Malaria

   I walked to Smile Africa yesterday with a pounding headache that would not go away. I took Advil, drank water, but nothing was making my head stop hurting. Did I rest? Don't be ridiculous, of course not! The second I arrived at Smile I went to look for my hug from Caleb. This time he did not run to me laughing. Caleb looked at me and cried and walked over to me. I picked him up and hugged him. Jokingly I looked at the teachers and said,

"What have you people done to my baby!?"

   Then they laughed and blamed me for leaving him every night and that is why he was upset. We love to tease each other like that. As soon as a baby cries we joke around and blame each other for making the babies cry. The teachers and I really have a good time together.

   Today I was not feeling well. I was dizzy, my head was hurting, my nose was stuffy, I was coughing and I felt a little weak. I thought that maybe I had a cold. One of the teachers suggested that I go to the nurse to check to see if I had malaria. I listened to her and went to the nurse, she checked my blood and sure enough...I have malaria!

   People back in the U.S panic at the very thought of malaria, but please, do not panic, I am just fine. Malaria is very common here, and it is easily treated. The earlier you find out that you have it, the easier it is to get rid of. They found it in me very early, Praise Jesus, so I am taking medicine and I will be fine in a day or so. I have had colds in America worse then the malaria that I have now, so really, I am totally fine. Nobody needs to send the troops to bring me home, I promise I will live! :) Actually there is a shot you can get or pills you can take to prevent yourself from getting malaria when you go into countries like Uganda, however, I chose to not get a shot or take any pills. I took malaria pills my first time in Uganda when I was 15 years old and I had a very bad reaction to the medicine, so this time I decided to refrain from getting the vaccine. To be honest, it has been way easier for me to just get treatment for malaria, instead of getting the vaccine. These are the pills for my treatment.

   That being said, I had a half day at Smile Africa yesterday. Julian also has malaria, so we both decided to go back to the hotel and rest. It was nice actually. I talked to my mom on the phone, did some laundry, and slept for an hour. I woke up feeling much better. God has really given me the strength to overcome any obstacle that comes my way! I am so grateful that I am under the umbrella of God's plan for my life. I don't even want to imagine how this trip would be going if I was not under the cover of God.

"Thank you Jesus for protecting me under every circumstance. Thank you for keeping me safe. Thank you for health and healing in Jesus name. Thank you for the chance to talk to my mommy on the phone. I love you! Amen."