After loading up all the supplies onto the container bound for Burundi I headed south to my sisters house. She was out of town and I was taking care of her dog and cat. She lives several miles south of where I live and fairly close to my mom. So... Sunday morning, as I expected, my mom called to ask if I would go with her to visit my grandpa.
We went to his retirement center and accompanied him to the small church service there. As I entered I was enthusiastically greeted by the pastor, his mother (who introduced herself as "Grandma Amy"), a woman named Betty in a wheelchair, and George (an 89 year-old saxophone player). As I was being introduced to Pastor Mak, he told me that their congregation has been praying for my "mini missions" for years. I was then invited to speak a little about the upcoming Rwanda trip and the formation of Shiloah Health Outreach. I must say I was touched by their acceptance, concern, and generousity.
After the service I was approached by Betty handed me rolled up bill. "It's not much but I want you to have this," she said. I felt a little ackward taking this womans money but I know it was important for her to give it. That bill is the very bill I used to open the bank account for Shiloah which we need in order to apply with the state to become a non profit. How amazing that God used a precious grandma in her wheelchair and a small congregation of faithful elders to tip off something so wonderful.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Living The Dream
At work we have this "thing" where somebody walks up to you and says "How's it going?" No matter what, the answer is always "Livin' the dream." The person who started that is long gone but the phrase is not.
Today in church I heard that phrase again, only this time it wasn't sarcastic. Hylan wasn't talking about the "American Dream," he was talking about living out the dreams that God gives us. (This was in the context of Sanctity of Human Life Week.) As I thought about it there in church it really put things into perspective. I'm trying to live THE dream!
It all started in September of 2005 during Hurricane Katrina. I had gone to Mississippi provide medical support in a special needs shelter. My mom, who works at World Vision, called me on my cell phone and asked me if I knew of any organizations that might take some medical supplies somebody wanted to donate. The long story short was that most organizations do not accept donations of medical supplies from private donors and only accept bulk. That just about killed me so I started accepting the supplies and using them in the learning lab at the nursing school.
It didn't take too long before I started drowning in supplies and I had to start looking for more homes for this stuff. In Feb. of 2007 I went as an instructor for 8 nursing students to work at a clinic in Mexico City. We took some of the supplies with us on that trip. As it turns out, those supplies turned out to be quite a blessing. However, in spite of what we brought our girls were still taught to wash gloves, sterilize needles for reuse, cut and fold cheese cloth to make gauze pads, etc... It was in Mexico City that I realized that this whole supply donation thing was a lot more important than I had first thought. (Refer to My Office Runneth Over a few entries back).
Since getting back from Mexico City I continued to receive calls from people wanting to donate supplies. It wasn't long until my office at the school was filled. This was becoming a much bigger project than I. In the back of my mind I knew it needed to become a real registered organization in order to continue its purpose but it wasn't until my dad said it in an email that I really started to pursue it.
Last week Shiloah Health Outreach with the help of Kare Kontainer, made it's first official shipment of supplies to two hospitals in Central Africa and began "living the dream."
To be continued...
Today in church I heard that phrase again, only this time it wasn't sarcastic. Hylan wasn't talking about the "American Dream," he was talking about living out the dreams that God gives us. (This was in the context of Sanctity of Human Life Week.) As I thought about it there in church it really put things into perspective. I'm trying to live THE dream!
It all started in September of 2005 during Hurricane Katrina. I had gone to Mississippi provide medical support in a special needs shelter. My mom, who works at World Vision, called me on my cell phone and asked me if I knew of any organizations that might take some medical supplies somebody wanted to donate. The long story short was that most organizations do not accept donations of medical supplies from private donors and only accept bulk. That just about killed me so I started accepting the supplies and using them in the learning lab at the nursing school.
