Day Eight (July 10, 2006)

I continue to be inspired by the morning worship time at the clinic. It is so moving to hear the joy and passion, the incredible harmony as every patient in the waiting room belts it out for God. Mathabisang is convinced, and I am too, that this time of praise and worship, unifies the group, relieves stress, improves mood and elevates the CD4 count. So many of these people are on deaths door and they stand for 30 minutes with their eyes closed, their arms raised and their voices unified in song.

There are always humour and light moments at the clinic. Incredibly, the joy is palpable and the smiles numerous. At one point today I felt I was back at YMG (Guelph). One of the patients I saw was healthy and impatient to get on with his day - a sign of good health. He came into the room with his cell phone to his ear, finishing a conversation - a sign that IT has made it’s way to one of the poorest countries in the world.

Many of the patients today were men and all had waited too long to seek testing and treatment- another recurring theme in Lesotho. The last patient was 28 with a wife and two children who was wheeled in by his wife, their youngest (10 months) on her back. It was late in the day but Elizabeth knew he was ill and wheeled him to x-ray, begged the tech to do just one more chest x-ray, pushed the patient back to the clinic looked at the result, admitted him and wrote orders for the surgeon all in the span of 30 minutes. She was breathless from the shear exertion of managing this very ill man. Kudos to her. Not every clinician would have bothered at this late hour. She diagnosed TB and an Empyema- infection in the sac covering the lungs. His lung was drained that night. She saved his life. I had seen his wife just before. Her HIV test came back positive today too. My last image of this lovely, young African family, was of her wheeling him down the outdoor corridor as the sun was setting and the cold descending, her 10 month old on her back and four year old at home, their lives forever changed. Hopefully the children are negative.

Mathabisang is teaching me the worship songs they sing in the morning. She has arranged for me to speak at her church this Sunday. Imagine, the Masai story being told in Lesotho. God is good!

Ha Le Mpotsa tsepo eaka

Ke tlare ke Jesu

Ke lopetse ho Monagaka

Ha hae ke haeso When you ask me of my hope

I will say it is Jesus

I hunger for my master

His mansion is mine

Lere le boheng ho eena

Ke bone phomolo

Thabo e leng ho morena

Ha eha Phetoho

You said what have I seen in Him

I have found rest

The joy that is in the Lord

Does not change

Kaha ka myoreroa botle

Ka tsoatsoa le batla

Ka tsieloa ke htho tsohle

Ka felloa ke matla I thirst for Righteousness

I search and search

Everything troubled me

I lost my strength

Athe jesu u ha mpona

Ha ke lela joalo

A mpitsa are etlo ho’na

O fole matsoalo But Jesus saw me

While I wept so

He called me and said, “Come to me”

And be healed of your fears

Joale ke khotsoe ka mehla

mohau oa molimo

Ke qalile ho ketla

Tsepong ea molimo Now I have this confidence always

In the mercy of God

I have rested

In the hope of God

TSEPONG EA MOLIMO! The hope of God. That says it all. Just imagine hearing it live at a clinic called Tsepong that cares for 5,000 HIV positive Africans, and counting. I am so blessed to hear it daily.