Videos

Laughing Children from Anna B on Vimeo.

Here are two videos I made on our trip. 

Untitled from Anna B on Vimeo.

Update:

We spent Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday in Bunia where we visited some more hospitals. I haven't updated because we didn't have internet. We are now in Entebbe, Uganda and are enjoying the lovely hotel we are staying in and this afternoon we are taking a boat to a chimpanzee island. Tonight at midnight we fly out and head home!

Life in Nyankunde

Tomorrow, Wednesday we begin our long journey home. We are actually leaving Nyankunde earlier than originally planned. Since the hospital has been quite slow the last couple of weeks, we are leaving a few days early in order to visit two other mission hospitals in Bunia. On Friday we fly to Entebbe, Uganda, where we will spend the night and most of Saturday. At 11:59 pm we fly out of Uganda to Brussels, then on to Newark, NJ. Our last leg is to Raleigh, NC and then a two-hour drive home Sunday evening, February 5.

Here at the missionary guesthouse our electricity comes from solar power. During the day, the panels also charge batteries for use at night. Because the sun shines all day, almost all year long this system works quite well. The fridge runs on kerosene and the stove/oven runs on gas. For hot water the house is equipped with a generator that runs the water heater. It runs for about an hour a day yet only gives us about 15 minutes of hot water a day. Down at the hospital the OR is run by a generator that is only turned on during surgeries. The rest of hospital has no electricity anywhere, not even lights. Because of this, the patients bring a little flashlight to use at night. Some of the flashlights are quite creative. Dad saw one that consisted of 4 batteries laid end to end and tied together with a reed. When you wanted to turn it on, you took 2 wires and touched them to the end of the batteries and touched the other ends to a light bulb. Next to the current OR they are building a newer building that will have a new OR and an intensive care unit that will be powered with solar power.

The water for both our house and the hospital comes from underground springs just over the hill about ½ a mile away. From there it is gathered into holding tanks and then goes into a pipe that runs to a big water tank on the top of the hill. Gravity pulls the water down to the houses. Thankfully, the water is quite safe and doesn’t need any treatment so we can brush our teeth with it but we still filter our drinking water.  Down at the hospital there are numerous spickets where the patient’s families gather their water.

With regard to meals, we have a lovely cook named Sarah. We are on our own for breakfast but she makes us lunch and dinner. I’ll go into the food we eat in another post. At night we have a guard and during the day two other men “mow” the grass with a device that looks like a knife on a stick, sweep floors and sidewalks, do laundry, and garden. 

The Hospital

 Here are various pictures of the hospital where we are working 

The OR

If you're accustomed to American hospitals, you'll notice the absence of an anesthesia machine

The other side of the OR that has a variety of equipment for different operations

Dad spends most of his day working with and teaching the anesthetists

Dr. Cooper and Dad teaching

A hospital courtyard, in the distance you can see a shelter where all the families cook. In Africa the hospital does not provide any food. Consequently, the patient's family must come with them to provide meals

In Africa the hospitals aren't as strict about regulations. As a result, I get to help! Here I am pulling teeth. And dad also lets me draw up the syringes with medicine. 

Dr. Cooper is about to operate on a bilateral cleft lip

An amazing and handsome anesthesiologist, also known as my dad. 

Various hospital buildings

This used to be the front entrance of the hospital but was destroyed in the war. 

Saturday Excitement

Yesterday, Saturday, was quite exciting. Two cars drove by (there is only one car that stays in Nyankunde) and we had three mzungus (someone with light skin) and a baby visit for the day! Mzungus are quite rare around here, there are only six, including us, in Nyankunde. One of our friends from home, Jennings, now lives about an hour away from Nyankunde in the city of Bunia. She drove up and spent the day here. There were also some other missionaries that had business up here in Nyankunde and spent the night with us. They had a very sweet 7-month-old boy that Emily and I loved playing with.

Saturday started early (6 am) with a very sick sounding goat bleeting making it impossible to sleep in. Our friend arrived about 10 as well as the other couple. We talked and caught up on life and then had lunch. Doesn’t sound exciting, but after the same 4 people at the table for a week, new faces are quite welcome. It was interesting to learn about the different ministries they are involved with here in Congo.

After lunch, Jennings went with us to the monthly market that is held a couple of miles down the road. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it exceeded anything I did expect. It’s held in a field, with no permanent structure. Some people have a tarp and strings to hang their wares on, others just put them on the ground. The market is organized in groups: new clothes, used clothes, meat, manioc flour, dried fish, shoes, fabric, rice, live chickens, charcoal, potatoes, fermented corn drink, palm oil, and much more. I was quite glad that the owners of the stands did not yell as you walked by to buy their wares.

Emily and I picked out some traditional Congolese patterned fabrics to make skirts out of when we get back to the states. One of the fun parts of the market was the sea of colors. All the women wear dresses that have lots of patterns and colors on them. Another thing that was interesting is they were clearing a nearby field by burning it, at points the fire was only about 5 feet away from the vendors, it didn’t seem to bother them at all though.

