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Tuesday, November 30, 2010
I’m loosing track of where I am in life…
It’s been extremely difficult remembering what I have shared with people and what I haven’t. I even loose track in my journal. I’m happy to say… HAPPY THANKSGIVING!:)…Belated. The week of thanksgiving and following have been a bit hectic, but God has not put me in a situation that I cannot handle. I was beginning to get anxious and worried about some problems in the hospital. I started to talk to a good friend of mine one day about it. He comforted me and told me to pray about it. The very next day when I was reading my Bible, it was a complete answer to prayer. “Do not be anxious about ANYTHING. Instead, in every situation, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God. And the peace that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Phil 4:6. I have had peace because the Lord is in control and he is taking care of the people at the hospital.
If I haven’t told you already, I get off work every day at 2. I tend to go back later in the day to check on some patients that I helped earlier in the day. I am surprised at how much work they put me through when I come. I have done countless NG tubes and IV’s when I step through the doors. At the beginning of this trip, I made it a point to show my earnest hard work, so now they know to work me hard. I have been quite exhausted because of it, but it feels good?
I should tell you about Thanksgiving Day! I had been worried about this day for a while because Cailtin and I invited 25 people to visit our home. We were planning it all the way up until the day. We asked the Administrator if we could get off of work at 12 pm to prepare. I did not know how much preparation would go into this meal until Zara came over to the house. They had brought 4 chickens to kill, potatoes, noodles; we had beans and beef… the whole shebang! (I know, I am not vegetarian… its offending when I refuse food here). Zara and Isaiah were in charge of the meat and Caitlin and I started making “Pumpkin Pie” made out of squash. We also made mash potatoes with the sweet potatoes we traveled the day before to get. It took us a total of 6 hours to prepare everything. Since Caitlin and I were the host, we were responsible for making the house appropriate. Every time anyone comes into our home who’ve known the shanks, the comment on how desolate it looks… so we tried to decorate with the flowers outside. It was absolutely GORDEOUS if I do say so myself. We decorated everything! Caitlin and I decided to make a twister on the floor so we cut up construction paper and taped it on the floor. When everyone arrived, we had a candle lit dinner. We went around the table saying what each person was thankful for that day. It was incredible! Later, when those who needed to go home went, we partied Adventist style. They loved twister! I have epic pictures to show in 7 months. I’m happy to tell you that everyone had an amazing time.
I forgot to mention the morning before. Thankfully, I had gone to sleep early the night before Thanksgiving because at 3 AM I got a call from Kalda telling me to come to the hospital. With much stumbling around for a few minutes because there was no light in the house, I finally got everything I needed and ran out of the house. He ended up picking me up with his mototaxi. When I arrived at the hospital, I was shocked to find a man lying on the ground in a pool of blood by his ankle. Apparently that night some thieves came into the village where Karnas lives, and were shooting. There were two men we had to x-rays on. One had a huge gash in his leg, complaining that it was broken. The other man had a broken ankle. We took x-rays and brought the man with the ankle into the surgery room. Anyone could tell that his ankle was broken. You could move it around like a rag doll. He had been drinking that night, so when we put the medication in the IV, he was still struggling. I held him down as they tried to fix his leg. He was never unconscious. They put his leg in place, and sent him to one of the hospital rooms. During the operation, he cried a few times… “Eliza, Eliza”… I didn’t even know he knew I was in the room. He didn’t even know me. We removed three bullets!!! That took the whole morning, or enough for me to go back home around 6:50 AM and make it to work by 7:30. This was Thanksgiving Day, so I was exhausted after it was all over. Praise God for rest?
Bahana took us to his school party the next day. When we showed up, literally EVERY EYE WAS ON US. I’m getting use to the fact that everyone caters to me no matter what I say. As we went to see what was happening, Bahana made someone go get us a bench… still everyone starring. All I wanted was to just be part of the crowd, but that will never happen. On top of that, the announcers for the soccer game that the students played later, insisted on translating everything in English. It was the most hilarious thing to hear. They didn’t speak very good English. The announcer talked about Cholora when the game was paused and he said, “Yes… Cholora is bad disease and don’t use bad water”. Caitlin and I had to laugh, but we were right next to him so we choked it up as much as we could. Bahana took us home on his friends mototaxi later that day. I was holding on for dear life because I was in a dress so I had to sit on the side. I don’t know if he wanted to impress us or what but he was going a little on the fast side. I’m alive…
