There are so many facets of life here that I couldn't begin to capture all of them. But I'd like to ramble a little bit with several snapshots of life that I have experienced, particularly in the context of the hospital.
After our weekend conference on child evangelism taught by Kathy (from Gladstone First Baptist), I shared the wordless book with Momi's house helper, Fatu. She listened well and we continued to talk about Jesus a few days later after playing Frisbee. Fatu is 13 and grew up in a Muslim family. She lives with her mother who has some physical difficulties, so in the evenings when she goes home she works at home. They can't afford to pay for school, so she works. And she enjoys it - says she sleeps better when she's worked all day. Her work is to help with cleaning, cooking and care of Rosa.
Today is Rosa's birthday - she is 2 and we will be celebrating with a big meal that includes popcorn, salad, cake, garlic bread with scrambled eggs inside and bisap (sugary cherry-like juice made from boiled leaves/flowers). Yum!
Yesterday I was working in the maternity building as well as with the premature twin girls (we are the only hospital in the north that does premies). Two moms were soon to be in labor with sad outcomes (one baby is dead and the other would likely die soon after birth), but then there was the mother on her 6th pregnancy and whose labor we augmented with Pitocin. The fourth 15-minute blood pressure check we discovered the baby was crowning! While the other nurse ran to get a wheelchair to take her to the labor room, I ran and grabbed gloves and caught the baby! So, when the nurse came back I sent her running again to grab a suction bulb, though thankfully the baby was breathing okay on his own. They returned, we dried off the baby and got him suctioned a little bit and I cut the cord! Second delivery - and rather unexpected! A big 3 kg boy!
On the other side of life, I see a lot of death here. Tried to resuscitate a baby brought in after a difficult (and poorly handled) delivery at the town hospital; he initially came back but the second time he just would not breathe on his own. It was hard to say goodbye to that one considering he had been my primary charge all morning long. Another man arrived in the ICU, where I often work, and lived about 10 minutes longer with a team of us at his side before his heart stopped. Nothing we could do. A 15 year old Type 1 diabetic spent several days with us as we tried to regulate his blood sugars. The family can't afford the insulin all the time. Earlier this week I heard he had died at home. A hospital employee just died a few weeks ago on Easter Sunday from a heart problem, leaving a young pregnant wife with 3 other kids. Sadly, widows have almost no rights here and her brother-in-law has already moved into her house, forcing her to move in with her father for the time being. Wives never quite belong to the families they marry into, so when their husbands die the family of the man can take everything but the household supplies and may even take the children.
On a very happy note, we had a baby nicknamed Lazarus who had been declared dead and then decided to start breathing again! As the RN Daniel said to me, it is the month for resurrections! He is now with his mother after spending a few days in ICU alongside two other newborns who were also discharged.
One day this week I brought a cake for the nursing staff. As it turned out, they were preparing lunch together that day in their break room to celebrate a 55th birthday. So, when not doing patient care, they were chopping vegetables, rinsing and sorting through rice, making a sauce . . . a very happy morning.
Cooking here is a blast - I love cooking with my friend Momi and am learning some Congolese dishes. I have also learned how to make yogurt and often eat yogurt with the mangoes that are literally falling off the trees here.
On the comical side of things, the cat dragged in a fruit bat this morning around 5:30 am and killed it. We removed it before he was able to chomp down much . . .
Our experience with voleurs (thieves) here is not at all uncommon. I've heard many stories since, especially from females who were alone. When the electricity is out, one gal told me she still gets nervous, even with a dog that they bought for security. There have been nights this week when the electricity was out most of the night in town. We are blessed with a generator here at the hospital (in desperate need of replacement) that gives us electricity most of the time.
One nurse had to lecture a patient's sister the other day who was so discouraged that she wanted to leave her sister alone here (the sister has had about 7 surgeries and a wound evisceration, etc - has been here for weeks on end). Thankfully, the sister stayed (the nurse told her she had better be there the next day when she arrived). Families are so necessary to patients here - they cook for them, do the laundary, help wash them and give them medications by mouth. Pray for this gal and her sister - things are hard for them. The woman's husband left her when she got sick.
The nurses are quite a team and really work together to help each other. They are joyful and the days are often full of laughter.
