When Mark came home at lunch time and told me he had triplets to deliver I couldn’t my excitement. Quickly I looked through our stash of baby blankets, hats and newborn clothing to see what would work. Not knowing if we had boys or girls I set aside three girl blankets and hats and three [...]
Since returning to Soddo Christian Hospital we have been quite surprised by the recent changes to the hospital compound. There are two new houses under construction, a new playground, a covered lapa near the surgery for patients to wait, another covered lapa at the rear of the new guest house, a new ceiling on the [...]
This is a video I made about our lives in Soddo.
Continue reading about Scenes from Soddo: A 6 minute Video of Soddo 2011
Mark enjoyed raking leaves with Grammy and Grandpa Being back in the states with our grandkids from Johannesburg, S. Africa has been so much fun. Raking leaves in chilly November was magical!
Getting sick on a hospital compound has certain advantages. I discovered them first hand last week. Subtly an inner ear illness had been creeping up on me over several months like a cat crouching in the flowers slowly inching up on his victim before the final pounce. My pounce came with a vengeance last Tuesday [...]
It was raining and I was muddy and exhausted. A few feet away my home beckoned to me but my mind was wandering. I walked past the Grays house, thinking about Paul Gray in the hospital in Addis Abba and wondering what strange illness he had that would spike fevers to 103 for over seven [...]
The birthday party for Lydia Gray was over and still there was no sign of Mark. Lydia’s dad had also missed her 2nd birthday party and came in just at the tail end to watch as she opened presents from her grandparents. “Have you seen Mark?” I asked Paul. “Yes,” he responded. “He’s still in [...]
A few weeks ago I followed Mark around to take some pictures and see what his life is really like at the hospital. He was super busy on this day, running between the outpatient clinic and juggling the surgery schedule. The following are a few pictures of my morning spent with Mark. Even as he [...]
Events have a way of bringing out energy that we never knew we were capable of. When we learned that the COSECSA organization was coming to Soddo Christian Hospital to do an inspection with the anticipation of credentialing our hospital for our resident’s surgical certification, we pulled out all stops. In pulling out the stops I must give most of the credit to our cleaners, repairmen and gardeners. They worked exceptionally hard. COSECSA is the acronym for College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa. By credentialing our residents, it would allow them to practice medicine in any African country where COSECSA was the credentialing body. This was huge.
In Michigan and other Midwestern states, a high school graduation tradition is slowing winding down. By July, most of the graduation ceremonies and fabulous open houses laden with meatballs, potato salad and barbeque are over but in Ethiopia they are still in full swing. School was officially over several weeks ago but graduation ceremonies continue. [...]
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