La Sonya

I can still feel the tightness where my tears have dried on my cheeks. My eyes sting when I close them. It’s been one of those nights. Liz and I worked another night shift. We slept, or I should say I slept on the examining table in the temporary ER while Liz worked with the patients all night. When the evening started, Sara came over to tell us the little generator could be turned on for an hour to charge things, Hallelujah! So when I got the chance I dashed over to check my email which was the first in a while. The emails I got were good, but some make me quite emotional so when I got back to the ER and the new admit was finished and sent to their new bed I cried to Liz. Nothing terrible I just needed to let my emotions out. As the night wore on we realized sleep would not be as plentiful as before. We had several admits as well as patients who needed extra attention. The one patient who Liz worked with was a young 22 year old with heart problems. When she came 4 days before, she was...

Worked the night shift again with Liz. My role here is very much a backseat position. It’s good for me to learn to follow. I have to because I am not trained in this sort of field. There were two babies born last night. The first time I’ve ever seen a vaginal delivery. God is quite amazing. These women are so strong. The 1st woman was on her 10th child! So of course she knows the drill. In fact she felt the pains and new it was time. So by herself she gathers her cloths for the baby and herself and walks who knows how far to the hospital. When she gets here she sits on the maternity bed and her water breaks. We knew then that it wouldn’t be long for her. Sure enough within the hour the babies head is appearing and in no time we’ve got him out and tube clamped and cut. A lovely little girl. The most noise the 2nd woman made was when Liz gave her a shot IM (in the muscle of her thigh) of oxytocen – that helps the bleeding stop and firm up the uterus after the placenta has come out. And i...

This is a letter that has been sent to you from the faraway land of Denmark, but do not fear I am safe and sound tucked away in my little hut of Béré. Here’s the deal. There were some rebels that attacked our capital, N’djamena, on Feb 1st –a Saturday, so to stop the rebels from communicating with each other the president turned off all cell phone towers for a week or so, then celtel (a phone company) got turned back on the following Friday. Tigo, the provider Liz and I use got turned on shortly there after. The only thing that has yet to return to normal is INTERNET!!!! That’s why you have thought I forgot about you, or why you think I no longer want to write you or why you cry yourself to sleep at night because you think that I forgot how to talk English! Don’t worry I have yet to do any of those things. As of today, Monday Feb 18, 2008, I haven’t been able to receive emails since the 1st of Feb and that is a LONG time for me! Don’t worry about things with the rebels, they are okay n...

Just called Sonya today to check on her since we haven't heard anything through email for quite awhile. They are all still doing fine, and their phone works, but internet is still down. She said she will be sending some email with someone who is leaving soon so they can send them for her. So hopefully we'll get some more blogs soon. :) --Blog Manager (Andrea)

This is not from Sonya, but from her blog manager, Andrea. Just an update on the situation in Chad right now... Still no word from Sonya, but there is some improvement in the situation in Chad. Apparently they've been able to stop the fighting in the city of N'Djamena (about 200 miles or so north of where Sonya is), but things are still a bit unstable, which includes communication, according to this quote from The New York Times: "Government television and radio remained off the air, and mobile telephone networks that were taken offline to hamper rebel communication were still off Tuesday." This would account for the lack of communication since the weekend. For further reading on the current situation: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/06/world/africa/06chad.html Thanks for continuing to keep Sonya and the other SMs in your prayers during this time.