Yesterday I experienced something I’ve never seen before, and it was unreal!
I was doing the usual, walking around taking photos and talking to nurses, doctors, and children. I was heading down to the garden to talk with Rosalyn (the wonderful Irish lady I live with) and she immediately asked, “Have you seen it?!” I wasn’t quite sure what she was talking about until she pointed to the laundry staff gathered in a huddle by the clothing lines looking through a welder’s mask. I thought to myself, “No way.” I ran over to join the excitement. “Hannah hannah you look you look, take snap!” An eclipse. I have never seen one quite like this before. It was unreal. Looking through the mask, I saw the shape I remember from children’s books. It was incredible. We were all elbow to elbow, climbing on top of one another to get a better view of the eclipse through the mask.
Around the corner one of the staff members came running, telling us to come to the Operating Room side of the hospital. We all, so giddy, ran down the path to meet the others. There were so many of us. It was as if work ceased for a bit, so we could all marvel at the beauty of God’s creation. In Uganda, they do things very creatively. We were all using patient’s x-rays to look at the sun. I couldn’t help but chuckle! (And snort, of course.) It was working so well! It was so clear through the x-ray. So much so that we felt as though we could reach out and grab the moon and sun, all at once.
That’s when it hit me. How on earth did they know to look at the sun, with an x-ray, on this particular day? I asked Juma, and he matter-of-fact told me that the sun is different today. I asked him to further explain, because truly the sun was just as hot and bright as it ever is, in my perspective. But they knew. He said it is more of a hazy sunshine, and the heat isn’t as scorching. I must admit I was totally in awe. Its like they all just knew in an instant that it was happening.
A few minutes later a staff member from the OR quickly brought out a bucket of water. Again, I was a little lost. They told me to position myself behind the bucket so I could see the reflection in the water. Blue. All you could see was the outline. It was like the sun and the moon were just dancing around in the water.
I wish I could have recorded the hilarious scene that was me trying to take a photo of the event. I was laying on the ground with my camera pointed to the sky, while doctors, nurses, and patient’s mother’s were trying to hold the scan in such a way that would allow me to capture the light just right. Through our many attempts, we got it! Im still finding grass in my hair!
