When I get home from 9 months abroad, a question that will definitely get asked is, “what’s the craziest thing that happened to you on your trip?” Well, the story I am about to tell will defiantly be a contender for that question.
Shortly after arriving in Ethiopia, my squad leaders watched in horror as a diarrhea epidemic broke out amongst our squad. More than half of my squad(myself included) was in bad shape mostly due to our bodies trying to adjust to the new environment and food. Regardless, since the nearest hospital was a 4 hour bus ride away, we were all sent to a clinic in the village nearby.
After a 30 minute walk, we reached the clinic and were greeted by a sheep bleating in the courtyard, and an ambulance that consisted of a motorcycle with a half sized stretcher as the side car.
Thankfully we had an incredible translator with us that got us all checked in. Slowly, each of my squad mates went into the exam room, and came out with a grim look on their face, and eventually, I realized why. In order to figure out what was wrong with us, the clinic had to collect a stool sample from each of us.
In order to do this, we were each given a toothpick broken in half, and a piece of ripped paper the size of a quarter. Right now I’m sure your minds are probably racing as to how we were to collect a stool sample using the items they gave us…let me relieve you of your curiosity. We had to try and poop on the toothpick in a squatty potty and fold the paper over the toothpick when we were done. And for those of you who don’t know, a squatty potty is a slab of concrete, with a hole the size of a softball hammered through it that we were to use the bathroom in. According to my teammate Jamie, it takes the perfect balance of precision and thigh strength to use it.
The next two hours consisted of 16 racers using 4 squatty pottys in the middle of a cow field. Some of my squad mate’s experiences were better than others to put it plainly. After a long period of trying to figure out the squatty, I dropped my toothpick in the hole and had to go get another one which was not optimal to say the least. The entire time at the clinic consisted of me thinking to myself, “horrific yet hilarious World Race experience that I can tell my kids one day…check!”
After we gave the clinic what they asked from us, we all got our results back and were given medicine accordingly. Results ranged from bacterial infections, salmonella, parasites, and some of us were told our bodies were just adjusting to the new environment and food. Thankfully, my body was just adjusting and nothing was wrong with me.
My experience at the Ethiopian clinic was one for the books to say the least. Me along with my squad mates were so thankful to have a clinic and translators that were so patient and willing to help us. It wasn’t a shiny American clinic that we were all used to, but it was incredible and definable memorable!
Until next time!
