Kibogora Week One in Review

The following blog offers a brief(?) overview of the week:

Morning Musings Blog - Week One in Review (click on this link)

Keith Peevy

Well, our first week is coming to an end!  It’s been a good one.  Have been working with the kiddos and loving it here!  Was just going to share some random things so you can get a better idea of what it’s like here.

This is not the Africa I had imagined.  There’s no Pride Rock or savannahs, no small huts in villages, and it’s not uncommon to see pretty well nourished people here.  Not talking ‘American’ nourished, but only a few are skin and bones.

The chances that I will lose weight on this trip are about 0.0005%.   We have three ladies who feed us every meal and they do it well.  We’ve had lasagna, pancakes, tacos, French toast, pork chops, etc.  And dessert with almost every meal.  We are not eating what most people eat here.  Duane said that most of the time meat is a special occasion kind of thing, usually only seen on holidays.  One of the ladies is named Anosieta, and she walks an hour to and from her home every day to come and serve us.

The hospital does things a tad differently than those in the US (tad=sarcasm).  The families are in charge of taking care of the patient really.  They cook their food and do everything else besides the nursing care.  Once the patients have been seen by the doctor, the patients can be found roaming around outside.  This might be nice to not be stuck in a hospital room, mayyybe not excellent for infection control.

I wanted to add something about the case William talked about 2 days ago.  A 17-year-old woman came in to the OR with a leg wound so horrible that almost the entire length of her tibia was exposed.  How long it takes for something to get like that, I do not know.  Why nothing was done until this point, no idea either.  At this point, she needs a miracle to avoid having her leg amputated.  Dr. Albertson posed a question to the Rwandan doctors there, what are the chances that she will marry if she has to have this leg amputated?  It was a unanimous no chance whatsoever.  And if this girl cannot get married and will be without any type of support system through a husband and later children, she has two options: prostitution and begging.  Please pray for this young woman and that a miracle would in fact happen!  This is one of many stories I’ve already heard that show how different their culture is.

Tomorrow we are going to the rainforest to spy on monkeys, should be interesting!  Thank you all for your prayers, continue to pray for our health and safety and that God would do some amazing things over here!  

In Him,

Elizabeth

boys will be boys

the view from the girl's house

somewhere along the road to Kibogora

Rwanda, the Beautiful!!

Today was our second day working in Kibogora Hospital here in Rwanda.  I have been working on the internal medicine wards, while others are on surgery, pediatrics, maternity, and physical therapy.  I have been overhearing stories of horrendous traumas, children with genetic abnormalities, and complications of illness that we would probably never see in the US.  This country is such a dichotomy of beauty and sadness.  When we first arrived a couple of days ago, I was blown away by the beautiful foliage and the stunning view we have in our backyard.  I knew Africa was beautiful, but it is entirely different when you get to experience this land for yourself.  After settling in overnight, we woke up the next morning to get a tour of the hospital.  This is what we came here for.  Although the land here is beautiful and we are blessed to have the opportunity to experience God’s creation on the other side of the world, we came with the purpose of serving the Rwandan people.  As we are walking through the operating room, wards, pediatrics, neonatal intensive care unit, and maternity ward, I became overwhelmed with the reality of how fortunate we truly are in the states.  Our patients back home complain about having to share hospital rooms or being a little too cold at night.  But here they feel fortunate just to be able to sleep on a bed, even though they are sharing a room with up to 30 other patients with only one fan – and many of the patients are sleeping 5 feet away from someone who may be very contagious.

It has only been 2 days and this is not my first time in a third world country medical setting, but it never fails that each time I experience something like this, I am truly humbled by how lucky I really am.  God has truly blessed all of us with health and material things, and the people here live on about $200 per year.  It seems unfathomable until you see it for yourself, but these people have so little and yet, they are some of the most joyful people in the world.  So, today I have been praying that God would continue to open my eyes and heart to the people of this country.  I am asking Him to work in every one of us here to take advantage of this opportunity we have to allow God to radically change our hearts so that we will forever remember these people and continue to do the work the Lord is giving us – whether it be to work hard and be fortunate enough to be givers to these opportunities in the future, or even that God would provide a way for us to continue to be goers.  Please pray for the team that this experience will not end when we land in the US in just 3 short weeks, but rather would hold a permanent place in our hearts that would encourage us to continue to serve the Lord by serving others.

