Packing Bags and Getting Ready!

We leave on Sunday morning for our medical missions trip to Rwanda, Kibogora Hospital!

Please feel free to follow our blog or view our photo page to keep track on what we are doing.

Google Photo link: https://goo.gl/photos/PwKgyJ1m5g7euyA9A

We're back!

While some decided to extend their trip, most of us arrived this evening at Mobile County Airport safe and sound! Thank you for all your support and prayers! This experience changed each and everyone of us in different ways, and we will remember this experience for the rest of our days!

We're on a boat!

Headed to kumbia for relaxation

This was a rough day

Today was a crazy day...

Community clinic is a time where two students get to go out in rural satellite clinics to help the doctors there and see what they do. So Gabby and I (Anna), rode up and down the most rocky and hilly terrain you could imagine. I've never gotten car sick, but I think that has changed today! Once we get there we split up and I went to the delivery service. At these clinics the doctors mostly evaluate the clinic staff on how well they medically manage patients, but today was a little different.

A young 17 yo girl was in labor with her first pregnacy. I listened to the baby's heartbeat with the horn and it was fine, but I felt that the baby's head was up, not in the pelvis. So, next the midwife checked to see how dilated she was and when she placed her finger in "there", pop, out rushed a gush of GREEN fluid. Oh crap, is the first thing that came to my mind. When the doctor asked the girl how along she was, we got that she was 34 weeks!

So next we are getting the transfer papers ready, so she can go to a facility with a NICU, when all of a sudden mom starts laboring and out pops a foot! (Oh crap, oh crap! I said in my head...) At this, the doctor says, "well, we must deliver baby, no time now" since the the nearest NICU is an hour away! I said to that "ok, but first, pray to Yesu?", meaning we need some prayer for this one, so we did...then WE GOT IN THERE!

I was in the most extreme delivery I've ever seen... A breeched birth! They pulled and pulled. Mom being so young, and since she never had a baby before, was freaking out (rightfully so). Finally, after some maneuvers and holding mom down, we got baby free, however, he was blue and floppy (not good). We took baby to the warmer, and started to dry and suction. I ran around looking for an ambu bag to breath some air into baby's lungs. FOUND IT! I ran back and gave some breaths and stimulation. Finally, after some stressful minutes, we heard a loud gasp, and then "WAAAAA!" I've never been more happy to hear a baby cry! Baby (which is what I named him, since they don't name baby's until weeks after they get home) went from Blue and floppy, to pink and flexed! (Not even retractions were noted for those medical minds in the audience!) We concluded that the mom's estimated gestational age was way off, and baby was a term infant.

When I got back, I heard that a child was next to a fire, had a seizure and fell into the fire pit. This apparently is not a rare occurrence here, since many children with epilepsy seem to be triggered by different events (such as flickering lights). She is a 10 YR old girl and she has 3rd degree burns over 30% of her body. Mainly her face, torso, and arms are affected. Her airway began to swell and close so an emergency tracheostomy had to be done. She is currently breathing on her own with the help of O2 and her trach. We will be taking shifts to keep an eye on her tonight. Please prayer warriors, PRAY FOR THIS GIRL, HER FAMILY, HER HEALING, AND PRAY FOR HER MEDICAL TEAMS SKILLS!

THANK YOU FROM KIBOGORA.

Maternity ward!

So I have been on the maternity ward for the past two days and it is a wonderful time. Seeing mothers bring life into this world is wonderful and you don't need to know what they are saying to see the happiness and glow on a mother's face when she is able to hold her baby for the first time!

So yesterday was crazy. We did a c-section on a patient, that the doctors said was "complicated", but it was the most non-bloody c-section I have ever witnessed! The patient lost probably less than 300 cc of blood (which is excellent for this procedure). What skills they have!

After the section I went into the labor and delivery room. Outside it was thundering pretty hard, so I prepared myself by putting on my head lamp. At this, the nursing students laughed because of my preparing for the storm. To note: We are in a rain forrest, and almost every time it rains here the lights go out, so I did not care about being made fun of. No one wants to be catching a baby and the lights go out on them!

Anyway, it started to pour down hard! I mean really hard, and the nursing students came and got me and told me in broken English, "the mother, she has to pee". I said "uhh, ok get a bed pan". They didn't know what I meant by bed pan, so I put on some gloves, showed them the pan and proceeded towards the mom, who was standing up, bent over the bed. I lift up her skirt and LORD BEHOLD THERE'S A BABY HEAD STICKING OUT OF HER VAGINA! I PROCEED TO FREAK OUT IN MY HEAD, and calmly say, "uhhh, there's a baby down here guys!"

