Let's get together, yeah yeah yeah.

Wow, this has been an incredible week, a week of many firsts. I had my first counseling session and . . . it went really well! I was so happy. At the beginning of the week I was so afraid that people a) wouldn't understand me because my accent is so thick and b) wouldn't be interested in doing the memory work, but I was proven wrong on both accounts. One of my first patients was incredible. She was extremely open and receptive to the idea of memory work. Basically, memory work is a way for people living with HIV/AIDS to start to cope with the illness emotionally. The activity is creating a way of remembering (i.e. a memory book, box, etc.) and planning for a positive future (some sort of action plan). It really gives the patients a message of hope. It's an incredible program.

Then, today we had our first social group meeting and I even gave my first sermon! Haha. A social group is the same thing as a support group except we can't call it a support group because then people expect you to give them money. It's really difficult to get these groups started because people don't have the time or money for transportation; however, once they are started they are really beneficial. So, we invited a few patients to come to the office today for our first meeting at 8:30am. By about 9:15 when nobody showed up I was feeling pretty bad, but by 9:30 a small number of people were there! It was really sad because none of them had eaten, most of them are pregnant, and some of them had traveled far, so Agi, the HIV/AIDS coordinator bought them all breakfast out of her own money. I helped reimburse their travel expenses (about 500CFA/person, in US dollars that is approximately $1.12) from my own money. Really, that's the only way to get a group started, to give them some motivation to come. I gave the sermon this morning also. Really, it was just a brief meditation, but I was still nervous.

I focused on John 9:1-5, the story of Jesus healing the blind man. The passage explains that sickness is not a punishment for sin, but an opportunity for God's will. It's very important to emphasize that HIV/AIDS does not happen because someone did something bad or wrong. I wanted to give them a message of hope and a purpose for the social group. So, I told them that today we were here to show God's power that is in each one of us and to be a light for one another like Jesus is for all of us. The patients seemed to like it and some were very moved and had some emotional responses. People living with HIV/AIDS here really just need comfort and support and the Bible is the best place to get that from especially since all of the HIV/AIDS patients we have seen so far are Christians, so passages about healing are really helpful. If anyone out there can think of some more passages that would be appropriate feel free to send them my way (hint hint Westminster crew). I would really appreciate it. Overall, the social group was a huge success. The patients really got to know each other, opened up, and helped one another. They really showed each other love, kindness and understanding. It was incredible to witness them coming together. We have another meeting planned for next month, so hopefully the group will continue to move forward.

Some of the things I have witnessed this first week alone have been extremely difficult. It's really hard to see so many patients in such difficult situations and know that I can't help all of them. When I first got here, I promised myself I would not help any patient financially because it seemed unethical. Well, ethics kind of go out the window in third world countries. Although, it is still my goal to not help financially (especially since it's near impossible after being a student for the past four years). I did help one woman because I couldn't bare to see her go without treatment. Without proper treatment, her baby would be born blind due to complications. The medication was approximately 9,000CFA and she could only afford 3,000 of it. There are very, very limited resources for people living with disabilities here, so if her child was born blind he/she would become an orphan and have a small chance of surviving. I couldn't say no, so I gave her the extra 6,000CFA (approximately $13.00) for treatment. That's just a small example of the things you have to see here everyday at the medical center. It's so hard to watch and know that you can't help every person, at least not financially, but it's good to know that I am at least doing some good when it comes to helping them cope emotionally. I do feel like I am being productive and really helping right now. But, I think no matter how much good I do it will never seem like enough considering how hard life can be for people here. The work I'm doing is very rewarding and really I can't wait for work again on Monday. We are starting memory work with more patients next week!

Things have just been really great all around. I have been starting to make some good friends here which is nice. Kumba hasn't had running water for about three days now. Apparently, a big truck ran over a pipe somewhere. The word on the street is it will be fixed today, buuuut we will see if that happens. Basically, I feel disgusting not bathing for three days, but hey, at least I did my laundry last week, right? Ohhh funny story! The other night I decided to make rice with a red sauce for dinner. People eat this meal here often. However, it would be rude to serve it to a guest because rice alone is considered "empty." If you are cooking for guests, you always needs to have a full meal. Anyways, this was my first very minor attempt at making something sort of Cameroonian, a little experiment which turned out really well actually! But, while I was cutting peppers a huge bug flew up my nose, that seems funny enough, but of course it gets worse. Without thinking, I started rubbing my nose frantically to get the bug out. A terrible idea, considering I was cutting peppers (and let me tell you, peppers here are HOT!). After about 30 seconds, my nose was on FIRE. I had tears pouring down my face. It was terrible. Luckily, I remembered hearing that if you drank milk after eating something hot it cooled the burn. So, I quickly found a bottle of water and made a glass of powdered milk. At which point, I snorted the milk with tears pouring down my face while laughing hysterically. Man, do I wish you all could have seen this. It was absurd. That's just a little preview into my life here in Africa. You really want to come visit, don't you? Hope everyone is doing well back in the good ol' US of A. I can't wait to hear from you all. Be happy and safe!