African Haiku

A friend of mine helped me fall in love with writing haikus. So I figured the best way to sum up the trip would be to write two haikus for each day. Not only did it create a nice little summary of my trip, it also helped kill some time on the outrageously long trip home. Here goes:



The body of Christ
in the Brussels airport.
What a nice comfort.

Cleanwater.org
and Advent Conspiracy
digging wells for God.

Arrival, at last.

A cockroach ran over my

foot at the airport.

.

Drove to the guesthouse

Oh man. This is it. I'm here.

I'm in Africa.

.

Drove to Torogo.

So much to see, smell and hear

as we bounce along.

.

Children in the street.

Women and trucks piled high.

Heard Robin's story.

.

People are friendly.

I hate language barriers

and bugs in my food.

.

Went to a village.

Played with the kids all evening.

They put me at ease.

.

Spent the morning on

pharmacy inventory.

Went to a fune'ral.

.

Dancing, fetishes,

balafones, masks, rice with sauce

and juice in a bag.

.

Church in the village,

learning how to dance to the

African rhythm.

.

And the little girl!

The precious girl in my lap.

Favorite. Memory.

.

Learned how to draw blood

and I got my hair braided.

Ferke tomorrow.

.

God, please continue

to speak to me. I long to

be obedient.

.

Cockroach on my bed.

Ready to go to Ferke!!

Rode with Adama.

.

Saw a deliv'ry

Diane and Sarah are great!!!

I will enjoy them.

.

Hospital tour.

Saw needs that I could fill and

I could teach Bible.

.

Feeling good about

coming back. Making plans but

holding them loosely.

.

Stood in surgery.

I watched Esther pound futu

which we ate for lunch.

.

First experience

in the African market.

I was overwhelmed.

.

Watched dressing changes.

Helped Diane discharge patients.

Observed in clinic.

.

Then went visiting.

Basson asked three times for me

to not forget them.

.

Went to a wedding

where they treated me like an

honored guest. Crazy!

.

Went to Yana's for

dinner. We had chicken

and sweet potato fries.

.

A French church service

and games in the afternoon.

Then off to a dance.

.

They were done dancing.

Diane asked them if the would

dance for the white girl. : )

.

Rounded on patients in

the surgical ward

and helped change dressings.

.

Diane and Sarah

have malaria. That's just

reality here.

.

Debriefed on the trip

back down to Abidjan. Good

to talk to Diane.

.

City traffic was

CRAZY. It was dirtier

than I remembered.

.

Went to the market

and ate some bushrat for lunch.

One last adventure!

.

Back to the airport!

I felt a little nervous

but it went smoothly.

.

Sleeping on airplanes

is harder than it looks and

it looks really hard.

.

Talked to my family

while sitting in Chicago.

I love them so much.