8 September 2019
The surgery nurse, Emmanuel, and I walked into the pediatric surgery ward. Ok, that gives you the wrong picture. Emmanuel and I pulled the curtain back from a doorway and ducked into a small room--a room not really built to be a patie...
Staci Davenport
Posted on September 9th, 2020
7 September 2019
So this is slow season--the time of year when patients can't make it to the hospital because the roads are full of ponds or covered by rivers. They don't have time for traveling to the hospital anyway because they're busy working the ...
Staci Davenport
Posted on September 9th, 2020
17 August 2019
What would make your life in Chad more luxurious?
The question floated across the air-conditioned, well-decorated, carpeted living room to where I sat catching up with old friends, supported by soft couch cushions, drinking ice water a...
Staci Davenport
Posted on September 8th, 2020
15 May 2019
The ceiling fan circles above, clicking and wafting waves of warm air. Kids play under the mango trees outside, crunching mango leaves under their bare feet and bike tires, laughing, yelling. Behind all of the usual afternoon sounds on the...
Staci Davenport
Posted on September 8th, 2020
April 2019
Have you ever put ants in milk, just to see what would happen? Have you ever put ants in milk to see if the milk was bad? If you don't think ants are a reasonable way to test the safety of milk, then you're probably not from around here. Th...
Staci Davenport
Posted on September 8th, 2020
6 March 2019
Today we traveled 300 km to ruin someone's day.
During one of my fourth year medical rotations, the nurse practitioner who helped lead the service gave us a very clear explanation of her rules at the beginning of our rotation. One rule i...
Staci Davenport
Posted on September 8th, 2020
2 March 2019
I looked up at the large lightbulbs above our heads and wished they'd used the electricity flowing to those lights to power some ceiling fans instead. The pastor was saying something in French about following Jesus first and all the other...
Staci Davenport
Posted on September 8th, 2020
26 February 2019
Sometimes patients are the most grateful when we provide treatment for the most simple problems. Today a family carried their 3-year old into our outpatient consultation area. She started crying as soon as she saw nasaras in scrubs fr...
Staci Davenport
Posted on September 8th, 2020
5 February 2019
Part of adjusting to a new place is learning where to buy groceries. I'm still learning, but I am glad to say I've found the Wegman's/Publix/Whole Foods/Central Market (pick your favorite local bougie grocery store) of Bere.
The store...
Staci Davenport
Posted on September 8th, 2020
23 January 2019
Are some babies more valuable than others?
Of course not, right?
To some moms, though, there seems to be a difference. When a mother has had 8 pregnancies but no living children, that 9th baby is precious, compared to the 12th baby a m...
Staci Davenport
Posted on September 8th, 2020
