What's new?

One day I got in the car with my friend and AWC driver, Abou, to run an errand in town. In my forgetfulness, I asked, “What’s new?” (instead of "How d'body") and I got a questionable stare from Abou. I had to explain the phrase and then give examples to what was new in my life. Its been fun to ask Abou every once in awhile the American greeting and I usually get “Its raining boku.” I tell him to try again because its been raining non-stop since June! As I think about it, it has been awhile since I’ve shared with the blog world what is new in my life. So imagine with me… We meet up for lunch (I’m imagining Mexican food) and you ask me “What’s new?”. I then pull out my (non-existent) smart phone to tell you stories that go along with the pictures…

Isatu recently left to go home to Moyamba. She has been at AWC since December of last year bed-ridden suffering from depression, malnutrition, pressure ulcers, and anemia. Look at her now standing strong! Isatu will return in September when we have another camp to have her fistula surgery. I look forward to reuniting with her soon! 

Our head surgeon, Dr. Alyona Lewis, finished her time with us here at AWC. I met Dr. Alyona on the ship in Benin in 2009 when she was training in fistula surgery. Those were my first weeks working with fistula ladies and she shared her desire to help the women of her country suffering from this awful condition. We have kept in touch and I am grateful that we have had the chance to work together again. The ladies and staff all enjoyed a gladi gladi ceremony with Dr. Alyona on her last day! Dr. Alyona has passed on her wisdom, skills, and scissors onto Dr. Tagie to continue the fistula operations. 

I look forward to Friday each week, not because of the weekend that follows, but because it’s the day we get to celebrate healing for the fistula ladies. Gladi gladi ceremonies never get old in my book. Two weeks ago we celebrated with Aminata, Adamsay, Fatmata, Salamatu, Isatu, Memunatu, and Larana! There is always a Bible store shared and this week was the Good Samaritan, but this time set in Kissy Road not the road to Jericho. Some of these ladies have been here since June waiting for surgery and now they are going home dry.

We have a small international team mainly made up of medical professionals- midwives, nurses, and doctors. So you can imagine the conversations over dinner, but the accountant and project team members still come to meals. We have a lot of fun with Chuck Norris movie nights, cheering on our countries in the Olympics, and hanging out at the beach together. We really do get along, coming from all corners of the world to work in this small hospital in Sierra Leone. The country director, Jude, once described this place like a theatre production and God directs each one of us in and out of the scenes here at Aberdeen Women’s Centre.

There are also goodbyes that happen outside of work within the expat/missionary community of Salone. A huge prayer of mine was answered when I heard about a international group that meets weekly for Bible study and a monthly church service. The group is made up of some amazing people- ladies that work with the mentally ill at City of Rest, families that minister with Word Made Flesh, administrators of World Hope & Word Vision, doctors that heal the blind, and friends that save lives at the government hospitals. Again, we come from all parts of the world, but here we share the common bond of Christ and desire to serve the people of Sierra Leone. I look forward to reunions with these dear friends I have had to say goodbye to for now.

I scroll through my pictures and I only have one from last week. This is my “Mende Mama”, Saffiatu, when she came back for her follow-up appointment.  As I was taking a lady back to the ward after surgery, I heard my name called out. Now, it could have been any of the dozen ladies sitting at the craft table sewing and coloring. I was giving report to the ward nurses, when Saffiatu walked in and what a joyful reunion it was! She was so happy to tell me she was dry! This is what I look forward to everyday- seeing the ladies come back dry with not only their hope restored, but joy has returned in their lives. If you ask me any day “What’s new?” I could answer with the simple word “joy” and it would never get old.

Wordless Wednesday: Crayons

Old & New

My old friend, Isatu. 

In the four weeks that I was away, I missed my ladies everyday as I shared their stories and pictures with friends at home. One story, I often told was of Isatu. She had just graduated from her bed to wheelchair when I left in May. The Friday night I arrived, I went over to the ward to greet the nurses and the ladies. In the distance, I heard “Allllisss” and there was Isatu walking toward me with the help of a cane. I felt like I was reuniting with an old friend and we celebrated by dancing around the ward. The other ladies were curious about our joyous reunion and a little shy at first, since they did not know this white lady with an African backside- that would me! It did not take long for me to meet the new ladies.

