Africa Mercy - Poverty: One Nurse's Journey

Some reflections by Marilyn on poverty in Africa. Imagine being turned away from much needed surgery because your blood pressure or blood sugar readings are too high, and you can't afford the medicine to treat these conditions? Imagine sleeping on the street with your family after your home has been washed away in a flood? Her thoughts leave me with a "big gulp" inside when I think of all we have in the western world and take for granted. I'm thankful the Africa Mercy (and other volunteer groups like it) has brought hope and real help to those in need. .......Sharon


(This is a running email post written by a volunteer nurse serving on the Africa Mercy, a hospital ship that travels the African coast).


"Poverty"
07 March 2015

Remember the young man I talked about last week? He was initially rejected for surgery because of uncontrolled diabetes, but he got it under control and took the initiative to come from Tana to try again for surgery. His first surgery went very well--his vision in that eye is almost perfect now. He was scheduled for the second eye a week later and given a place to stay in the Hope Center while he waited. He came on surgery day, but his blood sugar was 598. (Normal is 70-120. The machine won't even read above 600, it is so far out of range.) It turns out that he'd run out of insulin, and they had no money to buy more. I had to turn him away. It was hard to dash his hopes like that, but what choice did I have? The surgeon won't do the surgery with a blood sugar above 300, and for good reasons. It really isn't safe.

Back at the Hope Center, it turns out that they really didn't have the money to buy insulin. It wasn't just a matter of rearranging their priorities to buy insulin instead of something else--they didn't have any money for anything. We're not supposed to give money to our patients, but one of our crew slipped them some money, and they bought some insulin. We rescheduled him to try again for surgery the next day.

This time, his blood sugar was 154, and he got his second eye done. Hopefully, his supply of insulin will last at least long enough for the eye to heal properly. Hopefully, now that he can see again, he can get a job and continue to buy the insulin he needs in the years to come.

Even though I see the shacks where people live, even though I see people every day who haven't been able to afford the medical care that they have needed for years, I sometimes forget what it means to be poor in Africa. To think that the lack of one bottle of insulin could stand between you and a surgery that would restore your sight, and that you could not afford even that one bottle of insulin...I guess this young man's plight has reminded me of what desperate poverty looks like.

I wonder how many of the patients that we have turned away due to high blood pressure, with instructions to see their doctor and get on medication, are not returning because they couldn't afford the doctor or the medicine, not even for long enough to try again to qualify for surgery? I wonder how many of the patients who arrive on the day of surgery with high blood pressure because they didn't take their medication that morning actually failed to take it because they couldn't afford to refill their prescription between the time they qualified for surgery and their actual surgery date? Perhaps the high rate of noncompliance isn't a matter of language barrier or lack of understanding, but is plain old poverty making compliance impossible. I have counseled many people on the importance of continuing their medications for glaucoma, diabetes, or blood pressure for the rest of their lives. For how many of those people did my advice sound more like a death sentence, since they couldn't possibly afford to do that?

It has been raining a lot for the last week, flooding the streets and houses, both here and even more so in Tana. Another tropical storm is headed this way, threatening to increase the flooding, especially in Tana. Many people have already lost their homes or possessions. In Tana, our team saw many homeless families sleeping on the streets even before these rains came. I can only imagine the suffering of those cold, wet, hungry people now. I suppose that this happens every year during the rainy season--but that doesn't make it more bearable. I am thankful for my warm, dry bunk with the promise of breakfast tomorrow, and even the availability of a hot shower before bed tonight. I grieve for the people around me whose lives do not include such luxuries, and even lack the essentials of food, shelter, and medical care. It can be overwhelming to think about--how much more it must be to have to live in such poverty.
--
Marilyn Neville 

[Click here to learn more about the nurses and doctors on board the Africa Mercy.]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE BROTHER

 
Just wanted to sneak in another post today and 
wish my brother Bob a

Very Happy Birthday. 

We don't see each other all that often but he means the world to me. And although he's getting older, I happen to know he's still pretty young at heart. 

Enjoy your day, Bob! 

Bob at Lake Entiat a couple years ago.

The Classics - Opening Lines: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort." 
(Published 1937) 

I love the classics and plan to share some "opening lines" over the coming months. Comment if you like, or read for inspiration. Writing styles were different then, but were they really?

Celebrate the Small Things: Old Letters and Postcards

 
Letters and postcards are such a thing of the past, that I find it refreshing to come across old correspondence tucked in a drawer or in the cover of an old book.
 

