a first time for everything...

There's a first time for everything, and last night was my first time witnessing a baby enter the world...via the cholera ward.

I won't pretend it was a pretty sight, but it was interesting nonetheless. More than that, it was wonderful to experience new life amid all the suffering and death of cholera. Like I've mentioned before, after being immersed in treating cholera, you need reminders that there is life outside of it. What better reminder than a brand new life.

Moreover, we fully expected the baby to come out dead, so its cry was a particularly pleasant surprise! Most women who get cholera in their third trimester, as this woman did, give birth to stillborn babies. I saw the baby again this evening, and it looks good, at least to my very untrained eye.

According to Ecclesiastes, there is a time for everything. It seems to me that the time was right for me to see my first birth. I think that seeing it amid the suffering of cholera was just what I needed to really appreciate the miracle (and cringe less at the gore) of new life.