Hello all,
 |
| Joanna and I in the maternity ward. She is leaving in 1 week. |
Today
I left work slightly early. I had a lot of little things to do around the house
to prepare for my neighbors’ parents who are going to be staying with me for
the next couple of weeks: I cleaned up the kitchen, which included removing all
the dead cockroaches that I finally put out poison for, and I mended the 24-year-old
backpack my sister Heather gave me (our aunt and uncle gave it to her for a
trip she took as a teenager) so I could carry home food from the market --
something that needed to be done since my fridge is typically bare. It’s just a
½ mile walk from my home, and the women sell tomatoes, onions, beans, and
vegetables grown in their gardens. I’ve come to know several of the ladies
there by sight and often try, in my very limited Swahili, to buy something from
everyone.
 |
| My friend from the market coming for the consultation. |
I
was looking at some black beans on a small square of plastic when all of a
sudden a woman came up next to me. I recognized her, not from the market, but
from the hospital. She had been there almost two months with a premature baby,
the twin who survived, who weighed just 1,2 kg (a really early baby weighing
about 3 pounds). When I saw her, I was really happy because she looked good,
and she said her baby was doing well. I was surprised, though, when instead of
the typical handshake, she gave me a hug and then a kiss full on the lips. I
wasn’t quite sure what to do and semi-panicked I thought she might have HIV.
She did, however, tell me that she was having terrible diarrhea, and she was
coming to see me the next day. Awesome! Good thing the first thing I had bought
at the market today was Mebendazole, a medication to treat parasites that cause
diarrhea.
After
that somewhat eventful trip to the market, I went home to sort through some
papers, which led to me looking at a scrapbook with pictures, verses, and comic
strips that was organized by my sister, Sarah, before I left the US. I look at
it time and again to see family, hear their thoughts, and to think of good
memories. It made me a little homesick for all of you, but it also reminded me
of why I am doing what I’m doing.
 |
| One of our nurses, Sammy, whose baby ended up dying. |
I
sometimes wonder with all the illness, death, and suffering why I am here. Am I
really making any difference? Will it really affect anything in the long run? I
think this because there is a terrible lack of support and infrastructure. Problems
that could easily be solved are often interminable because people steal money
from the hospital, don’t care, are lazy and don’t do their job, or they just
don’t know how to make things better. My typical response is one of anger or
frustration, but it’s often detrimental for people who are already suffering
and discouraged.
 |
| Pilot John Cadd doing magic tricks for kids (and adults). |
I
think I’ve mentioned it several times over the last year, but I know that God
is teaching me how to love people as more than superficial acquaintances and
moving me beyond ignoring a problem to just have peace. I have a very long way
to go in learning how to be patient, to show true kindness, to not want what
others have, to not think I’m better than everyone else, nor to try and tell
everyone how great my ideas are compared to theirs, or to not try and have everyone
do what I want to make my life easier, to not want to yell at people who
continue to make the same mistake again and again, but to teach, to tell people
they are doing good work when they do, to help people reach their potential,
and to continue to love even when it’s difficult, takes people a long, long
time to understand, or when I don’t have it within myself to forgive.
I
think the biggest difference I can make is by showing love to those around me.
I can be competent and give the best care I can with the staff I have and the
materials that are here. I can greet people with kindness. I can teach someone
for the 80th time how to check a baby’s heart rate without getting
frustrated with their lack of education or even their lack of a way to learn
and remember (still working on that one). I can buy someone’s chicken so that
they can pay their hospital bill instead of just ignoring the problem. I can do
a tubal ligation for free for a lady with epilepsy whose two kids who have
already gone through the malnutrition program instead of just sending her home.
I can fire my housekeeper who stole money by explaining instead of trying to
make myself feel better by shouting at her. I can try to make amends with
people who have treated me poorly instead of ignoring the problem (usually very
challenging conversations). And I can stick things out instead of quitting my
job when all the new tile of the maternity floor delivery room comes up after
10 months of them redoing it.
