Merci Beaucoup

I don't think I've commented on this blog my thanks to all my supporters. You're all great and I thank you for your continued encouragement and support. I especially want to thank my bible study group. I shared with the teams/missionaries that you played a big part in getting me to Mali. The group hosted a garage sale to raise funds for my trip. It not only raised the funds I needed to go to Mali, it also was great fun and great comaraderie: a spirit of friendly good-fellowship. Thanks Susan, Mame, Ann-Marie, Jan and Nancy! The missionaries also thank you. 

Reflection on Education

Malian schools have a unique way of teaching. The kids are typically taught by memorizing the content. They are very good audible learners, unlike many of us who are visual learners. This is a challenge because they don't learn 'critical thinking' until much later, like high school age. To give an idea of the impact of teaching: The kids learn, in French - 'to cross the road, always look left first'. So they simply memorize the statement, in French. A young girl was asked the day before her test if she's nervous about her exam. She said she wasn't because she knew the question... and answer. 'always look left'. So her mom asked her the question in Bambara. Which way do you look before crossing the road? The young girl didn't know the answer. She could only answer in French, by what she memorized! (but didn't know what it meant!)

In fact, when the hospital hires new nurses, they allow 6-9 months for the nurses to learn the clinical basics. They start to develop more critical thinking methods as they face new clinical challenges.

And talk about a challenge in hiring nursing staff! There is a requirement that the nurses be Christian. Also, there are few who are trained and that live in Koutiala. Nurses will often move to their husband's town to work, so it's a challenge keeping staff for long. This is why the Pediatric unit hasn't officially opened. They don't enough trained nurses and staff!

I added a Wordle to the title page of this blog - check it out. It takes all the words from the blog and sizes them according to how often they are used. Cool look!

Back in the US

That's a long way from home. Friday we left the guest house in Koutiala at 8am. Barry and Terry took us back. It was a nice drive, but long... stopped in Segou at the mudcloth place. I notice some updates and new styles there - very  nice. (the pic shows the dies they use on the cloths - all natural, from leaves or bark - tres jolie!)
We also had lunch in Segou, close to the river and market. And yes, the beads beakoned me - Terry did a great job negotiating for me and it turns out I got a great deal (at least according to what they were charging for similar beads at the Bamako guest house). Luba & Ter - you'll love them! The restaurant was good too - a little upscale this time and the beef brochettes were tender and delicious. Then, it was off to Bamako - another 3 hours. We were able to drop off our luggage at Air France (downtown) - that was efficient... and saved us the queue at the airport. So we had time to explore a bit in Bamako. It was a different guest house this time - this one was closer to the main market which we explored prior to dinner. Remember that I said the Malian people are so gracious and friendly... well, we saw another side in Bamako. First of all, as a bigger city, the people aren't as friendly and few say hello, like they ALL do in Koutiala. Secondly, we busted them bigtime. We were admiring/watching a lady make and cook their version of an empanada - they looked delicious - pastry stuffed with beef, onion, half egg, folded over, then deep-fried. She even used only her right hand to make them (they don't use their left hand around food). Some young men were watching us watch her (did I mention the men are the ones sitting around) and commented "white people are stupid". Well, little did they know that Barry is fluent in Bambara. He couldn't hold back and spoke to them in Bambara, defending us. They were so busted... and everyone laughed. We hope they got the message.

Dinner was good. Barry and Terry sure have taken good care of us! After a quick shower, we were off for our 11:40pm departure to Paris.The flight was fine - I even slept.

All flights headed to the US are under greater scrutiny and screening. Pat downs and bag inspections are the norm. Security even required me to play my African drum (he smiled and wanted more :) and to have a sip of water from my water bottle. It was a reasonable wait at CDG, Paris - 3 hours.

Then it was the long haul to Seattle (10.5 hrs). I was fortunate to get some sleep and watched a couple of movies. So, all was fine and we landed an hour late due to delays in Paris (it was cold there, -1degC). It's good to be home, safe and healthy. That was 36 hours 'on the road'. That's very dizzying... (if that's a word). While I felt OK, Peter described me as 'vacant' that day of arrival. After 11 hours of sleep, I was rested. Gotta get back on to this time... welcome home!

