Burundi 2023

 

Hello!

In an effort to be a good family member and friend, I am attempting to update you all on my month in Burundi so far. Feel free to keep in touch via WhatsApp while I am here.

My travels went smoothly, for which I am so grateful. My flight from Toronto to Addis Ababa was quite empty, so most passengers including myself had an entire row to ourselves with plenty of room to stretch out and sleep. I had no difficulties getting a visa or getting through customs, my luggage all arrived with me, and none of the medical or school supplies I was transporting were taken.

God has been faithful. In the 7 years since I was last in Burundi, I have been through medical school and 2/3 of residency and grown through both of those seasons. Kibuye Hope Hospital has grown a lot as well: regarding new staff, there are now many Burundian generalist physicians, stage professionnels (similar to a transitional year intern), and surgery residents through the PAACS program; regarding new buildings, there is a large pediatric ward, surgery ward, and new operating rooms that have been built.

It is good to be back. Coming from a busy month on my gyn oncology rotation with limited mental space to prepare for this trip, I am thankful to come back to a place that feels familiar, even though there have been lots of changes here and I have a new role to learn.

Kibuye Hope Hospital is in rural Burundi. While I am here, I am living and working with the Serge Kibuye Team, a group of North American physicians of multiple specialties. Many of them trained for residency in Michigan at U of M or St. Joe’s. Rachel McLaughlin is the OBGYN on the team, and I am very thankful to be working with her! I am also working alongside several generalist physicians who run labor and delivery (maternite), and they have been wonderful teachers as well.

On Monday, I spent the day with Rachel in consultation clinic. Patients line up at her clinic door, no appointment necessary, and she just sees them in order until they have all been seen. We had about 25 patients that day. The stage professionnel and/or medical student who is working with her takes the history and translates the patient counseling into Kirundi from French, the language they communicate with Rachel in. She sees lots of fibroids, infertility, pelvic infections, abnormal uterine bleeding, and on Monday we had a few vulvar masses. Bedside transabdominal ultrasound is a large component of many gyn patient evaluations, and as the patients are usually not obese, we got some pretty good images.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Rachel has cases in the OR. All of them have been done under spinal anesthesia, so the patients are awake. I got to do my first open myomectomies with her, quite a fun procedure. In addition, she sees quite a few molar pregnancies. We did a manual vacuum aspiration for one (~15 week sized?) since there is no electric suction, and a gravid supracervical hysterectomy for the other (~25 week sized). Both thankfully went well. There are no serum beta hCGs, so these patients are instructed to trend monthly urine pregnancy tests at a local health center. We also removed a 12-15cm what appeared to be vulvar/vaginal/perineal mass which looked like a fibroid in the typical location of the Bartholin’s gland…sending it to the US for pathology since it was unusual.

On Wednesday and Friday, I rounded on maternite with the generalist, Christiane, and spent the day on the OB service. The hospital functions in French, but English is a useful language for the students and physicians to practice. Thus, I have been trying to quickly pick up some French medical terminology, but they will also practice presenting the patients in English, so I can understand. This has allowed for some bedside teaching, which has been fun 😊 And God is gracious: French is coming (back) to me faster than I expected, with still a long ways to go.

Regarding the set up of maternite, there are several wards of inpatients, whether postpartum, antepartum, laboring, or postop from a gyn surgery. There is also a large room with 8 delivery beds where all triage patients come initially, where patients are transferred from their inpatient beds for cervical exams, and where patients ultimately deliver. It has been interesting to try to transfer my knowledge from the U.S. to this setting. The management of patients is often different because of the resources available, for instance instead of continuous fetal monitoring they use intermittent fetoscopy (Pinard Horn, see below), and if a patient is bleeding they have 2 of 5 medications we would normally be able to choose from (misoprostol and oxytocin).

Sprinkled throughout many of the days are scheduled and unscheduled c sections. For these, I’ve assisted the generalist who is very competent, taught a stage professionnel how to do the surgery, and had a medical student assist me. It has been meaningful to contribute to the education of other health care providers, and a good opportunity to figure out my style of education, as well as continue to learn to communicate in a combination of French and English.

