Bonjour d’Afrique!

Let me begin by reassuring those who doubted my traveling skills (myself included!) that I did just fine. I’m thinking of it as a “self-affirming growth experience”; i.e., a few bumps in the road but I handled them and arrived in one piece. And, as promised, the Sisters were at the airport waiting for me and soon had me home, fed, and sent to bed. I had been told to expect them to be hospitable and they certainly are. Everyone has been very welcoming and if they keep feeding me as they have been, I will undoubtedly return 10 pounds heavier.

The day begins early here with prayers at 5:30, Mass at 6:00, a quick breakfast, and then to work. And work everyone does! One of many things I have found impressive is the way so many of the personnel competently perform more than one function. There is also a real sense of teamwork in Labor and Delivery that I witnessed firsthand today when a patient presented from clinic in the midst of a placental abruption, a devastating condition in which the placenta separates while the baby is still in the uterus. Unfortunately, the baby did not survive, but the mother is stable despite losing a great deal of blood. It turns out that there is a list of Sisters and employees available to donate blood in dire situations, and even some people in the community that will donate if the Sisters ask. Just one example of many apparently insurmountable hurdles they have somehow managed to overcome.

Labor and delivery is much different from what I have experienced in the past. Everyone labors together in one very small, very hot room, often with family members for support, and are periodically brought across the hall to be examined. When they are ready to deliver they are moved to the one delivery room or the one operating room. I have participated in several cesarean sections since I arrived and am learning how much can be done with very little.

Thank you all for the prayers and loving support. I feel very blessed to be here. 

view of Douala from my window

the delivery room