Dreams Solidified!

Hello All!

I apologize for not sending an update for week two, so now I am going to make a conglomeration of the last two weeks in one update. Instead of giving you a day by day account of the past two weeks, I am going to talk about how this trip has solidified my desire and my hope to be an international nurse. 


Two weeks ago, one of my leaders and I went to a woman's house because we were told there were worms crawling out of her skin. When we got there, all the skin on her right calf was completely gone. All that was left was raw, red/green/brown flesh that was leaking yellow goo. I felt completely useless because I didn't know what she had or what to do for her. My leader and I convinced the family to let us take her to the hospital. The doctors said she had diabetes, so that is why her leg had gotten that bad. Her family was unwilling to take her to the free, government hospital that would have been able to do more. They didn't even want to take care of her because they said she was a burden because she did not contribute to the family. This woman died the night after we had taken her to the hospital.

I have been able to do some very simple things like bandage a boy's foot who had cut it on some glass in the slums. As I was bandaging his foot, an entire swarm of little boys surrounded us and were watching me and saying "teacha, teacha!", while they showed me the completely healed scars on their arms and legs that they wanted me to bandage. This simple act of putting on neosporin and bandaids made these kids so happy and excited, that it made me really happy and excited too! I was also able to take a woman's blood pressure who had diabetes and was able to instruct her on how to take care of her feet so they don't get sores.

On Thursdays, we teach life skills class to the girls (by the way, I was was placed/chosen to be with the women at the stitching center instead of with the children at the preschool and after school program) and I am the official teacher for those classes now. I had completely forgotten that I was going to teach this class, so the night before I had to decide and plan what I was going to teach. I decided to teach the Heimlich maneuver and CPR because everyone should know how to do those two things. The girls absolutely loved this class! None of them knew how to do either of these things before I taught it to them. They were really focused on what I was saying (through our translator) and were relatively willing to be volunteers. After the class, a girl told me that she would use these new skills to help people if she needed to :) 

These simple things have made me realize how much more I have to learn and how much more I want to learn. I am really excited for my next two years of nursing school because I will learn such valuable skills. I have no desire to work in an American hospital. I am not being called to stay at home where it is comfortable and where I will make a decent amount of money. This trip had confirmed that I want to be a nurse that does home visits and takes care of simple things and teaches people basic health care. I want to give simple injections and develop enough knowledge to tell if someone has TB, meningitis, malaria or a simple cold. God is calling me to India and calling me to a life of simple nursing. I am so excited about it!! I might have to be a nurse practitioner, but if that is what it takes, then that is what I will do. God has such huge plans for my future and I am so excited to see what he has in store for me. 

Thank you so much for all your thoughts a prayers, I really appreciate them! I hope everyone has a blessed week.


In Him,
Ali