People leaving!

The last two weeks have been very busy with all of my visitors leaving.  We had three medical students here from UZ in Harare for the past 3 weeks and we had them over for dinner and a game of spoons before they left last Wednesday.  They are in their final year and will write exams early next year so we wish them well in their future medical careers.

While here we had the PT students and our Rehab Tech do an inservice for staff and patients on low back pain and exercises and correct body positions.  We practiced with some of the patients what we learned.

 On Friday the 16th Kennedy Stoa left after a month here.  She enjoyed her stay and enjoyed helping deliver babies and catch babies in the C/Sections we had.  she goes back for her finally year at University of Washington in Seattle.

The same day Kennedy left, 5 of us went to Rhino Camp in Kariba for 2 nights.  Kendra, Kaeli, Anne and Kristen and I enjoyed spending 3 days looking at animals and even found some lions!  God has created wonderful animals for us to enjoy and see in the wild and we did enjoy our time!

On the way back on Sunday we met Major and Makayla in Karoi and they continued on to Harare with Kendra, Anne and Kaeli to see everyone off.  Kendra's team left on Monday evening and Makayla on Tuesday evening.  Kristen and I returned to Chidamoyo and work.  Major came back late Tuesday night.

Kendra returns to her job at Mary Bridge Children's Hospital in Tacoma in PT. Kale and Anne return to their year of PT training through the University of Washington.  Makayla returns to Seattle Pacific University and her senior year.  We wish them all good luck in their studies and future.

On Wednesday morning Kristen left for Harare to leave on Thursday afternoon.    she returns to Florida and finishing up her MPH from Liberty University.  So suddenly I found myself with no visitors--something new here! I have had visitors almost every day since I got back from the US in December last year! I have enjoyed a few days of taking care of myself only.  What a change!

This week God blessed us mightly with a gift of $8,000 to pay off a bill we had with the blood bank here.  We were overwhelmed with this bill and it is such a relief to not have it hanging over our heads!  We are so thankful for the family that helped us and helped so many people live because of this gift.  God is great!

Summer is here and most days it is up into the 100's.  We've had two times of power outages for over 24 hours in the last week--right now we are in one and hope it comes back soon so we don't lose all the meat in our freezers!  This is the time for the blooming of Jacaranda trees.  The purple trees are in full bloom and their flowers make a beautiful purple carpet under the trees.

Kennedy catching a C/Section baby

Four UZ medical students with Major, Dr. Isala, Dr. Munodawafa and myself

Visitors and Medical students playing spoons--watch out!

PT students giving in an inservice to staff and patients on low back pain

PT students and our Rehab Tech, Mr. Kamhuka giving an inservice

Saying goodbye to Kendra, Kaeli, Anne and Kennedy

Kathy with Kaeli, Kendra, Anne and Kristen on way to Rhino Camp

 Sights and scenes from Rhino Camp

 Road traffic on way from Rhino

 Kristen saying goodbye at the hospital

Jacarandas beginning to bloom

New visitors and a New vehicle!

On Sunday afternoon this past week a team from University of Washington, School of Physical Therapy arrived for 2 1/2 weeks with us.  Anne and Kaeli, PT students came with their teacher Kendra and arrived Saturday evening in Harare and travelled out to us Sunday afternoon.  They are working with our PT person, Brighton Kamhuka.  They are going out to schools and some of our Outreach points to see Disabled children and adults, as well as working at the hospital. We are keeping them very busy and they are enjoying it.

Kendra came in December 2014 with a group of 4 students and another teacher then, so we are happy to have her back.   We are happy to have this association and it is a big encouragement to our staff and a great learning time for the students.

Kaeli brought her ukulele with her and we spent one night singing some folk songs.  We had a great time recalling all the words!

Two of our visitors left on Wednesday for 2 nights at Rhino Camp in Kariba.  Kennedy and Makayla had a wonderful time and saw a lot--including 6 lions on three different times.  The other visitors are going next week on Friday to Rhino Camp.

We were so excited to finally hear on Thursday that our new Jeep we had ordered and paid for in October 2015--finally arrived and was ready to pick up. I think the company was so glad to finally get rid of us calling them everyday.  Major and I went in on Friday to pick it up.   We left at 5 a.m. and drove straight through to the company! It was parked in the showroom and very beautiful!  They gave me a dozen long stem purple roses and a bottle of champagne and 2 Jeep ball caps!  I really think they were so happy to be done with us!

Major surprised me by having personalized license plates made and put on the car that say "SR KM".  Wow--I was so surprised!  I was able to drive home from Harare and pick up the 2 girls in Karoi who had come from Rhino Camp and get home by 5 p.m.  They were happy to ride in the new car!  We stopped at the hospital and people were so excited by it!

The bright blue color is loved by everyone.  They thought we had painted our silver car blue as Major came long after me--so no one has seen the 2 cars together to know we have a new car!  It is so exciting and we are so thankful to our "Friends of Chidamoyo" group in Seattle that raised the money for this vehicle.  It is very needed and something we will use for many years to come.  Come over to visit and you can ride in it!

Tonight we sent Kendra and the 2 PT students and Kristen (visitor from FL) went to Major's and my village at Batanai to spend a night in the bush.  They will attend church there and come back tomorrow afternoon.  I stayed to take care of Kendra and Makayla who are not feeling so well.  I am sure they are having an "African Adventure."

Major introducing Kendra, Anne and Kaeli to hospital staff

Meeting with disabled patients 

Another school where the group meet with patients

Kendra and Brighton working with a mom and her disabled baby

 Kendra, Kaeli and Anne sining folk songs

The new Jeep--notice the license plates!

Major receiving the keys

Kathy receiving roses and champagne from the manager!

