How Do Your Tea Times End?

Today, being Monday, is a favorite time of mine. I actually look forward to Monday afternoons. Tea Time. No, not the British flair. There are no biscuits or scones. Gambian Style Tea Time. It doesn't happen at a specific time everyday, except at my place. Mondays from 4:30-7. Anyone who comes can join the fun. I like to tease that the national beverage in The Gambia is Attaaya. (Chinese Green Tea, but believe me this form has caffeine.) They brew it in little teapots. Then add a lot of sugar. When it is nice and strong, it is poured from one glass to another, to get a nice head of foam. Then the two glasses are rinsed with water and the serving begins. : ) Each Monday, my friend comes to brew the tea and have a chat. Today, she arrived a little later than usual and was in a bit of a hurry, no time for tea, let us just do the milk (warmed and then mixed with sugar, add a little vanilla and YUM!) So, I agreed, that was okay with me. Then I learned she had a baby naming ceremony celebration going on at her compound. So, she brewed, we all chatted.... by the end there were six adult women, one teenage gal and five young girls. We all enjoyed the milk.

My friend left and told me that next week she wouldn't be able to make it, but in two weeks she would be back. I stayed and chatted with the others and then slowly they left. It was a little early and still light out. So, I picked up my magazine and settled back to enjoy a rare quiet moment. About twenty minutes later I looked up to see my friend walking back into the compound and behind her was a horse and cart. I saw about five young men on that and behind it was my friend's husband, who is one of our ambulance drivers. My friend then told me, her son (most likely a nephew) was hit in the head with a metal door. It fell on him. I did a quick assessment and asked her husband to get one of our Gambian staff nurses to ride along with them in the ambulance. I ran for supplies and started an IV, by the time I had the patient ready for transport all the necessary staff had arrived. I worked right at the horse cart. (I just brought out the supplies I would need.) My coworker Teresa thinks she needs to follow me around with a camera. I was starting the IV as she came upon the scene.

By the time they arrived at the referral hospital, the man was awake and when asked where he was he said he was at my house. I am not sure what to think of that... my house looks like the inside of an ambulance. No, I took it as a good sign, he knew my name and that that is where he would go for help. Pray for BD. He stayed at the referral hospital just long enough to get into their ambulance for the ride to the city hospital on the other side of the river. Again, I am praising God for the resources he has given us to help our neighbors.

You just never know how Tea Time may end. Now we know why my friend needed to leave early and why the rest of the group left earlier than normal. God has an amazing plan!