Balmy Dry Season
Greetings from Nyankunde! It has been a balmy and windy 90 degree week here in central Africa. Rain is on the horizon though! We are in the middle of dry season, the days are hot, and deep fissures develop in the earth where crops used to be. Last week someone lit a fire on the hillside by our house, smoking out our bees and sweeping across a large swath of land. Fortunately our home was not threatened as the flames leaped from one place to another. It remains to be seen if our almost 10-year old bee hive survived…
Green Pets
At the moment we have a green lovebird that has a preference for all things green, and a chameleon on the chandelier! It seems that this species of bird “sees” in shades of green, or fluorescence. We wonder if he prefers the color green, as it provides camouflage and protection from predators or if it has another function. This is life in Africa somehow a bit closer to nature and the earth. What a fun life it is for Emmanuel (and for us for that matter) to learn about God’s creatures from caring for them firsthand!
Rural Medicine
It has been a blessing to have our missionary colleagues, the Staffords, at the hospital again. Dr. Bob Spencer, an American cardiologist, is now here for his fifth visit to provide support the medical work in Nyankunde. It is always an encouragement to us to have him here. I am busy seeing babies on maternity and looking at how to improve care of newborns in the region. We had a set of triplets born this last week who are thriving and returning home tomorrow! We continue to have challenging cases of tuberculosis, of about 20% of hospitalized children. It is a very high statistic and a sign of a chronically ill population. There has been a movement towards traditional healers and so many people are not seen until late in the disease.
I recently heard the statistic that about 40% of Africa now lives in cities. We definitely see this reality in DRC. It is true then also that there is a migration of medical professionals to urban areas and away from rural areas. There is an increasingly growing number of subspecialists here in Congo, but many of them teach and have limited clinical practices. We are somehow an exception working here in Nyankunde, in that we provide specialty care to a poor, rural population. We hope that it makes a difference and hope to make these services more available to people who need it. We also hope and pray that health care will be something that keeps bringing people back for care and to hear the Gospel…like it was from the 1930s and onward. This is our hope!
Warren uses the tools that God has given him to teach and improve the quality of care in the region. This last week a little girl came in with respiratory distress, having inhaled a popcorn kernel. After two attempts the popcorn kernel was successfully removed by bronchoscopy and the child sent home. There is another child with an airway problem that the bronchoscope has been useful to diagnose. It is more difficult to treat things in this austere environment, but we do the best we can! Warren continues to share his love for training physicians on the use of ultrasound at our sister hospitals in the region.
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| A popcorn kernel |
Spring is Coming!
We are looking forward to being back in the USA for the springtime! We will visit family and friends in Switzerland on our way to (and back) from the USA. Emmanuel will play on the local soccer club team with his friends and finish 3rd grade with his friends. It has been refreshing for us to have homeschooling support through Grace Academy and for Emmanuel to have a consistent set of peers when we return. It is a unique life to be a kid in central Africa speaking French/Swahili and then life in small town North Carolina. We are looking forward to connecting with friends and family in the USA!
Prayer Requests
Pray for the growing security concerns in our neighboring provinces of North and South Kivu around Goma. The area is on the brink of regional war with the rebel group M23 and Congolese security forces. There have been increasing threats extending over the border from Rwanda. Goma, the capital of the province, is becoming cut off from rural areas and therefore food is expensive and scarce. There are over a million refugees from the region flocking to Goma. This does not directly affect us, but it is of immediate concern and has reverberations throughout DRC.
Pray for our witness for Christ through healthcare…that we would take opportunities to share the hope that we have in Him!
Pray for our preparations to return for a season to the USA.
Pray for health challenges, tropical fevers, and the like.
“And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so but we also rejoice in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” Romans 5:3-5
Blessings for us,
Lindsey
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