My Host Mom is Sick

My host mom has Malaria, I think. As a health volunteer I came in knowing a lot of the kind of stuff I'd be dealing with, and we spend a lot of time in training discussing the common illnesses and how people generally treat them, but when you actually see someone here in sickness and the kind of conditions they're in, it's a completely different story. 

So, about 3-4 weeks ago, my host sister told me my host mom was sick. My host family here is pretty well off in comparison to the general population, so I just assumed they had gone to the clinic or got some medicine for her, but as I was eating dinner that night, my host mom is on the floor of her room, im guessing sleeping. And halfway through my dinner a "doctora" which I'm guessing is actually a nurse but that's spanish not french, comes in and starts giving my mom an IV, on the floor of her room, and my host mom is moaning in pain. I'm really surprised because I saw my host mom up and doing house work just that morning. So host grandma's there and I'm asking my her and my host sister, "Is she gonna be ok?" and the only answer I can get is "God willing." Not exactly reassuring.

 I ask host grandma what she has and she says abscesses. Which, I'm thinking, I'm pretty sure that's a symptom of something else, not an illness, but my host grandma continues to describe to me in French how abscesses work and that my host mom had multiple on her body and they had used a razor to cut them all open and drain them. Keep in mind this is mid-way through my dinner. So, my host mom stayed in bed the next few days until the day I was leaving for post visit, and I saw her up again and the fam is like she's getting better. So, I feel better about leaving thinking she's gonna be just fine. When I get back from post visit week though, my host mom is not at the house. She's staying at uncle's house because she's still sick. My host sister and brother though are like she's getting better, she's coming home on Thursday. 

Thursday came and went and no Maman. So, then I go to visit my host mom in her sick room. She is laying on a mat on the floor. Door's open, insects and the dog coming in and out of the room, the entire extended family is crowding around her to keep her company, and she can barely talk. They bring her some pate to eat and she has to be lifted up into the sitting position. As soon as she sits up she vomits several times.  Now, it had been a couple weeks now since she's been sick and every time I ask my host fam about her, they say she's getting better. I was kinda shocked. They give her some medicine. Coartem. Malaria meds. She takes one bite of pate and then throws it all up.

This is one of those situations where it's really uncomfortable, because she's so sick and everyone is acting so normal about it. But even more so, because this is a really preventable illness, but there's nothing you can do about it in this situation. So, as this is happening my host sister is telling me she's gonna get better before the "grand fete" on Thursday, which by the way was my swearing-in. My host mom came home the night before swearing in on a moto and she's like "Ca va mieux!" in a crackling little sick voice. I know she really wants to come see me get sworn in as a volunteer, but I'm pretty sure she's still sick. She didn't make it to swearing in though, and I'm waiting to see how she's doing when I get back to my host family's house.