Feburary 28, 2014

     This morning, Dr. Nilson continued his discussion on sicknesses and illnesses of children. His discussion included malnutrition, rashes, scabies, and ringworm and their respective treatments. The students learned a lot from him. We learned that they see a lot of scabies and even more malnutrition. The Maringa tree was discussed yet again because of its highly nutritional properties. The students say that they have easy access to this tree. Listening to their stories about sick children and the hunger that they see was very enlightening to the teachers.
We learned that they will maybe get two meals per day, and it usually only consists of rice and something green. They do not eat much meat because it is very expensive, and most of the people cannot afford the luxury of having meat even once per day. It makes me realize, as an American, how blessed we are in the western world. We have meat, and three meals per day. These students do not. It has been interesting watching them as they have been here. They are so thrilled to have three meals per day. They are thankful for everything that they are given, or can learn.
Also, we learned that when a person gets sick, they do not give them food while they are ill. The thought behind it is "they are sick, and the food will make them worse". They learned about how to treat these people, and how to enlighten the other people in their villages. The students were very surprised when we explained that food (nutrition) is important to make people well.

Dr. Nilson discussing digestion and malnutrition

     In the afternoon, the students took the fourth exam. When reviewing it, Dr. Nilson had them discuss the test questions among themselves if they got the answer wrong. Through discussion amongst themselves, they eventually came to the correct answer. Teaching them this way is important because it teaches them to self-learn and ask questions of each other. We ended the week with a time of worship, which is something to behold. The students worship God wholeheartedly and focused only on Him.
Lindsey

Worship time at the end of the day!