Showing
love and speaking the truth in love are very difficult sometimes. The verses I
paraphrased from 1 Corinthians 13 are well known from weddings: love is
patient, love is kind, etc. What is less known are the preceding verses: “If I
speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a
resounding gong or a clanging symbol. If I have the gift of prophecy and can
fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains,
but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and
surrender my body to the flames, but do not have love, I gain nothing.”
It’s
a reminder that no matter what I do, if it’s not done in a certain way (in
love), then it really isn’t accomplishing much.
 |
| Ashley Petersen (with MAF) starting to hatch chicks to help people in the area. |
I’m
not sure if I’ve shared these thoughts before, but it was what I was thinking
about today. Despite all the times that I do get angry and frustrated and
totally make a fool of myself, I am occasionally showing the same type of love
Jesus showed to others, as seen by the somewhat disconcerting response of the
lady at the market because of what I did for her and her baby in the hospital. Continue
to pray for me that I would show love not only to patients, but to the hospital
staff and administration.
 |
| Feeding the baby chicks. |
Please also pray that I would have
wisdom as I contemplate my long-term goals and plans. I process a lot
internally and slowly, so I’m not yet certain which path to take after my
fellowship ends. I have started talking with Serge, a Christian organization whose
priority
is to share the truth about what Jesus has done for us through helping in hospitals
and community projects. They work in several areas in eastern Africa and have a
number of places where I could be useful. Another possibility is that they
could include Nyankunde as one of their sites. They did have people visit in 2010
and mentioned it might be somewhere they’d like to help develop, and for me, if
there was actually a serious change in hospital management style, I would find
it easier to stay here. I’m also still considering visiting another hospital,
which may be a hospital where Serge works, or I might visit a hospital that is
co-run with Samaritan’s Purse and a third mission organization.
But I’m still in the process of
gathering information and praying about what I should do. I want to work to
help others without going crazy. I want to work and live in such a way that
honors God. And I don’t just want to walk away because circumstances are
difficult. It’s not an easy decision, but it’s a decision that I need to make
soon.
Thanks
for listening and for continuing to send updates and e-mails. If you have time,
I’m hoping to add new pages to my scrapbook for Christmas here in the DRC, and
it’d be great if you’d send pictures, favorite verses, good memories, funny
comics, and current topics to my sister, Sarah, on an 8 x 11 sheet of printer
paper. I’ll list her address below, and be sure to include your name and contact info with your page(s).
And
for those who didn’t hear, we raised enough money for the ultrasound machine,
and we’re just waiting on a part and for someone to hand deliver it to us in
Nyankunde. Thanks for your extreme generosity! These gifts really do make a big
difference in being able to better diagnose problems and give my patients
better care.
Michelle
Prayer requests:
1. Deciding if and when to visit a different
hospital.
2. Deciding which organization to transition to.
3. Finding a physician to train in maternity; Joanna
leaves Sept 21st.
4. Wisdom
to know how and when to help people.
Timeline
September:
Patrick and Anna’s parents are visiting and staying at my place.
 |
| Patrick's parents: Peter and Peggy |
December:
Christmas in Nyankunde.
January:
Tentative visit to different hospital.
February:
Medical conference for missionaries in Thailand.
March:
My friend Anita is coming to visit
Scrapbook Pages (8 x
11 inch printer paper, or smaller)
Sarah
Doran
9930
Dort Dr.
Whitmore
Lake, MI 48189
Or send e-mail to:
sarah.doran.07@gmail.com
Email: medoran82@aol.com
Blog: michelledoran82.blogspot.com (updated monthly)
Giving:
You can send checks with my account number on it (#004864) to Samaritan’s Purse or to my parents’ home:
Samaritan’s Purse
P.O. Box 3000
Boone, NC 28607
Michelle Doran
c/o Bob & Sandi Powell
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/.
 |
| The Cooper's 2-year-old catching a ride. |
No comments:
Post a Comment