It was raining this morning and didn't seem to want to stop anytime soon, so we decided to go to the hospital a day early for our tour and to give blood. Doug did our tour for us. He said that several pastors' wives have died giving birth, one being Daniel's first wife. Daniel is the person from Bethel that I talked about earlier. Finally, someone decided that something needed to be done about all the people dying during childbirth, which brought about the idea of the Women's Hospital. After a plan was set in place, someone decided that the hospital also needed to provide pediatric care and donated a building for pediatrics, so the hospital became the Women and Children's Hospital. The hospital is a Christian hospital, and all the staff must be Christians (they have a hard time finding enough staff for the hospital and actually can't finish a building until they are able to acquire staff to fill it). It's one of the best hospitals in Mali, and Doug said the technology is somewhere close to the technology the U.S. had in the early 90's.
A few facts Doug mentioned about the hospital:
-During malaria season they will have so many patients that some will be laying in the hallways. He said a person sometimes has to turn sideways in order to walk down a hallway.
-It is common for 3-10 kids to die each day during malaria season.
-It costs $40 (U.S.) to deliver a baby, $150 for a c-section. Mothers do not get private delivery rooms (unless they want to pay for it), so sometimes more than one person will be delivering in the same room at the same time (no epidurals by the way).
-When someone is admitted into the hospital, they must bring someone with them to cook and take care of them. The beds are made to have a large amount of space under them so that if the hospital is at full capacity, the person taking care of the patient can sleep under the patient's bed.
-We saw the sterilization room (not sure we should have been walking though it). They clearly do not have to follow as many rules as in the U.S. For example, dirty laundry is in the same room as the clean laundry. The women working in the sterilization room were very friendly!
-Ewien told us that if a woman needs treatment/surgery, it must be signed off by her husband. So, if it costs too much, and he chooses to not let her have the surgery, there is nothing the wife can do about it.
The first few buildings at the hospital were designed in America and haven't been ideal for the climate in Mali. They don't handle the rains well, and the coolest they can get the operating rooms is 90 degrees. It's hard to imagine a hospital without climate control or air conditioning, but that's the way of life in Mali. Doug and Bob helped design the newer buildings. Bob had Doug's job (in charge of maintenance) prior to Doug, and I believe Bob is coming back to Mali in Oct/Nov with a short-term mission team. Christ Community Church has helped pay/construct the newer buildings. I know that the previous mission trip (Sept 2010) that involved Adam, Larry and Steve was centered around the hospital and building a roof.
We went to the pediatric building and Brett (pediatrician) introduced us to a few kids struggling with diabetes and a few who have had cancer and are getting chemotherapy treatments. He said that they usually don't charge them for the chemo because families have large enough problems just feeding family members and would not keep up with the treatment if they had to pay for it. This hospital is one of two hospitals in Mali that can treat cancer (not sure if this statement is true for all cancer or just peds). Brett also said that one family dropped off a girl with diabetes and left her alone in the hospital for two months. He doesn't really want her to leave because the family is not in Koutiala, and he said many of the families can't afford insulin, so they are not consistent with the treatment.
Most of us gave blood, which was quite the adventure for our team. I don't think we'll be known for our blood giving skills! The men gave 450 mL and Rachel and I gave 250 since we are smaller. I kept pointing at myself to the lab technician and saying "petite-half bag!" I'm not sure he understood me, but he kept laughing at me! We were told that 450 mL will save 2 kids. Doug said that if a child with malaria is able to get a blood transfusion, he/she has more than a 90% chance of living and usually won't have much brain damage. The biggest challenge is getting to the children before it's too late. Doug said there have been parents bring in kids where Brett has literally listened to the heart stop beating during the initial examination. They try to get every mission team to give blood, and they ask the hospital staff to give blood as much as possible. Malaria season is just beginning so there will probably be a high demand for blood soon. You must wait 6-8 weeks here before giving again (a shorter time than in the US). Brett told us that Malian women typically do not want to give blood. I was very nervous about giving blood since I've never done it before. Doug tried to reassure me by saying "Don't worry! You just need to relax and keep talking. The first time I did it I passed out and lost control of my bladder, but that hasn't happened since." Doug may have had good intentions, but that statement did not help my nerves AT ALL! I learned that I will probably never be able to give a full bag. Before my bag was full, I got lightheaded, nauseous, and started seeing black. Thankfully, the bag was almost full, and they laid me back for awhile. Rachel and Jon went before me and had no problems. Bill gave blood yesterday because there was an emergency situation, and they asked for someone to give. Bill also didn't have problems. Andy went after me, and he started sweating heavily and also got dizzy, so he also had to be laid back for awhile. Then, Adam went, and after they finished taking his blood, he felt dizzy and nauseous, so once again, another team member had to be laid back!!! Finally, Jason was next and was our last person to give. Poor Jason. First, they couldn't get his vein and tried several times, which seemed pretty painful. At one point, the technician couldn't find his vein, but just left the needle in him while he looked around like he was confused and needed help. Then, once they found his vein, Jason got lightheaded, and his bag was only half full. Rachel and I stayed in the room with everyone, so we tried to keep talking to him, but he got to a point where he couldn't hear anything we were saying. His bag also started filling very slowly, so I'm not sure they ever got the full amount from him. I was reading the numbers, and they'd go up and then back down again, so it's hard to say how much blood he really gave! I'm not sure what was going on with him and/or the machine. He had to lay back once he was finished as well!
