Hope you guys liked that movie, Momento, because this blog is a little like that. Digging back into last week for those stories but trying to keep up with the present as well makes for flip-floppy timelines. Thankfully, I don't have to tatoo my daily routines everywhere. ;-)
Remeber Gulu Regional Hospital?
Today we went to that hospital you may remeber as one of the toughest stops from last year's trip.
Gulu Regional. Just saying the name made me shiver at what I knew I would see there. At the implications of seeing such suffering and feeling so helpless to somehow improve the situation.
Last time I had a task. I'm good at tasks. Make tea. Give bread. This time it was a little different. More human to human interaction without some of the frills, sending me beyonfld the reaches of my comfort zone and asking me to get in there and simply love on and pray with the dying. Palliative care is a rough concept for me. It feels so trivial to hold their hand, only to walk away a moment later. And yet as hard as it was for me pick up that first hand, something beautiful stirred inside me sparking a human connection that simultaneously felt right and broke my heart.
A woman basically died in front of us. Our friend performed the last rights as the nurses drew the blankets up over her face.
I wanted to throw up and be a doctor all at the same time. Screaming at injustice also came to mind.
Today was one of those days where it feels like the stuff you did in the morning happened three days ago. Experiences like the hospital tend to overshadow all. Even the sky knew as the clouds grew dark and poured out rain. But we also did some things today that were kind of amazing and fun in their own right. In sum, today we also:
- Ate the most amazing meal in a mud hut.
- Witnessed inter NGO negotiations.
- Bartered in the marketplace for supplies to build a pit latrine.
- Drank a Stoney (this amazing ginger soda).
U know. A long day. Just like that.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
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