Perisi

What a wonderful day today was! It started very slow. You see, today is Kenyatta Day in Kenya – a national holiday that celebrates the first Kenyan president after Kenya became an independent nation. I’ve asked several people what the traditions are on this day and received many answers – family gathers for a large meal, there are public celebrations, the president gives a speech honoring former president Kenyatta and other national heroes, some people even do charitable works. For me, it started out as any other day at the hospital – with one notable exception. I had no patients to round on on the Maternity ward and only one on the Female Surgical ward.

The morning was very slow and after going home for lunch, I ran into Thomas, our anesthetist. He asked me why I was going back to the hospital. “It’s a holiday” he said, “stay home – you only need to go in if they call you.” I seriously contemplated this. I had a lot I could do at home, and with the overcast skies, a nap was sounding pretty good. However, there were things I could do at the hospital and I just had a feeling that I should go in.

Englewood Christian Church, my church in Indianapolis, has decided to make Kapsowar their Christmas project this year. One of the ideas I had was to raise money to pay patient bills. This is a major issue here. Many of the people we serve are extremely poor and even though our prices are what you and I would consider very cheap, they are often a life savings for our patients. The hospital is in a major financial crunch, which has led to them having to lessen the number of patients’ bills that are forgiven. So, the patients are held here until their bills can be paid (they are often completely lost to follow-up once they leave). This means that some are here for up to 3 months after they’ve been officially discharged. As you can imagine, this is a huge strain for them, as many have left children at home and are not earning money for their families while they are in the hospital. So, I thought that this would be a great project.

Since there was nothing happening on Maternity, I decided to go talk to the patients we’ve chosen and find out their stories. My last stop was to the children’s ward. I had a name of a child who had been discharged for 3 weeks and was still here. The bill was only 10,000 shillings (about $140), which is much less than some other children on C-ward. I wondered, is this the right person? Maybe we should pick someone who owes more – surely they can come up with 10K shillings. But, I thought I should at least talk to them. When I saw the mother, I recognized her as someone who I talk and joke with every day. In fact, her 2 year old, Festus, is the little boy on another blog who is still somewhat scared of me. I told her my church would like to pray for her and so I would like to know more about her. Her one month old daughter had been admitted shortly after being born at home for sepsis (infection of the blood). She is now doing well. She told me that she has 7 children, ranging in age from 1 month to 16 years. She is married, but her husband has married another woman (unfortunately a common practice among the Marakwet tribe). He is often drunk and doesn’t take care of the family. In fact, he told her that since the baby is a girl, she should just sell her to the hospital so that she can come home and take care of the other children. They have a small shamba (garden/small farm) and only 2 goats – which makes them very poor by Kenyan standards. To support her family, she tries to find jobs working in other people’s shambas, but often is forced to make illegal liquor to sell for money to support her children. I asked her if she attended church, and she said she did when she could. I asked her if she had ever asked Christ into her heart or if she knew that he could be her Savior. She said she had never done this, because she had no peace. I told her the salvation story and why Jesus had died on the cross. I told her that He can provide a peace that passes understanding. We talked about sin and how each one of us has a need for a savior. I asked her if this was something she wanted and she said yes. So, there in a side room of the children’s ward, Perisi asked Christ into her heart. She was beaming. She then asked me if she could change churches, as no one in her current church had ever told her any of this. I told her we would help her find a good church near her home. I welcomed her into the family in God and was rewarded with a huge smile when I told her that we were now sisters in Christ. I told her that even though she will face many challenges when she returns home, she now can go to her Savior and cast her concerns on him. The chaplains will be visiting her tomorrow and before I left for home, I was able to give her a Kalenjin Bible (the local dialect). I praise the Lord for His providence and for prompting me to go into the hospital when I wanted to take a nap!