GIVE EVERY MAN THY EAR, BUT FEW THY VOICE

"Beware of entrance to a quarrel; but, being in,

Bear't that th' opposed may beware of thee.

Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice;

Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,

But not express'd in fancy; rich, not gaudy;

For the apparel oft proclaims the man." Polonius

from Hamlet: Shakespeare

Day 6 of #lighttheworld

"You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat. It is written:"

" 'As surely as I live,' says the Lord,
'every knee will bow before me;
every tongue will confess to God.' "

"So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way." Romans 14:10-13

I am a nurse and was working in a hospital in Dundee, Kwa-Zulu-Natal. It was during the time when we had our 'black' hospitals and the 'white' hospitals. The two separate hospitals were always built within walking distance from one another because the matron of the 'white' hospital had to do rounds on the 'black' side.

It was also during this time that they started to integrate the two hospitals. The black staff was working on the white side, but thinking of it now, the white staff were never allocated to work on the black side.

This was quite an adjustment for most of the nurses because this was very unusual to work alongside the black personnel. I must add that the nurses training in those years was of a very high standard, there was no compromise in the high quality of training between black and white nurses, we all received the same training.

The Doctors was very open-minded and were getting frustrated with the difference in treatment between the two hospitals. The food on the black side was inferior to what the white patients were receiving. The patient's wounds on the other side took much longer to heal than their white counterparts. What a cruel distinction this was!

Nutrition in Wound Healing

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There was a 3-year-old black child who suffered from severe burn wounds and she was one of those patients who recovered very slowly and that was all about a lack of proper nutrition. The same doctors who looked after the white side also took care of the black side. This little girl's doctor decided that she must be transferred to the white side in order to get proper care and nutrition. Her whole little body was covered in bandages, only her face was saved from the hot water her father poured over her. She was very friendly and it did not take long for her to trust the white staff.

Bath Time

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Every day when it was time for her bath and to soak the bandages off in the water, she was screaming at the top of her voice. This did not improve. We made up our minds that she does not like to bath and probably never bathed at home.
We were constantly looking for differences between white and black and was happy that we did find differences, to prove that we are not the same.

The doctors transferred another child to our side, for the same reasons. This one was also screaming her head off when it comes to bath time. "You see," we told one another, "they are all the same, they are all scared of water and don't like to bath" Not long after that, I was allocated to bath the children and to do their dressings. When I prepared the bath for the little girl with the burn wounds, she started screaming before I even took off her hospital gown. I tried to comfort her but nothing helped. When I picked her up to put her in the bath, she clung to me for dear life. The other children did the same. At first, I thought it was the removal of the bandages that frightened her, but when the other children did the same, I realized that this must be the first time in their entire lives that they have seen a bath with a tap where the water is running from.

They were so frightened of the bath full of water and everybody forced them into the water, especially the black staff. Oh boy, they showed no sympathy what so ever. We were judging them again, saying they don't like to bath. We just took the situation for granted, instead of finding out the real reason behind their reaction to the water.
I made it a point to introduce them to their bath every morning, I gave them toys to play with and they soon learn that the water won't harm them and it is there to be enjoyed, as long as there was an adult with them. The children could only speak Zulu, most of the explanation was through facial expressions and hand signs. They began to enjoy their bath time and their fear of the water was disappearing. Perhaps their parents warned them not to go close to water, from there the fear.

Pair of Red Shoes

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My favorite patient was the 3-year old girl. I gave her a brand new pair of red Jack and Jill shoes. When I checked on her during her afternoon sleep, she had the shoes on while sleeping. I thought that the nurses are too lazy to make her comfortable. Here I was judging again. I took her shoes off and put it in her locker. When she woke up she was screaming for dear life and kept on saying a word (something like 'sicathulo' if I can remember correctly) which I did not understand. I took off the bandages which covered her feet to see if something was wrong, but nothing was the matter, she just screamed! I tried to memorize the word and asked one of the black sisters what that was.
She said that means shoes, she refused to take them off when she put her to bed and that is why she is screaming like that, she wants her red Jack and Jill shoes. This child loved and trusted me unconditionally. She did not judge me by my color or social standing. She saw the kindness and love that I was able to give to her and this was all she longed for and it was important to her - to be able to trust someone, a person by whom she did not feel threatened by, but safe.

Do not Judge

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This taught me a lesson I would never forget up to this day. "Do not judge a book by its cover, you never know what treasure is hidden inside." I have learned to first find out what a person's circumstances are before I formed my own selfish opinion.
I can only thank God with all my heart and soul, that He made me see there is no difference, we are all born the same with the same opportunities, but not everybody is lucky enough to have those opportunities in their lives. God loves each one of us the same and He does not have any favorites on this earth, no matter what we are or has become. He let His sun shine over believers and non- believers.

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