Now that I’ve shared what I’ve been doing, I can share that I’ve really loved it. I’m inspired by the resourcefulness of my colleagues and the resilience of patients, and thankful for the ability I have to offer some skills and to bring an attitude of flexibility by God’s grace. I do miss the doctor patient relationship, although I love watching the Burundian physicians counsel our patients. I do miss having a bovie electocautery during c sections (we just use a scalpel) although it just means I will hone different skills. And it does sadden me that many women come in with a history of intrauterine, neonatal, or child deaths. 

In the coming weeks, I would appreciate prayer for a few things, if you are someone who prays:

1. Continued flexibility as I learn to be a good colleague and be helpful in the right places, as well as continue trying to pick up French along the way to improve my ability to communicate

2. Wisdom as I process these experiences in order to discern if God is leading me toward global medicine in the future. Feel free to ask me about this when I get back.

I will leave you with Psalm 121
I lift up my eyes to the hills.
    From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
    who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved;
    he who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he who keeps Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper;
    the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
    nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all evil;
    he will keep your life.
The Lord will keep
    your going out and your coming in
    from this time forth and forevermore.

Jacaranda tree in bloom

My official stamp that I use for signing notes and scripts

Excising the vulvar mass with Rachel

Fetoscope, for reference

Last Month in Burundi

Hello friends and family!

I apologize for being a wimpy blogger/updater. Thanks to those of you with whom I’ve been able to debrief and share in person! Here's a picture post on the last month I spent in Burundi, with reflections to come in a later post.

The last month of my time at Kibuye was spent wrapping things up as well as seeing some exciting new happenings at Kibuye.

The new school house for Kibuye Hope Academy (KHA) was finished just in time for the last few days of school! It has two main classrooms, a large gathering space with a reading loft and a huge bookshelf, a storage room that doubles as a secure area, and a bathroom. So beautiful!

The reading loft!! A dream come true for so many!

So many books!!! Many of these came on the most recent 40 ft. container, which arrived in late April! The container arrived packed with an abundance of books and school supplies, both for KHA and for the local school, as well as hospital supplies, power tools, clothes, toys, furniture, marshmallows, cereal, candy, and even Trader Joe's specialties!! Thanks to those who sent stuff along to make a full blown missionary Christmas in April :)

Anna and Matea on duty at the school house on the day of the container's arrival

Building 19, the newest hospital building. It will be a 2 story patient ward and is going up super fast! In the meantime, though, another makeshift ward was built with just mud and bricks. Though "temporary," it may be there for a while.

Another new adventure was waking up at 4:30am and hiking to see the sunrise! It was definitely worth it. 

Afterwards, Anna and I made a wildflower collection. Dry season was just starting, but Kibuye's flora and fauna were still in full-blown luscious beauty! 

This picture is from Easter Sunday. In the previous post, I mentioned joining the medical students on an outreach event for the patients. They shared about God's offer of love and salvation, prayed with the patients, and then gave out fanta (sodas) and mandazi (fried bread) and sang some lively songs. 

Note the med students' Easter garb mixed and matched with scrubs and white coats. Kind of my life as well.

On my very last day at Kibuye, I got to hike up to what we refer to as the "far Kibuye rocks." Just around 1/2 hr hike from our houses, this rock offers a 360 view of the area (see below, PC Nicole). Almost tooooo beautiful to behold!!!!!!! 

The hike resulted in this rather funny picture. I planned to visit the hospital later to say goodbye to some people, so I wore my all-purpose scrubs. However, Nicole didn't deem them picture-worthy, and lent me her skirt for the picture, since she was wearing it over pants. The result is this: ultimate comfort!

Wrapping some things up:

The local school held a goodbye party for my roommate, who taught English there. This video is of the drumming team, which is composed of 6th graders. A few days later, the drumming team came down the hill to our compound to give a drumming lesson to the missionary kids. It was super fun to be able to enter into Burundian culture in this way, and it was a very lively and healthy interaction between the missionary kids and the Burundian kids, which was amazing because those kinds of interactions often seem rare. The kids enjoyed it so much that the drummers planned to give lessons regularly! Read about the lesson HERE!

A ballet and piano recital! I am grateful for a gracious and fun group of families who let me learn how to teach on their kids! One special aspect was being able to choreograph a dance to a piece called Awakened, which was composed by Michelle Wendler, a member of the team and an amazing pianist, composer, and teacher! When she and her husband Carlan arrive in the next year or two, she will teach piano to the kids. 

