Update On Our New Friend

Meet Daniel, he is boy who was severely injured after being hit by a bus. I mentioned his story and showed you his x-rays a few entries ago. Here he is and he's doing great! He is off of oxygen and off of his IV. His lungs are sounding fairly decent and best of all he is walking which is SO important to his recovery. He still has a ways to go before he can return home, but he's certainly on the right track!

Out of Africa

Hello everyone, we've finally made it home! We left Kibogora at 8am on Thursday morning and arrived in Seattle at 2pm on Saturday afternoon. It was quite the long trip, especially when you include the 10 hour time difference between Rwanda and Washington.

Thank you to all of you who have been praying about our flights. We were able to fly to Kenya instead of Uganda. We ended up with our longest layover being only 7 hours in Niarobi. I found some good coffee and a great book so it really wasn't that bad at all.

However, true to our experiences, Naomi and I did seem to have some very different plane experiences. She always ends up sitting next to people who are photographers and such and always seems to have made new friends by the time we get off the plane. I however stuck sitting against a wall next to man reading "The World's Most Infamous Murderers." "So... Who's your favorite murderer?" ;)

On the 10 hour flight I was once again stuck with a "window seat" next to two men who slept nearly the entire time and seeminly never had to get up and use the bathroom!

Now that we are home I'm going to try posting more photos so don't tune out yet, the best is yet to come!

Photograph with Caution!

I know that I promised everyone that I would take a lot of pictures… However, I’ve learned that one must exercise caution while he photographs. You must be prepared as the moment you take out your camera you will be surrounded (and perhaps stampeded) by men, women, and children who will want to be in your picture. It is therefore nearly impossible to obtain candid photos and if you don’t like being surrounded then forget it! We experienced this on market day as we walked down the crowded streets of a small village. The kids followed us for miles. Our only saving grace is that sometimes the parents say the “white ghosts” will eat the little children who misbehave. I’m sure you could have guessed that I was designated to be the “crazy scary cat lady” who chased them away; Naomi was our official photographer. She does better in large crowds and has a better camera. Unfortunately I do not have the software to download her beautiful photos so I won’t be able to post them until we get back.

Quick, While the Internet is Working...

The internet is momentarily back up!!! I thought I would try to write a "live" blog post while I still can. Our time at Kibogora is up, we leave tomorrow. Overall the classes have been a hit; so much so that we ended up teaching and extra 4 times through our entire curriculum! At first i was a little disappointed that we didn't have as much time to spend with each group to really get the information to soak in. However this morning I was excited to see some of the nurses teaching thier peers and even the doctors how to secure a patient on a backboard!
Several people have asked how they can pray specifically for Kibogora. Here are some of the most pressing needs we have seen here.
1) The Child Survival Program which provides food to malnutritianed children and education to their mothers is in danger of ceasing as the grant is finished. They are in the process of applying for a new grant.
2) Bushangi Hospital (about 45 minutes from Kibogora) was badly damaged in the Feb. earthquakes. None of the hospitals have been payed the money owed them by the government for the mutual. Bushangi is in danger of closing.
3) Kibogora Hospital is also owed money by the government. Until the money is paid they cannot buy the medicine their patients need.
4) The nursing school nearby has been closed. The government as asked Kibogora if they could be a site for a new university level nursing school. (Of course the funds would not come from the government) They are considering this and praying about funding.
5) The boy who was hit by the bus is recovering!!! Please pray for his continued recovery and that he will have the strength to continue on the diffiicult road to habilitation.
6) The hospital is in despirate need of oxygen concentrators.
7) Pray for continued strength for Julie and Sheila (she's back!) as they continue to work at Kibogora long term.

If I can add a selfish request...
Our flights home have changed, we now have to fly through Uganda, South Africa, and Amsterdam. The layovers between are 12 hours + which is never much fun, espicially with the current situation in South Africa. Pray that we will get home safely. Just maybe our flights will change again for the better! (We hope)
This may be the last entry until we return home, but then again it might not...

Backboards in Africa!

In my preparation of the current Basic Trauma Training curriculum I learned that Kibogora Hospital did not have a backboard. For those of you who do not work in the medical field, a backboard is like a giant body splint. It is used to immobilize patients who may have very serious head, neck, and spinal injuries which could potentially result in paralysis or even death. At home a back board is considered a basic essential. How could I teach proper care of spinal injuries without a backboard? We could have one made!
I drafted some plans for a back board and measured out every detail, or at least I thought I had… Apparently it wasn’t obvious that the thing was supposed to be able to support the weight of an adult. The first attempt was made of paper thin balsa wood! I couldn’t help but laugh, I suppose it was my own fault for drafting the plans in only 2 dimensions. When we explained that the board was supposed to be used to move patients and therefore needed to be sturdy enough bare up to 90 kg. we all laughed.
The next version was proudly presented to us on Julie’s lawn. I made Naomi try it out this time while all the Zamoos (guards) picked her up. It worked well and for the most part it resembles a real backboard. It is the first backboard for all of the Southern Province! We have plans to “break it in” during Mondays classes.

Nakibazo

Hello all, sorry to have kept you waiting so long since the last post. We have had some internet and electricity problems for the past few days. The hospital is on generator right now until tonight at 9pm and then it's lights out! Seems like unstable electricity should be a huge problem when it comes to running a hospital but somehow they manage. The truly Rwandan response to anything unexpected seems to be "nakibazo" which means no problem. I guess it's kind of like "hakuna matatah" on Lion King?

A Few Photos

It's early Saturday morning here and I seem to have caught the internet at it's "fastest!" Here are a few photos I hope you will enjoy.