Jimmy's last day at Tenwek & Chase's last day at Kijabe

By -
Friday, November 2nd, 2018

Time seems to fly by here at Tenwek.  My two weeks are up and I've been packing and saying my goodbyes until next time.  While typing, I had a knock at the door and it was Geoffrey, my boda boda (motorcycle) driver.  He was on his way home and remembered that I was leaving first thing in the morning so he stopped over and say goodbye!  He has been a good friend over the years and very trustworthy.  I will miss him along with Peter Rono, another driver - Ok, so my other friend Julius just stopped by to say goodbye as well!!  Every time I come here I learn more about my Kenyan brothers and sisters and their beautiful, simple lives and genuine hospitality.  I hope I can mimic a portion of that hospitality and love when I come back home?!  Sometimes our lives get so busy and cluttered that we miss God opportunities.  I pray that I don't get caught up in the craziness on my return?!


Cheptuiyet Primary School
These students (Standard 8) just finished three days of exams for entrance into high school.  They must perform well on their exams because it will determine where they will end up.  I had the opportunity to listen to the teachers encourage them and send them off and then they asked me to end in prayer for the students and staff - a great honor!!

Thank you Lord for the opportunity to be here and to share your love!

Thank you all for your prayer support!!

Peace,
Jimmy

Popular posts from this blog

First Week

By -
Image
 I arrived safely after an arduous journey.  I did get questioned at customs again and needed to pay a Tarif but it was a reasonable rate this time.  I have been without internet until yesterday so I apologize for a late update. My first week was quite busy in clinic as I screened patients for upcoming surgeries.  We has some late nights but it is great to be back serving the Kenyans.  I have performed multiple biopsies on various tumors.  Unfortunately there is no pathologist here so the biopsies can take up to 3 weeks for results.  We will make daily calls to try to move up the cases urgently. This patient was ecstatic!  He was diagnosed with severe hearing loss in both ears.  I fit him with a digital hearing aid and he was able to hear clear for the first time in years!  They live 5 hours away and were so blessed! This is a typical thyroid goiter for this region.  She underwent evaluation of her vocal cords in preparation for upc...
Read more

First Week October 2024

By -
Image
Continued political battles in Kenya are monopolizing politician's time rather than more pressing issues of the economy and healthy care.  The impeachment process of the depute passed in the parliament and will  be voted on in the Senate this week.  In the meantime, the economy continues to struggle with high cost of living leaving the poor to struggle to afford basic necessities.  The hospitals have been left struggling due to slow release of funds from the Government.  Tenwek is in a state of major strain from loss of back payments and now reduced daily income as patients are uninsured and lack funds to pay for services.  Its a mess! Somehow God has continued to provide for the needy and this last week I saw many ENT patients and operated for 2.5 days.  The patients have heart breaking stories of delayed care.  So many suffering of treatable diseases.  This week I performed several tonsillectomies, endoscopic sinus surgery, and several biop...
Read more

Second week March 2024

By -
Image
 This has been a different kind of trip so far.  I have taken many biopsies of obvious tumors and I am still waiting for results.  The national health insurance NHIF has also been more difficult to work with on this trip.  In the past we would have approvals for surgeries within 48 hrs but now we are waiting weeks.  They are refusing coverage many times requiring us to resubmit and wait again.  Despite these hurdles I know God is in everything and we have been working at a steady pace.  I operated 3 days this week performing a number of small cases including repair of an ear drum, tonsillectomies, ear tubes, tracheostomies, removal of a nasal mass and endoscopic nasal polyp removal.  Everyone has done well which is a blessing from the Lord in this environment.    My general surgery resident in ENT clinic         Preparing for tonsillectomy                       ...
Read more