Third World for sure

Benin a few years ago was among the eleven poorest countries in the world, and still is, I am sure, in the gutter financially, so to speak. But it is not a crisis country for the moment (for the moment because the freak whether this year brought rain all September instead of August and rotted out a huge percentage of the corn crops, a staple in the country, I am praying that it is not too bad). There is no way, or famine, or pestilence. I do see the signs of poverty, the dirty clothed children, the mud houses caved in after a long rainy season. But honestly after watching World Vision and looking through ADRA calendars I expected this of Africa. But recently what has really opened my eyes to the meaning of third world is the hospital. I did visit the Chinese sponsored hostipal in Nati last year, but not long. Just before Manny and I left in August, Simel one of the church youth got malaria bad enough to go the hospital (a minute from his house, very convenient). I went to visit him. This hospital is the government run one and is quite bare. There are some smashed windows, all the beds are bare, patients bring their own blankets, no food is provided, the families have to bring food every day. IV are hung on paint-chipped stands or the wooden mosquito net supports (they don’t provide the nets either), it was a real shock. Then upon arriving in Cotonou just a couple weeks ago, I went with the mission president to visit the sick son of one a church member. This was the university hospital, one of the best in the country, and I saw the same bareness and all. It is bigger than in Nati, but not much better. It is sad to see. The health care I experienced just getting my wisdom teeth pulled was so high above here. Just for the teeth surgery they put on a heart rate monitor, and sat me down in a nice comfy chair. I was even nicely put to sleep so the whole dramatic episode I cannot recall. Seeing the hospitals here all may seem hopeless, but they are able to save many lives, the sadder part is that many people do not have the money to save themselves. A friend of mine just recently got a lung infection from eating some unwashed beans. I visited him twice, he was in a room with a lady that was skin and bones. Some relatives were there with her. When I came back to visit my friend, they were gone. He said she’d been there for a month and saw no improvement, they couldn’t keep paying, so they went back to the village to hope and pray.