30 student life Senior Seth Coleman helps baptize Roza, a Tanzanian woman, in Chimala, Tanzania, in Africa on June 20, 2008. Because of Roza’s complications with her caesarean section, the men were forced to use a sheet to lift Roza into the tub used to baptize her. Courtesy of Jes Ellis Many students who signed up to go on medical missions did so with the expectation of aiding people in need. They intended to ease the patients’ sufferings and help them as much as possible. However, some students found out that they were actually the ones being helped; they were the ones being aided. During the summer of 2008, 13 students from Harding went to Chimala, Tanzania, in Africa and worked at the Chimala Mission Hospital. At the end of the trip, they realized they were the ones who were blessed from their experiences. The mission began when students supplied medical care, provided teaching sessions for the doctors and nurses and encouraged members from the surrounding churches. “We did a lot of health care teaching and community health promotion in remote villages,” senior JM Corella said. “This teaching included the recognition of early signs and symptoms of illnesses such as malaria, pneumonia and dehydration.” Corella added that the group also held a mother/child clinic where they gave vaccinations and weighed babies to ensure adequate growth and development through their years. While the students worked at these things, they slowly began to realize that they were gaining much more than they were giving. “God was teaching us a lot about Himself and about ourselves in relation to Him and this world that He created,” Corella said. The group also felt that getting outside of their cultural comfort zones enabled them to learn things that would not have been possible otherwise. “I was able to see and experience things in Africa that I will never be able to see in the states,” senior Jes Ellis said. “Every cultural experience strengthens me as a person and as a nurse. I saw true pain and suffering, along with the awesome power of God.” While in Africa, the students had the opportunity to meet a young woman named Roza with an interesting story. Before the group arrived at Chimala, Roza had a baby named Daniel. Unfortunately, she developed complications because of the caesarean section and had a terrible infection in her abdomen. After being admitted to the local hospital, the only person who was with Roza was Bibi, the baby’s grandmother. Bibi was ashamed of the way her son, Daniel’s father, treated Roza, so she stayed with Roza in the hospital to help her and her grandson. Even though she was in the hospital, Roza did not get better. After many days of trying to cure her, the doctors told Roza that they could not do anything else for her. This news was hard for both Roza and Bibi. Trying to ease the situation, the students took their Bibles and read scriptures to Bibi. Through a translator, she told them that she was a member of the church in Chimala and that she appreciated them reading and sharing with her. Soon, Roza expressed her interest in the Bible and shortly after was baptized into Christ in a bathtub at one of the missionary’s houses. “On the way back to the hospital, we were singing songs, and Roza had this look of peace on JM Corella, a senior, reads the Bible on June 22 to Roza, a patient at Chimala Mission Hospital. Even through her sickness, Roza continued to show interest in learning about Christianity as several students studied with her during their stay in Chimala. Courtesy of Jes Ellis Trying to make friends, senior Heather Mitchell plays with a group of children in Togo, Africa, at the end of May. “It was a really good lesson in that you don’t have to speak the same language with someone to share joy with that person,” Mitchell said. Courtesy of Meredith Gravette While accompanying other medical professionals, senior Jes Ellis helps perform a caesarean section in Tanzania, Africa, on June 22. “We were able to experience things in Africa that we never would have been able to otherwise,” Ellis said. “Our experiences helped give us a more well-rounded view of medical care.” Courtesy of Jes Ellis
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