I'll continue to blog with additional reflections, as they come to mind. My heart and mind are still in Africa.

Last Day at the Hospital

Wrapped it up today and we think the nurses will do great with the ultrasound systems in the rural clinics. The Malians are such gracious people. It's been so great to return... and they want us to come back.

Remember I said there were 8 babies born in 48hrs?Well, I was wrong. It was in about 14 hours! Needless to say, they were busy. Today, the lady with the large right ovarian mass came in for surgery. The cyst (benign) turned out to be 43 lbs (20 kg) and was intact. I'll spare you all the photos on this, but I must admit they're very interesting. Fascinating!

It was Thursday market again, so of course, very busy in town. We always plan on 'driving around' to get to the hospital. That's because the main road is filled with vendors and commercial activity. Anna, Kay and I headed into the market - ready for more mayhem.

Off to Bamako to catch our return flights. Will have lunch and market time in Segou (on the river Niger) and then drop our luggage off at Air France. Flight at 11:30pm... I'll catch up soon...

Kay's Birthday

It's Wednesday... one more day of training to go. Tomorrow will be graduation day - the students will receive a certificate of completion of this course. We celebrated Kay's birthday today. Anna made birthday cake.

Busy at the hospital today - I peaked into Labor & Delivery in the morning. Normally there are 2 beds (not even a curtain inbetween). This time there were 4 women in labor - one just delivered. They just pull in an extra stretcher when needed. I later saw this lady and her newborn on a mattress on the floor in the hallway! Yesterday, a woman on her 15th pregnancy (no live children) delivered a healthy term baby. So, after a very quiet weekend, 8 babies arrived in the past 48 hrs.

This woman and her premature baby was worthy of capture. Aren't they precious! And twins having lunch...

Tuesday Potluck

Just had a nice potluck dinner with the CMA (Christian Missionary Alliance) gang - small group of about 30. The Canadians were well represented with the team from AB, Barry (Manitoba) and me.

Olive gave a tour of the hospital today to the newcomers, so I tagged along. The hospital has a fascinating history. It opened about 5 years ago. On the day it opened, they had no idea whether anyone would even show. They had 15 patients show up! And just prior to getting the OK to open, the ministry of health du Mali had to give the final approval. The group found out at 11pm on Wed evening that the minister would come and inspect the hospital at 9am on Sat. (!!) ... and she didn't want to see any evidence of construction material. Well, this lit the fire and about 75 people/missionaries/family/anyone cleaned the place spic and span. Saturday morning came and the hospital got a clean bill of health!

The hospital gets about 2 cargo containers of medical equipment and supplies a year... just come see the warehouse! The hospital continues to grow. They have delivered over 5000 babies (they deliver about 180 babies/month) and have done over 1000 surgeries. And right now, that's with 2 doctors (1 OB/Gyn, and 1 Peds). They are very grateful for all the volunteers that come!

Je suis fatigué... a bientot!

Monday

Some great progress at scanning at the hospital today. The students are really improving and they will certainly be adding more value to the rural clinics and villages. Each clinic is doing 60 - 100 ultrasound scans/month. They refer 3-5% of the patients to a hospital. Not all of them come to Koutiala because it's too far. They will typically go to the nearest hospital. These are the clinics:

Centre de Sante: Famorila (Allaye), Farakala (Abel), N-Torosso (Pierre), Baramba (Youseff), Sanekuy (Francois)

Our walk today took us through the neighborhoods - very busy... lots of people, especially kids who would follow us and insist on having their photos taken. I still haven't figured out a way to have them smile while taking the photo. Their smiles are beaming afterward though when they see themselves in the viewer - just love these digital cameras! They love it too.

A team arrived today, from Canada (Grand Prairie - Beaverlodge, AB). They're a work team and a cook. Welcome Mel, Doug, Danny, JJ and Anna! I'm sure the hospital will find lots for them to do - construction, roofs, cabinets, plumbing, tiling, etc. They're here for 3 weeks.