The past few days have been pretty interesting. I have a couple experiences I would love to share with you guys! (this is Jen) Two evenings ago I was at the OVC (orphans and vulnerable children feeding program) and noticed a sweet little girl of about 3 years old sitting on a mat and crying quietly while she stared off into space holding her hard boiled egg and her spoon for her untouched bowl of rice, while everyone else was singing loudly and jumping around like kids do. I came close to her and noticed that her left parotid area (jawline) was very swollen and seemed to be tender to touch. She wasn't talking and wouldn't open her mouth. I did a quick exam (I carry my stuff with me everywhere here) and all I could find was the swelling.

So I took her on to the hospital with an older girl I thought was her sister (turned out to be a neighbor), and waited there for the doctor to get out of a meeting. She didn't have much of a fever, but felt pretty hot (that counts for something here, oddly enough-I think the thermometers just aren't good enough to depend on) and she still wouldn't speak, even with a translator. Anyway, the doc finally came in and thought it was most likely mumps (they have no vaccine for that here), but we tested for a CBC, HIV and malaria. Unfortunately, it was 4 pm, and the power was still out, so the labs had to wait for the next day. This meant that she would have to stay overnight.

Her mother was sent for, and all in all I waited with her for over 3 hours. Her mother hadn't come yet, and she wet the bed twice. I was very concerned....however, come to find out once we got some words out of her, the real problem is that she is quite shy and was terrified of the Mukua (mu-koo-a), namely, me. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry...I felt terrible. The poor thing must have thought I kidnapped her! To make matters worse, we had gotten a ride to the hospital in a vehicle that had a huge bull mastiff in it! I didn't think she was scared because she didn't cry...but again, stupid Mukua!

The end of the story is that her bloodwork came back HIV negative (Praise you Jesus!), no malaria and a good CBC, so we diagnosed her with mumps and sent her home. Her mother, yesterday, I thought at first was upset with me because she didn't understand why the Mukua had taken her daughter to the hospital, when that morning she had been fine. I explained through an interpreter and the next thing she said was how grateful she was to me for taking care of her daughter. I fought back the tears for sure. The girl's name is Sibeso, if you were wondering, and she will always be dear to my heart!

Today I got to assist in a c-section and it was amazing. It was my first birth and to get to be right there and help with getting the kid out...wow! A beautiful and healthy baby girl. I haven't found out her name yet, but I'm hoping to get a photo of mom and baby tomorrow. Mom is just 16 and HIV + Thank God there are now drugs we can give to knock mother to child transition down to 3-5% instead of the 30%+ it was before. That little girl now has a future and a hope, just like Jeremiah 29:11 promises!