Thursday's update

Wednesday’s poem--“Water brings forth life but if her tears could be collected, how many children she could have.”

Thursday’s poem--“To the childless woman let your legacy be in your strength of spirit and your song be made loud enough to hear it.”

We have missed a day writing our blog.  Thursday is waning so as we wait for the final patient of the day to see our doctors will try to bring you up to date.

Yesterday the day-trippers visited a village near Chalinze to learn about a women’s project whose focus is on making batik fabric.  The women that participate pay a small fee when they meet each Tuesday.  Diane, Anne, Catherine and River socialized with the women and learned how they make garments and other goods from the batik.  The profit from selling their goods goes into a fund that is used to support the church and to help families through financial crises.  The group enjoyed a meal of roasted potatoes, rice, beef and Mchicha (like spinach) prepared by the pastor’s wife.  They were back at LJS in time to nap before welcoming the hospital team just in time for supper.

After our first day of sorting ourselves out at the hospital, we had a better idea of what to do and we were able to see 34 patients.  Several women are scheduled for surgery and others are working with Dr. Arleigh to get their blood pressure down so they, also, can have surgery.  But Andrea’s first surgery was Wednesday and was a Mazimbu patient.  She performed a cesarean section because the mother had severe pre-eclampsia.  The baby was only a couple weeks short of term and was born healthy at a little over 4 pounds.  The mother had experienced many miscarriages in the past and was very fearful as she was prepped for surgery.  She asked our team for prayer and Dr. Andrea, Lana, Cindy and Dr. Moses gathered around the gurney and prayed for her.

Dr. Moses is an anestheologist from Dar es Salaam who heard about our work here and decided to work with us while we are here.  We were thrilled to learn he is also a Lutheran!

Today, Thursday, Dr. Andrea had her first surgery on one of our patients.  Although it started later than planned, all went well and Dr. Andrea was able to join Dr. Arleigh and Lana as we worked through the many patients waiting to see us.  At the end of the day a patient checked in to Mazimbu and our team got involved when we realized he has bi-lateral pneumonia and was too sick to go home.  There were no beds available so Dr. Arleigh insisted he be put on the bed in her exam room.  She and Emily have remained at the hospital to care for him as they administer IV antibiotics.  The goal is to get him stabilized so that he can be transferred to another hospital.

The excursion today was to Lukangazi, a small village of 2000 people.  Anne, Courtney, Cecily, Eileen and Bailee saw every aspect of village life, beginning with tea inside the home of the Pastor Nuru.  They also visited a school where 600 students are supervised by 13 teachers.  The students were very well behaved and were excited to welcome their visitors.   Although visiting a village sounds a bit routine, our five team members said that the experience was one that would remain one of the highlights of their trip, especially the chicken in the bathroom.