The Body is Sick but the Heart is Well

Today is our last full day in Chogoria. We leave tomorrow for one day at the medical school and then on to Kapsowar. Please pray for our travel. Pray also for our health - a few of us are pushing through a mild viral illness. I thought I would show some things from the hospital on this post. Practicing medicine in these smaller Kenyan hospitals can be challenging. This week we ran out of Lovenox and Heparin so preventing and treating DVTs has been difficult. The lab isn't always reliable as evidenced by the fact that we had a conscious patient with a Na of 109. Many diagnostic tests or medicines that we have in the states just don't exist here and patients often have advanced disease. Yet, at the same time practicing medicine here is marvelous. Patients help each other, families pool finances to help pay for needed care, hospital staff work tirelessly even when they haven't seen a paycheck for several months and everything is bathed in prayer and gratefulness. It may appear that the "body" of medicine here is sick, but the heart is alive and well. I am humbled by the physicians here who can diagnosis and treat based mostly on clinical skill and by the compassion and courage of the entire PCEA Chogoria Hospital care team. Remember them in your prayers as they do a hard job day in and day out with little to no recognition. Chapel yesterday morning was wonderful...praise songs, extended prayer to "Jehovah Master" and "King of Glory" and a message that called us to revival like that led by King Josiah - revival based on rediscovering and committing to the Word of God and revival based on the removal of idols. Above are a few pictures - 1) a really big heart! 2) the ward 3)Uji - a porridge that they drink 4)all the signs have verses on it - this verse is one that my dad gave to me before the trip so I found it fitting 5)the first Chogoria Hospital building where they used to treat leprosy 6)chapel 7) the way NPO is documented. -Christine