If you can read this...

then you are blessed!

No, not because you are reading words from us, but because you CAN read!

On Tuesday, a teenaged girl was brought in by her extended family (she has been living with them).  They said that she had "pain in her feet".  When asked if the pain kept her from sleeping, they said that she got up every hour to pee and that was what kept her from sleeping.  It turns out, the thing that finally prompted them to seek care was that she was crying out that she wanted her mother.  A dipstick test of her urine made our suspicions for diabetes even higher, and a blood test confirmed it.

The happy news is that she is reunited with her mother at the hospital.  The sad news is that treatment of type I diabetes in Mali is an incredible challenge.  Most kids probably don't get appropriate treatment before they die (this is the first case that Dr. MacLean has seen in his 3 years here).  Cost, access to medicines, access to medical care, etc. are all major obstacles.  But to top it off, this young lady cannot read.  And neither can many (if not most) Malian women.  Education is expensive, and for girls it is not a priority.  And the empowerment of women has a long, long way to go.

So, here is a young woman.  She lives away from her own mother.  She has just been diagnosed (by God's grace and His provision of the medical care at this hospital) with a life-threatening, life-changing, lifelong illness.   Diabetes is often difficult to treat under ideal conditions.  And she lives in a country where few things are ideal (by our standards, at least).

We pray that God will show Himself and His love while she is at the hospital.  We pray that she will see Jesus in the actions of the people here.  We know that she will hear His story from the films that play each day and from the spiritual counselors.   Please pray along with us.

 Tomorrow... she starts to learn how to read.

Read more here later-
DD&G