18th
Last week, I went with some of my students to a place where 300 new soldiers and IDPs (internally displaced persons) had arrived from deeper inside Burma. Our purpose was to give health screenings to all of the newcomers.
Some were healthy. Some looked strong. Others looked (and sounded) sickly. I cen remember one boy who looked like he was in shock. And with the things he’s most likely seen, maybe he was.
As our students took vitals and gave malaria tests, I felt so proud of them. I watched their hands shake as they tested blood for the first time. I saw them struggle to get thermometers in armpits. I smiled to myself as they tried to check heart rates. It was precious to watch.
Our students were learning first hand how to work in community health. They were doing it—-really doing it!
And as some of them tested positive for malaria, I was thankful that we had medication to offer them. At the same time, my heart ached to know how many more people from their homes and villages will go without medication for their own illnesses.
Standing in the midst of the action that day, I saw just how important this health training is. And with the only instructions for the malaria tests being in English, I also saw the importance of my particular role—-teaching my students so that they can read things like ‘how to test for malaria’!