It didn't take too long before I started drowning in supplies and I had to start looking for more homes for this stuff. In Feb. of 2007 I went as an instructor for 8 nursing students to work at a clinic in Mexico City. We took some of the supplies with us on that trip. As it turns out, those supplies turned out to be quite a blessing. However, in spite of what we brought our girls were still taught to wash gloves, sterilize needles for reuse, cut and fold cheese cloth to make gauze pads, etc... It was in Mexico City that I realized that this whole supply donation thing was a lot more important than I had first thought. (Refer to My Office Runneth Over a few entries back).
Since getting back from Mexico City I continued to receive calls from people wanting to donate supplies. It wasn't long until my office at the school was filled. This was becoming a much bigger project than I. In the back of my mind I knew it needed to become a real registered organization in order to continue its purpose but it wasn't until my dad said it in an email that I really started to pursue it.
Last week Shiloah Health Outreach with the help of Kare Kontainer, made it's first official shipment of supplies to two hospitals in Central Africa and began "living the dream."
To be continued...
Friday, January 18, 2008
Uber Tired
Well, it's 0700 and I'm almost done with my super long shift. Guess what, the charge nurse is looking for people to stay over for four hours. Don't worry, I'm not doing it. I'm just glad that I took the bus today.
You know, the "high" of finally going to bed after so many long days in a row is almost in itself worth all the extra work. My down comforter awaits...
You know, the "high" of finally going to bed after so many long days in a row is almost in itself worth all the extra work. My down comforter awaits...
Uber Overtime
Hello all, I have so many things I've been meaning to post but I've been so busy at work lately that I just haven't had the time. We've been running a really high patient census at the hospital lately with a really low census of nurses. You know what that means, uber overtime! Tonight is my second 16 1/2 hour shift in a row.
We are especially low on cardiac device nurses, of which I am one. In some ways it's nice to know that I am in such high demand, it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Oh wait, that's delerium from sleep deprivation and low blood sugar.
At any rate, all the charge nurses know that I am saving up to buy a rediculously expensive plane ticket which means I'm being called for overtime constantly. So here I sit with my HeartMate II, ventilator, and V tach checking out ticket prices online. You should really try bookingbuddy.com if you haven't already. It lets you compare the best ticket prices from multiple websites. So far I've noticed that Cheapo is the "cheapoist." Ahhh, only six and half more hours to go! It will make going to bed this morning just that much nicer.
We are especially low on cardiac device nurses, of which I am one. In some ways it's nice to know that I am in such high demand, it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Oh wait, that's delerium from sleep deprivation and low blood sugar.
At any rate, all the charge nurses know that I am saving up to buy a rediculously expensive plane ticket which means I'm being called for overtime constantly. So here I sit with my HeartMate II, ventilator, and V tach checking out ticket prices online. You should really try bookingbuddy.com if you haven't already. It lets you compare the best ticket prices from multiple websites. So far I've noticed that Cheapo is the "cheapoist." Ahhh, only six and half more hours to go! It will make going to bed this morning just that much nicer.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Life-Size Tetris
Almost a year ago I was at a wedding in Mexico talking missions with my old high school Spanish teacher. "It's all about networking," she said. I couldn't agree more.
Last week I got a call from Regence BlueShield wanting to donate supplies. I went to pick them up on Thursday and soon became a little despirate for space. My office was really FULL this time.
I learned through the grapevine that there was a shipping container being loaded that was to be sent to Africa this week. With a few emails and follow up phone calls, I found myself involved in a life size game of Tetris as my friend Leanna and I worked with Duane and Al from Kare Kontainer to stuff that giant box with as much as we could. By the time the container was full, there was still a truck full of boxes that wouldn't fit. We managed to get all of our $15,000 worth of medical supplies on board however and you will all be happy to know that my office no longer runneth over.
In my conversation with Al and Duane, I learned that this might be the last Kare Kontainer. Leanna and I spoke with them briefly about our plans to become a non profit organization in order to facilitate the continued donation and shipment of unused medical supplies. The long story short, we are looking for ways to help Kare Kontainer continue and to partner with them in the future.
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