What do you take for granted?

So, life here continues at a frantic pace. Many people say that life here is like Ground Hog Day, each day is the same. However, for me thankfully, that is not the case. I get to meet new people almost everyday and learn new things.

Last Tuesday, I spent the morning at the free clinic for the first time. It was so much fun and I enjoyed getting to interact with local people for the first time. It was also extremely humbling for me and made me very thankful for the comforts that I have here.

The morning went by extremely fast and just in our room, we saw over 40 patients, all women and children. One woman would come in and bring all her children with her. Our interpreters would start the interview off by asking why they had come. The women would start with their own ailments and once they were done, move onto everything that was wrong with her children. Of course as in all places, there were one or two women who came just because it’s the free clinic and they might get something free. However, most of those who came had real ailments.

One fifteen year old girl, who came in, had one leg shorter than the other. She had fallen or something when she was four years old and had dislocated her hip. It was never properly doctored and so her hip over the years had simply grown into the wrong place and the socket had filled with some sort of tissue which had her whole pelvis out of alignment. The only thing we were able to do for her was take her foot measurement and measure her legs, so that one of our doctors could make her an elevated shoe to even out her gait. He is ordering some shoes and taking them apart to make her an orthopedic shoe.

A woman who was six months pregnant came in for help. A year and a half ago, she was badly burned in a propane explosion. She’s lucky to be alive. Her torso from the breasts and then on down to her knees is one huge mass of scar tissue. Now imagine that scar tissue being slowly stretched over time due to her pregnancy. As you can imagine, she is in a lot of pain. Unfortunately, all we can do is give her lotion which we hope might soften her skin a little, and some Tylenol to take the edge of the pain. Seriously, the worst scarring I have ever seen, not that I’m a medical professional or anything.

One little boy had a huge ulcer on his foot, and of course he didn’t have any shoes. Apparently, he had stepped onto a red hot piece of metal and burned his little foot or should I say melted his little foot. My friend HM2 A. (Hospital Corpsmen Second Class) cleaned his foot and cut away some of the dead skin and then bandaged his foot up. It was clean for a few minutes before he jumped down and ran out the door barefoot with a stuffed animal in his hand for being a brave boy.

Sometimes the clinic hands out little toys, stuffed animals or school supplies to the kids when they come in. It just depends on what they have on hand. I got to hand out toys to some of the kids, and almost started a riot when I made the mistake of handing some out through a window. Okay lesson learned, only patients inside the clinic get stuffed animals.

So, what don’t I take for granted anymore? Clean medical facilities and the very latest in medical technology. Okay, a bottle of Tylenol is a luxury here. Clean water from a faucet, or maybe just clean water, or not having to walk to get water. Shoes of any kind—all of sudden my hot pink Crocs seem so frivolous. Grass. Paved roads. Clean smelling people. A vacuum that actually sucks. Driving, cooking my own food, seeing friends and family. Internet that downloads in seconds, not minutes (3 hours to download just one session of General Conference). Just lots of little things I didn’t think about or give much thought to at home.

These few weeks here have been eye opening as I reflect on what my life is like in the U.S. I have it good. We all have it good for that matter. Funny, how the littlest thing going wrong in our life can be so huge, and yet here the littlest things are missing from people’s lives. Just a pair of shoes makes a difference. We complain and complain, and forget to take notice of all that we have. Life is good! I hope I can remember the lessons I’m learning here.

Below are some photos from my morning at the clinic.


This is me, of course, and a little girl name Reza. I loved her outfit. It's made of the fuzzy, furry yarn that is fun to make scarves out of. She's beautiful. Her dad runs the pharmacy at the free clinic.

This little girl has such beautiful eyes. She was so eager to learn anything new and kept asking me questions. Unfortunately, I don't speak Dari.

A fun little family. They were very concerned about getting their stuffed animals and were very relieved to get them.

This woman was anxious that I take her family's photo. She is very proud of her children, two boys and a little girl. The babies are very tightly swaddled, even in the heat. Poor kids just need to air out a bit. One little one even had a fungus growing on the back his head because Mom kept him so tightly swaddled. Not this baby though, this one is pretty healthy.

My friend HM2 A at work tending to the little boy's burned foot. His sister held him to keep him still and comfort him for the pain. This family was great.

See what I mean about the babies being tightly swaddled? This little one had the best smile and mom is so pretty. Some women don't mind having their photos taken, especially with their babies.

Look at those eyes and those chubby cheeks! This is the epitome of a swaddled baby. Mom was very happy to let me take her little one's photo, but quickly slipped her burqa into place before allowing me to take the photo. Now women have a choice about wearing the burqa, not like during the Taleban occupation. There are still many women who wear burqas, but they seem to be in the majority.

Many of you have emailed me asking what do I need. Honestly, I have what I need here, however if you would like to help me out what I really need are school supplies--book bags (very popular), pencils, sharpeners, crayons, notebooks, paper, pens, non-Christian based easy to read children's books, and of course small stuffed animals for the clinic. This more than anything else would be the most help.