one last hike

On our last day in Nyankunde we drove up to a nearby hill to admire the view and enjoy one last outing together.

Any pictures of houses in this post are taken from a moving car on a rather bumpy road thus they are not my best pictures. 

The lovely town of Nyankunde. Isn't this guy's scarf simply smashing?

A very typical house for this area

This is what the road looked like going up the hill; it was quite steep and rocky in parts and we were in a stick shift car. I may or may not have let out some involuntary gasps as we started to roll down the hill when he changed gears...

This is the O+ team; so named because it turned out we all have O+ blood type which makes it quite easy for us donate blood to people with different blood types. By the end of the trip we all had the chance to donate blood. 

I had way too much fun with these crazy people

African shoes

Our last Congolese sunset

When we were here last year, it didn't rain at all. This meant that smoke from people's fires left haze all over the valley. With the rain we had this year, we were able to admire the view.

Whenever we passed a house with children in it, which is most, all the children would come out running alongside of us and yell "Mzungu!" (which means white person in Swahili). We were quite popular due to the fact we were the only "mzungus" for miles. 

Last couple of days

Here is a collection of various pictures taken around the hospital that I took in our last couple of days in Nyankunde

This is the ICU (intensive care unit); this ward differs from the others only in that it is lit at night and has electric plugs next to some of the beds in case they need oxygen. 

The view from the hospital

Dad with one of the anesthetists. 

A Passion Fruit bud. Africa might have bigger bugs and spiders, but it also has an abundance of beautiful and exotic flowers 

Dr. Cooper and his lovely wife Lindsey

This is the local church we attended on Sundays.  They have two services, one in French and one in Swahili. We went to the French one and enjoyed it. They have their singing down. Instead of all clapping in unison, they all do their own thing, yet it all comes together to make a really great rhythm.

This little boy was playing with the only toy he had, a plastic bag filled with air. 

One of the little girls in the pediatric ward

At this hospital, the patient's family must provide food and do any laundry. In the background is a shelter for the cooking and washing. 

Precious preemies

These precious twin boys were born on Thursday evening at only 27 weeks gestation and weighing only three pounds. One passed away the next morning and when Christine and I checked on the second one this morning we found that he had passed away as well.
But these pictures still tell a beautiful story of their short fight for life that I want to share. 

Kids

Ian has a serious soft spot for kids. 

Outside the hospital

Almost all the curtains in the hospital are of sport teams

Unloading the container and organizing countless boxes of medical supplies

Doing rounds in the morning with the various doctors. 

Looking down the hospital corridor. 

In my experience African little ones are cuter than white ones back at home, sorry to say it but tis true. 

Exercising. 

Around the hospital