Health
“they held me and gang raped me for three weeks.” It hung there, with no more weight from her voice than when she’d talked about the differences between Nigerian and Liberian palm nuts. She pointed to the jagged gash on her arm where they broke a bottle over her arm. “I almost died,” she said […]
Our pump is out of water. Not all pumps, but the one closest to our house. And the one in front of the nursing school has bad water. The next pump I’m familiar with is on the other side of the school and I’m not- I can’t – haul water that far. Well, I suppose […]
Despite being nestled amid lush greenery that slowly inches its way closer…to the house, the walking path, the garbage burn pit…my job is actually encased in cement. Cement walls and floors and an imposing enclosure engulfing it all; a dingy wall – with once-bright pictures depicting safer sex and mosquito nets to prevent malaria. It […]
She laughed. Not ha ha laughing, but the laughter of levity – of realizing that crying does no good. Or maybe I just projected that onto her because I can understand how a tired smile and a laugh at the absurdity that six weeks or six months…hell six years…can repair what took thousands of people […]
When we took the left the paved road ended abruptly. The throng of vendors and people milling about thinned and the green of long grass and leafy trees took over. The range rover spit out the occasional gust of black exhaust and kicked up red dust obscuring the view from the rear as we bumped […]
36,000. It isn’t a huge number but it isn’t small. 36,000 people die annually from influenza in America. The common, everday, unsexy flu. 1. 1 is how many people have died in the united states from swine flue this year. 1. Please don’t think I underestimate the value of life…I don’t. but when I weigh […]
the thing is, i’m about choice…in its purest form. i’m not talking just when it suits me…but in general. i’m not advocating that i know the right decision for anyone. abortion…i don’t think everyone should get one, just those that want/need one. gay marriage…like any marriage – for those who want the government stamp of […]
i was determined today. late night be damned. today i was going to class. so when i rolled out of bed later than i anticipated i didn’t let breakfast…er…lunch, or the need for it, deter me. instead i putzed around the house for a while, got dressed and headed into the surprisingly warm noon day. […]
i can’t dance. not really. not the way people expect a black woman to be able to dance. i spend a lot of time in my head. is this moving right? is that? my legs are fine as long as they are acting alone, but throw in my arms, my hips, anything else and all […]
Hit and run
I heard the siren. We all did. And so necks craned and eyes strained through doors and windows to see the ambulance racing up the road to the hospital. Some speculated on what or who…but mostly we took note before returning to whatever held our attention just moments before. While not common, the blue lights […]
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