So we get the midwife, and as he (the midwives are men) is delivering that baby, the other lady starts shouting!

In the end, I help bring a baby boy and a baby girl into the world, and got to deliver the placenta. The doctor said, "that's what happens in the storms, the low pressure makes them labor!" What a crazy day!

Citron

This is literally the best fanta flavor around! I will miss Fanta Citron when we leave!

Blessed

Have you ever sat back, took a deep breath, and realized how blessed you are? I mean, look around you. Look where you live. Look at your clothes, your food, your clean skin. Then look towards the sky and say “Thank you”. We are so incredibly blessed to live in such a rich, 1st World country. God could have just as easily placed us in a country like Rwanda where water is contaminated with parasites, toilets are a hole in the ground (not to mention no toilet paper), showers are nonexistent, and a meal with meat is rare. I cannot express how grateful I am to God for giving me much more than I need. I cannot express how good we have it. I cannot express how much my heart aches for these people. I can, however, express that we are all God’s children, and we all need love. God sent Jesus Christ to die for all of us, and because of that, we can all rejoice.
My favorite song is “Blessed Be Your Name” because it tells us that no matter what we are going through, be it good or bad, we can and should praise God. We are living so comfortably here in Kibogora in gated community, with people literally right outside the gates with nothing, yet we don’t see the need to thank God for all He has provided to us. Blessed be His name for giving us so much, for allowing us to be born in a country with opportunity and wealth. On Sundays, even though they lack material items and hygiene, the Rwandans praise God. They thank Him for what they do have. I don’t know how sincere they are, but at least from the outside, it looks genuine, beautiful. 
One verse in “Blessed Be Your Name” says, “Every blessing You pour out/
I'll turn back to praise/When the darkness closes in, Lord/ Still I will say/ Blessed be the name of the Lord.” That is what I see when I watch the Rwandans worship.  They praise God for what they have, and even though they have seen darkness, they still say, “blessed be the name of the Lord”. I think we can learn from these people more than they can learn from us. So let me ask you again, have you ever sat back, took a deep breath, and realized how blessed you are? If you haven’t, maybe you should. It can change your view on life.

PS- Happy Valentine's Day

Yesterday's outing to the waterfall hike and tea lodge

Back to the tea house we go!

If you want to experience Rwanda with all the amenities of home please go here. You will feel like a king/queen. The place is called Nyungwe Forrest Lodge.

Happy valentine's day!

From the weird valentine's day ghost...

Second week milestone

Today is the end of a great journey for some. It has been a wonderful two weeks and everyone leaving tomorrow morning will be missed greatly.  We had our team photo this morning, hopefully it will be uploaded soon.

Peds had a very busy day. One of the pregnant mother's contracted malaria at 35 weeks into pregnancy and lost the child. We learned it is very unusual for malaria to affect the child, but this was a unique situation.

The surgeons had many operations. One of the busiest days yet. A great day to serve as all of our surgeons will be leaving tomorrow, but no fear because we have many future surgeons ready to take up the mantle.

Internal medicine was overpopulated today. The patients in wards had to share beds and the physicians had no time to see all the patients. With the help of many nursing students as translators, the medical student was able to assist the physicians as well as help teach the nursing staff physical exam findings. Apparently, physical exams are not done frequently since there is little time and numerous patients. Despite the language barrier it was great to get to know all the curious students and help them learn.

Opthalmology receives many patients with foreign bodies in their eyes. No eye protection is worn here and there are many occupation hazards.

Become Like Little Children

Children truly are the greatest gift from God. What an incredible time we have had so far here at Kibogora Hospital! The pediatric ward is the newest addition to the hospital, and the children inside its walls are some of the most precious kids you will ever meet. We have seen God work incredible miracles in the past week. One 2 year old little boy with cerebral malaria was in a coma for 2 days, seized multiple times, and for a moment we honestly worried he wouldn't make it. However, when we walked into the pediatric ICU today, he was awake and sitting in his mom's arms. God is so good! 

Although the language barrier is quite extreme, the children greet you with the biggest smiles you have ever seen and bright eyes that light up the room. Even the sickest kids are happy to see you. I can't wait to see all of the ways God works in the lives of these sweet children. What a blessing it is to have been given this opportunity! 

