Full Speed Ahead

We’re approaching the two month mark here in Burundi and the matatu (local transport) seems to be going faster and faster! In the last week in Kirundi class, we’ve covered the present continuous, past continuous, future, future continuous, future antérieur, conditional, and past conditional tenses as well as discours direct/indirect and several other miscellaneous things. That encompasses months of French grammar learning - some of which we certainly don’t have nailed down in French, so, as our class is taught in French, it’s a review of infrequently utilized French concepts, too! It certainly feels like trying to drink out of a firehose at this point as my flashcards multiply but my memorizing capacity lags behind. 

On other fronts, things are moving forward at Kibuye with building projects including the construction of our homes and of a new student dorm, with beginning fundraising for hospital expansion, and with the internet project. Teammates have attended meetings at Kibuye weekly during our time here in Banga (2 1/2 hours away) to assist in these developments. 

We drive over this bridge every time we leave Banga! We also walk over it 6 times per day - a particular challenge for the youngest McCropders. So far it seems to be sturdier than it looks, though! 

Others of us have been completing applications in search of donated ultrasound machines, meeting with the architect in Bujumbura, analyzing our capacity for short term visitors, assisting in website development, and networking with other Burundian and expatriate NGO workers doing similar or complementary work. We attended a ceremony on Saturday for the dedication of a new building with ALARM (African Leadership and Reconciliation Ministries). This formal event was also attended by the former president of Burundi! I appreciated the opportunity to observe cultural formalities, to meet other Burundians and expatriates desiring development of African leaders, and to practice my French and Kirundi - both languages proved to be important in communication and developing rapport with other guests. We also participated in a social gathering for expatriates on Saturday evening complete with line dancing - fun for this Nashvillian! I’m so thankful for the warm welcome we’ve received by so many and for the friendships that are developing in this new place. Ultimate frisbee two weekends in a row in Bujumbura was an especially encouraging gift for me! 

Bujumbura

And, finally, we continue full speed ahead with our plans for medical education and hospital work beginning in January. We met many of our fellow professors at Hope Africa University on Wednesday and now have a little better idea of where our colleagues are coming from and what hopes and expectations they have for our team of 6 physicians. We’ve begun discussions and plans as a team for clinical curriculum development now that we know when we will be responsible for the students up at Kibuye. There certainly is sufficient work to go around! I’m so thankful there are 6 of us! I’m also encouraged to begin friendships with colleagues at HAU and to collaborate with them in this shared vision. 

As the work continues here, though, my thoughts are frequently with my friends in Kenya as they mourn loss of life and security at the hands of terrorists. I have personally spent many hours at Westgate mall and recognize the locations where the tragic pictures were taken this week. I’m thankful to hear of the uniting of Kenyans and expatriates through this tragedy regardless of faith, tribe, or race. I recommend this personal story of one of many heroes. Also, this blog post by my Africa field leaders details the events and expresses my feelings well related to this violence. Please join me in praying for Kenya that justice and peace will reign. 

Missing Medicine

One aspect of transitioning to Burundi that has been surprisingly harder than expected has been not practicing medicine. We’ve heard from dozens of friends and colleagues in similar work around the world that they either 1) wished they had taken more time to study language when they arrived before beginning work or 2) never regretted any time they spent on language study. All expressed the same opinion that once hospital work began, language study was quite difficult if not impossible to make significant progress on and that few people were able to find the time to do it well. We appreciated receiving this wise counsel and I felt especially strongly that we needed to dedicate significant time to learning language before we started work. I saw the benefit any shared language had in developing rapport with nurses and other hospital staff, expressing compassion to families, and demonstrating doctor-patient communication to trainees. And those are benefits beyond the obvious utility of being able to communicate without a translator! 

Our language learning time began with 10 months of intensive French study in France. And now we have begun 3 months of intensive Kirundi study to be followed by 2 months of further Kirundi study on an individualized learning plan. The goal is to begin work at the hospital in January. I am still in agreement that this is the best way to begin our time (potentially 20 years) in Burundi. But Kirundi is hard! And progress is slow! It’s way harder than French - a third of English is derived from French and thus there are many words in French that are almost the same as in English. The only Kirundi words that are the same as English (that I’ve heard thus far) are “Alleluia” and “Amen”! (Although there are a few more that are clearly derived from French.) It also doesn’t help that our brains’ language learning centers are already pretty overworked and tired from learning French and trying not to forget it. 

