a strange talisman

In most 3rd world countries with a history of tribal religions, often some of those old superstitions and beliefs remain in modern life. Each Wednesday Cindy Nelsen and I take turns having the clinic staff in for lunch at our houses. One Wednesday a few weeks back, we all giggled as our Filipino friends poked a little bit of fun at themselves by sharing some of what I guess we would call "old wives tales" that are still prevalent. One belief is that hurrying just after eating causes appendicitis. You should also never shower or get wet with cold water when you are hot or just after exercising or it will cause a Filipino word I think might best be translated as malaise. This is something to be avoided at all costs and also a little hard to do since it is always hot here. The rituals surrounding new borns and children are of course numerous. New mothers often squirt breast milk in their baby's eyes to prevent eye infections.
Well Friday at the clinic I was introduced to another strange superstition. While Scott was examining a 3 year old boy, Cindy and I were busy goo-gooing at his 4 month old brother. He was a strong baby and big for a Filipino baby his age. Pinned to his little yellow outfit was a little red pouch. Scott turned to me and said it was a talisman to ward off evil spirits. He then wanted me to feel the pouch and guess what was inside. I felt something smooth about the thickness of a AA battery with a point at one end. Surely they didn't have pinned to this baby what I thought I felt. I felt again and Scott asked what I thought it was. I was afraid to give my answer--"a bullet?". Unfortunately I was correct. Pinned to this little guy was a live 38 caliber bullet. I guess that is one way to ward off evil spirits. Scott then told me of another common practice that maybe I wish I had known when my own kids were little (OK so not really). People are really the same the world over and in the Philippines, just as in America, when you take your baby out in public, people, often strangers, will bend over your baby and touch his little face. I remember my sister-in-law, Chris and I discussing how we hated taking Emily and Laura out to Wal-mart for fear they were going to catch something from all the hands that touched them. A solution to that here in the Philippines is to use red lipstick or other such substance to draw a cross on the baby's forehead. This will keep the bad germs and evil spirits away when people touch him. As humorous as this sounds, it is also tragic that these beliefs are so common. It helps us to remember our main purpose in being here is not to heal the many illnesses that abound or to educate about some of these misconceptions, although we do these things. Our main purpose is to share with them the True One who can keep away all of the evil that abounds in this world. Our prayer is that they will see This One living in us as they come to the clinic and meet us in the community.
Ginger