Bitter Medication "Sweetens" Life
- 1 hour ago
- 1 min read
As part of a missionary outreach, I recently visited the two bush villages of Salemo and Towoluk. The adventurous journey led mostly over unpaved roads and improvised wooden bridges, through the beautiful nature of Papua. However, the beauty of the landscape was quickly overshadowed by the sobering reality that many villagers suffered from agonizing scabies and painful worm infestations.
The urgently needed medical resources were completely lacking. For this reason, we brought deworming pills, painkillers and ointments to treat these afflictions. The villagers, gathered by the village elder, bravely swallowed the bitter medicine. At the sight of welcome gifts such as coffee, sugar and other treats from Wamena, the worm medicine was quickly forgotten.
For me, this visit to the bush villages was an instructive and encouraging experience. I was able to learn new things about the tribal culture and gained insight into the locals’ impressive craftsmanship. Their ability to weave elaborate baskets and the traditional “Noken” bags from plants and roots is truly admirable. As we said goodbye, our team was thanked profusely and given a very special gift: a basket of freshly harvested avocados.
Franziska
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