Last days of preschool. I'm so proud of these kids for how they've grown: in communication, in learning, in flexibility, and in trying new things.

Future Ophthalmologist!

Ben shakes hands with Jolison, the medical director's son. 

I loved spending time with the McLaughlin children on the days when Eric and Rachel both worked.

The last two weeks of my trip I spent in Spain for an organization-wide conference! This picture includes most of the existing team. The Banks and Baskins, who will be joining the team this fall, were able to join us, which was so fun! 9 new kids to get to know! You can watch the video about our team that was shown at the conference HERE.

I'm super thankful for the opportunity to be part of the Kibuye team for a short while. Thank you for Here are some ways that you can be praying for the team as it grows:

1. For good transitions as team members leave, that saying seemingly constant hellos and goodbyes won't keep the kids from forming relationships

2. For good transitions as team members join: for uneventful travel, that new team members would find their place on the team, that their kids would make fast friends.

3. For strength, perseverance, rest, and sustenance for the doctors, and really for the whole team. In particular, for another surgeon this fall!!

4. For wisdom in collaborating with Burundian partners--at Kibuye Hope Hospital, with Hope Africa University, and at the local school, Ecole Fondamentale Kibuye

4. For continued opportunities for the missionary kids to interact and make friends with the Burundian kids around them

It's been awhile, my friends. Things always seem to be quite busy around here. Here's an update on some of what I've been doing in the past two months.

Kids:

Preschool: The preschoolers are getting so big! They are all the way up to their T verse (Proverbs 3:5, about trusting God), and their favorite verse is K (Psalm 34:13, Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies) because the song involves doing funny things with your tongue. They have started to write letters on chalk slates, they enjoyed learning about the senses in science, we’re reading a book about kids from all around the world, we get to act out stories together (mainly Bible stories and fairy tales), and they frequently go around trying to rhyme words. Please pray that the Holy Spirit would transform them with verses like these: “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” or “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” or “My little children, let us not love in word or tongue, but with actions and in truth.”

Preschoolers and Toby helping me carry supplies from McLaughlin's to my house.

Ben and Alma swinging double. New school house featured behind.

Alma and Sammy. Alyssa's house to the left, Fader's to the right

Easter: For Easter, my roommate, the teacher, and I put together a play of the resurrection story from Peter’s perspective. The kids did a great job memorizing a TON of Scripture, being motivated to practice, and learning to work together. The girls also got to perform an Easter dance to Andrew Peterson’s song “All Things New.” I first learned to dance from a woman who saw it as a way to praise God, so it was super fun for me to follow in her footsteps and to see my pupils pick up on the theme of glorifying God through movement. I must say that it was slightly challenging to include fun and fitting movements for girls ages 4-12, and I also wasn’t sure they’d pull it together in time for Easter and an audience, but man they did amazing!!!

My older ballet students in class

Performance in the school house :)

Crossing Cultures: Living in a large compound with so many other missionary families has its ups and downs for the missionary children. At the moment, they each have 11 cousin-like relationships, they get to go to school and have classmates, there are tons of group games they can play (namely Capture the Flag, Run for Your Life, Eagle Eye, etc.), and they keep each other in check sometimes. However, one thing they don’t get to do super often is interact with Burundian friends. This past January, Jess started a Kirundi-English class with a balanced number of American and Burundian kids, a great solution to the past interactions our kids had with either no Burundian kids or a ton of kids from the next-door primary school swarming them all at once. I’ve also gotten to share a few fun interactions with our kids and Burundian kids: One Sunday afternoon, the kids tried to round up a game of ultimate Frisbee outside the compound in the field by the church and the primary school. Not too many of us showed up, but a large crowd of kids did. Anna had the idea that we could play duck duck goose with them and change the words to oya, oya, ego, which means no, no, yes in Kirundi. With all the shameless spectating, I was a bit surprised at how hesitant the kids were to jump in and play with us. When some of them did (others still preferred to watch), it was fun to see the kids using the universal language of play, as well as to hear some of our kids using their Kirundi! A few weeks later, I took the preschoolers up to the field again to climb trees. A few Burundian kids came up to us and asked to play “oya, oya, ego.” They remembered! So we got to have a small game that for a while. Please pray for the missionary kids especially as they grow up in a different culture. Some seem to be blind to/appreciative of (I’m not sure what yet) the many differences between them and the Burundian kids they see. Others have hesitations or strong oppositions to interacting with these kids. None of them chose this environment to live in, but as they are here, please pray that they will have healthy and fun interactions with Burundians vs. overwhelming and traumatizing ones, that they will learn to love Burundian culture, and that they will form friendships and develop a passion for cross-cultural ministry.