New visitors, Area Conference and Abbey left

On late Friday night a new visitor, Makayla Hunt arrived from Seattle, WA.  She is a student at Seattle Pacific University majoring in Global Outreach.  She brought us a new machine that has been made by our friends at PATH in Seattle that makes bleach from table salt.  We trailed a machine for them 3 years ago and this saves us so much money and transport for all the bleach we use for the hospital.

Makayla went to work starting the machine working and taking notes for PATH.  She has been busy on helping us with our research project following kids on ART drugs by doing some computer work on this for us.

On Tuesday we were joined by Kristen Guthrie.  Kristen's grandfather Rusty Clark and his wife Jackie served with us from 1986-1988.  Jackie died about 4 years ago and Rusty is still alive and well at 94 1/2 years young!  She is working on her MPH and decided to be here to do her clinical experience and see where her grandparents served and enjoyed so much.

Not many of us are left who were here during that time, but one of the maintenance men that Rusty worked with was Tapson Chikunichawa and so Rusty sent him a pair of shoes with Kristen to say hi!  He was very surprised and happy!

On Thursday our church Area Conference started.  This is an annual event that we have for our 62 churches we oversee.  This year we sent our lorry to bring people from our further churches in Mola--48 people came from there.  They speak the Tonga language so it is fun for us to hear their singing.  

We have had many more people than we even expected for the conference and we have counted over 700 people that are attending.  We have been rushing around to find food to feed everyone.  The service at night there are people standing--all areas are used for seating and kids are sitting on the stage and people are outside hanging inside from windows!  The church is packed!

This morning Kennedy, Makayla and Abbey took off to Harare.  We have 3 visitors from University of Washington Physical Therapy Department arriving tonight.  Kennedy is going to Vic Falls tomorrow and abbey leaves for the UK and home on Tuesday and Makayla will come back tomorrow with the group from WA.  So I have Kristen only for a day--a nice rest for me.

Kristen went off on a Road Traffic Accident about an hour from here this morning to put her EMT training into use.  Luckily, the accident wasn't too bad but one boy was brought back with some head lacerations and a broken leg after being thrown out of an open truck that lost brakes on the way down a hill.

I was called for a C/Section this morning (19 in the past month) and had to say a quick goodbye to Abbey before they took off for Harare.  I came home at lunch to take a nap--made me feel so much better!  

Kennedy and Abbey working filing green cards--ART records

 Makayla and the bleach machine

Kristen and Tapson

 Church Conference at Chidamoyo

Saying goodbye to Abbey

National Conference and more visitors coming and going

Last week we kept busy with the Outpatients department and also more C/Sections kept coming in! We did one at 0100 and by 0700 Monday and we were doing another two on Tuesday, 15 for the month, so far!

On Thursday last week 9 of us left about 11 a.m. for an 9 hour drive to Dewure Mission for our Annual Church Conference.  All of our Churches of Christ throughout the country came together and close to 2000 people were there.  Abbey Carson from Seattle went with me and the rest of my visitors all stayed home.  Everything is in Shona but the singing and dancing of all those voices is something you can all look forward to hearing in heaven if you have not heard it here on earth.  We had lessons, sermons, lots of fellowship and Abby was very popular to have your picture taken with.  Major and Patience and their daughter Carolyn, Zebedee Togarepi and his wife and Abbey and myself all stayed together in a brand new house that rents out 5 rooms--so we enjoyed that too! Carolyn and Abbey hung out--Major refers to them as his 2 daughters since Abbey is 2 years younger than Carolyn and they enjoy being together.  We left by 9 a.m. Sunday morning and got back home just after 6 p.m. to my other 3 visitors I had left to hold down the fort.

Monday Tori and Brenden left for Harare and a quick 2 days in Victoria Falls and they are headed home this evening, back to Reno.  They texted to say they enjoyed rafting and the sundown cruise on the Zambezi.

Monday afternoon Zebedee Togarepi and Dave Thurman, a minister from IN and frequent Zimbabwe visitor arrived to spent the night.  Dave and groups he has brought have stayed many times at my flat in Harare in their comings and goings, so we have visited him many times and even stopped by to see him at his church in IN last year in October.  The last time Dave was here at Chidamoyo was in 1972 when he was a missionary kid.  We had the National Conference here for all our churches and he came with his family who were missionaries in Masvingo then.  He wanted to see the changes made in the last 44 years!  We enjoyed having them overnight until they left the next morning going on to Kariba.

Tuesday Dr. Megan Fitzpatrick, a 3rd year Pathology resident from Stanford, came from Harare to work with us for a week. She had visiting in early July before.  She is doing a research project with us to look at the incidence of HPV in women in our area and also teach us to read Pap Smears so we can follow our AIDS women more closely who have a high risk of getting cervical cancer.  She will be with us on and off for the next year.

Major is in Harare today picking up a new visitor, Makayla Hunt.  There have been some unrest in town since Wednesday so he wasn't able to go and pick up our medicine because the police had all the roads blocked that way.  I told him to get out of the mess and come home, we will try again next week after things calm down!  We are all fine and far from all the rioting!

Riding to the National Conference, Abby and Carolyn

Riding to National Conference--Major with our ministers

 Major preaching at the National Conference

 Carolyn and Abby (Major's daughters) at the National Conference

Abby and Carolyn dancing with the youth during the National Conference

 Stopping for drinks on our travels back from the National Conference!

Major saying goodbye to Brenden and Tori at devotions at the hospital

Major and Kathy with Brenden and Tori

Dave Thurman, Zebedee Togarepi, Major and Kathy

Four young ladies who are with us from University of Zimbabwe Medical School

 UZ students helping with a C/Section

The UZ students helping and Abby and Kennedy (holding new baby from C/S)

Dr. Fitzpatrick with UZ medical student seeing patients