Umoja Orphanage

A great thing about Tenwek is that it attracts a lot of wonderful physicians from all over the United States to come for short, or long, periods of time. Unfortunately, being at home with Liam, I don't get the chance to meet many of the Physicians that are here only one or two weeks. Logan gets to work with them, or at least meets them during morning report every day at the hospital.

But one physician who is visiting now, Dr. Paul Jarrett OB, I have had the pleasure of meeting several times. He shared his testimony with a group of us last week and Logan and I had him over for homemade pizza Friday night.

Dr. Jarrett has served at Tenwek off and on for 10 years. He and his wife and their 10 children (!!!) would come for 6 months on, 6 months off every year. They started several ministries through the years, one of which is an orphanage, Umoja. They felt not only a medical calling, but also a call to help the homeless and abandoned children in this area.

Dr. Jarrett invited us, the McLaughlins, and a few others to accompany him on a visit to Umoja Orphanage this weekend. Logan was not on call, so we gladly accepted. It is not far, maybe 15 minutes by car at the most. When we arrived we were greeted with applause from the children lined up at the gate to welcome us. As we exited the car, every child and adult came forward to shake our hands and say hello. I did my best to greet them in Kipsigis, but most of them just giggled.

Dr. Jarrett had a glow about him all day. He was home. This was his heart. What a joy to see the place through his eyes, knowing the prayers, sweat, and money behind making Umoja possible.

Dr. Jarrett and Joseph, a Kenyan who runs Umoja, gave us the grand tour. They showed us the school room, which had hand-written signs and a few printed posters hung on the otherwise bare walls. I couldn't help but think back to my elementary classrooms which were so intricately decorated by the teachers with posters, fabric, and brightly colored signs with the alphabet, numbers, etc. These students sit on wooden benches, or perhaps the floor if there is not enough room. Considering many of their backgrounds, these boys and girls are very fortunate to receive an education at all.

We were shown the dorms next. Joseph again thanked Dr. Jarrett for giving the kids trunks and boxes to keep their things in. Dr. Jarrett said, "Oh that was many years ago." Joseph said, "These are the ones! They are still here!" It is so special for each child to have something they can call their own.


The mattresses at Umoja are very, very nice. They are wrapped in a plastic covering, which helps them last longer with the little ones wetting the bed. Major fundraising had been done in the States to get these mattresses, and Dr. Jarrett was so excited to see the good condition of them.

We toured the grounds while Joseph pointed out the large rainwater tank they are blessed with. There are half PVC pipes running from the gutters of all the buildings into the tank.

They even have a water filter, so the children are able to drink very clean water. What a rare blessing!

Joseph has a small farm at Umoja where his chickens produce eggs that help support the orphanage. Many missionary families buy his eggs each week. Liam was mostly interested in the sheep. He had heard Mommy and Daddy's "baaa" when we read him his animal books, but hearing it in person was something else! He loved "baaaa"ing back and forth with the sheep.

We then went into their meeting room where we sat facing the children. They sang us several songs while we enjoyed chai.

Dr. Jarrett gave the kids a sucker while he shared a little bit and showed them pictures of his family back home. Then Joseph, his mother, and his wife spoke. This is when we lost Liam! The great outdoors was calling to him!

He wasn't into sitting quietly, so we played and explored outside with Lawrence, our driver. Liam barked at their dog, played with Lawrence's hat, and got a couple scrapes on his knee from the rocky terrain.

When we returned to the meeting room, Dr. Jarrett asked if I would teach the kids a song. He had seen our Mother's Day program and said these kids would love it. So, I pulled out the trusty ole Jesus is My Superhero and the kids jumped right in.

They are very quiet and well behaved, but when the music came on, they really smiled and danced along. They asked me to write the words for them so they can sing it again and again.

What a joy to take a break from what we do everyday to see what these Kenyans have committed their lives to doing in service to the Lord. There are about 40 children living at the orphanage, with many more asking to come and live there.

Joseph told me there are only two empty beds at Umoja. These children have lost their parents for many different reasons, but we can be assured that they are loved, fed, educated, and told about Jesus Christ.