A few kid quotes. I haven’t been able to write nearly enough down, but they do keep coming in a steady, substantial stream:

Ben: Sammy, the apricot crayon is over there. Sammy: I don’t like fetching things. I’m not a dog.

The B Bible verse has become a favorite in preschool (Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God. Matthew 5:9). One day I reading Toby a book. Toby: I want to find the peacemaker! Me: Toby, this book doesn’t have a peacemaker in it. Toby: *finds a picture of a baker*

Langa langa is a spinach-like vegetable, which I have grown to love. Here are the preschooler’s opinions: Ben: Langa langa makes me have a headache. Alma: Langa langa makes me have a tummyache. Sammy: Langa langa makes me grow!!

Sammy: Ladies and Genalton

Alma, how was ballet class? Alma: It was educational

Me: Toby, what shirt do you want to wear? How about this one? Toby: It doesn’t match my shorts

Hospital:

Med student lectures: I didn’t expect to attend lectures for the med students, but the team has been gracious to let me attend them. They’re super helpful for practicing French, and I’ve learned a lot from them too. Some of the most interesting were the med student presentations on ethical cases. These included cases like: which patient do you give your one bag of blood to? Do you take oxygen off a patient who will necessarily die soon anyways in order to put it on a baby who might actually live because of it? What do you do when a lady wants her tubes tied but her husband doesn’t want the procedure done? What do you do when a 16 year old girl whose parents you know from church comes to you asking for birth control? Hard questions, many of which would be applicable in the states (for instance, the oxygen question is much like our ventilator dilemmas), but often the students looked at the questions differently than I would. For instance, the tubal ligation turned into a birth control discussion, whereas I would have discussed the rights of the woman. And for the birth control question, they agreed that they would “tell” the parents about the kid’s behavior by holding church-wide gatherings, one for parents and one for teens, to talk about these issues, but if the kid were a few years younger, then they would tell the parents directly. They talked way more about their methods for educating the church and parents than about whether or not they would provide birth control for the girl and how they would interact with her and her lifestyle. So though I wish I knew more French so I could learn more about Burundian culture through the student’s presentations, I am thankful for what I am getting to see.

Med students: On Easter, I got to sing in church with the med students and Nicole, the team’s hospital finance person and a dear friend. For any BCM people reading this, this part really made me think of you because some of the English songs we sang were ones I learned at BCM15 and Ignite! Anyways, dancing in front of the congregation was pretty loosening for me, a lot of fun, and humbling because we sung in English, French, Kirundi and Zulu. For the med students, seeing their professors and (wonder of wonders) their dean, Dr. Bond, get up and dance was by far the best part.

I also got to attend an outreach to the hospital that the med students planned on Easter (It was a busy day). The outreach was all in Kirundi, so I couldn’t understand it, but it was still really fun and encouraging. I think I got used as the sinner in an illustration of how God sees Jesus’ righteousness when He looks at us because we’re covered with Jesus’ blood. Anyways, I was in the men’s post-op ward, and after a preaching of the (hopefully) gospel by one of our anesthetists, a prayer which the patients repeated after him with index fingers pointed sincerely to the sky, passing out of fantas and mandazi, and some singing, I had never seen the ward so joyful and energetic. Super fun. Please pray that the med students would increasingly understand the gospel of grace in contrast to the religion of works, and that they would be able to see their job as a ministry of words and actions.