My new friend, Mariam. 

So Mariam was in the first bed in Green ward when I did rounds on my first day back to AWC. She had a frown on that never seemed to go away until I started frowning at her- then a smile would slowly work its way to the surface. Reverse psychology does work! The following days she would be always around for a hug and start to rub my arm and then rub hers. The nurses said she wanted my soft and white skin. I couldn’t help from laughing with her and telling her she was beautiful just the way she was- all four feet of her.

Aminata & Tewah

I love being a part of the patient care from start to finish and even beyond. When a lady is discharged from the centre, they are given a three-month follow-up card to return to see the doctor. I cherish the moments when I open the door to my office to head to theatre or to a meeting- and there sitting on the bench is a lady for follow-up. The ladies from camp in March are now returning and the sweet reunions are happening every day. I could not contain the joy I had inside when I saw Korea walking into the ward- looking healthier and happier as ever.  So many ladies have come back, when I hear someone call “Allis”, I know an old friend has returned.  I celebrated with Aminata and Tewah because they tell me they are dry.

Bintu

Simmity

However, some ladies come back a little discouraged because they are still leaking “small small”. Some fistulas are so severe; it may require the lady to endure multiple surgeries to be dry. I have known Bintu the longest- she was here when I first came in December. It broke my heart to see the young girl, just fourteen years old, struggling to walk. After a three days in labor, Bintu was dragged out to the centre of her village, where the elders decided to lay heavy stones on her to force the baby out. The traumatic delivery of her stillborn baby left her not only with a fistula, but unable to walk. She stayed on the ward for physical therapy and had her surgery done during camp- one of the worst the doctor had ever seen. She returned for follow-up last week, walking like nothing happened and smiling, despite still leaking. Bintu will most likely return in September along with others like Sama and Simmity, who need a second operation. Please pray for these ladies not to give up hope.

My favorite place to be is sitting with the ladies on the benches for chop time or as they plant each other’s hair. One new lady, Mamie, was already recovering from her surgery when I returned. Everyday as walked around the centre, she was in the same exact place on the bench each time I passed. I soon realized she could not walk far due to a congenital defect of her legs and hip- so she used one crutch to walk a few steps from the ward to her bench everyday. I started to reach out my hand to squeeze hers and share a Mende greeting as I passed by. Those squeezes turned into much more- soon she was kissing my hand in gratefulness and then hugs every time I passed. I soon learned her story of loss and loneliness. Mamie had lost all six of her babies at delivery or soon after so she had no living children to take care of her when she started leaking urine. Thus began 24 years of isolation- not only was she shunned because of her deformity, but also the fistula. Her neighbor would bring food to the doorstep, so she never left her house until the screening team brought her to AWC. I loved sitting down with Mamie giving her as many hugs she wanted to make up for those 24 years of being alone.

Mamie, on the left, always in her spot for chop time. I took this picture right as I was sitting down on a broken plastic chair. We all got a good laugh! Later that day, my friend Mikey tried to use the same chair and Mamie shooed him away with her cane! 

Adama working hard on my plants as Fatmata
just wanted to play with my slippery hair!

I think about my ladies just from today… Ragiatu & Rugiatu, both from Guinea, gave me a hug this morning at devotions They lingered holding onto me as we walked side by side back to the ward. Salamatu, one lady from camp, had her third operation today. I admired her courage to do this all over again as I held her hand during the spinal. I was greeted with hugs by old patients that returned for follow-up; Paulina & Mabinty, are both dry. Adama and Fatmata both wanting to try to plant my slippery hair again. And finally, in recovery I took care of Memunatu, very stoic and quiet, until I asked in her native tongue how she was doing. She responded “Tanto kooloo”, thanks to God, and for the first time I saw a smile on her face- a new lady with her life about to change.