Please pray not only for Tenwek, but its other ministries including the village Medical Clinics Logan has visited and orphanages like Mosop and Umoja where some of God's sweetest children live.

"Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."

And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.
Mark 10:14-16

Liam's World

Logan has been busy lately, going out to the village, taking OB call, and on the Medicine wards. Not many "life-changing" things are going on around the house, except that Liam's life is constantly changing: growing, learning, and saying new words.

One of these new words, "hello" goes right along with something he loves to do: play with the phone! He has not called anyone yet (that we know of). Luckily there is a page button on the phone base because he's hidden it a few times. Oh, speaking of pager, yesterday from out of no where Liam looked at Logan's pager on his "bet" (belt) clip and said "pager" and pushed the buttons which made it go to vibrate. He loves any gadget. He always tries to play on the computer, and when he sees his face on the wallpaper, he says "Niam".

We are pretty sure that he is about to pop out tooth number 4. He is restless at night, and we can see it right under the gum. That will make 3 on top and 1 on bottom. When he teethes, he tends to get loose stools, which leads to diaper rash, which leads to a little naked time so his bottom can "air out." I gave him some diaper-free time yesterday while I was putting the laundry away. It was pouring rain, so we had to be inside anyways. I was busy in the dresser drawers and Liam said "Moaney. Moaney." (Which is Liamese for "raining.") I said "Yeah, buddy I know. It's raining." Then I thought, wait he can't see outside right now. I looked at him and he stood confused looking down at the increasing puddle around his feet. He looked up at me and again said "Moaney." These are the times I do not mind having concrete floors throughout our house!



He continues to just love everything that Logan is and does. After his morning milk, he loves to climb on Daddy to wake him up and play the face game. He grabs Logan's nose and says, "doze." He continues around Daddy's "bace" with his "eye," "eyebaw" (brow), "ohr" (ear) and "hohr" (hair). He knows where the mouth is, but I don't think I have heard him say it yet. Next he searches for Daddy and Mommy's "bella" (bellybutton).

Then he munches on some Loopy Nuts (Kenyan Honey Nut Cheerios) while Mommy makes coffee. He loves the box because it has a big gray "Ella" on the front. He recently has started to do the Elephant noise like I showed him while raising his hand up like a trunk. So adorable. His favorite breakfast is "eddy", which is great because Logan and I both love the fresh eggs around here too.

As soon as Daddy sits down to the table, Liam claps his hands together and says, "ssss." We are not sure why, but this means pray. The only thing we can think is that we say, "Let's pray," and he hears the s sound most, or he picks out the s's in Jesus during the prayer. Speaking of prayer, every nap and bedtime, we sing Jesus Loves Me right before I lay him down. It is so sweet because he sings along saying "bibuh, bibuh" picking out the "Bible tells me so" in the beginning and end.

When I get him out of bed, he searches for his giraffe and lifts it up for me to kiss on the nose. He calls giraffes "raja." So, basically he is switching the r and the g sound. Logan has lovingly nicknamed his giraffe "Roger".

Soon after he wakes up from a nap, we have a snack of a "nana" (banana) and perhaps some Chapati, which is his newest word - "Pati". He doesn't sit for long though, he is always eager to go "souside" and moo at the "tows," bark at the "doddy," or watch the "boidy" fly high into the "tee."

He knows right where I keep his shoes (on the mantle where he can't reach them). Often he will stand right under them, stretch his hand up and say "shoes," which sounds a lot like the way he says "juice".

Our day is filled with bowls on the head, playing with cars and trucks (anything with wheels is a "dado" -- don't even ask me where he got that). He also likes playing with blocks ("balk") and helping mommy put away laundry (usually he helps by unfolding it). He loves socks "ssssah" and pants "piz."

He drags them around the house, hides under them, and gets all tangled up! He is like my own wise little Yoda with me all day!

He loves to read his "boot". His favorite book right now is a Sesame Street book called Let's Share. He says "bebby" when Elmo shares his seat with a mom and her babies, he puts his mouth on the page when Grover shares a pear, and at every page turn helps me read the book by saying "Shayoh" (share).

