Life and Death in the Congo - Part 3 (2006)
- Kent Galloway
- Aug 22, 2021
- 1 min read
An excerpt from "Courage in the Congo: A Doctor's Fight to Save the Pygmies"
Available now on Amazon:
I gave the boys a bar of soap to wash the body. Then, I got out some African cloth. One had pretty blue images of the virgin Mary. The other a pretty red with pictures of Jesus and prayers in Lingala on it. I told George to arrange everything, and I would come for the mourning period. I went to my room and collapsed into my chair. I had nothing left but my faith to bring me through this crisis.
The boys took the desks from the classrooms and made a large semi-circle in the front yard. They moved the lights outside, put a bed on the veranda, and laid Bekasi John on the bed. They covered him to the neck with the red African-print cloth with the images of Jesus.
My chair sat on one side of the bed. On the other, two men were seated. The hospital secretary sat in one chair, and in the other, to my surprise, sat Nsambi, a barefoot doctor. Nsambi was Bekasi's father. He brought a basket of manioc roots for the parent's contribution. When he arrived, he found out that his son had been the one who died. This realization deepened my sadness as I tried to console him.
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