Marie Cecil woke me up on Saturday morning because she has lent all of her plates for us to use for Thanksgiving (we have almost nothing). I slowly fell out of bed and ran to her house, carrying the plates on my head like a real African? I stopped by the hospital not realizing how much I would be doing. I had to put an NG tube in two children and two IV’s, one that was in an infant’s head (first one I’ve put in a head. He didn’t have any other visible veins). It was successful so thank goodness. Later, I had to go to church. I need strength because it seems that the weekends (which is only Saturday for me) would be relaxing but because I’m apart of this choir, we practice almost non-stop all weakened long. God spoke to me the other day with the verse “Do everything without grumbling or complaining”… That was a slap in the face because that day my choir group was fasting and I had a really bad attitude about it. It ended up going really well. We danced and played matching bible games all day as we fasted. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. God knows.
I went to Avava’s office the other day to chat with him. He was distraught and wanted me to talk to him. After sharing much grief about needed to lend family money and not knowing what and how to do it, I tried to listen. As he started to tell me that his faith was faltering, I heard a song on his computer that always seems to come to my mind or play when I’m going through the same situation. “The Voice of Truth”. I don’t him that God brought me to his office at such a time, and I asked him if I could pray for him. He was thankful, and my faith was strengthened as well.
A little boy came to our house the other day; he always stops by because he loves seeing us. He doesn’t speak English, but he likes hanging out. As we were cooking some pie in the oven, we invited him in. He continued to tell us that the only other sibling in his family passed away a week ago, and he is the last one. We brought him in, and comforted him. Why does this world have to be so corrupt? He ended up staying in one of our extra rooms. I pray for him everyday now. Caitlin and I have been impressed to be willing to give our food and service to anyone who comes to our door. It’s tiring, but the blessing of it is far more than we have imagined. We get people who come just to color in our coloring books. God has brought us here for just a time as this.
Yesterday was the first day without Kalda at the hospital. It was really rough for me because I work with Kalda everyday, and he is one of the most compassionate nurses I know. I ended up doing rounds by myself. There were only two people in Aile I so I took my time. I noticed that one of the patients had an irregular heartbeat. I quickly took the chart and talked to Jacque to come and look at her. Sure enough, she had to get an x-ray and they gave her medication later for arrhythmia. I’m learning a lot. I have now been able to prescribe people with different problems such as pneumonia, malaria, typhoid, gastritis, and amebas. It’s very easy to see the signs and symptoms because everyone comes in at the last minute, and it is the most extreme case. I pray each day that God gives me healing hands.
As the day progressed without Kalda, it got busier and busier. I had to do rounds as well as help the lab… when I thought it was over, Caitlin called me over to Maternity. I was informed that there was a woman having a baby, and I was going to be the only one in the room. The doctor had another case that he was doing. I was already prepared for the challenge. She didn’t end up delivering till later, so Ganava came in and watched. I delivered the baby perfectly. The woman’s uterus had not contracted well, so she was loosing a lot of blood rapidly. I ran over to the lab to grab supplies for hct test. The machine must not have been working because it said she was 34% but hear oxygen level and her blood pressure was going down rapidly… I quickly took her blood type. A positive. We tried to find a donner but there was no one around… this was an Emergency. When I came to my senses about my blood type I quickly sat down in the chair. I am A negative. As soon as they took 500 ml (in less than 5 min) I ran to Maternity. She was ok thank goodness. I sat in that room for hours with her afterwards just holding her baby and watching her slowly come back to life. Ganava was worried as well as the family, but the woman is healthy now with a beautiful baby boy. They thanked me over and over again. I’m glad I got to be apart of her recovery.
I am happy to say that, as of today, there are 3 doctors that will be here on and off for the rest of the time I’m on my mission. I haven’t worked with them yet, but one of them is from America. His name is James Appell. I’m forever grateful for your prayers and intercession. I’m exceedingly happy to finally have them here with us. Please continue to pray for God to be present at this hospital. That He would become real not only to the patients, but amongst the hospital staff as well. I am tired and warn out, but God is giving me strength each day at a time. I don’t have to worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself.
If this blog post does not make much sense, I cannot help you because I wrote it in a hurry. Until next time! Bonne Jounne! (Good Day)

