Haiti: Day 10. On the Contraction of Scabies.

Here's a fun fact for you: If you pick up kid upon kid who has scabies, you'll probably get scabies too.

And now you know.

Didn't really occur to me until this morning when I woke up with... you guessed it. Scabies. I'm thinking I probably got them from the darling kid whose hand I held while Brooke the Nurse disinfected his infection... he's the one I wrote about in my last post.

A (large) part of me is screaming, “why would you put that on your blog for everyone to read!?” but a stronger part of me wants people to know about the realities of orphan life. So for all of you who don't know, scabies are mites that live under your skin. That's right. Mites. Under. Your. Skin.

And it's what I woke up with. What does one do when one wakes up with scabies? One cries. And that's what I did. And then I told my fellow teachers, against the advice of the nurse. I'm not embarrassed, ashamed, nor am I (too) grossed out by it. After all, I got scabies by picking up and loving kids who needed to be picked up and loved.

I was given a special lotion that I was only supposed to put on once (I put it on twice) and was told that I couldn't wash my hands, nor get my hands wet when I shower. Hmm. I'm still trying to be a critical problem solver with that one. The nurse said they'd probably be gone by tomorrow morning. I hope so.

Anyway, I just got back from the feeding program where I, once again, picked up and loved kids. One of the new volunteers asked if we have any cream to put on the kids who have scabies. The thing is, all the kids have it to varying degrees. If we were to give the cream to one of the kids, we'd probably have to give it to every child in the country. So as unfortunate as it is that I have it, the reality of the situation is that I won't have it tomorrow. The kids still will though.

For the record, I don't write about all this sad stuff to make you feel depressed or guilty. We shouldn't feel guilty, nor should we feel depressed, although many of us will. We should, however, be aware. Albert Schweitzer said it best when he said, “think occasionally of the suffering of which you spare yourself the sight.” So let's do that the next time we go to the mall, grocery store, or tanning salon.