Rusty Skills and Little Friends

Tuesday, June 15
9:00 pm

There’s nothing better than coming back home to Gimbie and taking a nice, coold shower to wash away the filth after another long day of clinic visitations. And sure, it was a long day, but rewarding, nevertheless. The best thing that happened today was our bus breaking down.
Galon and I were on our way to Nekempte to meet with a government official about one of our clinics in town. On our way to Nekempte, our bus got a flat tire or something, because we stop in the middle of the road, with everyone filing out and crowding around the back tire to stare as two young self-appointed “mechanics” take the wheel apart and become all-absorbed in trying to investigate the problem.
In the meantime, Galon and I decide to have some fun with the local kids across the street, so we ask them to bring out their ball and we start playing soccer. So, while waiting for our bus to get fixed (which it never did, by the way – we just ended up getting a ride with another vehicle – ALL of us. In other words, all the bus passengers now had to fit in a 12-passenger van. I am not exaggerating when I say that we must have been more than doubling its carrying capacity!), we played soccer for almost two hours with a bunch of little boys and a small plastic ball. After the sun was getting a bit too hot for us to be running around constantly, we settled under some shade and played a few other games with the kids until we continued on with our journey. That was my favorite part of the day – but let me tell you about YESTERDAY!
Yesterday was just a blast overall. I absolutely loved assisting Dr. Tsagai all morning and afternoon and putting my dental assisting skills from three years ago to some good use. It was great. From now on, I plan on taking every free moment from the office to assist him, because he does need help. Dr. Tsagai has been used to working all by himself most of the time since he hasn’t had anyone to assist him lately, but no dentist can be fully efficient or effective on his own, no matter how good he is. So anyway, after a full day of standing on my feet for the extractions, fillings, and root canals, and sitting in the office working on clinic inventories, I was ready for some vigorous outdoor exercise.
The girls were busy cooking up pasta when I got back home, so I decided I would go on a little jog by myself. Plus, i have been longing to get out and do a bit of “exploring the world” outside of our little Gimbie Hospital Compound. Come to find out, my exploration landed me into some unexpected fun!
I was hiking (literally) up this hill when a couple little boys in their typical tattered shirts caught my attention: it wasn’t their shirts or their presence that caught my attention – it was their BALL. I immediately stopped and almost out of instinct, asked them for the ball and started playing around with it. My dribbling and juggling encouraged them to actually come out and start playing a little game of keep-away with me.
I had started out playing with three or four little kids, but in a few minutes I had about a dozen other little munchkins popping up out of nowhere and joining in on the fun. And what fun we had! Let me tell you, I must have had the biggest smile on my face the entire time I was with them because my mouth was hurting after words. I truly had a blast.
On a side note, the two balls we played with were NOT your typical soccer balls. At first glance I thought the balls must have been made out of rolled up socks, because that’s what it felt like playing with them. But then one of them started falling apart a little and I saw that they were actually cloth material filled up with plastic bags! Incredible!
As it turns out, no skill one possesses ever becomes TOO rusty to be put to some use here in the mission field. Whether medical, dental, or sports-related, it WILL prove useful in one way or another. Plus, if those skills find you ways to make yourself trusty little friends, you’ll find your day WILL be brighter by the end of it all.