-Gretchen 

"And he said: Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me." -Matthew 18:3-5

Wow, what a day

Community visits:
Two students went on house calls (which involves hiking 4 miles up mountainous terrain). They said it was a wonderful experience. They met an elderly woman that was likely raped during the genocide and thus contracted HIV. Her family and husband were also murdered leaving her to fend for herself (which, for women here, is an almost impossible task). To add insult to injury...well... injury to insult, they cut off her fingers.

So here she is, with a nub on one arm, HIV positive, and living in a tiny house, but ALL SHE COULD TALK ABOUT IS HOW GOOD CHRIST HAS BEEN TO HER! The students said it almost brought them to tears.

Surgery: Helped family medicine in an I&D (incision and drainage) of some really bad abscesses. The woman's immune system is low due to chemotherapy for Lymphoma.
Surgery also had a huge case today. They had to make a bypass for a pretty bad cancer in the pancreas of a woman (they went in not knowing what they were going to find on the pancreas, because there are no CT scans here). They were unable to resect the mass, so the surgery was done to help the patient live a somewhat normal life without an obstructive mass around the duodenum  (small intestine).

Peds: malaria city (sleeping in my mosquito net for sure!)

That's all for now... GOOD NIGHT FROM KIBOGORA!

My type of surgeons

This pic was taken without their knowing. Two top level surgeons engrossed in God's word. That's the type of surgeon I would want on my team!

The struggle is real

So my roommate hates her bed. She even folded it in half to make it a little thicker. So just for funs, I. "Jesus juked" her by saying "thank God you have a place to sleep". Lol she was so mad lol. Sorry roomie.

Went to the local market a few days ago, here are some pics.

Yesterday's trip

Today was a day of rest & adventure for the team. We hit the road after breakfast heading to the Nyungwe Forest just about 1.5hrs from our house. The forest spreads over 600 mi^2 & is the largest remaining montane forest in East or Central Africa. Our fearless guide, V, led the way & provided interesting history of the land.

Rwanda keeps surprising me day after day with its beauty. Who would've thought that a tiny country in Africa could contain such an extravagant, lush forest!

Sitting 160ft above the forest is East Africa's highest canopy walk with a suspended metal bridge. We all managed to make our way across despite the boys trying to flip the whole thing over! 

After a picnic lunch at the forest, we headed to the Nyungwe Forest Lodge, which sits in the middle of a tea plantation. You might not be aware but "tea time" is mandatory in Rwanda! So we enjoyed the beautiful views of the tea fields while sipping a variety of Rwandan teas & coffee. If you ever find yourself in Rwanda & don't mind dropping +$400/night then I would highly suggest the Forest Lodge!

When none of us thought this day could get any more perfect, we were surprised with PIZZA for dinner. Yes, glorious homemade pizza for dinner. 

What a day this has been!

Sunday Spiritual Rounds

So today is Sunday and we go to the hospital for spiritual rounds where we pray at the bedside with each patient and share the gospel. There is a retired Ortho doc (Carl Albertson) from our mobile church (Grace) who comes here w his wife for 6 months every year and he started the Sunday spiritual rounds. We have translators who are young men that are amazing Christians. Dr. Albertson has a pt in the men's ward who is a paraplegic from a recent injury who was a choir director. He has been asking and encouraging the man to try and lead some praise music for a couple weeks and today he finally did from his bed in the men's ward. The result is one of the most uplifting encouraging experiences I have ever been a part of. The voices of everyone praising their savior were ringing out until the ward was flooded w people singing gods praises. These are people who walk here for days in desperation to seek care they often can't afford and leave behind family with worries for how they will even eat when they are gone, but what joy they still have in Christ!! This picture is of the young men in their early 20's that translated for us. I videoed the first 5-6 minutes and will definitely upload it to my google share when I can.  The video starts on the paraplegic choir director. Praise be to God!  -Lee

LIGHTS DOWN

SO... It's storming pretty bad for the first time since we've been in the rain forrest. We are currently about to watch a movie together and as the movie is beginning to play Dr Grimm says "lights down!" Immediately, as if the storm heard him, lightening flashed and the lights dimmed down...then off lol!

Of note: instead of just turning off, when the lights goes off here instead of just going black, the lights dim so nicely off.

Just finished drinking tea

It was amazing! This spa is so fancy the president of Rwanda drinks his tea here from time to time.