HCJB sent a team to Haiti.
See the photos on the BBC website.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8466989.stm
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
The Patient Died Before I Got to See Him
Yesterday was Monday. The doctors divided up the patients who came in over the weekend. I had six. I started seeing them one by one, and as I came into a room, there was a body wrapped up and ready for the morgue.
I asked, with some anxiety, “Is that Charles?”
“Yes.”
“Do you need help putting the body on the gurney?”
“Yes, but you don’t have gloves on, so don’t help.”
It was sad that my patient died even before I got to see him. At least I don’t feel guilty that he died while under my care or even under my stethoscope. It is a recurrent problem here that patients came long after it is too late. They are not comfortable with western medicine, a place that is totally unfamiliar: multi-story buildings, electricity, odd looking machines, even elevators.
You can see little nicks with black tint on the sick part of the body made by the medicine man. The patients are so much more comfortable with the witch doctor. He lives in their village. He speaks their language. He lives in a grass hut like they do. He believes in curses, demons and ancestor worship like many Malawians do. He may even place curses or say that he can prevent curses. By the time the family has given up on the medicine man they are long past the point where we could have helped.
I don’t know what the story was with Charles. I never even got to see him.
Blessings - Jerry
I asked, with some anxiety, “Is that Charles?”
“Yes.”
“Do you need help putting the body on the gurney?”
“Yes, but you don’t have gloves on, so don’t help.”
It was sad that my patient died even before I got to see him. At least I don’t feel guilty that he died while under my care or even under my stethoscope. It is a recurrent problem here that patients came long after it is too late. They are not comfortable with western medicine, a place that is totally unfamiliar: multi-story buildings, electricity, odd looking machines, even elevators.
You can see little nicks with black tint on the sick part of the body made by the medicine man. The patients are so much more comfortable with the witch doctor. He lives in their village. He speaks their language. He lives in a grass hut like they do. He believes in curses, demons and ancestor worship like many Malawians do. He may even place curses or say that he can prevent curses. By the time the family has given up on the medicine man they are long past the point where we could have helped.
I don’t know what the story was with Charles. I never even got to see him.
Blessings - Jerry
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Happy New Year everyone, Happy New Decade!
This year started in a cold Midwest winter and ended in the warm heart of Africa. We have just moved into a “permanent” house here and it’s already feeling a bit like home. Home for me is not really a place. I’ve lived in eight countries and five states. The longest I’ve lived any where is eight years (five of them while I was in college). Home for me is a feeling, a feeling of comfort and security. I feel it most with family and with friends that have lasted over several moves. I feel it in prayer sometimes. I begin feeling it after about six months in a new place. Still, sometimes no matter how long I’ve been somewhere, there is a longing for “home”, whatever and wherever that is. We Christians are fond of saying that our home is in Heaven, so maybe that’s as things should be.
We wish everyone a sense of home in this New Year, and praying that Malawi would indeed become home for us this year.
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