Turning My Trials To Gold...

Hello Again!!!

Well it’s becoming a pattern now to report back to you how my weekend went since they are now becoming exciting and a story to tell!! I told that we were headed into town to go grocery shopping last weekend and that it’s 2 hours one way...well I will quickly explain how that day ended but whoever passes this on to my dad please tell him that I am safe! We had a wonderful lunch at the Guava Cafe and I tried a Mango milkshake and it was simply delightful. Did a little shopping, got groceries, got gas, and started our journey home. We were on the road just getting ready to pass over Maguga Dam and we had about 40 minutes of sunlight left and all of a sudden we came to a “road block”. Now when I say road block, it is a red plastic gas container with a little rock on top of it sitting in the middle of the road, but up ahead is a bus turned sideways blocking both sides of the 2 lane road. (I do have a picture to go with this story!!) So Ruth stops the car and all 4 of us girls are surveying the situation and deciding what to do at this point. There are cars coming from the other direction that are barely squeezing by, one by one to get around the bus. People are getting out of their cars and then getting back into the car when they make it pass the bus. We couldn’t figure out why people would get out then run over and get in,(they were afraid the car would turn over into the ditch) until it was our turn to try and squeeze by. Oh by the way let me mention that a car full of 4 girls is not an ideal situation when it is NOTHING but all men standing around the bus and slow moving vehicles. Oh and to make the story more exciting, the broken down bus was a Correctional Facility Bus of men that had it written on the side of the bus. So it’s now our turn to go by and there is barely enough room on both sides to squeeze by because on the left Ruth could have scratched up her mirror on the bus or on the right is a ditch that we could have flipped the car into. Well since I am here to give you this update, you know how the story turned out-safe and sound. So as we made it through safely with our doors locked, my roommate Leigh says that was a situation right out of a movie girls. Seriously 4 girls in a car driving upon a road block of about 25 men that are in a Correctional bus and then the girls disappear from their afternoon of grocery shopping. The good news is that it all turned out OK but we were very nervous to say the least!

Lets see, this week has been a hard week and the most challenging week for me so far. It’s been raining for the last 3 days and the cold weather seems to be getting colder. I came home from work on Tuesday and had a really hard day of patients with TONS of tartar, my instruments are getting dull so therefore it’s taking longer to remove the tartar and now my hands are starting to ache. All I really wanted to do was get warm and just unwind from the day. So I asked Ruth if we could make a fire in the fireplace and she said no, because we didn’t have enough wood for a fire. Since it has been raining she said we can’t go gather wood either because it will all be wet. So I said how about the little pile that’s in the garage, and she said no, because it hasn’t been split and wont fit in the little fire place. So being completely tired, cold, and worn out I decided I would take the sharp ax and go chop the wood. Well I hope you are all getting a mental picture of this one, because living in Arizona my WHOLE life I have never swung an ax before and have never chopped wood before. So away I go and I asked my roommate Sophie from England to come help me because it was the other girls turn to cook dinner that night. After about a million hacks at the wood taking turns back and forth Sophie and I managed to collect a pile of wood that burned out in 30 minutes. I thought to myself that night, gosh I think I’m on a reality TV show of some type of Survivor. I thought I was a very domesticated women before I came to Africa knowing how to cook, clean, mow my grass, hunt/fish, take care of a house, dog, etc.. but now I’ve taken it to the next level-chopping wood! Ha-Ha

No really I’m serious, one weekend Ruth went out of town to go to a friends wedding and asked the 3 of us if we would hang curtains to give our windows some privacy and so we hung curtains that weekend, went picking the avocado trees for fresh avocado’s, and collected fire wood from the forest. These curtains are NOT what I’m use to in the USA. It wasn’t just a pole then you attach the plastic loops and then plug it in, this was legitimately counting the material and placing some eye hooks and then tying off the rope and pulling the rope through to give it the squished curtain effect. Ok enough of the detail on how I’m more domesticated, even though it would have been nice to just come home and turn on the heater or flip a switch to your fake fireplace that runs on gas! I have learned that this is all part of the living and learning experience and I’m THANKFUL to be here! In the grand scheme of things I am just so HAPPY to be able to see the children’s faces smiling at me and saying a huge Thank-You with a big hug accompanying the gratitude after their teeth are cleaned or extracted! Now I have also realized that you have to work a lot harder living under these conditions and let me tell you, there isn’t anything “easy” here!

Our scheduled day of no electricity was on Wednesday but this time the word never traveled to my house so Ruth and I had no clue that I wasn’t going to be able to work on patients. So I went to work at the Bulembu Hospital Clinic and saw one patient and then I had my next patient in the chair and the electricity went out. I thought oh give it a little time it shall come back on because the village people said that happens often when its raining and the electricity will shut off for a little while. Nope, never came back on and I could not see her teeth in the dark so I had to reschedule my day. It was my night to cook dinner that night and I made beef tacos (yummy) and squash. I know you were thinking beans but I couldn’t find refried beans at the last 2 grocery stores I had been to.