Unexpected stories: The two contrasting stories I’m about to share remind me that the doctors treat people, but they don’t control the circumstances or the patient’s lives. One is about a patient who unexpectedly lived, and another about a patient who unexpectedly died. Baby B had a double cleft lip and palate, and she came into the malnutrition ward when I first arrived in January. Jason is super amazing and versatile and was going to give her cleft lip surgery once she gained enough weight and completed the necessary prep steps. She gained enough weight after a few weeks, but while waiting for surgery, she got sick from the other kids in the hospital. Frustrating and sad. In fact Baby B got so sick that I thought she would die, but she did recover, and it seemed like a miracle when I saw her on the operating table on March 31^st. Jason did a great job, and hopefully she can have her cleft palate surgery later this year. In contrast, N was a 12 year old girl who had been burned on 40% of her body when she got caught in the middle of a case of domestic violence between her parents. She was scheduled to have a few rounds of skin graft surgery, and the med student in charge of her had asked if one of us could get to know her and play with her during her 6 week stay. I had hopes of a mutually beneficial friendship with a Burundian kid for me, for some of the older missionary kids, and for some of the moms. I met her the day before she was scheduled to have her first surgery, and she seemed weak and timid but sweet and resilient. The next day, when I went up to see her with Heather and some of the kids, we found out that she had died unexpectedly the night before, after her first surgery, which seemed successful. The med student told me it was hypothermia, but I haven’t confirmed. Why these unexpected results? When we expect that someone will die, it’s because we don’t have enough oxygen or blood, or because we don’t have chemotherapy. When we don’t expect someone to die or to live, it often ranges from difficult to impossible to determine why they did. But the outcomes cause us to hold on to God’s promise to make all things new, to be humbled by our limitations, and to persevere in investing in patients. But they also cause discouragement, feelings of futility, and the need to wrestle with the present presence of suffering. Please pray for encouragement, strength, and perseverance for the doctors. It is a busy season where it seems like everyone in the world has malaria. Every service has way too many patients (for example, Alysa set a record of 89 patients today, which means ~3 patients and their families to a bed). Please also pray for Susan, who has pioneered the beginning of a child life program in the malnutrition ward. Many kids would just lie in bed letting the flies gather, but now they (and sometimes their moms and siblings) get to color or blow bubbles or pick a sticker when Susan visits. And when they “graduate” from the malnutrition program, Susan has organized a going away bag with clothes and food! Her work is super valuable: it is stimulation, development, fun, and relationships, all rolled into one. But it is hard and frustrating work, with some happy departures and some deaths, so please pray for sustenance, direction, and healing.

Thanks for reading! Please enjoy this view in Bujumbura of the sun setting over Lake Tanganyika with Congo mountains across the lake.

I lift up my eyes to the mountains--where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip--He who watches over you will not slumber. Indeed, He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD watches over you--the LORD is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all harm--he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forever more. 

Psalm 121

Hello! The weeks here at Kibuye feel like they are zipping by, probably because I have been doing and learning a lot. Let me tell you about a few of the things I’ve gotten to see and do at the hospital:

The times at the hospital eye clinic and OR immediately stick out as significant (not that I haven’t enjoyed the times in other departments, but those two places are where I feel like I’ve spent the most time). Dr. John Cropsey runs the eye clinic, and I’ve been to see him once on a day where he does procedures and once on a day where he sees old and new patients in clinic. The procedure room was light-hearted, dedicated, and efficient, but it also seemed like a place where vision was being dreamed up and carried out. The people working with John were: a Congolese med student at Hope Africa University who knows he wants to do ophthalmology, and whom John wants to use to help grow the eye ministry to Congo; and a Burundian who is currently doing residency training in China and who hopes to work with John after finishing residency this summer. As they worked together, it was as if I could see the expansion of eye care at Kibuye and beyond into surrounding regions growing before my very eyes. Wow, so amazing!!! It was also really intriguing to watch cataract and glaucoma surgery. Eyeballs can definitely be just a tad bit gross, but thankfully it was not nearly as squeam-inducing as when I watched John operate 4.5 years ago. In typical fashion, John also plugged ophthalmology to me throughout the whole time, so I left not just inspired, but also excited and interested in the field! In addition to doing cool procedures that directly continue Jesus’ ministry of helping blind people to see, he also gets to interact and follow up with patients in more of a long-term relationship, as I saw in clinic. As a side note, it really disoriented me when the resident started speaking with me in the few words of Chinese he’s picked up while there (residency is conducted in English). I’ve never heard an African speak Chinese before, and it appears my languages have gotten somewhat be befuddled. But there you have it, I have now uttered words in all 4 languages I know, which is rather cool if you ask me.

