A Wristwatch for Bernadina
It was a normal sunny morning in San Rafael as Anita and Dr. Martinez were
examining a patient in the bus. Suddenly, a young woman waiting in line fell to
the ground and started screeching.
The other women scooped up their children and ran off.
In this tiny village the people whispered “she’s possessed, she has demons”. The
children in the village teased her. “Nobody will want to marry her”, lamented
her mother. Bernadina was an outcast in her village and in her own family.
Bernadina, 20, suffers from epilepsy, a common but very misunderstood disorder.
She had upwards of eight seizures a day, causing her to fall down and writhe
uncontrollably, and at times screeching loudly. She couldn’t get a job except
working in the field for her father, and everyone seemed to avoid her. When she
had seizures in the field, she was simply forced to lie or writhe in the dirt
until it passed– there was no help for her.
With proper medication, Bernadina can function perfectly well. But the
medication is too expensive for her family to buy, so she went without it and
was forced to bear these frequent seizures.
In our clinic we gave Bernadina the medicine she needed. But during a follow-up
visit, Anita discovered that Bernadina still had one or two seizures during the
night. The reason for these occasional seizures wasn’t solely medical, there was
another, underlying problem. A family problem, really.
Bernadina revealed to Anita that she was having problems at home. She slept in a
little bedroom with all her sisters; her brothers slept on the floor in the
kitchen. She knew it was important to take her medicine at certain specific
hours, even at night. (It gets dark at 6 pm here.) But the only clock they owned
was in the kitchen, and when she went to check the time at night, her brothers
harassed her and sometimes pushed her around. So, she often missed taking her
medication at night. During the day, out in the fields, it was also difficult to
know exactly when to take the medicine.
What to do? Anita told her that the following week she would bring a watch for
her to wear, so that she could always know the correct time. The watch was one
that Greg’s mother, Ruth, had donated to the mission with the words “I hope
someone can make good use of this wristwatch.” Little did Ruth know what a
wonderful gift this would be for a person who would never be able to afford one
— a pretty young girl now had the opportunity for a normal life she desperately
wanted.
The following week, Bernadina was waiting early to see if Anita had brought the
promised watch. She smiled broadly as Anita carefully fit it around her wrist.
Now she would never have to miss her medicine times again. What a great relief
and help for Bernadina. One of the side effects of this medicine is bleeding
gums for which we also give her toothpaste and soft toothbrushes.
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