Update on a Sick Girl

February 22, 2008

An update on the girl that Anna and I visited in the village who was sick and had the sores on her legs. Anna and I started talking about the girl this morning, and realized that there was a health clinic in the big village closest to the girl's house. We wondered why the girl hadn't gone to it. We also wondered why the hospital in the city closest to the village wouldn't be appropriate. The girl obviously had some kind of infection on her leg, and at the very least we figured the hospital would be able to diagnose what it was and give her some kind of medicine to put on it. So, Anna called the pastor and asked him about the situation again. He told her that the girl who was sick had both spiritual and physical needs that needed to be attended to. The hospital he wanted to bring the girl to was a Christian hospital, which would be able to treat all the girls' needs because she was a Christian. The hospital closer to the village was not a Christian hospital, so the majority of the doctors were most likely Muslim. Anna tried telling him that with the money he had available for the girl, he could get her treated at the closer hospital. That the doctors there would be able to address her physical needs, and that he as a pastor could address the spiritual needs. He did not agree and said the girl's only hope would be to go to the other hospital.

Anna then called one of her coworkers who is in the village today, to see what she had to say and to suggest that the woman go speak with the pastor in person. The woman agreed with what Anna and I had been thinking and said she would talk to him. So we are waiting to find out what will happen.

In the meantime, it got me thinking about religion in this country. Senegal is a very tolerant country. It's 95% Muslim, but there aren't tensions between the Muslims and the other religions. But Islam is everywhere. The public transportation carries pictures of marabous on it and has the names of marabous written on the sides of the vehicles. The majority of the pharmacies are in the name of a marabou. Almost everywhere here, if you walk into a building, you will see a picture of a marabou looking over you. Islam is in every aspect of the lives of Muslims here. In the same way, those who have embraced Christianity look for Christianity in every aspect of their lives. And this may be why the pastor wanted the girl to go see Christian doctors.