It Must Be in the Water!

It probably is NOT in our water, but I like to blame it on that.  More likely, I am just spending time with roughly 100 new people every day, exchanging germs with those who spend their time in the close living spaces of dormitories with 30 or so other people......and I am just the lucky recipient of every virus and cold that comes anywhere near this school. 

At any rate, somehow, I truly think I have caught every.single.thing that has gone around school so far this term. 

This week I've stumbled through 1/2 - 3/4 of my classes, but have almost constantly been yearning to crawl back into bed.  A virulent stomach bug swept through the school, seeming to hit more females than males (or maybe it just seemed that way to me?) and only hitting one member of our Berg family, namely, me.  At one point, I was shivering under the covers with 103 fever and wondering if I'd ever felt this bad before in my life. 

Thankfully, I survived, again.  Though the water at school keeps being tested and retested, and nothing foul has been found as of yet, we still have decided to begin boiling all our water.  Only Cipro brought me back to the land of the living, and the same story is true for many of the ill students as well, leading us all to think this is something more than a "virus". 

Meanwhile, Tim has thrilled at the chance to work at the hospital this week.  In school, we are reading Hamlet, and I am struggling to find a way to convince these students that the story is so much more than just a school assignment.  Alas, I have not succeeded, I am afraid.  I see the glazed look in their eyes as they open the books, except for a few brave souls who actually find the plot interesting and applicable to their lives (future English majors, no doubt!).  It breaks my heart that I haven't found a way to transmit my love of this play to them, but I maybe I will have better luck next year, my second round at sharing the play. 

Our hearts still break at the news of Kito, the little boy from Idjwi Island who has been so near death recently, whom Tim treated in a separate life threatening situation just one year ago.  Our hopes are beginning to rise that he might make it, thanks to the clinical care he has received and his little body's amazing response and ability to bounce back.  Then, two days ago, we received news that Deste's sister, who also lives on Idjwi, is also near death.  Malaria is so prevalant on Idjwi that 80% of the patients in their hospital come in with Malaria.  80%!  That is simply atrocious.  Although we enjoy living here in Kenya so much, we realize that our hearts and minds are so often not in Kenya yet, but are still behind us in Rwanda and Idjwi, with such poor and sick people whom the world seems to have forgotten. 

We pray that someday, God will raise up a team of his children to go back with us there, to serve his people there, to love our neighbors, to bring his care to those who do not have it, as he has asked us all to do.