A Great Team

Another week in Kibogora….

The last 2 weeks, we’ve had an awesome team here from Canada, eh!  J They did have a couple Americans included in the bunch for good measure, but it was mostly Canadians. 

Some of the Canadian team on a rare break, taking pictures of the volcanoes in Goma.  The volcanoes are 200 miles away and can only be seen when the weather is "just right" for viewing.

This morning, they left – where did those two weeks go?!  I missed the opportunity to visit with them as much as I’d hoped, and now that they’re gone, there is nothing to be done about it.  When they arrived, I was still adjusting to getting back to Kibogora – had only been here three days – and still had unpacking to do, finances to figure, and Sam and I found ourselves immediately neck deep in his school.  

Then, Sam caught a cold that just hasn’t quit – he’s been sick over a week now.  He seems to keep getting worse rather than better.  In fact, in just a few minutes, Dr. Matt, a sweet young visiting British ER doctor, is coming over to give him a look over and to help him with his asthma which rarely ever flares up, but has flared up pretty badly with this virus.

 And, we’ve had other visitors this week, wonderful folks from the UK and America who have supported Kibogora Hospital for decades.  They’re here for some meetings with their Rwandan counterparts, and are working together to try to ascertain some things about the future of the hospital.  

With all these other things going on, I guess it's no wonder why I didn't see them as much as I'd hoped - but I still felt disappointed that the time went by so fast, and that (selfishly) I'd missed the chance for some awesome fellowship with some fun ladies as I watched their bus driving away from the mission and Tsazo, down the road to Kigali. 

Good-bye!  We hope to see you next year! 

This short term team was a bunch of wonderful workers!  No other real way to describe them - Always cheerful, up for any task, working dawn til way past dark.  Were it not for them, the surgery on Pascasie, the lady whose boyfriend attacked her last week, would have taken twice as long, and probably couldn’t have been done at all. 

 Here, you can see Pascasie just a week after surgery......very encouraging! 

This is the first time I'd seen Pascasie smile.  I felt pretty foolish, as I walked down
to the waiting area for dressing changes,  bringing a grown woman a beanie baby - but, boy, did it cheer her up!  I guess it was just feeling like an individual - like someone cared
for her especially.  She also received the coveted sunglasses (from Dollar Tree - and you'd
think they were Ray Bans the way people love them!).  

She’s only one example of their contributions:  they helped with a broken hip, many hernias, c-sections, skin grafts, urology cases, circumcisions, and more.  They taught our nurse anesthetists, OR nurses and techs, and post-surgery nursing team new skills.  They brought more equipment than I can even describe – the equivalent of about ten large suitcases full of supplies.  They even brought a new wedding dress for a wedding dress rental company – which is already being rented this coming week at a wedding (here's a sneak preview - hope the groom doesn't see!).  

And the two general helpers, Laurie and Rachel brought more toys and educational materials than Santa Claus for the kids and mommas and others here.

Rachel and Laurie from the back, in church.
They were the "general helpers", who did so manygreat things with the kids and patients!

Rachel is a recent college graduate, hoping to enter med school in fall of 2014.  Laurie is a lady about my age, with such a heart for kids and moms and Jesus.  Talk about a dynamic duo –they were such fun!

Rachel and Laurie from the front!  

 If only they didn’t all have lives and jobs they had to return to – it would have been nice if they could have stayed another couple months.  The team just gave and gave and gave.  

Tim, Pete, and Dr. Gordon Laird in Rwanda this week.  (Gordon was one of the 2 Americans on this team - a General Surgeon who was such a huge help!)

In the Dominican Republic - Tim (on far right), Pete (on far left) and others - in 1987! 

Leading the team was Pete Obregon, an 80 year old general surgeon who has been leading short term mission trips for the last 25 years, 6 months out of every year.  When I think of a “saint”, I think of someone like Pete.  What a guy!  He first encouraged Tim to pursue long term missions when Tim went on a mission trip with Pete as the leader, to the Dominican Republic back in 1987, when Tim was a surgery resident.  Here is a picture of Tim and Pete from that trip.What a great influence he was, and continues to be, on my sweet husband!  Talk about a life well spent – we thank God for people like Pete!