Posted by Elissa

Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Do I Have the Power to Heal?
The other day a boy came into the hospital that was severely anemic. He had Malaria. He had not been well taken care of by his family. I could hear him screaming… I knew that kind of scream. When children who come into the Emergency scream like that, they don’t survive more than a few hours. He was dying. I have seen too many children come into the hospital die because they come too late. Their parents don’t understand that Malaria needs to be taken care of right away. They wait too long, trying to cure the sickness with traditional methods or buying medicine they don’t even know the name of in the market. I stand over the child, checking his oxygen level ever so often. I need to save him! There is something in me that needs to know this one will survive. I finish work at 2 pm. I’m going to come back to the hospital to check on this child. For some reason, even though I’ve seen many cases of children die of Malaria, this child is stuck in my mind. I pray for him that afternoon over and over again. I go back to the hospital in the afternoon solely to check on him. He has received blood and Quinine for Malaria. Amazing… he is doing fine! He is eating and moving around. I stop and think… why is this child one of the fortunate ones? Why do the others get death, and this one gets life? I am grateful that this little boy could have life… but sad at the same time that I didn’t intercede for the other children who came in. I know for a fact that my hands did not heal that child. It was only by the power, mercy, and grace of Jesus Christ that he was saved. I have come to realize my need to be on my knees. The hospital is not fully equipped to take care of patients properly, but our God is equipped. No hospital will save more people than a hospital where God is present. He is our healer, counselor, and Sovereign Lord! Every day when I pray with people or by myself, now I say these exact words: “Thank you God for giving me life, breath, and a heartbeat”. I know that God has me here for a purpose, and I slowly understand it more and more.
Today was Sabbath. I am now a co-director of a choir group at church. We meet three times a week. Sabbath afternoon, Sunday afternoon, and Friday night. There goes my rest… this afternoon I was feeling so exhausted. Caitlin and I spend the time after church making lunch with Avava, a close friend who is also the director of the choir. He was so interested in every little ingredient we put in the pasta and mash potatoes. I knew that we had practice in 2 hours so I wasn’t going to be able to get rest yet. At the moment our meal was over, I got a call from Kalda. He said he needed me to come and see a patient in Maternity. Avava quickly rushed me to the hospital. Another miscarriage. I didn’t get done helping until about 4 pm. I was an hour late to practice. I got my guitar as quickly as possible, and ran to the people waiting for me. I taught them the song “You’re Love is Amazing” by Phillips Craig and Dean. After an imperfect practice with the out-of- tune sopranos and the overpowering basses, we were finally finished. As the group would go to the church for the end-of-Sabbath worship, I would sneak away to the house for rest. Just as I thought I would get some sleep, Avava informed me that the group was going to visit a patient in the hospital. I gave into my selfish ambition and said, “I feel so tired, and I need to get some sleep”. He looked at me with disappointment. As they started walking to the hospital, I began to walk with them. Coming up to my house, Avava asked me one more time… “Do you want to come with us?” Without hesitation, I changed my mind…”YES!” I felt I needed to be compassionate, and it wasn’t the time to do my own thing. When I told Avava, he said with excitement “I knew from the moment I met you that you were the daughter of a pastor! You are living a Christian life!” I realized after talking to him how much it meant for me to do even a little thing as sacrificing sleep to see someone who was ill. It wasn’t for the sick person that I went, it was for the people who would really cared about my actions. Avava made me realize that by my actions here in Cameroon, I can be a witness. It might be surprising for you to think that this relieves me because it is hard for a Christian to walk the walk and talk the talk. I tend to be a people pleaser as well… so it is stressful when people are looking at my actions 24/7.. God has broken me to the point where I am learning to be dead to myself, and let Christ be my reputation. The language barrier as well as the age barrier requires me to use my actions rather than words to show truth. Also, my mother always tells me that going oversees is easier because people always love you… this is also true. There is not a lot I can do wrong to these people because they love anyone. Anyway, my point is that I don’t have to be afraid of my actions if I am in communion with my heavenly Father. He guides me and strengthens me each day here, and I know that He will be praised through all of this. I’m only a human and there is not a lot I can do, but I am “FLOORED” by the things God has already accomplished through me. I never did get to sleep today, but I have energy to last me… I know, one of these days I’ll crash, but until then… Party Adventist style?
Posted by Elissa

