My Journey

Today the entire Chimala Mission family is mourning the loss of a precious little girl.  Karlin was the 6 month old daughter of Dr. Peter and Victoria.  Victoria works at the Herring Christian School here at Chimala and Dr. Peter is one of our wonderful doctors at the hospital.  As you can imagine, Dr. Peter is especially devestated because as a doctor he helps so many and yet could not help his own daughter.  All of the other doctors and myself who also cared for her and sat by her side for hours are feeling the loss very deeply.  Baby Karlin became ill on Christmas Eve and did not really respond to any of the treatments which we tried.  Yesterday morning, she really took a turn for the worse and we all felt the burden of loosing the battle.  I stayed with her for most of the afternoon with our Medical Director, Dr. Mahenge.  Dr. Mahenge was actually with her when she finally passed away.  He did everything he could.  Please pray...

The clinics this month went very well.  I was a little concerned because Rene Wagner who is my partner was on furlough in the states.  For the well child clinic at Mapongala I was blessed with the help of a young visitor to the mission.  Steven Akins from the states spent 2 months here and was of great help this month especially at this clinic.  We saw 83 children.  The day was fun and productive.  Today, we held our 2nd mobile clinic at Mfumbi.  Again, my partner Rene was still in the states, but I was blessed with the help of Thresa Clavier from Oklahoma who arrived just last weekend.  Thresa was of great help.  We did not see as many patients today as we did the first day we held this clinic.  However, I believe each month will bring us different challenges. Our numbers were only 46, but we were able to handle a couple of challenges which some of the people were dealing with.  One lady had attended our clinic last m...

A friend from Edmond, Oklahoma, Thresa Clavier arrive this past weekend to visit Chimala Mission for a couple of weeks.  We decided to treat ourselves to a safari at Ruaha National Park for Christmas.  So on Christmas Eve we started our journey.  The drive was very nice with the weather not too hot; not too cold; just right!  Of course, everything is new for Thresa and I enjoy seeing the things which she delights in. We arrived at our hotel around 3pm and were greeted with the traditional warm cloth to refresh with and a cool glass of juice.  Our juice was "Baobab" juice which is from one of the trees growing in the area.  Very nice.  We sat on the balcony and enjoyed the view. Christmas morning, we had breakfast around 7am and headed to see the wildlife around 8am.  We had a wonderful time.  Below are just a few of the pictures I had the opportunity to take.  I am so blessed to be serving the Lord in this beautiful country. ...

Yesterday, we held our first true mobile medical clinic at a village called Mfumbi.  I have been planning to begin mobile clinics since I moved here in January.  As you may recall, we did start a mobile clinic at Mapongala in June, but this clinic is for well baby/prenatal care.  Our new mobile clinic is for all patients with whatever complaints they may have.  I picked Mfumbi to be the first clinic because last year when I visited here, I held a small mobile clinic at that village.  Many of the Mfumbi Church of Christ members were on hand to help us.  Our team included Dr. Mwakiposa, Menard, Hamisi, Stephen and myself.  We were very busy from 8am to 4pm.  We saw 92 patients, dispensed 312 medications and performed 26 lab tests.  Three HIV positive patients were identified and referred for appropriate consulting and treatment.  One 8 year old girl was identified to have heart disease and referred to the hospital.  We also identifi...

The last month and a half is really a kind of blur.  I left Tanzania on October 2nd to go back to the states for a 5 week furlough.  The goals of the trip were:  1) see family; 2) raise funds; 3) go to a CHE seminar.  I knew that 5 weeks would go by fast, but fast does not describe what actually happened. As we all know, God's plan is perfect and he knows before we do what is before us.  When I arrived in Oklahoma, my mother had just had a simple outpatient rotator-cuff repair on her right shoulder.  What we thought would be no big deal turned into a roller coaster of medical issues for her. Over the time I was at home she went through 2 surgeries, a multitude of other health issues and was in the hospital for 3 weeks.  We all are so thankful to God for having me already in the states when all of this occurred.  Mother is now recovering at home and getting a little stronger every day.  God is good!! So goal number one was accomplished as...

September is almost gone and my writing has again been poor.  Not writing does not mean that nothing important is happening...it means I have been Busy!  I will try to show you the work in pictures with just a few words. These are the "behind the scenes" guys.  The estate workers.  Some are carpenters, plumbers, electricians, mechanics, ditch workers and machine shop workers.  They work wherever needed.  I can keep them busy by myself and yet I am only one of many who require their help daily!  Pediatric patients lining up for physician rounds.   Paulina, a med student from Germany and Dr. Peter seeing pediatric patients   Leda keeps our medical stores in order.  She and I are planning to put the inventory on computer and design a more efficient system for ordering supplies each month.  Currently it is taking two - three days to determine what supplies are needed. This is the out-patient waiting area....

WOW!  REALLY!  Has it been that long since I sent you an update??!! I promise that I have NOT been on vacation or takin` it easy..... We have been working on a lot of organizational and accounting issues for the past 3 weeks as well as continuing to improve the hospital environment.  In accounting, we are working on a better general ledger spreadshead which will assist us with keeping a closer eye on our income and expenses.  Also, we are developing a new system for our Outpatient accounts where the monies will be collected in the accounting department instead of in the pharmacy.  We would like for our pharmacist to be focused on pharmacy and not accounting functions AND it is wiser to have the monies all collected in the same secure area. To accomplish the Outpatient Accounting changes, we are making some minor updates and changes to the accounting office.  We are adding a second collection window so we will have one window for Inpatient Accounting and...

Fire (moto) and children (watoto).....like oil and water, they don't mix.  Every day, I hear the cries of the children who have been burned as they get their dressings changed.  I go in and hold their little hands, talk softly to them and silently pray for God to take away their pain and fear. This is "Traines" and her mother.  During the dry season, many grass fires are started and many children find themselves to close.  Their clothing catches on fire and then the little ones are burned.  Traines has 3rd degree burns to her body, right arm and left leg.  She is 4 years old and just a sweet as she can be.  This is 3 year old Akishel.  I haven't quite figured his burns out.  I was told he was burned in a rubbish bin fire.  I didn't want to show you the burns because they are so bad, so I took the picture after we had put the silvadene and dressings on.  I would tell Akishel "pole sana" which means "very sorry" and he would t...

It always amazes me at the wonderful things God created in this world of His.  All around the globe are many beautiful splendors which many of us know about.  However, there are untold numbers of wonders created for our pleasure which are enjoyed by a few.  God's Bridge is hidden in the south of Tanzania and is completely natural and full of God's handiwork.  As you all know, pictures can never capture all of the beauty but I will share the pictures I have.   We walked up this rocky path.  I really wasn't sure where I was being lead to, but I was trusting my guides they were taking to see something awesome.  The path was a little steep, VERY uneven and quite intriguing.   After the climb up, we leveled off a little and then came to the steep steps down....Here the grass was gress and I could see a river.  It was starting to really catch my eye.  (however, I was not doing too well at catching my breath!  Whew, I am out...