List

At the end of May, I found myself with a to-do list that I was determine to complete before I left on vacation for a month. In June, our surgeon was taking time off and my sister was coming from Papua New Guinea. So it looked like perfect timing to go home, my growing to-do list said otherwise.

 I had been in the OR for over a month and just starting to feel comfortable with the Sierra Leone theatre routine. No official start time, tea breaks in between turnovers, cesarean sections interrupting our already long day of fistula surgeries- my cohort OR nurses in other parts of the world would understand the frustrations. I was taking time with introducing new ideas as I tried to increase standards. One friend that has been in Salone for six years shared words of wisdom to me- “Choose your battles carefully and only take on two at a time, if not just one.” So, my first battle took almost the six weeks I had been working in theatre- Velcro. After endless searches at the markets in town, we came up empty. I shared the concern with a friend of mine when she offered her own supply of Velcro- the prayer answered in seconds. I explained the need for Velcro was to repair the mattress on the OR table for the sake of the patient’s safety and better body mechanics for the nurses. I was so happy to receive the gift of Velcro from my friend! I celebrated a little prematurely because it took a couple more weeks to find the right glue to stick the mattress on to the bed. Sure enough, on my last day, Ibraham, our maintenance extraordinaire, helped me with my first OR project so I could check Velcro off my list.

One of my responsibilities outside of the OR is data entry. Now don’t get too excited because not many people are enthusiastic about the monotony of paperwork. Nonetheless, I had to tackle the battle of updating our medical forms and charting system and then sharing the changes with the nurses. My coworker, Sue, and I enter the majority of forms on the computer and had the same headaches day in and day out- so we worked on this project together for weeks. On my last day, I led the nurse staff meeting and in-service on data entry. It started about a hour late, but nowadays, I’m so flexible it scares me. The new changes were well received and all the nurses agreed my teaching skills are fine (which is high praise in Salone). I give credit to the incredible teachers in my family. I gathered the paperwork the nurses practiced on for data entry and returned to my office to check off another task on my list.

The only thing remaining on my list was “Korea". A month ago we discharged Korea and my heart was torn to see her leave, but also so happy that she was dry and healed. Korea kept telling us she was afraid to go home so we found an auntie to take care of her in Freetown. In my western-world frame of mind, I really wanted to send Korea home with a wheelchair. She still needed help to get around and daily physical therapy to get her legs straight to walk again. However, one of our drivers took Korea and her Auntie home, and returned saying it was not a practical place for a wheelchair.  I prayed for Korea who was always on my heart and on my list to follow-up with every Friday when she was suppose to come for physical therapy.  The last week before I left, we had a meeting with amazing Christian organization that is helping women in Sierra Leone (unfortunately, due to privacy, I can’t share more) and I immediately thought of Korea. We had not seen her in over a month so I made a plan on my last day to go find her with the help of our driver and ward supervisor, Bernadette. It was a journey into a part of town I never been to and climb down a steep muddy hill, but we found Korea at her Auntie’s house. Her cousin carried her outside and I noticed she had the same clothes on when she left AWC, had lost weight, but thankful to see smile form on her face when she saw visitors. People in the village gathered because the news spread of a white woman (yes, that would me!). I was offered a yellow plastic water container to sit on, but worried I would break it, I opted for the ground next to Korea. I was happy to hear she was still dry and we took time to evaluate if this was the best place for Korea. It started to rain so we said our goodbyes quickly to make the trek up the hill before it became impossible. It made me think- it was impossible for Korea on a daily basis to get around here. I was thankful for God’s perfect timing with the meeting with the women’s organization in my last week so we could partner together to care for Korea.

I found myself back in my office, staying well past five o’clock finishing last minute jobs- clinical governance paperwork, typing up staff meeting minutes, and organizing the education schedule. As I checked the tasks off my to-do list along with Velcro and data entry, I left some jobs for when I returned.  I finally felt better about going home. If I had only time to accomplished one thing before I left, it would be making sure that Korea was taken care of at her new home. My list was complete. 

Love