What a Morning!

Last week started off with our night guard, Momade, showing up for his shift on Tuesday night with a bandage over his left eye and one of the back of his head. He proceeds to tell Nunu that he got jumped while walking home but I think he isn’t telling the truth because he was having some personal problems the week before.

I can’t believe he even showed up, and so I sent him home.

A few days later, on Wednesday, he calls Nunu and asks if I could re-bandage his wounds. While I’m not excited and I get more nervous the more serious the wounds are, I say yes. I’m thinking he means in a few hours but he shows up a little later. It’s not even 8am and I’m still in my pajamas.

I start pulling the gauze off the wounds and the one on the back of his head comes off easy. The cut is about an inch and he has 2 stitches. I try taking the gauze off the other wound but it’s stuck really bad. I get some water and try to soften things up so it comes off easier… it helps but not much. So as usual, I look away and try to pull slowly. He says this doesn't hurt, I look back to see how much more I need to pull and that is when I start getting sweaty. 

It's so early that I haven't pulled the fan from my room yet, but this is one of those I'm about to get sick sweats. I think because of how warm it is here when my body gets the sweats it's SO obvious to me... it's like as if every pore on my body said, "On the count of 3 sweat." 

I finally get the bandage off, he has 2 more stitches. I’ve never had stitches but these look more like my first ever sewing project than what I imagine stitches to look like. I would think the tail of the string would be cut closer to the wound... but there is like 1/4 of an inch on each side of the knot. 

By now Nunu has left but Antonio (our administrator) has shown up. I’m afraid that if I look at Momade’s cuts any longer I might throw up on him, but I feel really rude walking away. Momade doesn’t really speak any English, so I ask Antonio to tell him I just need to sit down for a minute before I go on. So I go grab my fan and I try to cool off by sitting right in front of it for a minute.

I've stopped sweating, back to work I go. I start putting Neosporin on the cuts and cover them with gauze, but again I have to walk away. This time I go lay down for about 15 minutes while poor Momade patiently waits for me. I really feel like I’m going to be sick but I’m not sure what is going on… is it the blood or did I eat/drink something bad again.

I’m finally able to put the finishing touches on his wounds. And I send Momade on his way with some Tylenol.

I'm ready to shower and just lay down, but Nunu comes back to my door. He tells me that another worker’s (Maria) daughter died the night before. He and Antonio are going to go visit and he wants to know if we can bring a bag of rice for the family. A bag of rice is about 500 MZN, it’s not exactly in our budget but this seems like the right thing to do. I think about it for a little and we talk through what is normal here in Mozambique. I ask if it would be rude for me to stay home... he thinks it's okay. 

I’m curious how death is handled here in Moz and I feel like I should go but I just don’t feel well, so Antonio and Nunu are going to go over. Nunu tells me that the funeral will probably be tomorrow, so I’m hoping I feel better by then. Before they leave the boys decide that they want to send part of their Jar Money to Tia Maria (Aunt Maria).

I don't even think it's 9am yet. 

A few hours later Nunu and Antonio return to the house. The funeral is going to be later that day at 3:00. They fill me in a bit more on what they found out. It turns out Maria’s daughter was in labor last night. She delivered her baby but didn’t survive. Apparently she was dehydrated and lost a lot of blood.

From what I’ve heard, Mozambique has one of the highest death rates during pregnancy. I figured those woman were dieing at home… not in the hospital.

Going to the funeral would probably mean a lot of walking, and I just don’t feel good today. So I decide to stay home again.

I talk to Julia a few days later to fill her in on what is happening. She asks me if Maria has asked for money for formula for the baby. She hasn't. While trying to get the whole story from Nunu, I found out that Maria has a house full of family. I think Maria is in her 60's. Before her daughter passed, she had 2 grown daughters living with her. One was pregnant and the other had a baby a few months ago. Three of Maria's grandchildren (at least 2 of whom are the children of these 2 women) live there and a friend of the family. 

Julia was asking about the formula because I guess it's common for babies to die if there is any problem with a milk supply. Since this babies mother passed, Julia was concerned with where it's milk would come from. Formula is expensive in the states but imagine how hard it would be to buy if you only made $100 a month. We figure that the other daughter is also feeding this new baby in addition to her 3 month old. 

Wednesday morning is the perfect example of what life is like here in Moz. You wake up in the morning with a plan but you never know who is going to show up at your door and you never know what issues you are going to have to deal with. As soon as you deal with one thing a whole new thing comes along. 

My time here in Moz has been much different than I had planned. Not just the amount of time I spent in Maputo but also my days in Pemba. I have all these ideas and things I want to do with the kids and ideas about how I want to communicate back home but my days have been filled with random yet important issues.

I will leave in a few days knowing that I’ve done all I can this time and excited to return at the end of June.