Caleb asleep in Addis Abiba, Ethiopia after 15 hours on one plane. Kids did awesome! First week and a half were spent getting the house ready. Buying a washing machine ($500US), microwave, etc. Kristy was in orientation this whole time, so the kids and I had so many fun times!! Then below is the first day of school.
After that I spent a lot of time studying for the boards (even though the test is not till next fall), setting up the house, and getting to for the first time in 6 years of the kids' lives being able to drop them off at school, pick them up, watch their practices (Caleb, basketball, and Kianna ballet), and even coach a little soccer with Kristy. Fun times!
Esther, our house help started at he beginning of the 3rd week and has been wonderful. What a change, clean clothes, clean house, wonderful food other than ramen and Mac and cheese. Here she is teaching Kianna how to make chapatis. Week 4 I went to Heart Camp, amazing, one pic here and then a separate post later.
Then we hit our stride, with weeks 5 with Caleb starting basketball, and week 6 Kianna ballet.
That Saturday Kianna and I went on a hike near the equator with some of Kristy's teacher friends, some quality daddy daughter time!
Week 7 I went to Nairobi, Kenya, for 3 days to work on a visa for a little girl trying to get to Canada for open heart surgery. The Canadian embassy here in Kampala was closed a few years ago. We did not get to meet with embassy officials, but we eventually figured out the process, where she was in the process, and what to expect in the future. (By the way she made it to Canada yesterday!!) I also was able to see some old friends and make some new ones in the Nairobi SP office. When I worked in southern Sudan before med school the SP guest house was at the office, and we spent R&R in Nairobi. So nice to be back; boy has Nairobi grown. I did eat dinner at Westgate mall on Tuesday evening before the saturday bombing. So sad, please pray for the grieving families in Nairobi, and for Somalia, as without a functioning government for now 20 years (20 years since black hawk down), they just need Jesus! PTL all SP staff and families are safe.
This is Rose Kipchumba, she was a nurse with SP when I worked in southern Sudan and her husband Abraham was our trusty mechanic. They could not believe how I looked considering how hairy I was back in the day. It was good to catch up, she is now in charge of all medical in southern Sudan. The other 2 who I worked with closely were Alex who is now country director of Kenya, and Andrew who works for SP Canada. God is so good how He has provided for those who have been faithful in His calling!
Week 8 was Kianna's b-day week. I say week, b/c ever since she was little she liked to open one present at a time, so each day for a week she would open one present. This a dress I picked up in Nairobi at a place called Amani auju, a place for ladies who were formerly abused to sell their wares. Week 8 also saw me increase my responsibilities at CHP Uganda and my paperwork getting very close with signing of MOUs!!
This week started with me supposed to be on call Monday night, but I was cancelled due to paperwork not being quite ready, should be tomorrow! Unfortunately the patient passed away, however the response was please come and fix our broken system. So a positive open door to begin with; alot better than when I arrived with: why are you here, we do not need you. Then Wednesday and Thursday I was in Gulu a town about 6 hours north of here, as you can see above we had to cross the Nile to get there, and there were monkeys along they road. A group of 10, 5 from DC (including an old friend Peter Dean, great to see him again!) and 5 from Michigan were here to screen for rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in kids grade 1-7. RHD is much more common than congenital heart disease (CHD) and most can be treated with once monthly penicillin injections. They screened 1,000 kids a day! Thankfully most were healthy, but those that are not will soon receive treatment in the capable hands of Dr. Twalib (who had a healthy baby boy born at the end of the week!) Picked up a little GI bug at the end of the week, that is twice now, guess I do not have the stomach of a goat that I used to, or as Esther says, I do not have to try everything, haha.
This coming week we have one returning from the US after successful open heart surgery, and 2 others traveling. We are also trying to hire a third SP Uganda person, so please pray for wisdom there. Lastly in 2 weeks a team from Indianapolis will be coming for a week and a half with heart caths, diagnostic and interventional, and a week of open heart surgery. I am trying to, now that the paperwork is complete to get into the hospital to figure out what we have, and how the ICU will work that week, etc. Also every team is different, so pray for gelling, safety, and wisdom above all! And for the fam, as that will be a long 10 days for all of us, though Kristy and the kids have fall break the first week!!
Thank you all for your prayers and support, and I will try to do a better job of blogging! God bless, you all!!
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