.March08.Women's day

so, what is women's day???

a day of pinks and purples and reds and yellows

a day of a thousand stamping feet

a day of dust in screaming vocal chords

a day of streamers and banners and tchadian flags

a day for the women (imagine that)

a day where the men are supposed to cook

are supposed to pound rice and stir boule in a smokey acrid
mudbrick cookshack

a day where the women don't have to work

a day where they can be free

a day to dance

a day to dream

a day to forget
the the other 364 days don't belong to them

I can't help being a little cynical

sure, i got out there and screamed and marched with the best of them

sure, i wrapped my head in pink and showed up to support the sister

sure, i have Rosie the Riveter pasted onto my tchadian wall

sure, if i had to label myself, I'd be a staunch feminist

so why do I have the inclination to roll my eyes when I hear the phrase
"women's day"?

because every day should be women's day
because every day should be about equality
because every day should be about respect

women are treated like animals here

they are beaten
sometimes every day
they are raped
sometimes every night
they have children
sometimes one after another after another

they wake up at 5 in the morning
making fire, making tea, making boule, making food
they go out into the bush, gathering sticks, trying to sell them in the
market
they sit all day in the hot sun trying to sell tomatoes
they squat beside a sizzling pan of spiting oil - making gatos
they work 4 hours before work, they work 6 hours after work

in the hospital, they don't speak for themselves
if there is a man there, he speaks for them
he tells them what to do,
he yells at them
their eyes are exhausted
either their eyes are proud. daring you to approach them. looking
evenly through you
or their eyes are downcast, looking at anyone but you
fatigue creases their faces
their hands are large and cracked and calloused

when they say yes, they don't say it.
they make a click
in the back of their throat
almost imperceptible
and this is just my theory
but that is a submissive click
a downcast inaudible yes
seen but not heard

and there are good men sprinkled here and there

Teskrio is one of them

but he doesn't work when he's not at the hospital

he plays cards with friends. rides his moto. reads books. studies.

but Bikaou never stops working. never.

I tell them its not fair

but it is the culture
the very, very
male-dominated culture

so they gave us a day

thanks

we will dance for you

but - the spirit of that day!!
the magic
the laughter
the joy
the colors
the clapping
the enthusiasm
the taking back of the power
it is infectious

and the eyes are twinkling

and there is a secret in the air

that today is not about taking back the power, taking back the equality

that today - is about having the power all along - a source of strength
and wisdom that runs deep underground, a river of fire and energy and
beauty, a will to keep going keep dreaming and keep fighting that no one
can ever take.

and while they make their speeches,

that,
that is what we are celebrating.

.March08

and then there were the children

.March08

dancing, chanting, waiting while the male-dominated stage of delegates
make speeches about a new, liberated, progressive tchadian attitude
towards women

.March08

me and Marci and Mayline - pink heads and pink faces - marching for
women's day in the 12noon heat

represent

.March08

Me and Bikaou - my Tchadian mere

pink and black for women's day

.grandmere

Sarah - Teskrio's mother.

the children call her "Dit-Dit" (Deedee)

she has been having seizures and is rapidly declining - please give her
your thoughts, prayers, rays of positive energy

she is a wise old soul

and loves to wear greens, yellows, purples

***Photo taken by Adam Hernandez

.re.hy.drate

so. let me introduce you to the illustrious pediatric re-hydration campaign

a plan that at its conception several hours ago proudly boasted of 17
bleached out juice bottles, 10 oral-re-hydration-salt sachets, 9 500 ml
bottles of Ringers, and one bent and battered yellow notebook where we
sign it all out.

already - we have 2 of our first patients

already - it is working.

you would think that drinking water is a simple things.
that knowing that children need water is intrinsic knowledge
that not giving a kid something to drink for 24 hours wouldn't be common
that hearing things like "he doesn't want to drink so he hasn't had
anything today" as I pinch up the skin into shapes and it stays in place
wouldn't be something i hear and do every day.

or, you would think, that after I explain that, for example, they should
give them X ml/hr for X hrs they would at least do it once or twice.

I don't know where the breakdown is
I don't know where the communication or lack thereof got lost along the way

I only know that almost every child in peds is de-hydrated.
and that no one has cups.
and i can't get it out of the pixus. or the supply closet.

and no matter how much they need it - IVF is the last thing that we
prescribe. because first on the list is quinine....or mabendazole....or
metro
we have to conserve their resources for only the essentials.

imagine what would happen in American healthcare - if you had to pay
CA$H for every medicine, every consultation, every IV, every everything
BEFORE you got help. If you were sent away if you couldn't pay cash up
front.

and we say, well, here, thats okay, because its so cheap. the hospital
services are so cheap. but they aren't. not if you look at how much
income they make here - approx. $1.00 a day. You can almost never get
out of this hospital without spending 10-20 dollars your first day - and
we call that cheap??

so, in actuality, this hospital is for the affluent. During our time in
the villages, we are learning that most people in Bere can't afford the
hospital. Most come from Kelo, from other surrounding areas....

anyway, this all adds up to the fact that almost every child in peds is
dehydrated and hydrating them is not simple. I've been trying for 4
months and it is the simple things that are accomplished only with a fight.

so - all the volunteers are donating their bottles - we will have a good
supply because it is so hot and everyone's weakness is going to the
market to find something cold.

people like bottles here. old bottles are sold in the market - most
people don't have a water bottle and containers of every sort are always
in demand.

I have tons of crystal light packets, juice packets etc.

so, for the kids that aren't vomiting, we will mix the salts with juice
and give them a bottle. They are told that they need to give their
child at least 5 cap fulls every hour. That the bottle needs to be gone
in a day - and then we will fill it up again.

now. they have a container. they have something measurable. they saw
us mix the salts and the juice - the kid likes it. so, at least today,
they are giving it. now - water is medicine.

for the kids that really need fluid and are too poor to buy it, the
nurse will sign out the Ringers and amend the count.

This isn't sustainable - i'm using the "needy neighbor fund" money i
begged from my mother - to use in Pediatrics - but at least while I'm
here, there is no reason any child should be dehydrated in the next 6
months.

I am so excited.

i already can see dehydration running for the door, tripping on its
wrinkled skirts as it goes.

also - some good happy news - the picture I posted of the burned kid -
Felix - the one we spent so much time and grief and effort on, the one
we made the burn creme for - he got sent home like a month ago - and
today I ran into his dad. He is walking, his skin has healed, he is
healthy, he is alive. he made it.

it just shows you that good things can happen when you don't give up.
that you should keep trying because one day, all your efforts will
collide, all the small things, and someone will live because of it.

The nurses here and Olen too are convinced that the burn creme Amanda
and I cooked up in the kitchen saved the life of a 13 year old girl.
she is still here. 3rd degree burns all over her chest and face and
arms, but she is almost healed and when she got here they used only our
burn creme on here because there wasn't anything else and everyone said
it worked better. I'm not trying to brag, maybe I am just a little, I
just think its so amazing that a little effort and a little ingenuity
can actually save someone's life. it reminds you that ideas matter, and
that hard work matter even more.

so, those are some happy thoughts.

so. drink your water. and be glad you don't have to boil it first.