PS - I apologize for the lack of pictures.  There are 2 photos that I really tried to upload to this post, but the internet here is not allowing that.  So....I guess y'all will have to wait with bated breath to see the pictures until we return.

~Shannon

Kibogora Happenings

Day 1 Working in the hospital:

It's William here!  We began our day today with devotion, followed by a wonderful breakfast of French Toast and fruit.   After walking down the hill to the hospital, we shared with the hospital staff in the word and fellowship.  We then split into our assigned teams and saw patients on Surgery, Medicine, and Pediatric Wards.  I, personally, will never forget seeing the young girl with the exposed tibia (shin bone for the non-medical people) or the 30 year old lady who suffered severe burns on her hands, ultimately leaving her with no fingers on her right hand and severe contractures of her left fingers; all due to a lack of seizure medicines to control her seizures.  It is so mind-boggling to know that things such as this would be an outrage in the United States, but are quite the norm here in Rwanda.  How did this great divide come to be?  Following the first day in the hopsital, I have no better way to describe my feelings than hopeful- I am hopeful that despite the great need, we are able to offer some benefit to both the patients and medical staff here at Kibogora. 

I pray for the gifts of the Holy Spirit today to come down upon our team. 

Wisdom- Holy Spirit, let us be wise in any decision-making we undertake while here in Rwanda, especially in our decisions involving patient care.

Knowledge- Holy Spirit, bless us with Knowledge.  Not only so that we can serve these patients, but also share any knowledge that the medical staff here may be lacking.  Also, we pray to learn from the knowledge of the Rwandan and Congolese doctors here with us

Courage- Holy Spirit, grant us the courage to step up to the many challenges we face here- language, culture, and an obvious disconnect between medical approaches.

Wonder and Awe- Holy Sprit, we are in awe of all of your creatures, and thus, in awe of you.  How wonderful is it that the people here are so underserved, yet so faithful. 

Reverence- Holy Spirit, in all situations, let us be reverent of not the Lord, but of the patients and physicians here. 

Understanding- Holy Spirit, help us to understand why things are so different here; at the very least- to learn from the differences.

Right Judgement- Holy Spirit, help us to use this experience to grow in our moral conscience in order to better do your will. 

First Pictures - More to Come When the Internet Works Better

Muraho! (Hello! in Kinyarwandan)

Muraho! After two 7-8 hour plane rides and an 8 hour bus ride through the Rwandan country side and a windy National Forest, we’ve finally arrived at Kibogora hospital, located on the banks of beautiful Lake Kivu.  Rwanda is known as “the land of a thousand hills” and I believe the pictures that will be posted in the days to come aptly reflect that nickname.

The compound where we are staying is a beautiful, well-manicured place, decorated with gorgeous flowers and colorful trees – it feels more like the tropics here than it does Africa. The house where the girls are staying boasts a breathtaking view of Lake Kivu and some of the peninsulas that jut out into the water. Fishermen take to the lake in the early morning hours, oftentimes singing as they go. I myself have yet to hear them singing, though I will be listening closely for them each morning during our stay…

We arrived to Kibogora late last night and in one piece, praise God! The bus ride from Kigali to Kibogora was a rather crazy one, and we had several near-wrecks (there do not appear to be any road rules in Rwanda) but our bus driver was a capable man and delivered us to the compound safely. All of our luggage made it Kibogora with us – not a piece was lost during the transport from Atlanta to Amsterdam to Kigali to Kibogora. We are so thankful for the Lord’s provision and for His mercy over our travels. We ask that you would continue to pray for our team – that strong friendships would be forged and that a spirit of unity would permeate throughout. Please also pray that we’d quickly become adjusted to this place so that we might serve effectively and be blessings to the people here. Stay tuned for further updates and pictures. Ni ahejo!

Britni

                                                            We Are Here!!

                             The team has arrived in Kigali.  They are safe at their hotel.