House of Hope - "Bet Eman" Hospital, on the orphanage grounds, focuses on serving women and children in the community.
So, a Coloradoan, a New Zealander, and an Aussie walk into a hospital, and moms and babies live!
Just in the 2 weeks we were there, at least 3 babies' and 1 mom's lives were saved due to the increased quality of health care available. The hospital/clinic is bursting with business, increasing since it opened less than a year ago. Dr. Jeff Perry from Colorado, Nurse Catherine from New Zealand, and Dr. Graham Poole from Australia, and their families, have answered God's call. The hospital is on the "bleeding edge" - dealing with life and death issues every day, in a different culture, speaking a different language. They need our prayers everyday as they persevere through the stress and weight in pursuit of a vision - vision of a thriving clinic/hospital to serve women and children staffed entirely by South Sudanese health professionals!
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Fact: The South Sudan has the highest maternal death rate during birth in the world! They also have the highest illiteracy rate in the world, and is one of the poorest nations (along with Somalia) in the world.
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Giving Blood
"Would you be willing to give blood? We have a 3 year old in the hospital with a severe need due to malaria."
"Sure, I'll try. In the US, I used to give blood but they have a hard time finding my veins."
So, upon reporting to the clinic, the South Sudaneselab technician typed my blood and then prepared to take some. As anticipated, he had difficulty finding my veins. "Let's take you to the theater, where the lighting is better."
"Theater?" I thought. This sounds interesting. As we approached a room, I saw bright lighting in a room with the door open and windows with just bars, and I heard a distinct sound a father never forgets.
"Boom, boom, splish, splash, boom, boom, ..." That's the audio of a baby monitor OF A BABY STILL IN UTERO!
The lab tech entered the room. I stopped. He motioned for me to follow and, sure enough, there is the mom sprawled on a table with a baby monitor on her belly. I was lead to lay down on a table right next to her, so my shoulders almost touched the mom's.
"Well, this is a different way of giving blood," I thought, diverting my eyes and attention away from the delivering mother.
Unable to tap a vein, the lab technician requested I turnaround so he could try the other arm. Turnaround?! So, you guessed it, my head is now right next to the pregnant mother's feet! After a couple of minutes, someone put a screen between our 2 tables.
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P.S. I was unable to give blood, but another team member (Michelle) was able to and the baby responded very well to the healthy, well-nourished blood!
P.S.S. As I said, bleeding edge.
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Leaving School Early?
"We have seen an increase in students with notes to leave early. When you leave early, you are disrespectful to your school and your education," the School Administrator told the school assembly that morning.
"If you bring a note and leave early to play futbol, do not come back."
"If you bring a note to work in your community, which we know is not true, and leave early, do not come back."
"If you bring a note to go home early to a funeral, we will check with your neighbors to make sure it is not a lie."
The School Administrator speaks to the students at an Assembly at the start of each school day.
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Shelvis and Nancy
Missionaries from Atlanta expecting their 1st child, this couple's baby decided to come 4 days before their scheduled flight home, and at only 33 weeks. In South Sudan, that is at-risk premature.
But prayers, great medical care, and the best medical facilities around (and great medical insurance) resulted in baby and mom getting a medical evacuation by plane, with the baby in an incubator (of sorts) to Nairobi. Praise God! "Bleeding edge".
They are a great family!
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Art on Saturday
Michelle helps kids in my art class. "Your room had the most chaos, Mark."
For the 2nd year in a row, we had an activity day on the Saturday between our 2 weeks there. The kids love art and do not get much of a chance to do art during school.
Again, I got the little ones. "Mock, I need paper!" Mock, I need colors." "Mock, Mock, Mock."
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"Running for my Life", by Lopez Lomong
This book is written by a "lost boy" of South Sudan. He recounts his abduction from his mother's arms, his escape from a military camp, being found by a UN convoy and put in a refugee camp in Uganda, his adoption by a United States family, and his rise to Olympic fame.
After reading this book, given to me by Doug and Janet Smith, I gave the book to Enaku Patrick, an upper grade teacher at the school. I suggested he read the book and, if he was comfortable with it, read the book to a classes as a part of English class.
A couple of days later, I asked him if he had begun to read it. He shared that he was reading it to his P4 class (and later his P7 class) AND THE KIDS BEGAN TO SHARE THEIR STORIES OF THEIR FAMILIES OR SIBLINGS GOING TO REFUGEE CAMPS IN THE CONGO OR UGANDA, FAMILIES BEING BROKEN UP. HE SAID IT JUST POURED OUT!
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Intermission - I believe in, I pray for:
Emmanuel
Sikilly
Our secondary school friends.
All of South Sudan.
And all of the orphans! Amen.
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"I am not in America"
I am sitting in the P6 classroom observing one afternoon, when I look outside to see an armed military man walk by our classroom. Not seeing anyone else, I wonder "Does anyone else know he is on the grounds?", just after thinking "Mark, you are not in America!"
Thinking that the wisest course of action was to stay put, 10 minutes passed and a government entourage arrived. After visiting P7, the South Sudan Minister of Gender and Social Development was introduced to the class.
She asked the girls in the class to raise their hands, she said "Fifty percent. That is better than I saw in P7. Girls, this nation is YOURS! You need to stay in school. You need to get an education." I was introduced to her and she thanked me for my work in South Sudan. Very nice.
The government entourage that visited Harvesters to honor them for their work with the orphans, including housing, the school and the hospital/clinic.
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Four Women
I love these 4 women in the community, and will see them again. Seated in this picture, the 4 women are an inspiration. Their husbands are all gone. They each have a story, a trauma, and they shared a lot with Chris and I.
The woman in the white, seated on the ground, is blind. She told Chris to tell her family and friends that "A blind woman in South Sudan says 'hi'.' We went out to see this group twice.
The woman in the foreground sells her handmade baskets to make a living.
I watched Helen teach this group. She read from an English-written Bible, but the words she spoke were fluent Arabic. Amazing. Helen, standing in the white top and coloful skirt, is an S3 student (junior in high school) and is very high-performing.
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And, I tried vegemite! Look that one up!