In the last couple of days we also broke into our stash of special food that a friend sent along with us. So far we have eaten the mango licorice and chocolate. The chocolate tasted absolutely amazing, it was some of the best I’ve ever had. It probably has to do with the fact that I haven’t had anything sweet other than fruit for the last week, absence makes the heart grow fonder I guess.

This morning we attended church down the road. The first difference from our church at home is the time; it starts at 7:30 am. We went to the French service that has about 40 people attending. Most people go to the Swahili service. Despite their lack of numbers these Congolese can out sing any American church. Compared to here, almost any American church that I’ve attended sounds like the people were woken up at 3am and made to sing at a funeral… Here they sing with animation and loudly while dancing and clapping. I’m not at all saying Americans don’t mean what they sing or aren’t moved by the music, but they sure don’t express it like the Africans!

Random Congo Facts

I wasn't sure how to put these facts into paragraph form so I just made bullet points

•       When you shake hands touch your left hand to your right elbow, and if it’s the first time you’ve met someone slightly hunch over. It’s a sign of respect.
• ·      Knees are considered immodest for both men and women. Yet, it’s perfectly fine for a mother to nurse in public with no nursing cover.
• ·      Women wear skirts that come to the middle of their calves, no pants.
• ·      Greeting is very important here. If you pass someone you should say Bonjour (hello in French) or Jambo (hello in Swahili).
• ·      The native language here is Swahili, but anyone who has attended school (most people around here) speaks French as well. Very few people speak English.
• ·      During the day the high is in the 80s. At nights around 70 or high 60s. It’s fairly dry here so unlike in the south it feels cool when you are in the house.
• ·      The best way to clear brush from the surrounding fields and hills is by burning. Consequently, there is always a hillside on fire that fills the air with smoke. You can never see far in the distance because of the smoke.
• ·      The people around here are all famers. There is a nearby tribe that raises all the cattle.
• ·      Keep the light off in your room at night unless you want it filled with bugs. (I learned that lesson the hard way)
• ·      Get used to the dust, its everywhere.
• ·      There is usually ash falling down on you because of the fires.
• ·      Beware of lizards falling off the ceiling.
• ·      Carrying a pile of firewood on your head with a machete sticking out when you are seven years old is perfectly normal.
• ·      I have yet to see a paved road.
• ·      Children carry a hoe to school since they are all required to work in the field at some point.
• ·      Most of the electricity comes from solar power.
• ·      Our water comes from springs underground.
•     Women carry just about anything on their head, bowls, food, wood, or books.

I have more pictures coming tomorrow. But here is one I took today. 

Daily Life

Though our daily schedule changes every day, here is what our days generally look like right now. There are devotions at 7:30am at the hospital that we attend every morning. It’s about ½ a mile away, but it’s a nice early morning walk.. We don’t have to go but it’s a good way to get me out of bed at a reasonable hour. Everything is in Swahili so we have no idea what they are talking about. Thankfully one of the doctors sits next to us and he translates for us. Thanks Dr. Mike!

Emily and I play with the kids at the hospital for a couple of hours each day. In Africa the hospital does not provide food so the family must come with the patient in order to feed them. Consequently, there are lots of people milling around the hospital. There are absolutely no toys whatsoever in the hospital so we have to be creative. Right now we have been teaching them some clapping games. They don’t seem to have done them before and they love them. We get a large crowd watching us do it when we come.

I have also shadowed another missionary here who is a physical therapist. Emily and I also went to a craft group where they were knitting baby outfits for the new babies born at the hospital. I learned to sew on an old sewing machine with the foot pedal you have to beat up and down. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be.

This morning I went down to the OR to watch an operation. It’s quite different than in America. They don’t even have an anesthesia machine here. Since it is a small hospital there are only cases going on till about 1pm.  Lunch is around 1pm and our cook will have made us something to eat. In the afternoon Dad gives a lecture at the hospital.

Each afternoon a couple of girls come over to the house and help us with our French and in return we teach them English. None of us speak the other’s language very well, so our conversations require a lot of hand motions and looking up words in the dictionary. Since hardly anyone speaks English here, it’s very hard to communicate without speaking French. We can now speak a little tiny bit and every bit helps.

In the evenings we just hang out and read and relax. As the days go on we will probably do some different things but for right now that is what we do. 

New Faces

"A picture is worth a thousand words"

Most of these pictures don't have captions. They are just pictures I have taken around the hospital and village. Even though most of the people aren't smiling, they usually do smile. Especially when I show them the picture, they just burst out laughing. 

This is a toy that some of the kids play with, its the inside of a motorcycle wheel that they hit with a stick

Young kids watch the even younger kids

This is a typical looking village, this one is quite nice because the dirt road is swept. 

This older woman loved seeing the pictures

I went into the maternity ward and took pictures of all the babies and mothers. Some of the babies were really tiny and so cute

We gave these girls a balloon, to help the girl on the left use her arm and the girl on the right to cheer her up

Take a picture

And show it to them. 

Its so simple and easy yet you make instant friends and cheer them up