Last Tuesday, instead of having us work at the clinic in town, Dr. Fekede assigned us to help clean and organized the medical supply closet at the clinic on the compound. So after breakfast, Ileah and I made our way to the clinic and joined the other 3 medical workers in figuring out what supplies were in that closet so we could update the inventory. We also needed to figure out what supplies the clinic wasn’t using and transfer those ones to the clinic in town. So as we started taking things off the sheaves, bring them out into the hall way, and opening boxes, one of the doctors came across a small tube like device wrapped in a pastel yellow plastic covering. Puzzled by this object, the doctor asked me if I knew what it was. I looked at Ileah and we tried our best to suppress the urge to explode with laughter. Thinking that it could not be possible for a medical doctor to be ignorant of products used during menstruation, I joked that this device is used for nose bleeds and all you have to do is put it up your nostrils to absorb blood. By now, the commotion we were causing draw the attention of the male nurse who was working with us and he came over to look at this “nose bleed absorption apparatus.” The two men were bewildered as they took apart the wrapping and pushed the cotton stuffing out of the tube all the while asking “What is this? Do you use this? Is it a secret?” I couldn’t help it any longer and just exploded with laughter. When it dawned on us that their ignorance of tampons was real and not just a joke, me and Ileah awkwardly explained the best we could what tampons are and how it is used. The expressions worn on all of our faces were truly priceless. It was than explain to us that women in this country don’t use tampons, only sanitary napkins.
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