ONLY IN AFRICA...
o Do four Americans, five Italians, eight Kenyans, and one Tanzanian sit down together to share a Thanksgiving Dinner.
o Does someone taste stuffing, chicken gravy, and apple pie for the first time in their life and love them!!
o Is World AIDS Day the biggest event of the year.
o Do children’s nursery rhymes ask, “AIDS, AIDS, do you have no mercy?”
o Do World AIDS Day Weekend festivities include a football tournament, a net ball tournament, an eating contest, and hours upon hours of skits, songs and dances.
o Is the highlight of the World AIDS Day festivities a dance off for young boys.
o Does the winner of the dance off win $6 because he hip-thrusts and gyrates better than the other boys.
o Only in Africa will the answers to the question, “Why is HIV/AIDS such a problem in this community?” include Wife Inheritance, Polygamy, and Boredom.
o Is an eight year old girl HIV positive while her mother is HIV negative.
o Does a 60 year old woman get admitted to the hospital for Malaria when she actually has an ear infection.
o Does an 8 year old boy get sent home from the outpatient clinic with a broken femur.
o Does a woman’s dead body get carried home on a motorbike.
o Does one country have 42 different tribes with their separate languages, cultures, believes, and traditions.
o Does the man building your home not show up for three weeks to finish cementing the floors and walls.
o Do lake flies attack a hospital in such numbers that you can hardly see through the cloud on your way home from work.
o Does a white girl get proposed to at least once a week by hospital patients, motorbike drivers, shop owners and strangers on the street.
o Am I constantly mistaken as an Italian and a nurse because I’m white.
That is so powerful! And thought provoking - thank you for getting my mind working in the early a.m.! Who ever dreamed you would witness so much? We love you!
ReplyDeleteI laugh and I cry. I miss you. I love you so much. Mom
ReplyDeleteKayla, Hello from Mr. Tom and Ms. Germaine. We asked Ben about you over Thanksgiving and he pointed us to your blog. It sounds like you are having quite a life experience. We enjoy reading your messages... it certainly makes us thankful for what we have and to share what we have. It was a quiet Hurricane season so we did not have the pleasure of hosting any "evacuees" (we do miss our hurricane kids!). We hope that Louisiana and Tulane are in your future plans. Let us know when you come this way and we will plan a get together in NOLA. We will keep you in our thoughts and prayers.
ReplyDeleteWow great stuff. I find reading yoru blog very enlightning.
ReplyDeleteSince when did you start speaking Italian?
Kayla - I was thinking about you during Thanksgiving and wondering what you were doing! Glad to hear you had what seems like an amazing meal. I love your sense of observation and humor in reporting. Sounds like you are having an amazing experience. I miss you a lot and think of you often!!
ReplyDelete