December 24th
There’s still so many people I haven’t had time to greet since I’ve arrived. This afternoon I went to visit Ocan Night. I greeted her and her children. She told me about the events that have passed since I was last in the Quarter. Nighty’s cellphone rang and while she spoke into the phone, her oldest daughter, only 19, spoke to me. She told me that she had lumps in both her breasts which needed to be removed. She brought out her medical reports for me to read. I’m a muzungu, so somehow I think she thought I could just fix it, which obviously, I can’t.
I told her not to worry. I showed her the scar on my right breast where just a few months ago doctors removed a lump. I assured her it was no big deal, she’d be fine - an assurance that I knew could not really be assured. Has her life not already been hard enough? Should I child growing up in poverty in a slum really have to face breast cancer too? It just doesn’t seem fair …
