A friend came two afternoons ago to tell me that Bonnie, one of the elderly women in the village, was about to get on a donkey and travel to another village unless we took her in her car. She wanted to find a person who could perform some traditional healing treatments on her in order to “get out” the “something” that was in her eyes – by licking them with their own tongue!
She had been battling an eye infection for 4 days and I knew she originally had antibiotic eye drops, but afterwards found out she had lost them. I, of course, in good conscience, cannot transport someone with an eye infection to a place where they will perform such an unhygienic act. Thankfully, I blamed it all on our eye doctor friend who will soon be coming here to serve the community. “The eye doctor would be very angry with me if I took you now to the next town. Be patient. I will see if he can receive a message in America from my telephone. Maybe he can help us.” Thankfully, Bonnie waited, and thankfully, Dr. Pyron responded so quickly!
I visited Bonnie, saw her eyes, and noticed a white substance above her eye and on the bridge of her nose. “What is this white stuff?” I asked.
“Oh it’s insect powder. The flies won’t stay away so I started pouring this insect repellent powder on my face to keep them away.”
“Oh no, you can’t use this on your skin and eyes. It could make you sick or blind! I’m going to have to take it away now and bring it back to you later. Use oil on your skin. You know that’s what helps keep the flies away.”
I sent the doctor a photo of the infected eyes and the insect powder. He recommended a certain eye drop and said “the insect powder is NOT RECOMMENDED” for keeping flies away!
We got her started on the proper treatment yesterday after a trip to a bigger town with a pharmacy (there’s none here). She’s slowly feeling better today, and I trust if she continues her treatment she will return to normal in a few more days. Now if we can just find someone in the community to wash her laundry other than me, the missionary, I will be ok letting her stay here in the village. Otherwise, I really hope we can all convince her to move to the big city and live with relatives who can take care of her.