The OR is normally run by Jason Fader, an amazing surgeon who works constantly and who got me interested in medicine when I watched him operate a few years ago. However, for the past few weeks, a surgeon from Saginaw, Michigan, came to give him a respite. This surgeon grew up in the Congo as the missionary kid of a Japanese-American surgeon. She has felt God’s call to practice in the U.S. for now, but she has the liberty to travel overseas for one month each year as a service to long-term medical missionaries. She was my next door neighbor, so she, my roommate, and I spent most nights hanging out or eating together. After long days in the OR and being on call all the time, I was often surprised at her willingness to share about her life, to cook for us, and to bake some of the most delicious chocolate chip cookies I have ever tasted!!! So while Jason vacationed, I gained a dear friend and someone else to look up to as I begin medical school. Anyways, I also loved watching her in the OR, as I love watching all of the doctors here in their element. She was able to get to know the med students and OR staff quickly enough to run a very lively OR indeed. They even tried to get me to dance, and if you know me, sometimes I just can’t help it.

Anyways, even more exciting than dancing, even more exciting than watching her, was the day the med student classes were turning over and there was no one else in the OR (usually there are 4-9 med students) and she was like “hey, do you want to assist?” and I tentatively but excitedly said yes!!!!!!! When you assist, you scrub in with the surgeon and do things like wipe blood, suction fluids, hold body parts, hold instruments, and cut sutures. I was tentative to scrub with her because it felt so luxurious to be an American student, barely out of undergrad but replacing people who actually knew what they were doing. And yeah, it was a privilege that I am infinitely grateful for. Thanks again friend, if you read this! Anyways, the three cases I was present for that day were: 1. a lady with varicose veins, which are kind of like a baggy, over-stretched balloon, in her leg. While she pulled out the unnecessary vein, I tried to wipe blood. Yup, it was kind of bloody, even though only a few small cuts were made, which was kind of sad, because I’m always just a bit sad when anything grosses me out. 2. A pregnant lady came in from the ER with a large flesh wound on her leg. She was spitting, struggling, and in pain, so multiple people, including me, were helping her to stay still. An interesting interaction, where connection was made only through holding her neck and head still, a touch that was necessarily forceful but hopefully at least somewhat gentle too. A person’s a person, even if they’re laying completely naked on the operating table. 3. The surgery I actually fully scrubbed in for was a lady who had a bowel obstruction around the pylori sphincter area. I definitely haven’t gone to med school yet and don’t remember the name of the surgery, but it involved connecting the stomach and small intestine in a different place to allow another passageway for food. This was the procedure where I saw what a complicated dance surgery seems to be. But maybe I’d get used to it!

As for news about life with the team, last Monday was Chinese New Year, and my roommate and I got to host a Chinese New Year Party for the kids. We wrapped jiao zi (dumplings), read stories like The Little Girl (a book by Uncle Phil Wong about adoption and fatherly love) and Tikki Tikki Tembo, wrote some characters, set off lanterns, ate noodles for long life, learned how some Chinese characters can be connected with Biblical stories and themes, and gave out hong bao (red envelopes that often contain money). I was excited that the kids were so engaged in learning about yet another culture. I also realized that I enjoy sharing with others the parts of Chinese and Chinese American culture that I feel connected to, but I don’t like to feel as if I have to represent aspects of a culture that I don’t identify with. Sometimes it’s kind of hard for me to separate out what those things are before a situation happens, but in this situation it felt very natural, because I feel connected in my innermost being to Chinese food. Please pray that these kids (and me) would continue to embrace new cultures, as well as the culture they are living in, and be excited about the cross-cultural interactions they necessarily have.

Chinese New Year

As always, thanks Heather for the picture!

Science with the preschoolers

Taking Jonah up to the hospital lab to look at mushrooms, mold, and flower petals under the microscope. We used some high quality saran wrap cover slips

writing affirmations at the Valentine's day sleepover

beautiful jiao zi; super fun to make them for the first time with our househelper

Because today is Valentine’s Day, here’s a song called the Love of God that I associate with this team because apparently the Wendler family’s relative wrote it:

The love of God is greater far
  Than tongue or pen can ever tell.
It goes beyond the highest star
  And reaches to the lowest hell.
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
  God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled
  And pardoned from his sin

O love of God, how rich and pure!
  How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure—
    The saints’ and angels’ song.

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
  And were the skies of parchment made;
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
  And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
  Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
  Though stretched from sky to sky.

