Ginny & Rebecca hand out t-shirts to the children at Mtsiliza
The FLY Gals
Rebecca and Ginny joined our team after a visit to Ethiopia where Ginny became bug bitten; and her bites seemed to get worse each day. One day, I finally took a closer look. I had never seen bug bites like these; large red welts with black puss filled heads. I thought they looked infected and said she should see a doctor immediately. We took her to see our heroic friend, Dr. Perry Janzen, Founder of Partners in Hope, a clinic for AIDS patients in Lilongwe. Indeed, her bites were a bit more than mere mosquitoes from Malawi could do. Ginny had been bitten by the ‘putsy’ fly in Ethiopia. Treatment began that day. Ginny endured the stinging and the unsightly welts with extreme patience. Robbin covered each bite with Vaseline and a band-aid, as prescribed by Dr. J, hoping the larva would suffocate and exit. Rebecca, washed, dried and ironed all Ginny’s clothing to kill any remaining bug infestation and stayed by Ginny’s side night and day. The next day, Janet chose to stay behind and run point on Ginny’s care along with Rebecca, while the team, already a day overdue, proceeded to visit the children at Chiwengo. Over the next 24 hours, Ginny again saw the doctor and he determined it was best to force the bugs to exit. Janet and Rebecca squeezed until all the larvas were out of Ginny’s body. Let’s just say there were more than 10 (x 7). The next day, she was improved and soon she was up and smiling again, her faith and joy filled self. At their best and most shinning moments, the team, which hated to leave Ginny behind, ministered in love to the children of Chiwengo Village (who had prepared for our coming) and continually thought of and prayed for Ginny and the ‘Fly’ gals. At their most heroic, Rebecca and Janet did the unthinkable for most of us, but did what was most necessary for taking extreme loving care of Ginny, ridding her of flies and all.
Rebecca and Ginny joined our team after a visit to Ethiopia where Ginny became bug bitten; and her bites seemed to get worse each day. One day, I finally took a closer look. I had never seen bug bites like these; large red welts with black puss filled heads. I thought they looked infected and said she should see a doctor immediately. We took her to see our heroic friend, Dr. Perry Janzen, Founder of Partners in Hope, a clinic for AIDS patients in Lilongwe. Indeed, her bites were a bit more than mere mosquitoes from Malawi could do. Ginny had been bitten by the ‘putsy’ fly in Ethiopia. Treatment began that day. Ginny endured the stinging and the unsightly welts with extreme patience. Robbin covered each bite with Vaseline and a band-aid, as prescribed by Dr. J, hoping the larva would suffocate and exit. Rebecca, washed, dried and ironed all Ginny’s clothing to kill any remaining bug infestation and stayed by Ginny’s side night and day. The next day, Janet chose to stay behind and run point on Ginny’s care along with Rebecca, while the team, already a day overdue, proceeded to visit the children at Chiwengo. Over the next 24 hours, Ginny again saw the doctor and he determined it was best to force the bugs to exit. Janet and Rebecca squeezed until all the larvas were out of Ginny’s body. Let’s just say there were more than 10 (x 7). The next day, she was improved and soon she was up and smiling again, her faith and joy filled self. At their best and most shinning moments, the team, which hated to leave Ginny behind, ministered in love to the children of Chiwengo Village (who had prepared for our coming) and continually thought of and prayed for Ginny and the ‘Fly’ gals. At their most heroic, Rebecca and Janet did the unthinkable for most of us, but did what was most necessary for taking extreme loving care of Ginny, ridding her of flies and all.
Robbin at Salima Village shared the Elephant Hut w/Janet (pic:IDP camp Uganda before coming to Malawi)
No comments:
Post a Comment