Mission Malawi: Daeyang Luke

This was our last week at Daeyang Luke. We have had the pleasure to meet and work with some awesome people there - I have been very impressed with the nurses and how hard they work. It has been challenging at times - no water for the entire hospital for over 24 hours. Very, very hot with poor circulation in the Casualty Dept (fortunately the rest of the hospital has open spaces with good air circulation and the ability to 'catch the breeze'. Laci taught CPR to the nursing students on Wed., followed by a tea party / celebration for Sister Baek who won the Florence Nightingale award last May - that is quite an honor! Many dignitaries were invited and were there and we were thrilled to be invited and part of the party!
Thursday was officially our last day. I went to check on a patient from the day before, while Jessica went to the library to check a video she needed to watch. When I walked back to the ED, there was an auto-ped (car versus child) in the ED - it was a mess, but we managed to get STAT CTs of his head and face, IVs, meds, and transfer to KCH (which has a trauma unit of sorts - much more than we have at DLH). I had texted Jessica - turns out the librarian had to go to a meeting, so he locked her in the library while he was gone!!! She made it out in time to see the patient and then ride in the ambulance with him and his family to KCH.
Thursday afternoon we went to the seizure clinic - the doctor in charge is Dr. Diane Young from ABC (although other doctors volunteer and can relieve her when needed); it is the brain child of Kathy Bowler who has a ministry to children and adults with special needs - brain damage from birth injuries, cerebral malaria, meningitis, etc. Many have seizures so Kathy and Dr. Young run the clinic to monitor their seizures, give meds, adjust meds, etc. It is hot, it is long, it is heart breaking. It is held in one of the little school rooms at Kathy's school for these kids. Her ministry is Children of Blessings - contact me or search for it on line if you are interested in donating.

There are so many people working very hard here, in desperate circumstances to help the least of the least. They toil away, praying donations come in to meet their needs. If you have a heart for a special type of need - these kids, orphans, medical, victims of sexual assault, etc. contact me and I will try to get you connected with someone working in your field of interest / your area of concern.

Today, Friday, we started at Daeyang Luke so that Jessica could teach the nurses CPR - for some of them, it was a refresher course from when Joseph taught about 4 years ago. Jessica did an awesome job! Afterwards, we went to Partners in Hope, another great organization, treating HIV/AIDs patients, esp those with TB or other complications, and doing some research with UCLA. Perry Jansen is the founder and the visionary of Partners in Hope - again, another place where donations are well spent!

Tonight, Laci is coming from the Salima area, we are going to dinner at a new place (to me) with a dear friend, and then plan on going to the cantata put on by the ABC choir. Tomorrow - another village clinic - usually Gusu but they have moved the clinic to another village, Bimphi I think, to enlarge the catchment area.

Praise / thanksgiving/ prayers
Thanksgiving for continued safety.
Prayers for the clinic tomorrow.
Praise for God's hand on so many people doing so much good work here in Malawi, and prayers that hearts would be moved to continue to donate to these projects.
Thanksgiving for the people who donated items, meds, money to my trip. We have almost exhausted the supplies, and the meds will soon be gone as well. I could not have done it without your help!

Sister Baek giving a speech at her honoring tea party