On a fun note I did go to a Braai (we call it a Bar-B-Q-) and danced the night away! I learned a South African dance called Sokkie it’s equivalent to ball room dancing with some spins and turns in it. It was a going away party for one of the volunteers named A.J. and the South African men were teaching my roommate Leigh and I the new moves! It was sooooo much fun and now I think I will take up ball room dancing!

Going to a candle and glass factory early Saturday morning and then to the cultural village of Swaziland to see the natives dancing, eat some native food, and some other sight seeing adventures!

Oh and the number of teeth extracted now is up to 9 teeth! And I must say 9 happy children that did not even cry or shed a tear!!! I also want to say a Happy Belated Birthday to my dear friends Kristina and Kendra, sorry I missed it-Pizzokie and Pita Jungle when I get home! Congrats Krysten on the twins finally!! Can’t wait to see pictures of my new cousins! And a huge CONGRATS to Stacey on her big Wedding Day SATURDAY!!

Bye until next Saturday!

Sweatin it in the dental clinic but freezing outside!!

Well I just want to give you all a very vivid mental picture of how hard it is for me to even get to the one and only place for internet here in this village...first I must walk about 18-20min up 2 hills and down one to get to the office where you can email. When I mean hills, I mean like heart pounding heavy breathing hills. Your all probably thinking well that’s no big deal for someone who works out a ton and is in shape, well they are significant hills I must say. At least I am still getting my daily exercise and it’s in the outdoors (where I love) and not at the gym.

Which now leads me to telling you about last Saturdays “bike ride” HAHAHA I’m still laughing with my roommates about that day!! Bike ride would be a complete understatement as to what we accomplished. We actually went Mountain Biking for 1hour and 45min on dirt, bumpy, potholed roads. We were climbing mountains so steep that I had to get off my bike and push it up the mountain a couple of times because I simply couldn’t make the gears turn anymore. My roommates and I joined a nice lady who lives here and mountain bikes all the time and her husband drove and met us at the valley we ended up at. We had to cross 2 borders and actually we biked to South Africa for the day. Completely strange to think your going for a bike ride but you have to carry your passport with you to get it stamped along the way. So after a long bike journey (the hardest workout I have done since my tri-athalon) NO JOKE, her husband brought food and we had a Bar-B-Q down in this beautiful valley. I know I mentioned the scenery here as looking like Flagstaff, but now I’m changing the visual for you all and it actually looks more like Scotland! You know the movie Braveheart well that’s exactly what Swaziland looks like! So the border closes at 4:00pm and all of a sudden we threw the bikes in the husbands truck and started booking it back to make it across the border in time. I was starring at the clock as the minute flipped from 3:57 to 3:58 and we were still driving and had 2 borders to get stamped and make it across. (First time I have looked at the time since I arrived in Swaziland) Well we made it to the first border in time and made it to the second at 4:04 and they still let us pass. I can’t even tell you how many thoughts were racing through my mind! Needless to say, it was great to get out a little and see the country. I am also going to be getting a little time soon to do some more sight seeing and we are going somewhere for a weekend.

So I have extracted 4 teeth total now and cleaned up one little girls bloody nose, and have scaled/cleaned enough tartar/calculus to last me a LIFETIME! If I didn’t have carpal tunnel before I left, I think there is a chance I may be returning home with it!! I think if you wear scrubs and have any medical background, that automatically qualifies you as a doctor/fix all kind of person.

On Monday I went into the teachers lounge at the school to have lunch with my roommate Natalie, who is from England and a teacher came up to me asking for help. I had just started eating, and this teacher said, Miss I found this little boy in the bathroom trying to pull his tooth out and I stopped him, can you please help him out.” I instantly hopped up and said yes, looked at the tooth and it was infected so I took it out for him. He got out of the chair and gave me a HUGE hug and said Thank-You. Not the normal reaction you would get back home that’s for sure.

Then on Wednesday, I saw a 6yr old little boy that had white medical tape around both his thumbs and I asked the house mom what happened to his fingers. She said, “Oh that’s because he sucks his thumbs and we are breaking him of that”. Strange, never saw that technique before. But in all actuality I haven’t seen a lot of things before until I got here.

