sabbath rest

Happy Sabbath! It's Sunday, the second day of my weekend off, and I find myself with just enough time between church and lunch at the Ganeys' apartment to recount the doings of the past few days...

Friday was both the end of my time on the medical wards - at least for the present - and my first night of call. Since the M.O. interns arrived on campus the same day as I did, they are still very early in their year at Tenwek and largely unfamiliar with the system. As a result, the consultants (that's what I am) are much more actively involved with the on-call doings of the hospital than they normally are. The early portion of the evening was actually quiet enough that I began to worry that the phone in my apartment wasn't functioning - those medical folk among you can relate to that sentiment, I know - but I found myself up at casualty (the ER) by 9:00 helping to sort out a few patients for admission or discharge home and coaching my intern, Kevin, through his first thoracentesis. The next call, around 2:00, got my adrenaline going quickly enough that it wasn't a struggle to wake up, pull on my fleece jacket, and rush up to the hospital: "Dr. Stickney, I'm in maternity, and they are putting the vacuum on a baby whose mother has prolonged second stage labor... and I don't know how to resuscitate." The baby was fairly birth depressed, and I longed for many of the resources of my NICU back home as I prayed for her little life, but by the grace of God, she slowly improved over the course of the first hour and a half, and I watched with increasing joy and relief as her pulse ox crept over 90% for the first time while Kevin and I sat nearby, reviewing the basics of resuscitation and the evaluation of a newborn.

Yesterday morning, after catching a few precious hours of continuous sleep, I accompanied Amy, Abby, and David Bemm, along with the female portion of the Osteen clan, to Mosop School (pictured above), a nearby children's home with which the Bemms are actively involved. Begun almost ten years ago by Elijah and Rachael Bett, the school is home to dozens of orphans as well as Kenyan children whose missionary parents are posted elsewhere in the country. We spent a couple of hours under a blazing blue sky playing with the school's friendly population of orphans before a delicious lunch at the Betts' home.

I was able to visit Mosop in 2006 as well, but I hadn't had a chance before to spend time with the Betts, and it was so encouraging to hear Elijah tell the story of how Mosop came to be, starting with fewer than ten orphaned children and two missionary children a decade ago, and how God has been faithful to expand their slim resources over the years with the provision of land, first a larger home for the Betts and then a dormitory for the growing numbers of children, cows for milk, and many other small miracles. At the same time it was heartbreaking to hear how the recent unrest has touched them: during the demonstrations and mob violence in Bomet, the many children had to be hidden in the bush away from the school grounds so they would not be forced into joining the violence. The brokenness of this country has been pervasive in so many ways. (Below are Elijah and Rachael in their home.)

We returned to Tenwek in time to clean up and rest a little before a planned compound-wide cook-out became a cook-in in the face of a persistent downpour (always welcome in these parts in spite of any inconvenience). Dinner gave way to that comfortable sort of after-supper conversation on the Chupps' porch in which you can be discussing yogurt-making at one moment and Kenyan politics the next. It was a reminder to me of how wonderful the community at Tenwek is - that in spite of a mixture of stages and situations in life, the fellowship is always sweet. Today has dawned - and remained - gray and rainy for the most part, and I look forward to a slow-paced and relaxing afternoon, perhaps curled up with a book, before heading back to the hospital tomorrow, where there will be more to learn and remind myself of as I switch over to peds.