A Long Week
I am lying here on the bed next to Carmen, Esther, and Tivoli. The day has started and it is getting hot outside. Fortunately, there is a breeze and we do not have a power outage so the fan can keep running. It seems we get our daily (or more) power outage which lasts anywhere from a few minutes to five hours. I don't think you realize how nice it is to have consistent, reliable power until you just don't.
The boys are outside somewhere, and Dinah is cleaning the house. The sound of construction and the occasional horn or loud music overwhelms the sounds of bustling Dar Es Salaam.
Earlier this week on Sunday afternoon we moved across the city to a two bedroom apartment making our commute to language training a leisurely five-minute walk. Since then, we have found a fridge, borrowed two couches, and bought mattresses to sleep on and mosquito nets. We are quickly learning our way around the city!
Jason contracted a fever, stomach ache, and runny stool on Monday. Though it lasted only a few days, he has required much attention. It is difficult watching our children get sick in a country with many diseases.
And Swahili language learning. Our brains, as usual, fried by noon. It is exciting how all this hard work is paying off. In the two weeks we have been learning Swahili, we now know a total of 450 words!
Above are some of the objects we use for Swahili. Behind the language tools are the other two families who are learning with us. Carlos, the Tanzanian, is our language helper.
So back to now. Last night I started an ear infection in my left ear which essentially resulted in minimal sleep and a low fever of just above 101 F. In addition, I have nausea and a splitting headache. Not much has changed since last night. In fact, I think I am progressing towards what Carmen has. Carmen, on the other hand, started a fever last night and is now lying on the bed. To say the least, she is exhausted from feeding and taking care of the girls while running a fever of 103 F, along with nausea, a headache, and extreme muscle soreness and skin sensitivity.
We covered our first base with a malaria test. Negative. Thank the Lord! But unfortunately, that also leaves us wondering what she does have. Ironically, one of our neighbours, a family working with New Tribes, just borrowed one of our malaria tests for their young son. Still waiting on the results...
Did you know that 80,000 people die a year from malaria in Tanzania? Many of them are small children who live in the rural villages of Tanzania. Most die from lack of medicine and little knowledge about dehydration. We are just thankful that Dinah and the children are doing well.
All that to say, this week has been exhausting.
On a more positive note, we are so grateful for our new apartment, the short commute to language, new friends, and the power staying on this morning.
Dinah just walked in with a bowl of cold, chopped watermelon. I really don't know what we would do without her. We are daily grateful for her sacrifice and intentional servanthood.
Psalm 103
The boys are outside somewhere, and Dinah is cleaning the house. The sound of construction and the occasional horn or loud music overwhelms the sounds of bustling Dar Es Salaam.
Earlier this week on Sunday afternoon we moved across the city to a two bedroom apartment making our commute to language training a leisurely five-minute walk. Since then, we have found a fridge, borrowed two couches, and bought mattresses to sleep on and mosquito nets. We are quickly learning our way around the city!
Jason contracted a fever, stomach ache, and runny stool on Monday. Though it lasted only a few days, he has required much attention. It is difficult watching our children get sick in a country with many diseases.
And Swahili language learning. Our brains, as usual, fried by noon. It is exciting how all this hard work is paying off. In the two weeks we have been learning Swahili, we now know a total of 450 words!
Above are some of the objects we use for Swahili. Behind the language tools are the other two families who are learning with us. Carlos, the Tanzanian, is our language helper.
So back to now. Last night I started an ear infection in my left ear which essentially resulted in minimal sleep and a low fever of just above 101 F. In addition, I have nausea and a splitting headache. Not much has changed since last night. In fact, I think I am progressing towards what Carmen has. Carmen, on the other hand, started a fever last night and is now lying on the bed. To say the least, she is exhausted from feeding and taking care of the girls while running a fever of 103 F, along with nausea, a headache, and extreme muscle soreness and skin sensitivity.
We covered our first base with a malaria test. Negative. Thank the Lord! But unfortunately, that also leaves us wondering what she does have. Ironically, one of our neighbours, a family working with New Tribes, just borrowed one of our malaria tests for their young son. Still waiting on the results...
Did you know that 80,000 people die a year from malaria in Tanzania? Many of them are small children who live in the rural villages of Tanzania. Most die from lack of medicine and little knowledge about dehydration. We are just thankful that Dinah and the children are doing well.
All that to say, this week has been exhausting.
On a more positive note, we are so grateful for our new apartment, the short commute to language, new friends, and the power staying on this morning.
Dinah just walked in with a bowl of cold, chopped watermelon. I really don't know what we would do without her. We are daily grateful for her sacrifice and intentional servanthood.
Psalm 103
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
So sorry to hear you guys are sick!! Hope you get feeling better soon. I'm sure Carmen knows this, but the rapid tests for malaria are often negative on foreigners with malaria infection that don't have any immunity to malaria. Foreigners react quickly to a small parasite load in the system- often a small enough parasite load to not read positive on the rapid tests. Microscopy test is much more accurate. Might be worth it just to make sure you're not dealing with malaria. Hope you both get better soon!! Praying for electricity, cool breezes and rest!!
ReplyDeleteKayla, thank you so much for your insight. I had never heard of this phenomena but it makes sense. We are pretty sure at this point we were not dealing with malaria but we will definitely keep that in mind for next time. Thanks!
DeletePraying for you guys!!!!
ReplyDeleteSo sad you are sick but good to know how to pray for your family. Great job on the language studies! Love you all!
ReplyDeletePraying for all of you.
ReplyDeletekatika kuomba kwa ajili yenu
ReplyDeleteI will keep you in my prayers and praying you all will be healed from this illness and any future illness!
Andrea K
Keeping you all in our prayers. Get well soon.
ReplyDeletePatrick & Cassie