Malaria Free

We had a new boy join the compound this week, or, more correctly, an old boy returned. Alafi and his older brother lived at the children’s home for about six months a year or so ago. Their mother had been killed in an attack on a nearby village by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), and at the time of the attack, their father went into hiding in the bush, has not been heard from since, and is presumed dead. Alafi and his older brother later “escaped” from the compound and traveled to a refugee camp near Kampala, where their uncle had told them there would be a place for them. He deceived them. Their uncle was a drunk who had no intentions of taking care of them or providing for them. Alafi returned to the children’s home this week carrying all of his worldly possessions in a sack on his back. It is a rather amazing concept to think of a 10-year-old boy showing at your doorstep w/ everything he owns in a little sack, w/ no parents and no place to call home. Unfortunately, his story is the story of many of the kids here.

There is a large hill (mountain for the Floridians reading) next to the compound that has intrigued me since I first arrived here. One morning this week I decided to hike it. Matt Kynes was not w/ me so there was no land speed record that we had to beat, which was a good thing for this pale, frail kawaaja. It took about 30-40 minutes to get to the top, but the view was spectacular. Probably the best I had seen since Cinque Terre. I could see the Nile River snaking its way near Nimule and fog-covered hills bumping across the terrain that were hidden from our view from the compound. There is a radio tower at the top of the hill w/ a small camp at its base. A man named Martine was there “guarding” the tower. He was friendly and asked me (ordered me?) to sign a checkpoint book stating the time and date and my purpose for coming. He also asked me to take a picture of him. I guess he wanted someone to know he was there. I imagine it’s a solitary existence at the top of the hill. There was a radio chattering what seemed to be BBC News in the distance. At least he will be up-to-date on the current events in far away lands.

Ross has asked me to help lead the Bible studies for the older kids on Wednesday nights. I want to do some sort of Alpha course or overview of Christian principles for them as I am sometimes a little concerned by what I hear during morning devotions or similar study times. I try not to be critical or judgmental, but a lot of what I hear sounds like pretty bad theology.

When I woke up on Thursday, I did not feel well. I was extremely fatigued. I pretty much stayed in bed all day. I felt better when I woke up on Friday, but I was again really tired after going to morning devotion. When I also developed a mild fever, I decided to go to the hospital to get checked for malaria. It was an interesting experience. They pricked my finger and did blood work. The tests were negative for malaria. They gave me a prescription for painkillers and a B vitamin complex. All this for a whopping total of zero shillings. Maybe socialized medicine isn’t so bad after all.

Since I didn’t have malaria, to determine what was wrong, I went to Dr. House for a differential diagnosis and, after dismissing Dr. Foreman’s ubiquitous suggestion of vasculitis, he determined that my illness was caused by a combination of not sleeping well (it’s hard to fall asleep sometimes in the steam cooker), dehydration (despite drinking 3-4 liters of water per day), and not eating well (I’ve shed about a pound per day since arriving in Sudan). I will have to work on fixing these problems in the coming weeks.