A Great Week

Hello Everyone! 
We have had another busy week at Tenwek Hospital but a good one! 

Thank you for your prayers.  Bill's work schedule did "let up" some.  I think the initial flood subsided and settled down to a normal pace for Tenwek--he was still busy and it seemed every time he would come out of surgery, there would be someone just outside the door waiting to see him in clinic.  The structure of each day is not as it is back home.  The one thing he has decided for sure is that he needs to recruit some of his ENT buddies to come to Tenwek so they will have better coverage. 

He has seen some amazing things this week.  We'll look forward to giving you the details when we get home. Ben, Ashley and I got to go into the OR with him--something we could never do in the US.  We were able to see him train one of the residents (Elijah) on a tonsilectomy.  We also got to see Bill in action--the resident did one side and Bill did the other.  Bill feels real good about the resident's ability to do some basic ENT procedures--another prayer answered.   He and Elijah spent much of the week together. 

This place is a revolving door--a 4th-yr med student from VCU-Richmond arrived Wednesday.  He is interested in general surgery so Bill scooped him right up and gave him all the exposure he could to the OR.  (We prayed for some assistance!!)  This is such an incredible opportunity for guys like him.  They can come here and get exposure to the OR and to cases they will never see in the US.  One of the cases he and Bill worked on this week was a 2-sentence part of a lecture that he vaguely remembers, he said.  The professor said something to the effect--"you'll probably never see this in your whole career."  They saw it this week at Tenwek. 

Ben scrubbed in with Bill later in the week to see a thyroidectomy.  I graciously declined.  Ben loved it. 

Other highlights of our week (and I'm sure I'll forget something):

Ben and I went to Harvest maize on Wednesday.  One of the local orphanages plants corn for their food and to sell to raise support money for the coming year.  We just happened to be here during the harvesting week.  We were a team of about 50, I would say--a work team from Charlotte, NC and every teenager we could round up in the missionary compound.  The corn stalks had already been cut and piled in the field.  We had to work the piles --remove the ear from the stalk, shuck it and throw it into a pile.  The corn was essentially dry.  Some similarities to pulling corn back home.  We worked in the morning, finished around noon; itched like crazy and breathed in all sorts of things flying through the air as 50 of us were shucking and throwing corn everywhere.  It's a wonder somebody didn't get hit with an ear of corn--I still am not sure how that didn't happen!!  It was fun and hardwork--and just like working in the garden back home--good fellowshipping. 

Wed afternoon, waiting for the rain to clear to go back to our house, I wandered into Lisa's office (Lisa is the Visiting Staff Coordinator) and asked if there was anything I could do for her.  She was not hesitant to put me to work.  My banking experience and my experience putting together BSF groups were both helpful.  I was able to help her restore some formulas in her spreadsheet to make her billing process more efficient and then I was able to help her do the housing assignments for a Cardiology Team of 35 coming in November.    
The rain cleared fairly quickly --but my work with Lisa continued through Friday morning!!! 

My experience with Lisa is a pretty good commentary for our work here at Tenwek.  We never really knew from time to time what we would be doing.   The Samaritan's Purse folks instructed us to just be proactive and make ourselves available--we have and there hasn't been much down time. 

Ashley, Lydia and I went to the pediatric ward today and colored with the children.  What an experience.  Some of the children had been there for two weeks and still awaiting surgery (this Wed in one case).  There were some very sick patients and then some that looked fairly healthy.  It seemed most of the children had at least one parent who had been with them the entire stay.  The children and the parents wanted a coloring sheet and crayons.  Just a simple thing to us - but it seemed to brighten their day like you wouldn't believe.  After we colored, Ashley and Lydia handed out silly bands.  You should have seen the expressions/smiles on their faces when the children realized that those little rubber bands were in recognizable shapes of animals, etc. 

The children have enjoyed the other children in the compound.  Ashley and Lydia have really become great, new friends.  They are going to have a tough time saying good-bye tomorrow.  Lydia is doing well from her tonsilectomy.  She is Bill's poster patient!!  Life on a missionary compound yields a different picture of the recovery period.  She will be 10 days post-surgery tomorrow and is doing great. 

Ben has felt much better after his tubes.  Allergies have settled down, too.  Again, thanks for your prayers. 

We are all packed and ready for a good night's sleep tonight.  We will attend church in the morning at the Tenwek village meeting room.  We understand that the CEO (I think??) of CMDA is preaching tomorrow--another blessing in terms of the timing of our trip.   After church, we leave around 11:00 to make the drive back to Nairobi and begin the return flight home. 

Pray for our safe travel and readjustment to life in Fayetteville.  We look forward to seeing you all back home.  

Love,
Donna, Bill, Ben, and Ashley