6/26

Hello!

Today was our last day at Bugondo hospital! Dr. Johnson, mama Gayle, Katelyn, Foster, Maggie, Karly and I started our day with the neurosurgeons morning report where they discuss all their patients. Maggie was welcomed into the morning report by a gecko jumping onto her head! Dr James was the happy one in the room, celebrating the Young Africans 2-0 win over Simba in the Tanzanian Premiere League championship. In his words, “from a tactical point of view one team was way better than the other.”

 

Mama Gayle had to miss morning report for a special meeting with the new hospital director Sister Massenga.  It was then time to head down to the operating theatre for surgery. Katelyn scrubbed into Dr. Johnson’s lumbar fusion for a patient that had tuberculosis in her spine.  

This surgery ended up being a little more difficult than Dr Johnson anticipated, but he navigated his way through the case showing his poise and expertise. Foster was able to scrub into a surgical evacuation of a subdural hematoma. She was able to be the scrub nurse and the doctor tested her knowledge of the medical instruments- which we learned was not an easy task with the Swahili lingo they incorporate. We had the Tanzanian staple for lunch, rice and beans. Dr. Johnson’s second case of the day was cancelled and now we are eating at Sizzler, which mama Gayle claims has the best barbecue chicken in all of Tanzania. I told her I would be the judge of that!

Update: it was very good

Maggie was most impacted by how willing the Tanzanian physicians are to learn. They are very excited and really want to be in Dr. Johnson’s cases. She said how it is very motivational to see them wanting to pick Dr. Johnson’s brain with questions and learn from his experience.

Foster was most impacted by how kind Dr Casey was during her case with him. She mentioned how he said thank you for every instrument and checked in several times during the surgery to make sure she was feeling okay. She appreciated how positive he is and how he makes it clear how really loved what he does.

Karly was most impacted by how successful the outcomes are for the surgeries that happen here.  Each surgery is not the same procedure or includes the same instruments as what se have in the United States, but the outcomes are still very good and help the patients in need!

Katelyn was most impacted by the professionalism of all the surgeons and staff. She noted it was cool to see that although the lack of resources, it doesn’t change anyone’s professionalism. Everyone knew the job at hand and was there for a common goal for the better life of the patient!

Mama Gayle was most impacted by her meeting with the director general of Bugondo. Sister Massenga was very complimentary of how helpful Hope Ministries has been in the advancement of the hospital and how appreciative she is. She stated how it was very nice to hear that her very hard work has been able to make a positive change on the people of Tanzania!

I was most impacted by the people of Bugondo hospital all week. The whole week every person we came into contact with was so welcoming and wanted to help us as much as they could. It shows the impact that mama Gayle has made here. It is very clear how much they respect and appreciate her and it was awesome to see Hope Ministries mission play out in real time!

-Michael

I had the opportunity to go to Fonelisco Orphanage where I taught the children about the importance of diet and exercise. I was greeted by 29 boys and 24 girls when I arrived, all smiling ear to ear. After a tour I jumped into the presentation and I was impressed how attentive the kids were. We then went outside where I taught them how to run a relay race, which they seemed to really enjoy. Afterwards it was time to play soccer and it was a humbling experience for me to say the least. I then was able to interact with some of the younger kids before everyone met up for lunch. It was a wonderful day filled with joy, smiles, and laughter.

I was most impressed with how much attention the kids gave me while I was teaching, even though there was a language barrier and a translator was needed. They were very polite when raising their hands and waited to be called on for a question. I also really enjoyed spending time with the younger kids and taking pictures with them, which often led to infectious laughter by everyone after showing them the picture. While I wasn’t there all that long, I’ll cherish these moments forever and always remember how much joy they brought me— and I hope I was able to return the favor to them.

 

-Drew