Does anyone remember the Griffin and Sabine books by Nick Bantock? He wrote a love/friendship story using only the couple's correspondence. It's beautiful to read if you've never read the series. You turn the pages and one by one each page has a pasted letter, an envelope with one inside, or a postcard stamped "Air Mail Par Avion." It's clever of the writer, but truly effective because the text is so engaging and on the adjacent page the art is gorgeous (Bantock is also the illustrator). 

My daughter-in-law from Singapore shared the series with me and I'm so glad she did. Check out the opening lines (Griffin is in London and Sabine is in the Simon Islands, South Pacific):

Postcard 1:

Griffin Moss, 

 It's good to get to touch

with you at last.

Could I have one of your 

fish postcards?

I think you were right--

the wine glass has more impact

than the cup.

Sabine Strohem

Post card 2:

Sabine,

Thank you for your exotic

postcard. Forgive me if

it's a memory lapse on my

part. But should I know

you?

I can't fathom out how you

were aware of my first

broken cup sketch for this

card. I don't remember

showing it to anyone.

Please enlighten me.

Yours,

Griffin Moss

 
Anyway, was looking for something to post, and thought of this old favorite. Here's the full title:
Griffin & Sabine: An Extraordinary Correspondence by Nick Bantock (1991, 1992, 1993 Chronicle Books)

Have a Nice Weekend Everyone!

IWSG: No Show, No Go

The Insecure Writers Support Group meets online every first Wednesday of the month. Founded by  
Alex J. Cavanaugh, IWSG was created to support and encourage all writers in every phase of their work, from writing to marketing. Click here to join, and for more information. The website has writing tips and much more. 

Hosted in March by: 
Chemist Ken, Suzanne Sapseed, and Shannon Lawrence!
 

This month my focus has been on making a public commitment to pursue publishing and all that involves: researching agents and publishers, polishing, polishing, polishing my novel, formatting the manuscript, reassessing if a previous synopsis works (it didn't), and sending out queries. I haven't sent out one query yet! Okay, deep breath, deep breath. Maybe this is normal. You think you're ready, but then you discover half a dozen things you haven't finished. 

The big thing is I've reduced the word count from 96k to 84k. The goal is 80k, which is more in the ball park for this genre (contemporary adventure mystery-YA). I decided that I wasn't following the so-called rules for a first time novelist. No sense shooting myself in the foot with a higher than normal word count. 

In other words, I didn't want an agent to think I didn't do my homework. I saved the original just in case I'm asked to flesh things out more, and I didn't cut any scenes, just a whole lot of flab. One thing that stood out to me, since this is a novel for young adults, is that I had adults dominating scenes too much in spots. I can't write this story without the help of adults, but where kids step up to the plate, I gave them more to say, and adults less. I used contractions more, which also reduced word count.

But the lurking ever present worry is that I will not finish.....and this process will drag on forever. I've had similar starts out the gate, and I don't want this to happen again. I no longer have an outside job and haven't for awhile, or other time-threatening interferences, so no excuses this time. No excuses!  

No Show, No Go, as the saying goes. 

On a brighter note, I'm still at the start gate, digging my toes in the sand, trying to ignore the phenomenal talent on my right and left (focus, focus, focus), and waiting for the gun to go off. I haven't given up (another pattern in my past), and God willing, I would really like to believe that this time is different.  

Also, I like what editor Cheryl B. Klein (who was continuity editor for two Harry Potter books) has to say about the submission process. (Anyone else read her book?). It's really about finding "the right match," she explains. "It's like dating."

"But in fact we editors are just people, readers, like you, looking to make connections just like you. And that led me to the comparison I'm going to make today: The submissions process is like dating--an intensely personal endeavor where everyone is looking for the right match."   (Cheryl B. Klein, Second Sight, 2009)
  
And again, my thanks to the IWSG community. I know it takes great effort and time on your part to pull away from your desk and busy life to share your writing journey, whether it's to seek encouragement and answers or to offer some yourself. I hope others debating the merits of this group will stop hesitating. But mostly, I wish everyone well.....Stay the Course _/)

The Classics - Opening Lines: Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

"Call me Ishmael. Some years ago--never mind how long precisely--having little or no money in my purse, and nothing in particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world." (Published 1851)



  I love the classics and plan to share some "opening lines" over the coming months. Comment if you like, or read for inspiration. Writing styles were different then, but were they really?