Rachel and I went with Ewien to Pama's again. We bought a few items from Pama, so she wanted us to return to her house and make sure we were satisfied with what she made. While driving to Pama's (and passing many kids), Ewien told us that many people in Mali want kids for security reasons so that they will be taken care of later in their lives. She said that if someone in a family cannot have kids, another family member will give that person a child (for example, a sister will give her sister one of her kids in order to be "fair"). Ewien thinks (and I agree) that there needs to be a happy medium between people's view on having kids in Mali and in Holland. She said in Holland (just like in the U.S.) having kids is a very planned process and can even be very scientific (such as with fertility procedures), and it's not really planned at all in Mali. In Mali, people often have more kids than they can really manage (ie. feed).
The guys only worked for a short period of time at Bethel (while we went to Pama's). It sounds like they continued to work on the structure of the tower, hung some ladders on the tower, and worked on laying the water and electrical pipes.
We then all went to Jesue's farm. Jesue is a pastor who is friends with Anco and Ewien. He is an amazing person. It was very muddy since it rained all morning, so we had to take off our shoes and walk barefoot through the farm. This was probably the hardest thing for me to do throughout the entire trip! I'm not a huge fan of getting muddy -- a growing experience I guess. I was so distracted by walking through the mud that I fell behind the group and missed a lot of interesting conversation, but I'll do my best with the details. Jesue bought his farm, built a church with mud walls (and later the national church built him a roof), and started growing crops. He has a well that is powered by solar panels. Anco is a big proponent of solar panels and has added them at Bethel, and I believe he plans to add them at the hospital. Most of the problems with growing crops in Mali stem from water problems. People do not know how to collect the water when they receive rain, but instead, they often let it run off. This is something Anco has been trying to change at Bethel. Jesue's crops are growing so well that all his neighbors are trying to do the same as him. Like Anco, Jesue believes in sharing knowledge and will help people learn his farming techniques. This also allows him to build relationships so he can also talk about Jesus and the Gospel.
Later, Jesue had us to his house for dinner, which was another traditional Malian meal. Steve said this was the first time a team has been invited into a Malian's home (based on the 4 times he's been to Mali on mission trips). It's a huge honor to be invited into a home. Dinner was noodles (they call it "macaroni"), fries and rice with peanut sauce. Jesue's wife made the food, and it was all delicious. They have never hosted a large group before, and I think his wife made about 3 times too much food! The sad thing is that it was probably very expensive for them to host us for dinner. Jesue first introduced us to his wife and children. They couldn't eat with us because there was very little space in the room. We were in a small room, and small tables were pushed together as our dinner table. Dinner started by passing around a tub, pitcher and soap so we could all wash our hands.
Jesue is a very inspiring man to listen to. He had us all tell him what we like about Africa, and there was a consensus that we all love how happy the people are in Mali and how hardworking they are. Jon also threw in that he likes being the center of attention because everyone points at us, and he's never been a "movie star" before. We can always count on Jon for a good laugh. Jesue prayed for us and asked that we continue to pray for him and his sharing of the Gospel. All the dinners we have had while in Mali have been amazing, but I think tonight's dinner was my favorite. On the way back to the house, Anco hit the brakes and Jon screamed "bump" right before hitting a big bump. Again, another laugh, and I think one of Larry's favorites from the trip! Jon's scream shocked everyone more than the actual bump.
I mentioned earlier that a few of us received Malian names this week and that I couldn't remember Rachel's. The name given to her was Coulibaly, which is also the name of Daniel's wife that died in childbirth and therefore, the name of one of the buildings at the Women and Children's Hospital. While we were at Jesue's farm, one of his neighbors came by and named all of us Coulibaly. Steve tried to tell him that his name is Domalis, and the man said that he is now Coulibaly!
This same neighbor is an influential member of a Muslim mosque; however, he is learning farming from Jesue and is becoming a Christian (secretly for now). He's always warned by Muslim leaders to stay away from Jesue because "if he talks to him, he'll be a Christian in a week." Jesue said he'll give Muslim leaders advice, and then he'll hear his advice repeated in Muslim sermons. At least his message is getting out one way or another.
Only one more day :( I wish I could get my dogs here (without them having to travel in crates on a plane) and stay longer.
Please pray for Jesue and his teaching. Please pray for the Women and Children's Hospital and that the staff can save many children and women and also spread Christianity. Also, pray that the hospital is able to get well-trained staff that they desperately need. I believe the hospital has around 3 Malian doctors and somewhere close to 5 American/European doctors (can't remember if those are the correct numbers, but it was somewhere close to that). Jason (physician) said the nurses often function as doctors, and the greatest need is for more nurses. The hospital is actually planning to have a nursing school in one of the buildings that is in the process of being built.
Also, pray for a safe and uneventful trip home for us.
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