Simply Beautiful

Today is the one week mark.  I only have one more week here in Togo.  Where did the time go?!? I have gotten to learn and see so much that the time has passed by very quickly.  I haven’t had the chance to blog about half of it.  Last night I was on call, but got a full 8.5 hours of sleep!  I think that is the most sleep I have gotten since coming to Togo….and for those that know me well know that I really like to sleep J  I think the fact that it was much cooler last night after the rain we got helped a lot. 

I woke up this morning and rounded on the pts and then did a c-section for twins!  Multiples are so fun! One boy and one girl.  Everything went really well.  Mom and both babies are doing great.  This pt brought extra family with her to help with both little ones.  The babies here are so cute.  They are all born with the most adorable fro.  It would be the envy of many back home who put a lot of effort into getting their hair to look this way. 

So refreshing!

 

Having fun, clothes and all!

 

 

This afternoon a bunch of us got to take a hike out through the local mountains to a waterfall.  What a great way to see Togo!  Hiking along this dirt path we got to see many people out harvesting things from the surrounding jungle, small villages and family compounds, people doing laundry in the local river and  hauling their goods back to their homes hoisted upon their heads. A lot of the hospital staff lives back in the jungle behind the hospital where we were walking.  It just gave me a much better sense of where the nurses and pts live and how they do life.

When we finally reached the top we got to this really beautiful waterfall and swimming hole.  Yes, I jumped in clothes and all!  So refreshing. I don’t think I have been that cool since arriving in Togo.  God sure has created some incredible stuff.  Africa is so beautiful. 

View from the trail

The views from the mountains we were hiking up just spoke of His greatness and vastness.  I am sure that the pictures I took do not even capture half of the wonder of it all.  Everything is green.  The tall jungle trees grow all sorts of nuts and fruit that can be eaten. The wild flowers come in some of the brightest colors of reds, yellows and lavenders.  The dirt we walk on is a rust color that contrasts with the green jungle surroundings.  There were also a fair number of chickens, goats and pigs we saw roaming around eating whatever they could find.  I am sure that they all belong to someone, but I have no idea how anyone keeps track of them all.  The children seem to be working just as hard as the adults carrying fire wood, flour or water on their heads back to their compounds.  As we were walking back it was getting closer to dinner time and many of the families were cooking in the open air in the middle of their compounds with big pots set on top of open fires.  Families and extended families all seem to live together in the same compound and so they share meals together as well as communal chores.  Their homes range from mud huts with thatched roofs to small square cement buildings with tin roofs.

One of the compounds where they were drying food

 All of them appear to have dirt floors.  A compound usually consists of several such homes arranged in a square or circle with all of their doors facing inward to a central open area where most of the day’s activities take place.  Each compound also has a communal meeting area which consists of an open air shelter with a thatched roof and a few wooden benches underneath.  The dry season is coming when there will no longer be fresh fruits and vegetables.  As we were walking through the different compounds I saw many people laying out their goods to dry in the sun so that they could store them for the coming months without any rain.  I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to step away from the hospital for a bit and see a little bit more of this country.  I can’t believe that I have been so blessed to spend the last month in such a place as this.