Video from Feast of St. Martin De Porres

We wanted to share a video from the Feast of St. Martin De Porres celebration at St. Martin De Porres Hospital in Njinikom, Cameroon.

Ode to Cheese

Oh, how we miss you Cheddar and Pepper Jack, Blue Cheese and Havarti, Mozzarella and Colby.  Laughing Cow, we’ve grown to like you, but, oh, Mr. Laughing Cow, real cheese you are not and will not be. We’ve grown to eat cheesy rice without the cheese and Mac and Cheese just isn’t the same when Mac is all alone. Pizza breads are good with just sauce and French Onion soup is nice with bread, but both would be great with a sprinkle of cheese.

We are hopeful that you are coming with the next visitor passing through customs. Remember you are not a food item when asked by the customs officer. You are medicine desperately wanted by a family in Njinikom.

Conversations

Last Sunday as we were waiting outside the church for the 6:30 am Mass to finish before we went in for the 8:30 Mass. A brother (14 yo) and sister (12 yo) came up to Jennifer to talk. Both are HIV positive, presumably from birth, as their Mom is as well. They were reporting to her that their CD4 levels (the cells in their blood that fight off infections in the body) had increased and that they were taking their medications faithfully.

It was such a profound moment for me. These young children face such a difficult life to begin with and now, with their HIV as a lifelong chronic disease, their day to day routine is so different from the cares I had as a child.

St. Martin De Porres Feast Day

St. Martin de Porres Catholic General Hospital was named after St. Martin de Porres. The Feast Day of St. Martin De Porres was celebrated with a special Mass at the hospital attended by the staff and patients.

Martin de Porres, O.P. (December 9, 1579 – November 3, 1639), was a lay brother of the Dominican Order who was beatified in 1837 by Pope Gregory XVI and canonized in 1962 by Pope John XXIII. He is the patron saint of mixed-race people and all those seeking interracial harmony. Juan Martin de Porres was born in Peru of Spanish and African or possibly part Native American descent. He was noted for work on behalf of the poor, establishing an orphanage and a children's hospital.

This picture is in front of the sign commemorating the 50^th Anniversary of the hospital (1963 – 2013) which was celebrated earlier this year. Often, for special occasions, fabric is created as part of the commemoration. Sr. Xaveria generously had these special outfits made for us out of the 50 ^th Anniversary fabric. Elizabeth even designed her own dress! The words on the fabric are Faith, Discipline, and Selflessness, with the name of the hospital surrounding the picture of St. Martin de Porres.

A Few Luxuries

Mount Boyo

Although our food options are more limited here, we do have a couple luxuries here that we didn’t have in Guatemala. Our water source comes from a spring on Mount Boyo and is clean and drinkable directly from the tap. This means that we don’t have to purify water, we can brush our teeth with the water in the sink, we can just wash fruits and vegetables and do not have to soak then in iodine or bleach water to eat them raw, and dishes, cups, and eating utensils do not have to be completely dry before using them. We also have hot water in every tap, including the kitchen, not just in the shower. We used to boil water to wash dishes, but we don’t need to anymore. There is also satellite TV in the house. Although most of the channels are in French or Arabic, we can get international news at times.

Bell

The children’s day begins, at school, with the ringing of the bell and ends the same.

What happens between these two times changes day to day.

What we learn, who we meet, how we see God working throughout our lives day to day.

We cannot change when the bell rings but we can see how God is calling us to be.... between those two rings.

A world of help.... Thank You!

September was expected to be a busy month and it was!

Dr. Dabo, the obstetrician, went on a much needed vacation for the month and Brent was in charge of the Obstetrical Service.  This meant Jennifer was in charge of the house, children and working in the Outpatient Department.  Dr. Eugene covered the Medical Wards and Pediatrics. Surgical Services were covered by Drs. Lazare and Foko.

There were 62 deliveries and of these 24 were cesareans and three sets of twins.

The love and support provided by the staff, Sisters and patients was very humbling.
Brent had a world of help and one case exemplifies this.

A young lady who is HIV positive presented with rupture of membranes but without contractions. She was not sure how far along she was with the pregnancy.  The baby was anywhere from 28-32 weeks old (normal 37-42 weeks).  There were many questions on what to do for the baby and the mother. The longer the baby stays in mom, the better for lung maturity so it can breathe on its own when it is born, but the longer the rupture of membranes the greater risk of HIV transmission to the baby and the greater the risk of infection entering mom's uterus.

We contacted US based Obstetricians, a Family Doctor, Perinatologists, a Neonatologist, consulted with Dr. Eugene and even called Dr. Dabo!

In the end we gave medicines to help mature the baby's lungs, antibiotics to prevent/treat infection, and HIV medicines to prevent transmission of the virus to baby.

After about a week we gave mom medicines to induce her labor. Baby delivered without difficulty and weighed 1500 grams (3 lbs 5 oz). The baby spent the next three weeks in the "incubator" and has grown to over 2 kg. It has been receiving expressed breast milk via a tube and nursing some. The baby will stay in the hospital until it can breastfeed and/or feed with a cup and maintain steady weight gain. We hope to be able to discharge the baby within the next month.