Some Challenges...

So here are some of the challenges that I mentioned in the previous post.  We have encountered some issues with rodents.  It’s been very frustrating but, we have been handling it the best we can.  We have had a rat that has taken up a nightly routine of perusing our house.  It’s disturbing to say the least; he even wakes us up in the middle of the night!  So each morning, I have to bleach all of the countertops and the stovetop.  Plus after I do the nightly dishes I have to dry them and put them all away to prevent any contamination from either the rat, mice, frogs or lizards that may crawl on our dishes!

The rat is either very clean or just desperate for food as you will see in the pic, he even eats our bars of soap!  So we finally had had enough and we set out some poison last week.  It was completely gone that night.  So then we just had to wait….When the boys came in the house yesterday and informed us they had found a “mouse” just sitting there, we were suspicious.  Our suspicions were confirmed, again see the pic…so the rat is no longer bothering us.  YAY!

Another challenge has been drinking water.  We have to be very careful what water we drink and if it has been properly treated.  All the water that comes out of the “pipe” or from the town is from an artesian well and is not safe for foreigners to drink.  Most Guyanese pump it into a tank as well as catch the rain water and treat it with bleach “tank water” and some still boil it as well.  Others do not.  Therefore we always have to be suspicious of the water or ice cubes before we drink it.  Sometimes the situation is where we just do the best we can and hope for the best. 

So with that being said I ended up getting some symptoms of stomach issues about 2 weeks ago.  Since they didn’t really get any worse and I was still able to continue about daily tasks I just kept taking my probiotics and not worrying about it.  The stomach cramps have never stopped to date but I really didn’t have time to give it much thought….until it got worse.   It seemed to hit all at once, I had no energy and the cramping was very noticeable most of the day. I also had no appetite and almost chronic headaches.  I started feeling so rundown I had to sit on a stool to wash even a few dishes. I started asking around to a couple of sisters and the response was maybe I had the flu. 

A brother back home had a conversation with Brandon before we left and suddenly his words meant so much… he said as loving as the brothers and sisters are in the congregation, the ones who really know what you need are the other needgreaters.  I contacted The Sanchez’s and Michelle said to me in about oh, 1 second flat  “You have a parasite” she assured me after 20 years of missionary service she knew what she was talking about!  She also gave me suggested treatments that have ACTUALLY worked! 

Drinking Garlic Tea! (not the best tea I've ever had =)

So after 2 days of eating a half a clove of garlic 3 times a day I am happy to say I am on the way to feeling better.  Today was the first time in days I felt like myself and had some energy.  The cramping is still faintly there but, it is subsiding.  I am so thankful to Jehovah for her help.  It was scary as Brandon was having to do so much and I couldn’t keep up.  I am hopeful it will continue to get better.  I am also incredibly thankful thus far, the children haven’t exhibited any symptoms.  We think we are probably going to put the entire family on a regimen of garlic.  Apparently it is a natural antibiotic and clearly it works!!!