First Burundian Christmas

 Read the McCropder blog here for the details of our container's arrival for Christmas. I'm loving feeling more settled and at home with my new and old belongings. And perfect timing as I had Christmas presents for the kids on the container! 

Kibuye Hope Hospital - the Burundian flag is perfect Christmas colors :) I'll be seeing this site all the time beginning Thursday when I start work full time. 

Making Christmas cookies

The land is all cleared for my future house site! And see the McLaughlin's house behind with significant progress completed. 

Christmas Eve service (above and below pics)

My Charlie Brown Christmas tree

The families on my team were so sweet to include me in their Christmas traditions. I spent the night with the McLaughlins and loved celebrating Christmas morning with their enthusiastic and adorable kids (above and below pics). 

I also introduced a Pfister tradition of sausage and egg soufflé on Christmas morning

I enjoyed an incredibly delicious ham dinner with the Cropsey family and other guests on Christmas

And game night is always my favorite! 

Medical school professors or Robin Hood drama? Not sure, but I did enjoy participating in Hope Africa University's graduation on December 20th - even with the required stylish hat. :) 

My favorite part of the graduation ceremony was the Burundian drummers - very impressive! 

Christmas Eve

Micah, Elise, and Sammy adding Baby Jesus to my advent calendar on Christmas

Singing "O Come All Ye Faithful" in English and Kirundi in church 

And just before Christmas, several of us attended a special service at another local church. It wasn't an uneventful day as you can read here! 

I appreciated the opportunity to witness a baptism service for the first time here

In the baskets are live chickens given as gifts in the service

Anna discovered the chicken waiting place and decided to teach them the alphabet in French while they waited. Never a dull moment around here! 

Merry Christmas and Noweli Nziza! 

Burundi Tourism

Yesterday we traveled all in one van on a big adventure to a waterfall. We awoke to rain and muddy roads and really didn’t know where we were going or what we might find when we got there, but everyone was game for the adventure and so off we went with 8 adults, 8 kids, 4 baby dolls, rain gear, picnic lunches, and motion sick bags. We stopped for directions a few times - challenging given that we didn’t know the Kirundi word for “waterfall” - and provided significant entertainment to local villagers as they curiously observed a van full of wazungu (foreigners) driving by. And despite work being done on the dirt road, which made it barely wide enough for our van to pass, we arrived uneventfully after an hour’s travel over log bridges and through eucalyptus forests at the gate to the park entrance. The four park attendants put on their official hats as we pulled up and took our admission fees. We were the only people there and I wonder how many days pass without any visitors. It’s unfortunate that it is so remote and unknown because it truly is a beautiful location - complete with four waterfalls and well maintained hiking paths to reach each of them. The kids were amazing hikers and travelers; the weather was actually perfect while we were there and then rained the rest of the day; and we enjoyed exploring a new place together that we will definitely visit again. What a fun start to our two day team retreat!  

See One, Do One, Teach One

See One, Do One, Teach One

A common phrase in medicine is “See One, Do One, Teach One” - referring to the order of learning procedures and other things. Rarely does it actually play out that way - more often it’s: “See many, then do many, then teach others.” But sometimes things are different here in the developing world and this week I ended up skipping steps one and two altogether and just starting with step three! The course is called “Helping Babies Breathe” and focuses on the resuscitation of newborns - targeted to train health professionals (such as midwives & nurses) in the developing world with limited resources. Now, when it comes to neonatal resuscitation, I have indeed helped hundreds, if not thousands, of babies to breathe in the 8 years that I’ve been a doctor. But our training as pediatricians in the U.S. is quite different and includes a more advanced skills set such as intubation, chest compressions, and epinephrine. I was aware of the existence of the “Helping Babies Breathe” program and knew that it could be quite helpful in this setting and thus registered to take the instructor’s course at a CME conference in April 2014. I didn’t intend to teach it until then! But on Tuesday, a visiting American nurse gave me the French HBB materials and asked me to teach the course to the midwife students on Wednesday. These particular students will be finishing their rotation here this week, so this is their last opportunity to learn these important concepts which truly could save many lives. And so, a bit reluctantly, I reviewed the materials and noted the various steps of neonatal resuscitation emphasized (and those minimized or left out altogether) in preparation to teach. It made a huge difference that everything was already translated into French - and I learned some new vocabulary from reading it.  Then Tuesday night I was sick with a stomach bug (unfortunately a part of life here) and as it got closer to 4pm on Wednesday I was seriously asking myself what in the world I was doing?! Yes, I had reviewed the material, but not thoroughly, and I didn’t have the theory or the steps well understood myself, nor did I have a plan for helping the students practice these things. I haven’t watched any deliveries since arriving here, so I don’t know what is done typically and what may need to be re-taught. And to be teaching these unfamiliar concepts in French & weak physically from sickness seemed too much. I knew I was insufficient to teach this course and breathed a quick “God, help!” prayer as I walked to the hospital. Well, it seems to me that sometimes God strengthens us powerfully to move mountains and other times He simply sustains us to do the work He has given us to do one step at a time. This was one of those sustaining times. He gave me strength to stand physically; He caused the students to be attentive and eager to learn; He enabled me to speak and understand the French I needed; and He provided the materials & knowledge to help me teach. It wasn’t perfect by any means and I can think of several things I would have done differently - I’m not canceling my reservation for the course in April! - but He gave good gifts of grace and strengthened me once again in my weakness. And, hopefully, He will enable these students to make a difference in caring for babies and mothers throughout the country of Burundi. 

Thanksgiving Birthday

It has been a joyous week of celebration and thanksgiving here in Burundi! My birthday coincided with Thanksgiving this year and I so appreciate the care of so many here and around the world to make it a special time for me. 

 Abi turned 5 just two days before my birthday, so we celebrated together with the team - amazingly delicious cakes and fun party! 

 My roommate Sarah made me a special breakfast (and made me wear the hat) :)

 The Cropsey boys and I went on a morning hike - and discovered ladies selling fried termites! 

 A chicken (Abi's birthday present) came to visit. Never had a chicken in my house on my birthday before! 

 Christmas and birthday decor

They began clearing land (behind me) for my house! 

Unfortunately this humongous tree didn't make the cut - but we have some nice wood for making furniture and neonatal incubators now! 

Thanksgiving cooking - I learned to make rolls for our feast

 First annual Kibuye Thanksgiving Ultimate frisbee game

 I love playing Ultimate! And we enjoyed introducing the game to some new Burundian friends.

 We had our Thanksgiving feast on Saturday - also Sarah's last day in Kibuye. She flew back to the US Sunday to begin college. I'll miss my roommate! This is us in front of our apartment. 

 Nature hike to find table decorations 

 The kids love costumes! 

 Kids' table

 Adults' table. We enjoyed a fabulous feast including turkey and most of the usual Thanksgiving treats. My favorites were sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole (Jess made homemade fried onions for the top!), and pecan pie! 

 Here's John explaining Thanksgiving to two of our new colleagues from the hospital. They enjoyed the Thanksgiving food but found it to be very sweet (Americans eat a lot of sugar:))! 

We girls then spent 2 days in Bujumbura (without kids) celebrating my birthday and just enjoying being together and hanging out. Thanks, guys, for watching the kids to make this possible! 

 We loved having our friend Janette join us, too, for ladies' lunch in Bujumbura

Skype! I'm so thankful for God providing 2 opportunities for me to Skype my family as they were together for Thanksgiving weekend. I miss them and am so glad we are able to continue to be close from a distance.