Africa Journal Day 3

Day 3

This day starts as a windy, dusty, cool morning, with strong coffee and breakfast of biscuits and jam.  Later in the am, we all leave to pick up another missionary, Suzanne Richter, and Daniel, a local nurse practitioner who works for the government here in Dano, and part time with the orphan program.  He is a strong believer, not originally from this area; speaking fluent French, but only minimal Dagara, as he is from the Julu people..  Our task this morning is to visit an albino girl, 14 years old, who has a severe, probably malignant melanoma.  She has previously been taken to Ouaga by Daniel, paid for by the Sands, to receive a diagnosis and examination.  The doctors there, both Burkinabe and European have said her condition is not treatable, and her prognosis is poor.  Her village is far out in the bush, about a 30 minute rough ride from Dano.  When we arrive, we are treated graciously, served peanuts and provided seats, while all the family and extended family come to meet and greet us.  She is brought out from her house, with her mother and grandmother, and is truly a distressing sight.  The left side of her face is bandaged, covering a large weeping tumor that has completely overtaken her left eye and ear.  She has multiple other smaller tumors on her face, and it is apparent that her exposure to the sun over her 14 years has done severe damage.  She is receiving some treatment at the local government clinic that is located near her village.  Daniel visits her frequently to determine her progress and tells us that she is losing weight rapidly, and looks worse than his last visits.  Pontierre is her name and she tells us that the pain is greatest at night, causing her to be unable to sleep.  We pledge to bring her pain medicine, and ask if there is anything else she needs. She says that she only wants to feel better.  We pray for her, and encourage her grandmother to continue to bring her to the church services on Sunday.  We are not sure she is a believer, and pray that this sickness will deliver her and the rest of her family to Jesus.  Later that afternoon, after a visit to the local pharmacy to buy APAP/Codeine (available here without a prescription and only in an effervescent tablet, like Alka Seltzer) we drive back out to her village with Andy Johnson, the missionary here who speaks fluent Dagara.  He explains the medicine to her and her family, and warns them of the danger to small children.  There are probably 10 adults listening to his instructions, and they repeat his words to each other multiple times.  Andy tells us this is how the Dagara communicate, with storytelling to each other, passing along any communication to each other by repetition.  After I pray for her (translated into Dagara by Andy), we leave for our next mission.  We discuss later in the truck, if this is how Jesus communicated to large crowds, such as the 5000, by them re-telling his words to each other so that all could hear.  We surmise that this could have been the case, or He just performed an auditory miracle so that all could hear.  

Seeing and experiencing this culture has made it much more clear to me why Jesus used so many farming examples in His teachings.  Using His parables becomes much more alive in this environment of subsistence farming, b/c this is all the Dagara know.  I am also reminded of how much I take for granted in the USA, where we have the best health care available, and would rarely see something like this poor girls condition progress this far without diagnosis and treatment.

A dusty and winding road leads us to the next village, where we are looking for a man that is called tumor-face.  This man, whose real name is Manmour, has also previously been taken to Ouaga for diagnosis and evaluation.  His CT scan showed just how severe his condition is, with a softball sized tumor protruding from the left side of his face, and infiltrated into his skull at multiple points.  The doctors have said his condition is terminal.  We arrive at his house, after picking up two persons along the way to direct us.  After leaving the dirt road near the village, we proceed along a bicycle path, with Chris's 4 wheel drive vehicle being bounced and battered by the trees on both sides of the path.

At Manmour's house, we are told he is unable to come out and speak to us, b/c his legs don't work.

After a few minutes, we are invited into his house, a stone structure about 8x12 ft., with a bed, and a chair, where he is reclining.  The space is small with all five of us inside, Manmour, his brother, Andy, Chris and I.  Kids are crowded around the door, to hear what is being said.  We are here to tell Manmour is dying, with no hope of medical healing.  Not something I have had any experience in saying.  How do you tell a proud man, responsible for a wife and family, living from day to day on very little that he is soon to be dead?  On some level, I think he understands this, but still holds out hope.  His brother tells and Manmour repeats that the local healer has chased the sickness from his head to his feet and legs, b/c now his head is not hurting, but his legs don't work.  If we can just get him to Dano, he thinks the doctor can fix his legs.  He tells Andy that he is prepared to die; he just doesn't want to die lying in this chair.  After much conversation and explanation that the fact his legs are not working is related to the tumor in his head, he seems to accept his plight.  We ask what we can do for him, and he tells us that he has been unable to work in the fields, his last crop was minimal, and he is afraid his family will starve after his death.  We pledge to enlist the help of his church, he is a believer, and has been baptized.  I am asked to pray for him; I don't remember all that I asked Jesus for in that prayer, but it was one of the most difficult times of prayer that I recall having experienced.  One of our guides on this visit is a member of the local church that meets in this village, and Andy encourages him to enlist the members to help Manmour and his family.  It’s a really long ride back to town, thinking of this man and his plight.

After dinner at the Richter's, their new house helper is a professionally trained chef, of beef brochette, potatoes, and a salad, followed by peach cobbler, we have a couple of hours of great conversation with the team.  This evening is their regular monthly team meeting and dinner.  Andy, Chris, and I retire to the roof of Chris' house, which overlooks to town of Dano.  We are joined by our friend Arturo Fuente, who also came from the USA, and enjoy a couple of hours of discussion of Africa, ministry, and our hopes and plans.