Have you ever had the experience where every sermon you hear, every devotional you read, every Bible study lesson you do, and every personal conversation you have centers around the same basic message for days in a row or longer? Well, that is what has been happening to me over the last week or so. I think God is trying to tell me something. Read the rest of this entry »

We have had some very busy days at CURE Ethiopia’s Children’s Hospital over the last several days. Most of the surgeons were tied up in the operating room, while one surgeon struggled to see 70+ patients by himself in clinic. He had to have a handful of patients come back today to be seen between operative cases because he could not quite get to them all at clinic but does not want to turn any away.

Two of the many patients yesterday were on return trips to our operating room. One boy, Lekun, was one of the first patients at CECH to receive a club foot repair — over two years ago. He returned yesterday to have a hand deformity corrected by a visiting hand surgeon (his condition affects both his hands and feet.) Read the rest of this entry »

A little boy waits with his mother to enter the operating room for surgery to correct his club foot.

It is the rainy season in the highlands of Ethiopia for a few more weeks. It has been raining every day and sometimes very heavily. We have been late to various things as traffic becomes completely stalled behind enormous puddles or cars broken down from the water. There is mud everywhere. Sept 12^th is the Ethiopian New Year, which roughly marks the end of the rainy season. To some extent, we are looking forward to all this rain ending. At the same time, we are very thankful for the rain. People in east Africa (Somalia, and parts of Ethiopia, Kenya, and Sudan) are suffering greatly for lack of rain. We all need to be in prayer as they suffer through a terrible drought and famine. The highlands of Ethiopia, where Addis is located, have received rain, though.

Today we had a family day. We went to an arcade in downtown Addis and played video games with the kids. It was a great time. One of our new Ethiopian friends drove us there and showed us around. I could not help but thank God for all the wonderful people He has placed in our lives, no matter where we have been. As I watched this new friend of ours show the kids these games and let them play the car games on his lap (because he could reach the peddles better), I marveled at the love of God shown through His people. We have felt his love through so many wonderful people here – whether from homemade cinnamon rolls, friendly greetings, or help with the most basic things of life. We had a call from a neighbor this morning – would we be willing to let some families who had been without water for four days come and use our shower? Yes, absolutely, although we thought it would be better for them to wait till later in the day because we don’t have enough water pressure in the mornings for a shower. Because life is more difficult, it causes more reliance on fellow human beings at every level. There is a certain beauty in it.

We had a busy OR day on Thursday. It was also a day for celebration. Three staff members of CURE Ethiopia just graduated with their BA degree. Everyone was very proud of their hard work and achievements. We had a party with soda, bananas, oranges and cookies ―a very big treat.

Today was my first day in the operating room at CURE Ethiopia. My first patient was simply a cast change. This little girl is six years old and was born with congenital hip dysplasia. She had to have a rather large surgery to reshape her hip joint and place pins. At the end of the procedure, they placed what’s called a “spica cast,” which is a large cast that encompasses both hips and legs. This is not a fun cast for a child to be in, and they have to be carried everywhere. It is extremely difficult to keep the cast sanitary – even in America, where indoor plumbing is plentiful. Read the rest of this entry »

Editor’s note: Mary Bernard is the new anesthesiologist at CURE Ethiopia.  She and her husband, Chris, and their four children just arrived in Ethiopia.  We will be sharing updates with you from their blog, http://ethiopia.thebernards.org.

Different

Incredibly friendly greetings by everyone you see.

Giant tortoises lounging on our children’s school’s  sports field.

Virtually no traffic lights.

Taxi drivers seem to have no idea what a dotted white line on the road means.

Love and affection showered onto our children by acquaintances and strangers alike. Read the rest of this entry »