 |
| 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 |
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
