Letter 4

Namahoro. NiʼSawa! We hope you are all doing well. Itʼs Sunday afternoon again and I thought Iʼd note
some of the major updates around here. Weʼve had an eventful week- well as eventful as you can get in
rural Africa! Iʼve started to make friends here! Alida is a student- she is 20 and graduates from secondary
school in June. Here you begin secondary school at 16 and graduate at 20. She is studying to be a
medical technician- but she can do a lot of a nurseʼs job. The school is a boarding school in Gitega, but
currently the 20 girls live in a small house across the road- they are currently serving in the hospital here.
Alida is a very bright girl with great enthusiasm. She LOVES the boys. Her English is good- she is
teaching me a lot about the culture here. She really wants to go to Hope Africa University(HAU), but the
school is $400/year for 4 years and then $3,000 for the last 3 years (the medical school is a 7 year
program which includes the undergrad course work)- and her father is a farmer. They probably make
around the average $300/year. In fact, to attend the boarding school itʼs about $30/term which she says is
VERY expensive for her family. I wish I could pay for her to attend HAU. I told her they sometimes have
scholarships for students- maybe she can look into it. I have been praying for her future- join me in
praying.
" Hereʼs a neat story about how someone was affected by generosity: The Ogdens (Dr. Frank-the
surgeon who was a missionary here on and off since the 70ʼs) paid for a young man to attend medical
school about in the 80ʼs- that man later worked as a doctor here in Kibuye (that was part of the deal as
there is such a need for doctors here). When the new president came into office the doctor was appointed
the presidentʼs personal physician and still currently works for the president. His son, Amable, is a
medical student that is here in Kibuye with us and will graduate in two years. They made a great
investment in the life of a man who was able to then create a better life for his children.
" Back to sharing about my new friends!! There are many other nursing students I enjoy being with.
The medical students are great as well. They came over last night and we played a really fun card game
all together. They are so enthusiastic and kind.
" I think the greatest thing that Iʼd like to recount from the week happened on Thursday.(Anything
you see in parentheses is Davidʼs addition!!) I was hanging out with the nursing students when Rodrigueone
of the med students said he was going to the hospital to find the key to his room (another student had
taken it) so I walked up with him. When we got there David was finishing up some work- another student,
Olivier needed to find his stethoscope and some of the students were playing with the boys so I went with
him. I have been around the hospital grounds a lot, but I hadnʼt been inside yet. As we walked down the
narrow dark hallway to go to the maternity ward I started to feel nervous- it really smelled (not that bad)
and I wasnʼt sure how people would react to my visiting. He invited me into the room where babies are
delivered- I walked in and saw the clay brick walls and floors with a metal table in the middle of the room
with stirrups coming up. Another room connects to this room where babies can be delivered as well. I
canʼt imagine what it would be like to deliver a baby in a place like that- I will never worry about the kind of
hospital I deliver a baby in again! We walked out into the hallway where a few women were lying on cots
while they labored. There were flies everywhere. Across the hall was the recovery room. Tied mosquito
nets suspend from the ceiling- and with the evening they can be untied and draped around the bed (never
used though). There were about 5 or 6 beds with new moms lying with their babies. They let me look at
their sweet children and I couldnʼt help but get teary eyed- they cannot imagine what I know to be
different. We walked into another room with about 10-13 beds. Not only were the mosquito nets
suspended from the ceiling but various beds were equipped with different fluids and antibiotics. I heard a
small whimper and Olivier asked the woman to lift up a blanket- there underneath about 5 layers of
blankets were the tiniest babies I have ever seen. Premature twins. They arenʼt latching and they have a
bad cough… like their mother. I need to pray that they make it through. (Update from a few days laterone
of the twins did not survive).There was another set of healthy twins… also a few other adults being
cared for. The hospital does not have running water and does not supply food- so just outside people are
cooking and doing laundry for their loved ones. There are no screens on the windows and it can be really
stuffy here- which is why there is smoke from the cooking and flies. Next we went down the hall to
another room of patients- same story- there was a child who was many symptoms, but they donʼt know
whatʼs wrong- and he is also HIV positive. I saw a child with tuberculosis as well. Then we went to the
menʼs ward- but there were more people than men. A small child with a femur fracture lies still in bed
sucking on some type of food next to her mother- there isnʼt a way to cast her leg- so the tiny 4 year old
will be in traction for about 4-5 weeks. For pain she gets Tylenol. Each patient that I visited was so kind
and thankful to have a visitor. Most already knew who I was- not only are we the only white people within
miles, but I take lots of walks- and the village of Kibuye is small. I was encouraged by their enthusiasm for
my small knowledge of Kirundi. I can communicate a very basic conversation and then with Olivier
translating we were all able to express ourselves. The experience in the hospital left me feeling so
overwhelmed- like sensory overload.
