Thursday, March 1, 2018

Nyankunde Feb 2018

Walking up the hill towards home.
Je marche a ma maison.

Playing UNO with my colleagues
Nous jouons le joue UNO avec nos colleagues.

It's always interesting to walk up the stairs.
You never know what you're going to find.

C'est toujours interesent de monter les escaliers.
On ne sais jamais la distance ni les obstacles.

Dr. Deborah doing consultations.
Dr. Deborah fait les consultations.

Two interns in maternity learning the basics.
Nos 'interns' apprenent les base de medecine.

One of the ladies I helped in 2015
J'ai aide cette dame quand je suis venue en 2015 
Back in Nyankunde
February 2018

It’s been a two weeks since I’ve made it back to the DRC! I’m happy to be living in the same home that I lived in 2 years ago. I started work a couple of days ago and have found that Dr. Deborah is doing an excellent job in the maternity ward. She’s bright, energetic, and definitely needs a break.

It’s been a good adjustment. I had a week to get over the jet lag and get some things in order around my house. I worked on projects like patching the roof so it doesn’t leak with the rain, helping Patrick and Anna replace their kitchen drain pipe that had a significant blockage and a good size hole that looks like it’s been there since the house was redone 2.5 years ago.

I’ve had many visitors and made many visits to friends in the community. It’s good to be back in Nyankunde and feel so welcomed by missionaries and Congolese. But, it’s evident that there’s a lot of struggle that has happened in the last several months-people aren’t paid, the drought is even worse, elections might be postponed again, unrest in the north, etc.

But, we keep trying to move forward. I’m restarting the bimonthly education for lay midwives at health centers. I’m also going to intersperse visits to the health centers when they do their prenatal care so I can do one-on-one education with the midwives.  I started operating again.

And, I've been encouraged.  The nurses have remembered a lot of their training.  The new hospital administrator is trying to budget to that we can have gloves and suture and standard equipment at the hospital.  There is a desire to learn.  Several of the Congolese physicians are talking about doing residency programs to they can have a better education and understanding of disease.

Thanks so much for getting me back to Nyankunde.  You've given generously and this has allowed me to bring some medical supplies with me, provide scholarships for 3 of the nursing students, buy 4 new computers for the nursing school, and provide funds for me to redo a little bit of my house so I can prepare for the missionary kids’ schoolteacher as a new roommate in August. Thank you.

Things to pray for:
Good health and that I remember to take my malaria meds every day
Wisdom to know how and when to help people at the hospital and in the community
Rain for the people here, most whom are farmers, in order to grow their crops.


How to give:

To me personally: www.serge.org/staff/id-51412
To my projects: waiting for an account number.  If you're interested in helping, let me know.

Timeline:
April- Swahili language course for 4 weeks in Tanzania