The Importance of a Good Name

I know that I said I would be doing gen med this week, but I decided to stick around in obstetrics one more week since this was also my mid-wife friend Kelly's final week with us.  Kelly has been a great resource on the labor wards and has talked me through several of the births I conducted.  Gonna miss her!  Also, I will miss one of my favorite labor and delivery nurses, Hilda.  She seemed guarded to our presence at first but has really warmed up to us by the end.  She was also a great one to learn from.  

Upon saying our goodbyes yesterday, I bumped into one of the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical College (KCMC) students named Treasure, who I've been working closely beside these past couple of days.  Yesterday was the first time I asked his name and did proper introductions; I almost choked up when he said his name.  I know the scripture verse that talks about how valuable it is to have a good name.  Now the interpretation of this verse can go 2 ways, having a name that literally means something special and good to declare over a person's life.  (For example, Glenn's literal translation means 'Prosperous One').  Or having a good name could just mean having a solid reputation, one of integrity, honesty, and trust.  In this culture, I think that the former is what most hold to when naming their offspring.  So many names have been Emmanuel, Noel, Innocent, and now Treasure.  What a beautiful name for parents to bestow upon their child, that they can know just by their name alone how much they are loved and valued, and reminded of such every time their name is spoken.  

This is Treasure.  I was even more excited when I discovered he's a Ugandan from Kampala!  I'm heading back to his home country next weekend for my birthday visiting a good friend of mine who I haven't seen since my first visit to Uganda 2.5 yrs ago.  

This is Hilda; she was such an awesome lady to work with!

Middle is my friend Kelly from Manchester,  England and soon to be fully qualified practicing mid-wife as of end of February.  The right is Hilda and on the left is the head janitor of the labor ward who I witness doing a delivery the other day (I blogged about it in my previous post!)  Now you have a face to put to the story : )