" David doesnʼt really tell me what itʼs like in the various hospitals he has been in- he mostly tells
me about the patients. I think heʼs been in enough third world hospitals to not be effected by the drastic
change. But I had never seen anything like this. I really wanted to share it with you all to express the
desperate need there is here. I feel like I cannot adequately describe what I saw. I hope to get pictures
one day- maybe if there is a room without patients in the next couple weeks… but currently the hospital is
full. I keep thinking about that book called “How Now Shall We Live” (I think thatʼs right!) Now that I have
seen this place I feel like I will never be the same. I never imagined a world without running water,
electricity… a place without doctors and medical supplies. Death is not to be feared, but expected. Even
among the educated and “wealthy” families- members die “young” of things like cerebral malaria. I have
been processing how I can continue to live in a way that honors the fact that our world is so unjust. If
there really are enough resources that the millions of children who die of hunger could survive, why do I
continue to buy the unnecessary? If we spent even half of what we spent on one hospital and used the
other half to supply 10 hospitals here- what kind of difference would that make? And what changes are
necessary here? Is it necessary to have running water in rural Africa? Cost effective? What kinds of
negative changes occur when westerners try to enhance a place? In Kibuye there is no fashion, no
television, no grocery stores. There is work in the fields, work in the home, and children to raise…. And
that is more than a dayʼs work….
" " On a more upbeat note we took the nursing students to Gitega yesterday. Itʼs really only
about 35 minute drive. The roads are loaded with pedestrians and bikes carrying more than I can fit in my
car! You have to honk when you drive past so they know to move over a bit! I am not gonna lie- itʼs a little
unnerving! We dropped Dr. Rusher off at the Cybercafe and went to the market. I saw lots of dead
animals covered in flies… I think I might become a vegetarian! Then we went to a small shack where I
purchased a few memento items from a kind woman. We saw the studentsʼ school and then drove back
to get Dr. Rusher. I ran in quick to check my email- I only had a couple minutes and the connection was
sooo slow… Remember the internet about 10 years ago??? Then we took the students to a restaurantbut
they were out of food- as in permanently. So we went back to the Cybercafe to eat at Antonios. I was
so relieved to see a menu with about 40 items…. Until the server said they only had one dish. Ragu
Chevre. Goat. No thanks, Iʼll take a coke! Dr. Rusher and David ate to their heartsʼ content- along with the
students- and then back to Kibuye we came.
" This morning there was a fight in church. A man with serious psychiatric problems began
punching another man and a woman was hitting him with her Bible- soon after a group of people escorted
them out of the church. I was really scared, but it was unwarranted and everything was fine after that.
" Pray for us. Pray that God would continue softening our hearts to His people. Pray for doctors to
come here- it is more than a sacrifice for them when they come from Bujumbura. Pray for the studentsmay
their hearts be softened to work in areas of need and not just the comfortable life in Bujumbura.
Olivier has expressed his desire to work in underserved areas like Kibuye- he is super quality and I think
a real leader on the horizon.
" Pray for the boys. Clayton is teething and they seem to get little bugs frequently. I think their
immune systems are getting strengthened for a longer return!! Sometimes the nights can be really long
and restless for us parents caring for sick little ones. Donʼt worry- itʼs nothing we canʼt treat.
" We love you all. Thanks for sharing in our experience. As you have read- we need your prayersand
so do the people here.
Namahoro,
David Adrienne Benny and Clinton (Yep, thatʼs how they pronounce their names!!)