Well I also wanted to share with you that here, instead of rolling blackouts we have scheduled days of no electricity. Now in order to find out what day that is, it’s pretty much just by word of mouth. So I found out that Thursday we would have no electricity, which in turn means no internet, which also means how do you clean teeth with no overhead light? Glad you all asked, I actually tried putting a head light on, one that people use for camping or reading, on Wednesday to test it out and it was a no go. So instead, I went around to all the classrooms and finished going over education and proper dental hygiene care with all the children and then counted my stock of inventory to see if I needed more! There is a team of about 8 guys coming from CCV in Phoenix that may be able to pack some more dental supplies for me and bring it over in the beginning of October, if I can get in touch with them. After doing inventory, I realized I am getting a little low on toothpaste, 2x2 gauze, toothbrushes, floss and I am in desperate NEED of a sharpening stone for all my instruments! Girls, I brought my old Carbon Steel instruments from college and I would gladly be able to use some more instruments to help remove all this tartar if you could find yours and get it to a gentleman named Mike Buckles in Scottsdale. Universal’s and sickles are all I would need, or actually anything you could get your hands on would help. If you can help me at all with any of these supplies just email me and I will give you his contact info. MUCH APPRECIATED! There is nothing more difficult than trying to remove calculus with dull instruments and I’m getting close. My hand has been working over time!!! Thank You Darla soooo very much for heading this up for me and getting me the supplies, I really appreciate it and YOU so very much!!

So I also want to say that I have made friends with many people here, but one very important person in the administration office named Simon who completely helped me post pictures to the blog. So a huge THANK YOU to Simon for making it possible for all of you to see at least some pictures to the stories I have already told.

It did warm up here for about 3 days, but the cold weather and rain are back again! Who would have thought to actually pack “long johns” to go to Africa?? Well obviously not me. I am going to try and buy some today when we go into town to go grocery shopping, hopefully they have some and it’s the right season here to buy “long johns”. I really can’t believe how cold I am here!

I really do not have much “down time” where I just sit and get to read a book or do nothing, there are plenty of activities during the week nights and even on the weekends. The people here love to stay up late, and it’s not polite to head off to bed early and not mingle,talk, hang out etc. So yes you guessed it, no more 9:00pm bed time for me, and believe it or not, I actually enjoy the later evenings. But I am still up at the crack of dawn and the first one up in the house!!

I heard Patrick Swazy died, my sister told me-that’s sad. No, we don't have TV here or a newspaper so I have no clue as to what is happening back home. I do want to say a Happy Belated Birthday to Talisha and Carolyn and a soon to be Happy Birthday to my nephews Alec and Stephen coming up this week. Congrats to Stacey on her upcoming Wedding, I’m sure you will look BEAUTIFUL. Krysten, thanks for the family prayers and good luck with the twins, they should be coming any day!! Robin, thank you for following the blog and keeping me in prayer, Mr. and Mrs. Brown Thank-You so very much for your kind words and scripture and thanks Kendra for sharing it with them. Carrie Tink congrats on your move to NYC, can’t wait to visit you in the “Big Apple”! Kathy/Brian/Girls-Miss you and thank you for your encouraging words. Raquel-The kids just LOVE the stickers and it’s a big hit here. I also brought balloons and they are loving the balloons as well. A huge THANK YOU to you all who have been an inspiration in my life in all that you do and continue to do!

Blessings,

Melissa

So I will leave you with some Siswati words that I speak on a daily basis now:

Sawubona-Hello

Yebo-Yes

Unjani-How are you?

Ngiyabonga-Thank You!

The Weather Has taken a turn for the WORST!

So just wanted to update everyone on how things are going in Swaziland now! The weather has taken a turn for the worst, and is quite FREEZING, with rain, cloud coverage all day, and no sun! I’m not exaggerating either, it’s been in the 60’s the last 3 days! I truly do miss the AZ sun and heat!! I have been going to bed at night with a hot water bottle to just try and take the edge off. There is no heating or air conditioning here. But with all that said, I’m doing quite well and I even went to work with a Beanie on my head and that helped to keep me warm.

My days are VERY busy seeing about 12 children a day and getting a LUNCH break :-) One hard challenge I have been having to deal with is telling all the adults I can’t possibly see them till all the children have been seen first. I have teachers from the school, mothers, helpers,volunteers, etc. that keep coming up to me asking me if I can see them for dental cleanings and exams. It makes me sad to think that they are all in such need and just begging to be seen.

The head gentleman here of Bulembu asked if I would like to just continue my work here and not leave! He’s very nice and has a funny personality! Like I said in my previous update the people here have ALL given me a warm welcome and I’m very safe here.

So I have to apologize for a second because I’m going to use some dental terminology to help explain to all my dental friends what exactly I’m seeing over here and how very HARD my work is cut out for me!