Where Did I Leave Off
The children here have quickly learned that I feed and entertain when they come over to the house. My little friend always brings friends over to color in the only coloring book I have. I also have a few movies that watch. Most of them are only in English or French subtitles, but they absolutely love them! I have noticed that people are up and living life early in the morning. I can hear the children singing at school before 7 o clock. Here in Cameroon, they do something that is called “beeping” another person. This means that they call and hang up if they don’t have credit on their phone. My family friend Bahana calls every morning. He told me that it is just a way to say hi. It’s really sweet, I just didn’t expect him to call at 6:30 or 7 am… people don’t dare to call that early in America unless its an emergency. I am thankful because I don’t have to pick up the phone. Sometimes Kalda does call that early and I DO have to pick up the phone because he has something clever to say or to tell me that I need to come to the hospital… those are rare days.
The other day I spend a long time in the Cashier’s office with Avava. We just chatted about life and love. I asked him about his fiancé and he blushed. I always laugh at him because he comes across so serious, but he says the most ridiculous thing sometimes. He wanted me to eat some of his gato, but I was full from the breakfast I had earlier so I said “no thanks” (by the way, you don’t say that here when someone offers you food). He continued to tell me in a serious tone… “Elissa, I will never eat at your house if you don’t eat some of my gato now, it is important.” Wow… it was pretty serious, but I laughed and he broke down too. I tell him to CHILL OUT sometimes. He is learning to relax more.
I have been learning more and more French. I can have a decent conversation… I’m not sure if I’ve said that already. I can understand it way more than I can speak it though. The other day I was singing a Celene Dion song called “From This Moment On”. I wanted to tell Zara a line from the song so I learned it in French. “Jai’tem Jusque la mort”. It means, I will love you until I die? When I said it to her, everyone in the ER heard, so now they say that to me all the time! It’s a bit of a joke.
The hospital is booming with patients. I did rounds the other day at 8:45 pm. I go to the hospital at night to check on patients I have seen. The one I am checking on now is healthy, but hates me. Whenever I get near him he screams bloody murder… sad day. There was one room that was shut and we tried to get in but the woman couldn’t seem to open the door. Kalda just started leaving, but I wanted to see if I could get in. I ended up climbing through the window… it worked, but they looked at me like I was crazy (and laughed). I have had a lot of laundry to do lately, and doing it with my hands takes even longer. I have to set a whole afternoon just to sit down and scrub. Thank goodness Isaiah is here to help me with most of it. I thank God for him.
Recently, after talking to my mother for only a few minutes on the phone (don’t worry dad?), she told me that I need to start praying for the gift of tongues. That is my main prayer along with healing hands recently. I have been trying to work as hard as I can at the hospital, and soon it will get really crazy because the main nurse is leaving. God is providing though… The doctor from Congo is coming at the moment the other nurse is leaving.
There is one verse that I read and think about a lot. It is important for me and also for the workers at the hospital. It is tough sometimes because everyone has their own opinion, and it can affect the way we treat each other. I want to be able to show some light on them, and make them understand that it is not about who is better than who, but if God is present in the Hospital. He needs to be amongst the staff and patients if our Hospital is going to be different than other hospitals. God is working slowly to make us ONE BODY and give us a reason to be working there. He has been the ultimate healer, and everyday, we need to be focused on his plan, not our own.

