Only four short months ago I began my adventure of diving into the textbook world of tropical diseases and in two weeks that formal swim in a sea of unending information & knowledge will come to an end. I have been privileged to sit under the instruction of some of the greatest tropical disease doctors, epidemiologists, inventors, nurses, and adventurers of our time as I have studied at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, here in London, England. I have sat in awe as I have listened to great minds explain their life work of trying to invent a malaria vaccine or a new treatment for one of the neglected tropical diseases. My professors are crazy (one of them purposely infected himself with worms to test the theory of their help in treating asthma and Crohn’s disease), but my professors are also crazy- passionate about making the world a better place, and so am I. I have learned so much during my short time studying tropical diseases here in London. I have learned some incredible things that will no doubt help me in the future as I volunteer as a nurse in the remote corners of the earth. For example, supposedly coconut milk is sterile, so if ever short on IV solution, I can pop open a coconut and let the infusions continue. I learned how to deliver a baby in the bush. I learned how to numb & pull teeth. In war zones, diesel vehicles are safer than gasoline powered vehicles. I have learned how to identify parasites under the microscope & how to type blood. Poo is the most dangerous thing in the world. And when in foreign countries, remember this saying to protect yourself from inevitable pain: cook it, boil it, peel it, or don’t freakin eat it!
I have also discovered some incredibly humbling things about the reality of our fallen world. The statistics about the numbers of those dying daily from preventable diseases is unreal. Also, although difficult to fathom, despite all the poverty and intensity of daily life for one group of African women, when asked, the one thing they wished for above anything else, was a safe, clean place to go to the bathroom. They didn’t wish for peace, air conditioner, food, clothing, washing machines, or a life free from war and pain, they simply wanted a clean, safe, place to go to the bathroom. Having a bathroom for them meant comfort, freedom from constant smells & flies, the chance to escape some of the horrible diseases caused by improper sanitation, prestige, the chance for visitors, and life… You see, because of their tribe’s beliefs, the women in their village were not allowed out of the house during the day. That meant they could only go out when it was dark. Living without electricity, the village latrine was located in the dark, outside the village boundaries, and all too often the village women were raped and killed just in the attempt to relieve themselves.
My eyes have been opened to more of the sad reality of this world and I am convinced even more that instead of constantly debating policy, politics, religion, and waving our fists in the air during those intense conversations with God when we yell at him wondering how he can even exist when there is so much suffering all around, that we need to get out in our neighborhoods, schools, cities, states, countries, and world and show them the love that God asked us to pass on. Hug a friend, smile at a stranger, heck, hug that stranger, mend those broken family relationships, visit the widow, cook a meal & share it, pray for your enemies, and love as if you have never been hurt. I have only a few more weeks in London and many of those days here I will spend pouring over the facts and specifics about schistosomiasis, trichuris trichiura, leshmaniasis, plasmodium falciparum malaria, kwashiorkor, filariasis, hookworm, tetanus, lepromatous, loa loa worm, trypanosome rhodisiense, mycrobacterium leprae, hydaatid disease, entamoeba histolytica, trypanosoma cruzi, cholera, onchocerciacis, & tenia saginata, all in preparation for my final exams. There is so much I have learned and so much I still don’t know. There is so much my professors know and still so much even they don’t know.
Many times in our lectures, we have discussed the care of patients in remote, resource poor areas, and our professors have said, “what next?” and we would come up with some creative way in which we would deal with the situation without modern medical technology. Then the professor would say, “and what next?” the “what nexts” would continue on and on until even the brainiest student in my class didn’t have any more suggestions…at that point it was almost as if one could divide the room in two groups by simply looking at facial expressions…humanitarian aid workers versus missionary nurses… Although it breaks my heart when caring for patients and we run out of options because we lack simple supplies that are so readily available at home…I don’t have to feel defeated because it is when we are weakest that He is strongest and it is when we are at our breaking point, our whit’s end… that He carries us… 
