Last week

Last week flew by. The week itself was sandwiched between two eventful weekends. The first weekend was marked by the celebration of Beau's 2nd birthday. We blew up the pool and had a crew of the local Afrcian kids over, along with thier moms and dads, who we've become freinds with. It was really a treat, because these kids have only seen pools like this on TV or read about them in a book. The same goes for things like tents, firemen, and other things we consider staple experiences of life growing up in the states.

We bbq'd some hot dogs, cooked up some mac and cheese, and served it up with cold coca cola. Coca cola is yet another treat that people usually don't choose to spend limited funds on, so that was nice for the kids.

We were on call this past weekend. Aside from the usual C Sections and sick people being admitted to the hospital, we had an interesting night on Friday. I was awakened at 4 AM by John softly tapping on our door. I figured he was just getting me up for a C section. I rolled out of bed and was shocked as he repeated to me, "A lady just stepped on a land mine." It turns out that the combatants in the war in Zim in the 1970's employed a great number of land mines. Attempts have been made to remove these, but they have obviously fallen short in their efforts. Don't worry too much, the mines are mostly located far north of us on the Mozambique border, where this woman came from. There have been no incidents like this where we live. The explosion devastated our patient. The shrapnel shredded her left leg and injured the rest of her extensively. As we unwrapped her bloody stump in the OR, the remains of her foot hung from thready sinew. The atmosphere was solemn as we initiated spinal anesthesia, amputated her injured leg below the knee, and cared for her wounds. I have not included photographs of this out of respect for the woman, who is recovering well. I have included several photos of other patients, though (and their chickens).

This woman was more than proud of her chicken. People sometimes pay their bill in chickens here. I guess a chicken is worth 2-4 dollars and a cow is worth 200.

We resected the mass from this boy's face the following day. He'd been misdiagnosed many times before coming to Karanda.

Abbi and Beau hanging out at the pool. The smell of the chlorine (yes, we chlorinated it) reminds me of hanging out at the pool when I was a kid. I can just taste the frozen snickers and coca cola from the snack bar and hear the 80's music in my head when I smell the chlorine. What a great childhood I had!

April looking pretty at one of the many birthdays here. Pretty much, people play football (soccer), go to church, and have birthday parties around here for fun. Not much else going on in out in the African bush.

Pretty soon he'll be carrying jugs of water on his head too. The African ladies won't know what to do with themselves.

A two sentence commentary on Luke 7:22:

²⁰ John’s two disciples found Jesus and said to him, “John the Baptist sent us to ask, ‘Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?’”

²¹ At that very time, Jesus cured many people of their diseases, illnesses, and evil spirits, and he restored sight to many who were blind. ²² Then he told John’s disciples, “Go back to John and tell him what you have seen and heard—the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor. ²³ And tell him, ‘God blesses those who do not turn away because of me.’”

I find it remarkable that Jesus puts telling the poor about God's plan for making broken people right with God on par with raising the dead. Just amazing.