Hello
everyone,
I’m sorry
about the delay in letting you know what’s been going on. I’ll try and
keep to the highlights.
When I
came back to Nyankunde in early January, the maternity ward was in tough shape,
and I experienced a lot of frustration in getting people to do the basics of
their jobs. Mostly my neighbor Anna, who is a nurse practitioner, and I
with the help of the hospital administration have put together basic job
descriptions for the nursing staff. We have established a system of
evaluations and warnings for unprofessional behavior. We also started
writing ‘incidents’ in a book: things that are not done correctly in order to
know how we can improve the system.
And, we
are improving. Setting standards and following through are difficult concepts
here, but we are starting to see small differences. But, it’s hard to hold people accountable in light of the
fact that every month staff is paid only a part of their salary, and it is
usually 2-6 weeks late. So, most nurses make about $125 a month, but
receive only $60 about every 6-10 weeks. It’s very discouraging for the
staff and we (my neighbors and I) give money or food to people who get to the
end of their salary.
Outside of administration, I have also re-opened the O.R. in the maternity
(photo: one of the first cases back in the maternity O.R.) and have one of the
nurse anesthesiologists (name: Omviti) who works specifically in the maternity
department. This has been extremely helpful as he takes care of organizing
everything in the O.R. and I don’t have to follow-up so closely on what he
does. 
I do
continue to work in the main O.R. The general surgeon (Warren Cooper)
trained me to do simple mastectomies. I'm hoping to learn more. I’ve also
had several challenging cases including a cervical cancer case, a fibroid
uterus with about 30 fibroids (non-cancerous tumors in the uterus) and a
vesico-vaginal fistula (hole between the bladder and vagina), which I handed
over to Warren mid-way.
I,
unfortunately, left the case because I was sick again and became a patient in
the hospital. No one seems to know what really the problem was because I
had a lot of short-lasting, vague symptoms with no evidence of really
anything. The most worrisome was that my blood pressure was very low
(60/30) for a few days. I’m doing much better now, but everyone is
mystified as to what happened and why it happened.
Some of my
Congolese friends thought I was in shock because of an incident that had
happened the week before. Unfortunately, one of the few successful
businessmen in the area was shot and robbed. He had a store and also
bought gold from the miners. It was the 3rd attempt in several years, but
this time they were successful in killing him and taking everything.
In the
aftermath of this there was confusion. There were two soldiers killed by
the crowd that had gathered after the shooting. The military then chased
the crowd away by firing machine gun rounds into the air. In an area
where there has been war and violence, this really shook up the community,
especially the people who lived through the massacre during the war over 10
years ago.
The entire
neighborhood surrounding this man’s store and many others literally fled. The people that did stay stayed inside
their homes. Everyone avoided the center of town. It was eerily
quiet. After about a week, most people returned home. But there are
still people who have not returned after about a month. It has taken over
10 years for people to return to the area, and this incident was isolated to the
one store keeper, but it instilled a fear in the people here that still
lingers.
The day
that shooting happened, I had just returned from one of the national parks
called Garamba, where they are working to restore the wildlife and protect it
from poachers. There was a visiting anesthesiologist and his daughter who
had come to work in the hospital. They invited all of the doctors who
work with Samaritan’s Purse and their families to travel with them to see the
wildlife and to get away for a day.
It was a
good time to relax, see a new part of the country, and to be educated about how
conservation efforts really work (machine guns and military enforcement along with tagging animals with trackers). We saw a
lot of interesting animals and birds. We even got to drive across a
bridge that has water running over it from the river (photo left).
Apart from
traveling to the park, I also was able to fly with one of the pilots to Ipulu,
the rainforest with the pygmys. We were taking back the lady who runs the
park and had the opportunity to walk in the forest for about an hour to stretch
our legs before flying back.
Even
though it sounds like I’ve been jet-setting all over Congo, I have mostly been
at work or at home. I’ve been working on several projects at home
including getting another small garden set up. I had my roof fixed
that leaked during the rainy season. I’ve been spending time with friends
and neighbors. I’ve been continuing to lead a Bible study with Anna for
some of the young women who work and live at the hospital. And, I’ve even
been able to hike a few times in the hills behind the hospital.
Every day
here brings new challenges. I’m still enjoying my work even when I
sometimes get frustrated because of all the different obstacles. I was
reminded by one of my friends who lives in Niger (hotter climate, busier
hospital) of a verse in 1 Corinthians 15:58. It says, “Therefore, my dear
brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give
yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in
the Lord is not in vain.” She seems to think that I have figured this out,
but I don’t agree. It just may be stubbornness. One thing that
struck me was “your labor in the Lord”. It’s not just me trying to do my
own thing and figuring out how to fix all the problems, but it is working for
the Lord, knowing that it is worthwhile, even when it is difficult.
Well,
continue to pray for me, the hospital, and the people here in Nyankunde.
And stay in touch.
Michelle
Prayer
1. Pray that people would understand that they
can’t do enough good things to earn salvation. Very common misconception
taught in most churches here.
2. Pray that I stay healthy and can continue to
work and live here.
3. Pray that the changes that are being made in
the hospital will help improve the quality of care that is offered here.
4. Pray that we can find someone who is honest
and good at their work to manage the replacement of the piping from the water
source to the hospital. (Typical repair seen to the right: rubber wrapped
around leaky pipe).
5. Pray for peace in this area.
Timeline (very tentative):
June 2016-take 2 weeks
vacation off; meet up with my sister(s) and nephew.
February 2017-travel to
Thailand for 2 weeks for medical conference
June 2017-contract ends
July-October 2017-work in
the US (and maybe even pay off my student loans)
October 2017-take the last
step of my board exams
Contact:
Blog: michelledoran82.blogspot.com (updated monthly-ish)
Giving:
You can send checks with
my account number on it (#004864) to:
Samaritan’s
Purse
P.O.
Box 3000
Boone,
NC 28607
Or
, to my parents’ address:
4614
Claudia Dr.
Waterford,
MI 48328
You’re also able to give
online by searching my last name (Doran) at
http://www.samaritanspurse.org/medical/wmm-doctors/
No comments:
Post a Comment