New Transformer Has Arrived

From one of the pilots who flies to Bongolo:

Don't ask me how, but a new transformer just showed up at Bongolo Hospital this afternoon! Pastor Serge's (hospital administrator) contacts and trip to Libreville must have paid off! No details of the arrangements, but the price tag is 87 million central AFrican francs- roughly $176,000 US dollars. Installation work begins tomorrow.

Praise God!

Bongolo Hospital Transformer Update

Below is an excerpt in an email from the lead surgeon:

We are on generator and running well.  We have a full OR schedule this week and will keep with it.  The new transformer possibly will be in by next week or the week after.  Pray it goes well and smoothly.  We are dipping deep into almost all of our reserves to make this happen, so pray that the Lord will bring in the necessary funds.  The total for installation is $165,000.

The Welker's and I will continue as planned and depart on Friday.  Keep praying for God's provision.

Jeff

Bongolo Hospital Fire

There was a fire at Bongolo Hospital yesterday.  It was small and contained, but knocked out the main transformer.  No one was hurt.  I do not know how this influences my trip there next week.  We do need power to run an operating room.  Below is an excerpt from an email from one of the team members at Bongolo.  Please pray for a speedy solution to the electric power needs and God's continued safety and provision.

"It is with a heavy heart we write to you this evening.  We praise God for his protection on our team at Bongolo Hospital.  We received a call tonight that there was a FIRE at Bongolo in the main transformer house (see attached pictures courtesy of Dr. Renee Valach), that is the electrical part that brings power to the whole hospital and residences.  Something clearly went wrong with the transformer and the fire began fueled by the oil filling the transformer itself.  Our hospital administrator, Serge, went quickly to the power company to have them shut off our power.  Others gathered and when he returned he joined the rest of the Bongolo team in figuring out what to do.  After opening the door to the building (it is a standalone building) the flames increased raising concern for the overhead wires.  Ultimately, a bucket brigade was formed of missionaries, pastors, hospital staff and residents in surgery.  They tossed sand on the fire and finally were able to put it out.  Because it was initially an electrical fire and then an oil fire, water would have just aggravated things.  We praise the Lord that no one was injured and ultimately the transformer and building can be replaced, BUT for now we are without electric company power.

What now?  Our generator, which has also been a bit unstable lately, is running 24/7.  We don’t know how long it will be until we can get the transformer fixed or if the generator will hold out, so we estimate that we will be forced to run the generator at a cost of around $1,000 per day.  We also thank the Lord for Serge and the contacts God has provided him.  Already he has set in motion a company to come evaluate the problem and site and see what, when, and how a new transformer can be installed.  Could it be days, for sure, weeks, probably, months, maybe?  It will be a cost of between $100,000 and $175,000!!  We know that is a huge sum that we haven’t planned for, but God knows and we trust He will provide one way or another.

What can you do?

First, pray with us as we seek solutions and continue the care we provide for our patients in need.  Pray also that the generator runs well. 

Second, as you feel led you can give to the replacement costs of transformer, installation, and protection, again totaling between $100,000 and $175,000.

How?

Make a check payable to C&MA write “Bongolo Hospital Special Projects" in the memo line.

Send to:

C&MA

P.O. Box 35000

Colorado Springs, CO 80935-3500

Thanks for your prayers and we thank God for His protection and provision even in times of need and struggle."

Back Home

Bongolo Anesthetists

It's good to be back home with the family.  What a great trip!  It was a pleasure to help educate and train clinically the anesthetists and surgery residents.  Even greater was the continued deepening of relationships with them and the rest of the missionary staff.

Traveling and getting to know Jack Ewig was an added benefit to this trip.  He is a wonderful man of God.  I hope to return with him sometime.

Next planned trip is in late January with the Welkers.  It will be another blessing.

Thank you all again for your prayers and support.

Worms Part 2

We had a very busy last day at the hospital--multiple cases and finishing up the education series.  Just when I thought the day was over and ready to head back to my place to pack, along came an emergency case.  It was a 19 month little boy with a bowel obstruction.  He was pretty sick and needed surgery soon.  So, we took him to the operating room around 5pm and started the case.  Come to find out his obstruction was due to worms.  Again, no pictures for the squeamish, but the largest one was about 8 inches long.  Crazy!!  The unfortunate thing is this is preventable with public health, clean water, and medicine.  He did well during the case and immediately in recovery.  The next few days will be critical as he will likely get sicker before getting better.  Pray for his recovery and healing.

We had dinner with a few of the missionaries and said our goodbyes to others.  Off to pack for the return home on Saturday.

PAACS

It is quite a joy to work alongside the PAACS residents training here in Bongolo.  PAACS stands for Pan African Academy of Christian Surgeons and was started here at Bongolo Hospital.  It has expanded to many more hospitals throughout Africa and is a wonderful model of training and discipleship (see link above for more information).  Christian physicians who graduate from medical schools all across Africa apply for the PAACS surgical residency.  Once accepted they are assigned to one of the PAACS locations.  They are either sponsored by a hospital in an under served area in one of the African countries or the PAACS program will sponsor them.  After they complete the surgical residency (5 years), they are required to return to their sponsored hospital or the PAACS program will place them in an under served area.  Upon returning, they not only provide much needed health care, but they are looked upon as Christian leaders in the community as well.

Where does anesthesia fit in all this.  Well, many of the locations where the surgeons will be working after graduation have very little or poor anesthesia services.  Many times, the surgeon is not only doing the surgery, but also doing or overseeing the anesthesia.  A lot of my time spent here is devoted to training the residents in basic anesthesia skills through lectures and clinical teaching.  Aside from the medical education, it has been a joy to develop relationships with these wonderful men of God.  They have taught me some things!!

Thanks again for your prayers and support.

Tough Day

Today was very busy.  Once again I was thrust out of my comfort zone by taking care of newborns and small children.  My anesthesia practice in the US is essentially limited to the big people and not the every so tiny ones.  Well today we had a 2 month old with hydrocephalus for a VP shunt and then a 3 year old for a tonsillectomy.  All went well as I recalled my days of rotating at Riley Hospital for Children during my anesthesia residency.  I do believe God had His hand in it though.

On a sad note, we finished the day with the other end of the spectrum.  It was an 80 year old woman with a hip fracture for repair.  She fractured it about a week ago and due to varied delays both medically and socially, her case was delayed to this week.  We did a spinal anesthetic and all was going well with the procedure.  Then all of the sudden she arrested.  We "coded" her for about 30 minutes but could not save her.  It was tough.  For those who may not know, these are very high risk procedures on sick patients.  In the US, while rare, older patients do arrest during this procedure.  My assumption was she had a clot move to her lungs and she arrested immediately.  The surgeon talked with the family and he believes they are all Christians, including the patient.  Pray for her family as they grieve the loss of their loved one.

Thanks again for all your prayers and support.