Hello from Kibuye! Though I'm just writing now, I did arrive safely in Burundi on January 10th. I got to travel with the McLaughlins, a family on the team returning from furlough in the U.S., and that was a big blessing for me! Our flights from Newark to Brussels, then Brussels to Bujumbura, were smooth, and the McLaughlin kids did an exceptional job. When we landed in Bujumbura, we passed through customs with no complications and also picked up every single piece of luggage, nothing missing! (we did pick up an extra piece by accident, though it was returned to its proper owner). We stayed the night in Bujumbura, and after shopping in the city in the morning, we drove the 2 ½ hours to Kibuye. The roads wound up and down Burundi’s beautiful green hills, and I was thankful for their smooth pavement. The last time I traveled a mountain in Africa, I was careening down a Kenyan mountainside facing sideways, holding on to Abby Paternoster for dear life… Anyways, thanks for your prayers for safe and smooth travels. God has answered them and continues to answer them!

Kibuye is a beautiful place tucked away in one of Burundi’s many hills. It’s amazing to think that so many dear people live here! I’ve enjoyed reconnecting with the families I know from Ann Arbor and connecting with teammates that I’ve never met before. Here’s a super short introduction to the team for those of you who don’t know them. It doesn’t do them justice, but hopefully you’ll learn more about them through coming posts, or through their blog (mccropders.com)!

McLaughlins: Rachel is an OB/GYN, Eric is a family medicine doctor. They have three kids: Maggie (6), Ben (4), and Toby (2).  Cropseys: John is an opthamalogist, Jess is a teacher. The have three kids, Elise (8), Micah (7), and Sammy (4). Faders: Jason is a general surgeon, Heather is a teacher. They have two kids, Anna (10) and Abi (7). Alyssa Pfister: meds/peds doctor who currently does pediatrics and also leads med student Bible studies. All of the doctors here practice at Kibuye Hope Hospital and teach med students from Hope Africa University in the capital city of Bujumbura. There are also a bunch of other essential supporting roles to the hospital here: my roommate teaches our school-aged children and 9^th grade English at the local primary school; Caleb and Krista Fader are engineer and nurse, and their son Liam is 2; Nicole does finances with George Watts, whose wife and four children are here too (Jonah (14), Matea (11), Micah (9), and Alma (4)). In addition, there are many more teammates who will be arriving within the next year, such that the team will be nearly doubling! These teammates will include an ER doctor, an anesthesiologist, a meds/peds/OB doctor, a retina surgeon, and a family of teachers.

As for what I have been doing, I do spend quite a bit of time with the Kibuye children! Every weekday morning, I teach preschool to Ben, Sammy, and Alma Watts. They are a bright group of pupils, very imaginative and not afraid to speak their minds. Please pray for us as we go through the ABC Bible Verses book! All three are excellent memorizers and singers when they want to be! Tomorrow we are starting the D verse from Ephesians 6:1: Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God. On the opposite end of the age spectrum, I am tutoring biology for Jonah Watts, age 14. So far, it’s been fun to make concepts understandable. I’m eager to get to the chapters on cell and molecular bio so I can apply some of my college knowledge! I also teach piano to 5 of the children, and I have found that I love helping kids to enjoy music. Most of them are beginners, so it’s been fun to pick out their innate strengths. And finally, I’ve pulled my ballet knowledge back from the depths to teach 6 of the kids.

As for time at the hospital, I have gotten to spend time in some of the different areas, and I am excited to spend even more! I’m super thankful for the team’s graciousness to me. Though I have no medical skills, I get to spend time in the hospital seeing what it looks like to be a doctor here. On Fridays, I get to round with Alyssa in the pediatric ward. It’s especially nice for me because on Fridays rounds are in English, but it’s also been really fun to watch Alyssa interact with med students and patients in three different languages (English, French, and Kirundi). I’ve also spent some time in the OR, wearing scrubs that say Dr. Carlan Wendler because he left them in the drawers of the room I am now inhabiting! On Tuesday I got to watch Rachel McLaughlin take out an ovarian cyst, and I also walked in on a bowel case that a visiting surgeon was doing. Can’t say I’d ever seen the small intestines live and in person before then, but now I’ve seen one that was inflamed and had abscesses all over it. I’ve also been to a few lectures for the Christian Philosophy of Medicine course the med students attend. I have enjoyed seeing the doctors teach on topics that remind me of the conversations that happen at Knox (my church in Ann Arbor), and convey them effectively across cultures, in French. Some of the topics have included: how medicine plays a role in the Kingdom of God; how to approach suffering; and how God can work through/despite our sin and limitations.

