When it rains, it pours!
I sneakily hoped that the deluge that started in the middle of the night would keep patients in their houses today, but no – they still brave the torrential rains to come have their backs massaged, their abscesses drained, their wounds dressed, their symptoms diagnosed and their medications checked. And of course, despite my temporary procrastination urge, it was a pleasure to help them and see their smiles as they dashed (or hobbled off) down the muddy lane afterwards, feeling a bit better, or at least like someone cared enough about their problem to give them 20-30 minutes of their time — and free medication thanks to all your generous PayPal donations!
Rain is coming in through the Dispensary’s roof right now, and it is quite surreal to be sitting here typing on a MacBook Pro next to towels I have tucked against the walls to try to soak up some of the non-stop rain. Occasionally a really large drop comes down and small splatters reach my head and my feet. Thankfully the roof seems to be holding up alright over my bed. June really is the rainy season here. The rain seems to be coming down with a vengeance to make up for the rest of the dry and hot year.
Even the donkeys outside have taken shelter under terraces and whatever else they can find. In the brief pauses between the heavy waves of rain, I can see them taking mud baths on the sandy football pitch. They roll around with their hooves in the air, sometimes making hilarious braying sounds, like a child jumping in mud puddles feeling so very alive that sound simply has to come out…
If it wasn’t for the fact that the rain is actually colder than it looks, and there is a chest infection doing the rounds of the adult Shela villagers at the moment, I could almost be tempted to go out and join them myself!
