And it came to pass in those days that a white woman (Blanche) came and lived among us with a vision of helping people live healthier lives. She ate with us and asked lots of questions. She watched when we made teas for various illnesses and asked even more questions. She dressed like us and didn’t even use a tie to keep her pangna on. When she was in the market, she asked lots of questions about food and other things that seemed very obvious to us.

She came out to our villages and talked about things we know about like what happens when someone has diarrhea—how their skin gets dry, and when you pinch it, it stands up. We didn’t realize that happened because we didn’t drink enough water. We all agreed that it makes us weak, we just hadn’t known what to do about it. So we asked her what we were supposed to do. She explained how to treat it with a special drink. We got to taste it—it was good.

Another time, she told us how pregnant women should eat more so they have strength for the birth and have healthy babies. That is good information we didn’t know before. We like good advice. Good neighbors give good advice to their friends.

When I asked this Blanche for prayer for my aching back, she asked me how much water I had drunk in the past day. I told her I had drunk a bit in the morning when I ate breakfast. She said she would pray for me but that I also needed to go home and drink several liters of water before the end of the day. I said that was a lot of water, but she said my body needed to take a shower inside to clean out all the bad stuff and my back ache would probably go away if I would just drink water regularly. We prayed and I followed her advice. The next morning, my back didn’t hurt anymore. I will have to keep telling others about this new information she has given me.

Up the street lives a boy of about five who had several big ulcers. This blanche showed him how to do what she called “hot compresses.” He went home and told his mom, and she helped him continue the treatment. Soon his ulcers were gone. Another boy in the neighborhood also had lots of sores on his legs from his father’s beatings. The hot compresses helped him, too. I will try it myself if I get an ulcer. If it works, I will pass it on to my neighbors.

The blanche gives such good health advice, I’m beginning to think more about the other advice she gives—something about a Creator God who can protect us from the evil spirits and heal our hearts.

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