Tenwek

Well, the last several days have been very busy at Tenwek Hospital. I am currently working in ophthalmology and am thoroughly enjoying working with the patients here. It is amazing what a difference eye care can make in the lives of the patients! I have worked in the OR 2 days this week and have worked in ophtho clinic the other 2 days. We saw probably 100 patients today in clinic and saw such a vast variety of diseases. I am amazed by the different eye illnesses that are here: vitamin A deficiency, rubella, HSV keratitis in kids, pediatric cataracts, traumatic cataracts (often from thorns here), HIV-related eye disease, TB eye disease, and the list continues. The patients that have surgery stay in the eye ward for several days. The ward consists of two big rooms--one for men and one for ladies. There have been a bunch of kids in the ward this week, and I have enjoyed making friends with them, despite our language barrier. The patients travel from all over Kenya to receive eye care here. One particular girl somehow made it 150 kilometers despite being almost blind and being barefoot. There was a man who has recently become blind from an illness associated with his progressing HIV status. There was a precious, smart 13 year old girl that I saw today who is almost blind due to vitamin A deficiency. There are also many very happy cases where the patients were blind and now they see following eye surgery--it is so fun to celebrate these cases! I am posting below a couple of pictures of some really inspirational patients from this week.

Yesterday afternoon we spent time in the nursery doing eye exams on premature babies. My job was to hold the little ones while Dr. Cropsey examined their eyes. Well, the babies don't wear diapers here, and despite my lining my lap with towels, my pants were given "wet blessings" by four babies. :) The Kenyan nurses laughed and said that I should consider myself blessed. They also said that that is a sign that I will have quadruplets--I sure hope not!

Last night I took call with the visiting OB/GYN physician here, and I was able to participate with him in a c-section. It was so neat to be the first to hold the hand of the little Kenyan baby boy and to pass him off to the waiting nurse.

I have tried to learn some Swahili phrases to communicate with the patients, and that has really helped; however, this area is surrounded by the Kipsigis tribe, and they speak Kipsigis. I am used to being able to communicate with patients in English and Spanish, so not being able to speak their language has motivated me to learn new words to hopefully form a better bond. I am praying that God will use me to share His love with the people that I encounter. They have already taught me so much by their smiles, trust, and perseverance.

These are some inspirational kids who had eye surgery this week--they became my friends and loved to draw pictures while they were waiting for their eyes to heal.

This man was a school teacher who had to quit teaching due to blindness. He was blind for about 12 years, until he recently received a corneal transplant. He now can see 20/20 and is so happy! Praise God!

This dam just down the mountain from us provides the electricity that powers the hospital.

The view from our guest house is beautiful.

Here I am standing by the cross that is on a hill above the Tenwek surgical suite. Yes, I am wearing a wrap over pants while exercising--that seems to be the appropriate thing here. I can't wait to see how that works on a run! :)