One of the reasons I went into general pediatrics is because I like variety. Friday at Liteta was above and beyond. Started out with stitches on a little girl's face who "got stoned" (o/w known as neighbor kid threw a rock and hit her) in clinic. Then a seizing child with malaria at the hospital. While going to tell the nurse orders after seeing a newborn with hyperbili and sepsis, I walk into him in a room with two women delivering babies at the same time-grabbed gloves and caught one on the way out. Thankfully he had the woman with twins. Back to outpt clinic for new dx kaposi's sarcoma, hernia, and help remove foreign body from eye. Then unhappily pronounce the child with malaria dead, and as I'm walking back from seeing another septic newborn with pneumonia that I'm very worried won't make it, the grandma of the baby I delivered runs into me. She is smiling ear to ear and wants to know my name so she can name the newborn girl after me. Poor thing having a name no one here can pronounce! Quite the fun conversation trying to get her to even say my name...what does it mean etc and she even had me write it down for her. Hope she goes with the derivation she mentioned, "Oh Heather, that's like Ethel."  Throw in at least a dozen more "regular" cases and that was my day. (followed by the harrowing 1.5 hour drive home). Think I need a slow day soon. So glad for everyone's prayers. I can do all things through Christ which strengthen me!

     In between clinics this past week and this week I am co-teaching with Christine at the Bible School again.  We are teaching Intro to Church Music. I'm learning new things along with the students. Like how to pronounce antiphony, polyphony, and monarchic. Just wish technology would cooperate more. Powerpoint, youtube clips, projectors and windows vista do not get along yet. (nor will they ever but I figured out a work around mostly).  It seemed partly a course in church history as we went through the history of church music starting from the Old Testament (Moses and Miriam's songs with shofars and tamborines)  and worked our way forward through New Testament times, Reformation, Baroque music to modern day hymns and gospel songs.  The students did a great job learning the difficult material.  I learned myself as I looked up Old Testament musical instruments and heard clips on Youtube of shofars and harps.  I enjoyed sharing some of my favorite Baroque pieces with them like the Hallelujah Chorus and Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring.  They said they enjoyed hearing the variety of music-much which they have never heard.  Fun to see their surprise when I played Joy to the World and told them the music was written by Bach and the words by Isaac Watts.  Who knew Fanny Crosby wrote over 8,000 songs! Finishing the class out later this week with a round of Jeporady to review for the final and playing the viola for them.  

Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes and cards.  I had a lovely birthday week, starting last Sunday.  (Nothing wrong with spreading out the celebration).  Sunday Christine and I did a spontaneous bday dessert after a full day of church, orchestra practice and running around getting my phone to work again.  Then in the evening I got to talk to lots of family and a few friends.  Skype is so helpful.  Monday the missions team got together for dinner at a Chinese place and had cake at Christine's afterwards. Here's a few pictures from the celebration.

The last couple weeks have brought several big changes.  Nancy, Lovemore and I did one more training for Helping Babies Breathe in Choma.  Fourteen ladies did a wonderful job learning the skill of simple neonatal resuscitation along with normal newborn care.  On the way home from that trip, I received a phone call from the director of the Ministry of Community Development Mother Child Health.  They received my letter listing the program dates but hadn't received a letter from the permanent secretary giving me permission to do the trainings.  They are shifting their focus some and don't want me to continue my trainings at this point.  They want to implement a more comprehensive teaching, including obstetrics emergency care and complete newborn care (not just breathing resuscitation) with the focus being on healthcare workers and not community health workers.  I am sad that I can't deliver the training as promised to the rest of the CHE groups but am looking to see the bigger picture.  The doctor was grateful for my enthusiasm and has invited me to be a part of the the discussions for their technical working group.  I have a sense more opportunities lie ahead that I wouldn't have planned. It is just going to take a little more time.  The other benefit is I will have a slightly slower pace for the last three months here.  Not that I have ever been known for trying to do too much!  So couple last pictures of HBB in 2014, Choma.

 

This is little Rosie two years ago when I first met her...not walking at 4 years old because malnurished.  Here she is today! Can't keep her still.  





     The other time of change was sending Cheryl Ann on the next leg of her journey back to Canada.  She goes back to start chemo for colon cancer.  She has served in Africa for 35 years.  We pray for many more years of serving her Lord.  It may look scary or bleak but in her words, "BUT GOD"