definitely been a lot going on.

My program is 5 months long-- 3 months of classroom training and 2 months of practical community interaction (outreach). Our outreach starts around May 15, and so we've started getting ready for it. There are 24 students, and right now it looks like 12 will go to Tanzania and 12 will go to northern Uganda. I'm part of the group going to northern Uganda. We've begun to have team meetings and talk about what we will be doing and how we will be dividing up different responsibilities. I was sick the day the jobs were given out, and I ended up with secretary, which means I'm supposed to keep a record of what we do and who we help, prayer requests, etc. Not my favorite thing (I'm allergic to writing, remember?) but I am determined to do a good job and not complain.

A week or two ago we had a day out at Kingfisher Resort-- we had classes,

ate a yummy lunch,

and spent the afternoon swimming in the pool. Such a fun day.

A few days later I woke up not feeling great, and then developed a fever during classe. I was sore and achy, and certain people were convinced that I had malaria. For someone who wasn't born in Africa, the most important thing if you have malaria is to get quick treatment. There's an easy test you can do-- it's like a pregnancy test: you put a drop of blood on it, wait 5 minutes, and check for one line (clean) or two (malaria!) Then, if you have malaria, you start taking medication and everything is fine-- you're back to normal in like 3 days. But if you wait too long you have to go to the hospital, and it's complicated and serious. So the key is to have a malaria test as soon as you feel yucky or have a fever.

There are only three people on the base who have access to the malaria tests: Msaki, my school leader; Lucy, my friend from the UK who does neo-natal care in one of the villages; and Dr. Tim, the base leader, but also a doctor. Unfortunately, that day, Msaki and Dr. Tim were out of town and Lucy was at work. I spent the afternoon in bed, wondering if I was going to die from malaria or not. People kept coming and asking me if I had it, and did I feel like I usually feel when I get it?

Finally Lucy arrived, and amidst much drama (I live in a dorm full of kind, motherly girl-women, remember) (also, the lights were out, so everything was done by flashlight) took my temp (38.3 C), and administered the test. More drama, as there was one dark line and a light line, so she wasn't really sure about my diagnosis, and she didn't have another test. We decided to wait and see how I felt the next day. Lucy brought me a soda, I drank it, Zoe took me for a walk, because I'd started feeling better, and then I broke my fever. I took it easy the next day, and felt fine the day after that. So I didn't have malaria-- I don't know what I had, but I feel fine now.