Monday, May 30, 2011

Burn Patient- Scarred but Shining

The following is a hospital update from Ginny Vandevoorde.
Last Friday I spent some time with Marie, the burn patient. Kyria had told me that she was worried about the color of her skin. Her arms and hands are pink, not black. As much as black people like to get their skin to a lighter shade, they don't want it to be completely white (pink) like ours. She is a pretty woman no matter what color she is and her face is mostly black. I talked to her about God's perfect plan for her and that he saved her life from the flames maybe to come here and learn more about Him and receive Eternal Life. She understood that she was a sinner and needed to repent and she also understood that God had trusted her with a heavy trial (being burned and scarred for life ) because He knew she could come out shining, that God can fill her heart and life with a joy that comes only from Him, and that she can show the light of the love of Christ, so that people don't see her scars but will see God's love. I think she understood.
Now she is healed enough to go home by boat, but who should pay the hospital bill besides the boat captain who is responsible for the fire/explosion in the boat...? He has fled the country and she is waiting/wanting him to pay the bill.... Thanks for praying for this difficult situation where again, we know God is in control.
In His hands,
Ginny and Jean-Pierre Vandevoorde
H.E.L.P.
Impfondo,
Republic of Congo
Picture with Marie's sister and I: note her pink hands and how the black pigment is coming back into her face.



Thursday, May 19, 2011

The "other" part of the hospital

I don't know if you knew this but I'm a doctor. Its what I do, not really who I am but there it is. I'm not....well I'm not a lot of things. Recently this was brought home to me last Tuesday when in the midst of a busy medical day we lost power to the hospital.

Dr. Fuka was taking out an uterus when, oops the lights went out.

I was helping some premature infants get oxygen and making rounds in the hospital at that same time.

I assumed that it was a breaker of fuse or something and strolled back to the "other" part of the hospital to nod knowingly while Molimo our mechanic extraordinaire explained electrical things to me in french and put it all together. But that is not what happened. I went back and he and Jean Pierre (carpenter/pastor) were looking at this.
















This little device is called and inverter/charger and it converts our solar electricity to usable current for us at the hospital. It was fried. Even I could tell that it smelled bad. This is the mechanics version of the "janitor" lesion we talk about in medicine. Without this device even though we have lot's of batteries like you see below we can't use that energy.















The other problem was that even though we have a diesel generator that fuels the hospital a large part of our circuitry goes through this box. Therefore even though the generator was working the circuitry that went through this box did not go to the hospital.

For now the team of Molimo and Jean Pierre have worked out a system to get the electricity from this "other" part of the hospital to the patient care part of the hospital using the generator but this is not a long term solution
1. it is too expensive to run the generator 24/7
2. it is too much wear and tear on the generator.
3. there are still parts of the hospital that are not working

Currently our plan for the "other" hospital is:
1. We run the generator from 11pm through the night for the nurses and keep it going until 3pm which is the end of our day shift.
2. From 3 pm to about 7pm we run two small generators to fuel oxygen concentrators to keep some kids alive.
3. From 7pm to 11pm we have "city" power that runs our services.

What happened to the cases that we were working on when the lights went out? Well we got a light for Dr. Fuka and he finished the case without further mishap. The children I was working with were not so fortunate. They both died that evening after a long day of struggling to find ways to give them oxygen.

So as you pray or think about our patients here remember that the care they receive in part depends on our "other" hospital. Pray that we can get this repaired or replaced ($2k to $4k), thank God that the city electricity is working and we have the other generators to give a break to the big one we have, and continue to uphold our team in prayer.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Update


Recently, our hospital received a container of medical supplies from Samaritan's Purse. The supplies have been running low at the hospital, and many of these items were desperately needed.

The container arrived in Pointe Noire on January 20. After a lengthy process, the container was released on March 25, and transported to Brazzaville via cargo flight. There is no way to get the entire container to Brazzaville at one time; we are bringing items as there is space available on cargo planes or humanitarian flights.

While on an unexpected trip to Brazzaville for the dentist, we were able to help prioritize the most urgent items for shipment.



The following is an excerpt from Dr. Harvey's latest newsletter. It explains some of the difficulties with the transportation of the items. Life here can be challenging, but we continue to remember God's faithfulness in the midst of difficulties.

One friend commented, “Tell us about the shipment having arrived and being all squared away and tidy and useful…”

I wish I could. In reality, over a month has come and gone since our container was released from port, but still only 1/6th of the contents have made it to Impfondo. We still have 8 ½ tons of donated supplies and equipment sitting in our warehouse in Brazzaville (900 km to the South), with no way to get them here. (Thank God for the warehouse). For 2 months we have had 1 ton of medicines that we ordered from Europe (and paid for) back in September, sitting in a storeroom in Bangui (200 km to the North). (Thank God the medicines have made it thus far). No boats are coming to Impfondo, because the river is too low. The humanitarian flights that are supposed to bring our stuff for free have begun charging $2 a pound, or are alternately cancelled or too full. (Thank God a commercial airline has agreed to start bringing things a little at a time for 50 cents a pound, and 118 boxes arrived yesterday). Every day at the hospital, many times a day, people tell me “we are out of suture” or “we are out of bandages” or “we are about to run out of IV fluids.” We are also out of fuel and natural gas (which we use for refrigeration and cooking). I don’t know what to tell them except “they’re in Brazzaville” or “we bought some 8 months ago that hasn’t arrived yet.” I try not to get discouraged. . .

Read the full newsletter at Congo Harveys.

Life here can be challenging, but we continue to remember God's faithfulness in the midst of difficulties.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Pangolin


What do you usually do after church?

Maybe you have a routine that you do each Sunday before heading home: talk to friends, check the bulletin board, collect the baby from the nursery, view some exotic wildlife...



I was talking to someone inside after church on Sunday, when one of the hospital employees came up to me. He let me know that there was someone waiting outside for me.
It turned out to be "something" rather than someone.

For the equivalent of about $2, I could have had a new pet- or lunch!

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Opportunity

Below is a link to a CAMA services website. CAMA stands for Compassion and Mercy Associates and is connected to the Christian and Missionary Alliance. We have connected with them to help underwrite some care of children here at the Pioneer Christian Hospital. Click on the link to see how you can help a child get a blood transfusion or combat malnutrition in the Congo.