Night-time Ninja

It's an unwelcome sound. I can hear it near to my ear and I'm instantly awake. Even though I'd previously just been dozing, all my senses are instantly alert. It might be 11pm, 12am... in the dark I'm not sure. It's a whining sound; high-pitched with a bit of buzzing. A mosquito has gotten trapped in my mozzie net.

I can't turn on my bedside torch to locate it because the torch is outside the net. Who knows? The mozzie's family might be on the other side of the net, just waiting for a break in the net. So I lie still trying to listen for it. When I think it's close to me, I strike. Night-time Ninja. Karate in the dark. Or that's what I imagine it looks like. To an onlooker it probably looks like I'm flailing and madly waving. But it's dark, so maybe I do look like a karate expert.

After a few seconds I stop and listen...it's all quiet. Did I get him? Stephanie 1, Mosquito 0? Nope I can still hear him. Sigh. I wriggle under my blankets a bit more and pray he's sufficiently warned.

I've never had malaria, and I pray that I never get it. It is not a very common illness around here, but enough people get it for everyone else to be aware of it and take precautions. I came with one month supply of anti-malaria tablets, but to be honest, I never took them. Now, I'm not giving any professional or medical advice. I'm just describing what I did. I had been warned by the nurse who gave them, and some friends who have used them, that there are side effects to taking the drugs. Not particularly nice ones. And the nurse said that I shouldn't be on the tablets longer than three months anyway. So take or not take for the first month, I would still reach a point where I wasn't taking them.

It's amazing how something so small can have such a big effect on people. This tiny creature gives a small bite loaded with malaria virus and it's two weeks of (what I've heard) pain, weakness, discomfort and feeling miserable. And if it is left untreated, it's even more serious.

It's a bit like pride, isn't it? Sometimes it seems like such a small thing. "Ah, it's just a bit of pride. It's not the worst thing out there?" But get bitten by pride and it has a huge effect on life. God has been teaching me many things over here, and one of them is humility. It's a painful thing to learn. Ouch...when pride is involved... And it's crazy how often pride is at the root of so many other things. I'd like to humbly say I was learning these lessons well...but in honesty, I'm a slow learner when it comes to this issue. I think I've made some progress and then I get proud because of the progress! Sigh. I know God will continue to work on me. I pray that I keep a teachable attitude.