“So then, dear brothers and sisters, be firm. Do not be moved! Always be outstanding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” 1 COR 15:58

PS. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!! (don’t worry, I’m a host of 20 people coming to eat at my house, I’ll keep myself busy)
Posted by Elissa

The Winds of Change…
Update number 7 from a student missionary in Koza, Cameroon
Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Slowly, the hospital has recognized my potential and the fact that I want to help in any circumstance. I’m often at the hospital in the afternoons, even when it is not my time to work. Usually Kalda, the main nurse, calls me to come help with something or to observe a disease. He teaches me everyday about medications, diseases, and physical exams. I’m thankful to God for him because it is helping me retain the information I learned last year from school. That was one of the reasons I was hesitant for leaving school. God works in mysterious ways. I’m happy to say that I have been doing IV’s on a regular basis and I don’t miss?. I have also started doing IV’s on children between 5-6. I’m still not quite ready to do a blind IV in a malnourished infant. One day… It is a good feeling having the confidence from the hospital workers and myself to accomplish things like that. I love my teachers back at school, and they helped me tremendously with moving me forward in my education… but it is definitely nerve racking knowing that someone is breathing down your back when you are doing a practical exam. Here at the hospital, they don’t mark me down a point if I forget to put the tape in the right place? I am grateful for the education I’ve had, because it has helped me do better here in Africa for sure.
The Emergency room is the main place I work, although I am almost in every other section throughout the day. This is the place where everyone comes in for emergencis, of course, but also for administration. I like working in the ER because I get to see ALL of the patience. I don’t miss anything. The other day, Kalda called me into the hospital to check on a man who had fallen into a coma. I didn’t know what the case was, but I had a feeling Kalda knew and wanted me to diagnose him. As I walked into the room, the man was breathing abnormally and had blood running from his nose. I checked his eyes and they were bloodshot. His conjunctive was pale as well so he was loosing a lot of blood. Kalda asked me what the case was, and I guessed that it might have been a stroke. He knodded his head, but I could tell I was wrong. When we left, Kalda was putting his gloves way infront of him like he didn’t want to touch anything else with them. I asked what he had… Dengue Fever. It is extremely contagious. I wish he would have told me that before. Well, the man died the next day because the family refused to give him treatment. Its life… and we can’t do anything about it.
I’m happy to say that soon the Koza Seventh-Day Adventist Hospital will have a Doctor… for 1 month. He is a surgeon so I’m hoping to get in on some sweet action. I don’t know when he is coming, but the Administrator says soon. There are already people lined up for him to see. I’m excited and anxious to see C-sections, colostomy’s, and surgery on an appendix. These are the things we can’t do at the moment. I was walked from Maternity to the ER one day with Kalda. A woman called over for me to check her. She said she had abdominal pain. Kalda gave me the stethoscope to check her abdomen… then we left. I asked him why she wanted me to check her and not him. He told me that she thinks if a white woman touches her, she will be healed… well I hope I don’t see her again because I don’t have that much power (I wish).
There are many people who are patients in the hospital who call me Madam which means I’m married. I would correct them, but there is not point… I would probably just confuse them more. Also, many patients are starting to call me Doctor. I think its because I’m one of the only ones besides Kalda who wears a stethoscope? Yesterday, a man who I have been starting to get to know came into the ER asking about his wife’s case. He asked me to come see her. I came and looked at her, and then checked out her charts. She was positive for HIV. I didn’t know who gave the counseling, so I ended up telling him and giving him counseling about his wife. It was pretty intense