Overall, I’ve been super inspired by the team’s cohesive vision for the hospital and their effectiveness in carrying it out. There are many facets to the vision, from teaching the med students to building relationships with the Burundian community around them to plans for expanding the hospital’s buildings. Each person on the team seems to be honing in on a slightly different part of the vision as his or her gifts and personality are best suited. Some team members seem to be fueled by big dreams, and others find motivation in carrying out the day’s work with obedience. All are different, yet all contribute and collaborate. It is exciting, encouraging, and inspiring for me to watch and even take part in in small ways.

One of the biggest themes I’ve experienced here is grace. Hooray, just what I was hoping for/expecting!!!! As a fact of life, I feel my need for God’s grace in the areas I am weak and inadequate. As most of the activities I’m doing are ones I’ve never done before, I definitely see my weaknesses: I’m still figuring out the kids’ different personalities and how to best relate to them all. I’m also still figuring out how to teach all of the subjects in ways that are effective, enjoyable, and help the kids to understand and praise God in new ways. I’m excited to build relationships with the med students (I’ve even gotten to know a few!), but wow, French is/languages in general are hard. And sadly, cross cultural interactions with language barriers are draining. As a side note, I would appreciate prayer for my French (understanding and speaking), and excitement to get to know the new batch of med students that are arriving in a few weeks. Anyways, all of these activities have been super fun, but often I feel like I’m just fumbling around. But what do you know, God is present here in Burundi, and He has reminded me that He is working with or without me but is able to use me while I’m here! What grace. Also, the team and the Burundians around me have shown me a lot of grace for the times when I’ve not done the best job. It’s pretty amazing to me how much grace these people can offer. I am learning to receive and reciprocate.

Thanks so much for reading! It takes some oomph before I find the gumption to write (thankfully I’m not teaching english), so that’s why it’s taken so long to post, but I did want to let you know what I’ve been doing. I appreciate your prayers so so so so much, and I know the team does too. God is using them! I’d love to hear from you individually too!

 

 

View from Kibuye Rock. The buildings are Kibuye Hope Hospital and our dwelling places are behind.

My preschoolers. L to R are Ben, Sammy, and Alma

 

Piano lesson! A happy time when we were ready and the power was on.

Thanks Heather for this and the previous picture!

 

 

 

Toby pretending to be a Burundian mama :D

 

 

 

Hello! This blog will hopefully be an effective method of communication for the next semester. I will be spending 5 months at Kibuye Hope Hospital in Burundi, where a team of doctors and their families teach and practice. You can read all about them here!!!!: mccropders.com. During my time at Kibuye, I'll be spending a lot of time with the kids of the Serge Kibuye team, teaching preschool, piano, ballet, and probably more. I'll also be seeing what the team does at the hospital. The team includes doctors of many different specialties, and I am excited to see each of them working in a cross-cultural context.

I have several hopes and goals for this trip. The first is to serve the Serge Kibuye team and allow them to do their work more effectively. The second is to look at medicine from a different perspective before med school and gain a little more clarity as to where I'm called to practice and what specialties  would suit me. The third goal is to understand the title of this blog in a fuller way.

I stole the title from Serge, who's motto is also: grace at the fray. To understand the motto, there are two words to define: serge and grace. A serge is a type of stitch can be used to bring two pieces of fabric together. Grace is unmerited favor from God, which he shows to us through his salvation and love, even when we are weak and imperfect and broken as people. Serge's motto is grace at the fray because God meets us at our frayed places and shows his grace by serging them together. He promises healing for the world's brokenness. So beautiful! This semester, I hope to understand this truth in new and more complete ways. Yup, basically I am embarking on a journey to understand my name better! I hope to accept the areas that I am frayed in, which are pretty much everywhere as I am realizing, and I hope to depend on God's grace for those areas more wholly. I also hope meet people in their frayed places and extend God's grace to them.

If you'd like more clarification, let me know! I will be available by email and Facebook.
I am also leaving in a hour for Brussels, then Bujumbura, and I am counting on your prayers!: please pray for safety for me and the McLaughlins as we travel through Bujumbura, and for an open heart to learn what God would like to teach me!

Bye for now!