Shaaqanchcha

Let me tell you a little story about Ethiopian flies (also known as uduntia [you-doon-tia]) and why they create raging fires of wrath within my bones.

I’ll begin with American flies: kind of gross things that fly around, land on things, vomit, eat their vomit, make an annoying noise, occasionally land on your pants, all in all not such a big deal flies. They are easily killed with a swatter or sticky paper.

Ethiopian flies: filthy creatures that suck on the snotty-nosed children’s eye boogers, land on the festering wounds I’m cleaning, land on pools of who knows what kind of infected blood, and then LAND ON MY LIP.

I cannot fully explain the depth of anger/disgust that flows within the pits of my soul as fly after fly takes a repulsing route from one filthy thing to the next. The only thoughts in my mind naturally lean toward the millions of diseases that are being passed from one innocent person to the next and all I can do is flail my arms and rear my head like a crazy forenge (white foreigner) each time one lands on my face.

This pretty much paints a beautiful picture of what each day of clinic looks like for me. By the grace of God we do not have any flies in our home, so I have a refuge from this filthy plague (I don’t understand how the plague of flies wasn’t the last straw for the Egyptians…it would have ended the problem for me…Israelites gone).

Should we happen to start having flies in our humble abode, I will be purchasing a large number of shaaqanchchas (chameleons) that live in your house plants and eat your flies all day long. I think God created shaaqanchchas for people like me.

I just had an image of a shaaqanchcha on my shoulder during clinic days. I think it was a revelation.

Praise the Lord for shaaqanchchas!

My best friend.