Imagine this...

Imagine a hospital where the electricity was not dependable. You may expect that hospitals always have power, but not here. Power is an occasional perk. So how does a hospital operate without power? Well, there are no computers to chart treatment on, there are no IV pumps to regulate IV medications, there are no TV’s to entertain the patients, there are luxury hospital beds that adjust at the touch of a button, and there are no alarms to sound to call for your nurse. In fact the most common use for the unpredictable power source is lighting or charging for phones. There isn’t much else in this hospital that uses power on a regular basis. Can you imagine such a place?

Imagine a hospital where there is only one wing out of the several wards in the hospital that offers semi-private rooms. These semi-private rooms are only for those who can afford to pay for their care. Can you imagine privacy being a luxury not a right? The rest of the patients stay in the wards. The wards are divided into a female side and a male side that are separated by a hallway where the nurses’ station or “duty room”, staff toilets, doctors’ room, and an exam room are located. There are 36 beds on each side, and there are several times throughout the week where patients are lying on mats on the floor waiting for a bed. The ward is wide open with little half walls dividing it into sixths. So if you become sick while you are in this place, and you are going to be a patient at this hospital there are a few things you should know. Make sure to bring your attendant (family member) with you to care for you. Also, make sure they bring a mat to sleep on, sheets for you, and money to provide for all your needs. Prepare to lose your dignity, as people are always around, and the privacy screens (for changing clothes or relieving yourself) are few and in high demand.

Imagine a hospital that has very few drugs and supplies. The medicine cart consists of a metal tray on wheels with about 5 or 10 different injectable medications, 8 tins of tablets that may or may not be full, a handful of giving sets, and a few pairs of gloves. If you, the patient, need anything that is not on the cart you must send your attendant to town to buy what you need. You have to buy everything from IV canulas, IV medications, syringes, needles, or anything else you can think of that you might need. Oh, and yes don’t worry these things are available in the local drug stores for anyone to buy. No license needed. No ID needed. No prescription needed.

Can you imagine a hospital like this?! I don’t know if I could have before I came here, but today I get an inside look at this very hospital. An inside look for two months. Oh the adventures we’ll have. Two weeks down. Six weeks to go.

Sovereignty Sovereignty

The day was unpredictable, but throughout it all one thing was certain: Our God is Sovereign.

You see yesterday Jim arrived back in Nakaale.

Today. We needed a doctor at the clinic.

We had a young man who encountered a snake while biking today. This snake got tangled in his wheels causing him to fall and cut his leg quite badly.

While we were looking at his leg and preparing to clean it, Adiaka ran in telling us there was a critical patient and we needed to come NOW. The mother was crying holding a limp child in her arms. We rushed the child into the office, examined to find the cause of the illness, and tried to get the story out of the frightened mother. The mother had gone to search for firewood, and when she returned she found her child lying motionless on the ground. No matter how many times and how many ways we asked the mother denied that the child had been sick at all prior to this morning. We did our best to stabilize the child, and find the source of the problem. Unfortunately none of our tests showed any abnormalities, but there was definitely something wrong. The best we can tell is that the child must have taken some toxic substance by mouth whether it be alcohol or petrol or what we will never know. We did what we could and then transported them to the district hospital for continued management. Dr. Joseph was there, consulted with us, and agreed that it was most likely some sort of poisoning. They will give the child fluids and provide watchful care tonight.

In between caring for the child and transporting them, we were able to clean, stitch and bandage the wound of the man who had the bicycle accident. He will heal *smiles*

The child is still alive, and I am praising God. I am praying that He will protect this child's life and restore health once again. I am praying for God to protect the other small children left to care for themselves while the adults go about the tasks for the day.

In the beginning, throughout it all, and in the end I am thankful to be a child of the God who is Sovereign.