Jimmy and Chase Miller- Serving Kenya since 2011

   I arrived safely to Kijabe, Kenya last Saturday at 7pm.  I left Rochester at 7 am Friday morning so it was 36 hours of travel!  My luggage arrived and there was no inspection for which I am so grateful.  My least favorite aspect of the journey is shopping in Nairobi for supplies.  This was especially difficult as I have not worked at Kijabe previously so I did not know what would be available.   Monday started a busy week.  I operated 5 days and can say I am now comfortable with the way the operating room flows.  The staff have been wonderful and are quite knowledgeable in the typical ENT procedures.  The cases I have been performing are back logged surgeries from the missionary ENT who has been overwhelmed with work.  I have performed a number of surgeries from cleft lip, cleft palate, reconstruction of ear tympanic membranes, mastoid surgery, tonsillectomy and ear tubes.       The cleft lip repairs are always such a blessing to perform.  Although technically challenging the surger

  KIJABE, KENYA  10/22–11/8/21   I love this photo as it depicts how I am clinging to Jesus as I prepare for my next trip.  Kijabe is a Christian mission hospital and a large referral center for central Kenya.  They have had a team of three Otolaryngologists in the past but are now down to one with a long surgical queue.  Many of the surgeries are cleft lip and palate.  I am hoping to give a much-needed rest to the one remaining Otolaryngologist.  Kijabe means “wind,” and its name is fitting because the times I have served at the nearby AIC Cure hospital, the weather has been cool and windy.  The main tribe served is Kikuyu, but I understand that many from Nairobi travel to Kijabe because of its good reputation.  A nearby cemetery houses missionaries from the 1800s.  History tells us that part of the missionaries’ preparations were to have all their teeth extracted to avoid deadly dental infections prior to the antibiotic era and to travel with a casket knowing that they would never re