Every nap time and night time, he shuffles through a small pile of books and finds Let's Share for me to read again and again. After I finish he takes it from me, says "doww," hops down from my lap and puts it back with the others. He rummages through the stack again and finds, you guessed it, Let's Share! He gives it back to me asking "boot?" I have had to start only letting him choose it three times. Otherwise he would never go to bed!

Let's hope he is really learning what the book is saying and can be polite and "shayoh" with the other kids at Tenwek!

Now, if you will excuse me, I need to go change Liam's "diapo."

Hospice at Tenwek

Wednesday I had the pleasure of joining one of the long-term Family Practice missionaries here, Dr. Steve Manchester, on his Hospice visits in the villages surrounding Tenwek.

Before we left the hospital that morning, in lieu of morning report, the physicians split up into prayer groups and went around the hospital to pray for the nursing staff. The hospital is going through a nursing crisis, with several nurses deciding to leave the hospital to go to government posts where they can make more money. I was with Rachel McLaughlin, an OB/Gyn here with the Samaritan's Purse post-residency program, Dr. Bergert, a gastroenterologist who is in his first term here, and Dr. Jarrett, an OB who has been here off and on for over 10 years. We started out praying for the nurses working in the ICU. It was a blessing to us, and I know an encouragement to the nurses, to come and pray for them while they were working. After we finished, we also prayed for the patients in our 6-bed ICU.


Soon after, Steve and I, along with the Hospice organizer and a hospital chaplain, headed out to the village to see the patients. People here do not have "addresses" so sometimes it can be tricky to find the person you are looking for. If you know the village area, and the name of the Chief, you can usually find someone who knows the patient. The Hospice team had visited all these patients before, so we had no problems. Our trip started on a sad note: we were supposed to see a new patient, but were notified that morning that they had already died.

There are about 70 patients registered with the Hospice program. We saw five patients during the course of the day. We came upon one of our patients resting under a tree outside. He said he used to work for the Kenyan Forest Service, and felt more comfortable out among the trees.

He has esophageal cancer, an unusually common diagnosis in this region of Kenya (3 of the 5 patients we visited have this type of cancer). Steve and I took some time talking with him and his family about his condition. The chaplain read some scripture and prayed. His family knew we were coming, and had prepared "lunch" for us, which consisted of a cup of freshly boiled milk.


It was amazing to see how we warmly we were received everywhere we went. The Hospice ministry provides ongoing support for terminal patients and their families, and the love of Christ shines through that. I heard several stories during this trip about patients, or family members, who were stubborn and ill-tempered, but came to the Lord through the continued love and service provided by the hospice team. I think our being there meant as much to the families as it did to the patients. It was a comfort for the family to know they wouldn't have to care for their dying loved one all by themselves. A young girl in the village really clung to me and would hold my hand anytime it was free! Steve teased me that I had found a village girlfriend. We were warmly welcomed and treated like family at every house we visited.

Because so much of the visit was spoken in Kipsigis, I did find myself feeling culturally isolated at times. But one thing that transcends any language is the eternal love of God.

That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don't look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

--2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Village Doctor

While I am on the Medicine service this month, I am also taking the opportunity to do some "extra-curricular" activities. Tenwek operates some local dispensaries, and I've gone out a couple times to staff those clinics. It's been a great experience. Last week I went to Ngito, and this week I went to Kaboson.

The trip out to Ngito (pronounced en-GEE-toe) took about an hour, half of the time on paved roads and half on rocky terrain. We actually drove a Tenwek ambulance to get out there, which the guy actually let me drive!



These dispensaries run much like an outpatient clinic. I saw some "typical" diseases here, like helminthiasis, scabies, STDs, typhoid, pneumonia (which you have to diagnose clinically here, no x-rays or CBC's in the bush). One kid comes in monthly for his penicillin injection because of his rheumatic heart disease.

Besides the tropical diseases, there is the standard chronic disease management, like hypertension and diabetes. This lady actually had both conditions, and I was helping adjust her medications.



I also saw some prenatal patients. This lady is around 24 weeks, and doing well.