because he told me that he was going to leave her if she had HIV. I hope things turn out for him. Also… it was the first time I heard of a patient dying back in Nigeria who I had gotten accounted with. The first time he came in, he had severe case of kidney disease. Is legs were very swollen to the point where he couldn’t walk. He refused to be admitted so we just waited to treat him. Finally, he started to get better, but he didn’t want to stay in the hospital. A few weeks later we heard that he was just walking down the road, and had a sudden attack of Apnea and died. He always came to the hospital and found me to talk to me. His burial service was yesterday. I pray for his family.
If I didn’t think I was going to do anything other than work at the hospital, I have been accomplishing more things as well with the church. I was playing guitar the other day at home and I got a call from Avava. He is the accountant at the hospital. He is also the music coordinator at the hospital. To make a long story short, I joined him one afternoon to teach the group an English song, and now I’m the co-coordinator. I teach music lessons with the group!!! This kind of thing is my favorite! Its so much fun? We even dance when we are singing… although I need to get better at it because I can’t multi-task while playing guitar. We are singing “There is a Treasure” and “Holy is the Lord”. I’ll try and record it so I can show people when I get home. It’s a hoot!! Avava kinda threw it on me without warning. I was just planning on playing guitar once. Now I have to think of warm-up exercises and melodies for Bass, Tenor, Alto, and Soprano. God is doing great things.
Everything is going wonderfully over here. I miss America and all of my loved ones. My goats are getting bigger, but now they run to me when I come home. They are starting to know that I won’t eat them like everyone else will do here. I am the one who gives them food… and they love me? The other day was extremely exciting because I got a package from Walla Walla University. I opened it that morning brought the Collegian (Walla Walla’s newspaper) to work for people to see. It was a slow day, so we read many articles. I loved seeing the people I know back home? There was one section in the paper that talked about “How to know that He/She likes You”. Kalda was looking at it and said, “Oh! I found something interesting”. I caught him later looking at it again?. We have the greatest time in the hospital. Today we played basketball with crumbled paper and a container for medical waste. It’s probably not the best when the ER is busy, but it is so fun when you are bored. Another day I wanted to bring raisins to work for everyone because it was going slow. I was walking out the door to run home, and Kalda threw his motorcycles keys in my hand. He said, “Take my moto”…and I said “do you really trust me that much?” It was the most hilarious thing. For some reason I have lost my ability to balance on a motorcycle. I got the hang of it and quickly went home… people were definitely staring.
As you might know, I have been living off of money that the administrator gave me for a computer I bought for him in America. It will not last me long, and I still need donations for my travels here as well. Thank you for all of your help in supporting me. My parents told me that my church has been raising money for my mission over here. Praise God for servants of God! I’m appreciative of my church everyday. Thank you all for helping me live my dream in serving God. I’m forever grateful. I have the most amazing people in my life… that’s you!

OCT 29, 2010: Another Baby died. This is a poem I made today when I was thinking about the death.
Deticated to the Family who lost their child.

Life is so precious
Breathing in and out, each moment
But without a though, its gone
No one is prepared

Do I think that maybe
My life will be gone tomorrow?
Why would that thought cross my mind?
It is unimaginable

A little baby has no time to think
Sin takes over… and that’s it
Without a movement or a cry
They are forced to accept

Give it a second, it’ll sink in
There goes another one, my heart breaks
I am now thinking of my life
Oh how precious each breath is

So don’t close you’re eyes before you thank God
The gift of life He has given
The gift of salvation
It’s worth everything!
Posted by Elissa

From http://cameroonmissionary.blogspot.com
www.missiondocs.org