Ok so I’m really at a loss for where I should begin explaining...I just can’t believe the amount of tartar/calculus these children have!! I have been seeing 8 yr olds that have tartar equivalent to a 40yr old adult!!! Now when I say tartar I mean subgingival calculus under the gums way deep and VERY tenacious!! I can’t begin to tell you what my hand feels like at the end of the day. I am cranking so hard to get this stuff off and the poor children’s eyes are just starring up at me like what in the world is this lady doing to me. Then I started showing the kids what I’m pulling off and letting them feel the hard calculus with their fingers so they can associate what I’m cleaning and how they can make a difference with their toothbrush and floss. Oh and just for the record, not only have some of these kids NEVER used a toothbrush before but No one even the staff and helpers are NOT familiar with floss at all. So I’m doing a lot of education all day long individually to the kids and they have also been having me go into classrooms, community center, etc. just educating EVERYONE on proper dental hygiene care. Ok so back to the amount of calculus I’m cleaning everyday, I keep talking about it because I’m so overwhelmed with how young these kids are with the heaping amount of subgingival tartar present. Ok, to all my dental friends and Dr.B, and Dr.Manov this is an absolute GOLD mine for qualifying board patients. In fact I was even thinking this week in my head that some of the Hygiene schools should partner up with Bulembu and new graduates so they could start here and get their feet wet before going straight into private practice (good idea). Or when someone is truly desperate for a board patient, just fly here and they could have board patients for the whole graduating class-no joke!!

So my work has not been a quick 40 minutes get them in and out and however much I can get done. Of course not, that’s NOT my personality. So I started mentally to worry about making the next patient wait because they had a scheduled appointments to see me at that time, and I wasn’t even close to being done with the previous child yet. But my mind quickly went into another direction and I though it’s not like that here in Swaziland, these people are just so HAPPY to be seen they would even wait for days. So I continued to clean the 10 yr old boy completely and remove all his tartar and I felt OK about running half an hour behind. WOW, I know shocker for me...but that’s the reality here and I’m very pleased I could get him finished to completion! I have another shocking statement to confess to, I don’t even wear a watch here and I just figure when I get them done, I get them done. Yes, I am truly being stretched in more ways than one! I even had to extract a 6 yr old girls primary tooth this morning and she got off the chair with the BIGGEST smile on her face and actually Thanked me for removing her tooth. That was with anesthesia administered of course. Well word spreads quickly here of course and I had about 6 adults ask me today when they could make an appointment with me and one lady even asked me how much I charge. She said I saw that little girl smile with no pain when you took her tooth out, can you do the same for me, I’ll even pay you. My heart just breaks and I really do wish I had more time to take care of everyone, but I know I can’t and then it wouldn’t be fair to all of you, who are waiting for me to take care of your mouths!

We might get some free time in two weekends to go do some fun stuff and sight see they said, so I’m very much looking forward to that!

This morning (Saturday) my 2 other roommates and I are going for a bike ride to some waterfalls that are not far from Bulembu and is quite safe we have been told. We don’t get much “down” time because it gets dark around 6:00 pm and then after work we have to come home and take turns cooking for the house, and keeping up with the house chores, etc.. It’s strange for me to have a roommate after all these years of living the single life, but it’s actually nice and I really enjoy talking with her.

My work schedule has changed this whole week and I have been seeing kids in the morning at the school in a nurses room with a hospital bed and a floor light plugged in to the wall so I can see the children’s teeth and then going to the clinic in the afternoon and seeing kids in my normal dental chair environment in the afternoon. This is because the clinic and school are some of a walking distance and the principal didn’t want the children out of the school that long. It’s very hard on my back having to stand and bend over all morning so I will be only working that split schedule for one more week and then going back to full time schedule at the clinic. It’s actually been nice for me to be at the school in the morning’s because one of my roommates is a teacher there and she is having a bit of a time adjusting to everyone and told me on Tuesday that I was the highlight of her day, to eat lunch with her in the teachers lounge. So I’m pleased that has helped her out and the seeing the children there as well has helped the principal out.

Well that’s about it from here, and I hope all is well with everyone else!

Blessings,

Melissa

Doing Well and Staying Very Busy!!!

Just to give you a quick update and overview...the country Swaziland is run by a King and it's really pretty. The actual village of Bulembu is up in the mountains and it looks very much like Flagstaff, AZ. I'm not sharing a mud hut, I'm now actually staying in a volunteer house with three other lady volunteers that are all from England. One from London, Redding, and Manchaster. It's been difficult for me to even follow conversation in the house because of their accents and English language. They say so many words that are totally different, I may actually come home speaking Swazati with an English flare! We have electricity and running water, but the water situation is very interesting...you have to let the brown/orange mud run out first before using and the faucets are seperate so the temperature doesn't mix. You either get scolding HOT water or FREEZING cold water, that's it no in between and no such thing as warm or luke warm. My roomates are very sweet and the people here have been very nice and I had a warm welcome!

Overall the feeling of this place is good and I am safe. God has been really breaking me down in many ways and I'm excited to see what He teaches me.

Thank You all for your generous donations that have gotten me to Bulembu, along with all your thoughtfulness, and prayers for my safety.

Sorry I can not post pictures at all due to the internet "band" they told me does not hold for pictures or Skyping.

Bye For Now!!