There are some differences between prenatal care here and in the US. At 24 weeks we usually do a glucola test, and give rhogam if she is rh negative. Here, instead of doing either of those things, we just give empiric malaria treatment. Welcome to the tropics!



Oh yeah, and I got some practice using the fetoscope!

I saw about 15-20 patients at Ngito, which I think was a quiet day. I actually didn't get out there until around 1:00, so this would actually be a pretty busy afternoon in the States. One thing that makes visits simpler here is the charting system (I wrote about a half paragraph per patient on a 4x6 card)

I was also able to use my Osteopathic manipulative skills to help this patient with some upper back pain she had been having for a couple weeks following an upper respiratory infection.



The Kaboson clinic ran much the same way as Ngito. We saw 20-25 patients in an afternoon.

The nurses and staff live on the grounds of the clinic, and someone is on call 24 hours a day out there. They do around 15 deliveries a month, and have a small inpatient ward for postpartum patients.

Even the occasional emergency will present while you're in clinic (just like in the States, I suppose). This child had cut his foot a week ago, and had been to the clinic at Kaboson for treatment at that time. Perhaps it was the nurse on-call that night who saw him. They had sewn it up, and put him on antibiotics, but his foot still got infected. By the time I saw him, part of his foot was turning black. He had no feeling in his toes, and he couldn't move his foot. I sent him directly to Tenwek, and I heard later he went straight to the theatre for debridement. Please pray everything turns out well for him, and he gets to keep his foot.

It felt good to be in the outpatient clinic again, something I haven't done in several months. I had a great time practicing rural tropical medicine, exploring the Kenyan countryside, and caring for the people in these villages.

Super Kids in the Army of God!

For the past three weeks I have had the pleasure of working with the kids at our local church here, the Bethesda AGC (Africa Gospel Church) located on the hospital campus. We have been preparing a special skit to perform in the service on Mother's Day.

About 40 kids have been coming to rehearsals for three weeks on Sunday afternoons, rain or shine. Many of these kids have to walk quite a distance to come. Their dedication and willingness was encouraging for me when I would walk with Liam on my back in the pouring rain to get to rehearsal, even just the short distance I have to walk! People talk about "Africa time", but I will tell you, when it came to our play rehearsal, I was usually the last to arrive! The kids were there and ready to sing.

We practiced in a small meeting room at the hospital. I taught them two Hillsong Kids songs, On the March and Superhero. They also memorized some scripture (with actions). A few of the kids had speaking parts and did amazing!

Todd, an engineer who is spending a year at Tenwek working on some building projects, was a huge help, and star of the skit. He, as "Action Man", had lost all of his superpowers. He came to the Super Kids Army of God Training Camp to find his strength. (cue On the March - we put on the full armor of God).

He found out from the kids that even youths grow tired and weary, but their strength comes from the Lord. (Isaiah 40:29-31) And when Action Man put his trust in the Lord, he found out that Jesus is the real Superhero! (and cue music - Jesus is My Superhero)


I was the "drill sergeant" at the Super Kids Army of God Training Camp. So, I led the songs, dialogued with Action Man, and kept the recruits in line! I wish I had brought all my fun camo gear. But, with the long skirt rule and all, the best I could do was my old high school Student Council shirt and a cargo skirt borrowed from a friend!

Both of these Hillsong songs I have led before at Jamesriver Kids back home. But, it was so neat to hear these sweet Kenyan kids sing the words in their accent. Many of the kids do not really know English at all, or not very well. But they did amazing! The moms loved it too.

All in all, the kids did a great job and had fun being part of the service! A few of the kids stood on stage during worship and sang on mic which they thought was pretty cool.

Joel, one of the older Missionary Kids played piano during the offering and did a great job!

The kids handed out roses to all the women of church, and then a few of us handed roses out to some moms and nurses in the hospital.


So Mother's Day wasn't exactly "a day of rest" for me, but so rewarding nonetheless! I guess being a mother in general is not "restful," but full of rewards both here and now, and to come in Heaven. Praise the Lord for all of his wonderful children!