Today is my last day at AIC/CURE Kijabe in Kenya. It has been an exciting week. I have been staying with dear friends Dan and Dita Poenaru and their son Chris. The last time I stayed with them was in 2004. At that time, Mark and Shannon were newly weds and the girls were still in high school. The stories of that week will have to wait for another time. Dan says that the stories are urban legends but don't believe him! Needless to say, we are older and wiser,I hope. That's not to say we haven't had some extraordinary moments!Laughter is a good medicine.
Today I spent in the operating theatre and saw some incredible surgeries. I will spare you the medical jargon but suffice it to say that they were complex ortho cases. The deformities that these young people suffer is beyond comprehension. The surgeons were skilled and persistent to provide the best surgical options for quality of function and mobility post-operatively. Some congenital malformations or tumors require several surgeries or stages of repair. I cannot imagine the pain and rehab period only to have to repeat the process. Suffering in Africa is accepted as a fact of this fallen world. Perhaps our easy comfort in the west, sanitizes suffering so we loose meaning and acceptance of it. The caregivers and hospital staff are truly special people. As I shared the Seminar on a Christian Worldview of Nursing, the nurses shared their desire to provide excellent and improved pain relief. Sounds like Paul's department, too.
This week turned out better than I imagined. Diane Lawrence and Tifshet Lemma(nurse matron from CURE Ethiopia)taught Basic Life Saving and Advanced Life Saving. My role was to teach the previously mentioned seminar. Both aspects of nursing are necessary; clinical/technical skills and providing these with Christian character,values and perspective. That's the CURE goal for nursing practice. Oh, as I teach (as Eric Little said)I feel my Heavenly Father's equipping and pleasure! Cannot believe I'm moving on to Niger tomorrow. Can't wait to see the Roark's, Negrinis and Lemans...and of course all their delightful young ones!
No comments:
Post a Comment