All that to say, I’m tired of being a full time language learner! God is enabling me to learn languages but more than that, He has confirmed over and over that medical missions and teaching medicine is what He has called me to. I enjoy being a doctor (usually) and I feel He has knit me together for a career in medicine. And I miss having a patient in front of me and students around me. It’s sometimes hard to remember why we’re here in Burundi when we’re not yet doing what we came here to do. 

So it was a blessing over the weekend to have a taste of remembering the joy of medicine. We toured the Van Norman clinic (actually a hospital) at Hope Africa University in Bujumbura and saw a couple patients. I practiced a few simple Kirundi phrases with a mother of a hospitalized 2 month old baby - and was surprised and pleased to discover that the mother actually understood me! Her face lit up to realize I was speaking her language and I remembered how much I enjoy interacting with patients and families in their heart language. That’s why I’m putting forth this effort to speak this crazy tonal language - to communicate the love of Jesus to these mothers at their time of fear and discouragement. And then Saturday I spent a long time speaking with the local director of World Relief about some of their community health work near us. I really appreciated the opportunity to hear about the malnutrition and other evidences of poverty they see and how they are addressing that in the community. And, as a result, I have some new ideas of what to do with my 2 months of continued language and culture study once we move to Kibuye in November. These were encouraging encounters reminding me that this time is short and I will be back to practicing medicine soon and motivating me to continue the hard struggle of memorizing 16 noun classes with their various prefixes that change depending on the number of items, adjective, verb, etc.! I appreciate your prayers for perseverance! 

 I look forward to being back in this position soon - caring for patients and teaching students simultaneously - and hopefully able to communicate on some level with both! (Picture taken in May 2011 at Kibuye Hope Hospital, where we'll be working beginning in January)

Picture of Van Norman clinic under construction in May 2011

 Van Norman clinic now

 Drs. Rachel and Carlan helping to figure out some difficulties with the ultrasound machine (with a curious blond onlooker :)) 

 Tour of the lab at the clinic 

Cinnamon ice cream also helps greatly to make one feel happy to be settling in a new location! 

More Pictures

Pictures and commentary below from our 2nd and 3rd weeks in Burundi:

 I continue to be thankful to live in such a beautiful location. The above and below pictures were both taken from our front door. That was actually one of my big prayers when I first visited Burundi in 2011 - that I would experience natural beauty. I know God reveals His glory and creation everywhere, but it's so restorative to me to live in a place where the heavens and earth declare His glory in obvious ways. Burundi certainly does that! And we're looking forward to seeing how the scenery changes in the next few weeks as the rainy season has now begun. 

 Like many developing countries, there is a very wide discrepancy between what resources are available in the city (for those with means) and what is present (or, more likely, absent) in the rest of the country. Nairobi (Kenya), for example, had malls that would rival high-end US malls in both appearance and prices, but Kenya also has many citizens who live in extreme poverty and suffer from severe malnutrition. Burundi is significantly poorer than Kenya (per capita income of $400 instead of $1700) and has a much smaller ex-patriate population, so we weren't sure what would be available in Bujumbura. We knew we would miss Nakumatt (similar to Wal-Mart)! But we have been thankful for missionary friends in Bujumbura showing us around to the few stores that sell things like shampoo and conditioner (at high prices, unfortunately - $10 for each!) and we were especially excited to find some treat places like Cafe Gourmand above (similar to a French bakery), an Indian restaurant (below), and a Catholic co-op that sells delicious ice cream (including my favorite flavor - cinnamon!). It's another blessing to know special treats are available a couple hours away. 

 At the back left of the table above are Randy & Carolyn Bond. We overlapped with them in French language school for the 2nd semester and they will finish their French studies in December and then join us in Burundi early next year. We're excited to have another World Harvest team starting in Burundi and are thankful for the Bonds' friendship. Randy is a peds emergency medicine doc and toxicologist and Carolyn is an English teacher. You can read more about what they will be doing with Hope Africa University in Bujumbura here. 

 While Burundi is a landlocked nation, it does border Lake Tanganyika (longest freshwater lake in the world and second deepest) - pretty for pictures (Maggie and I above) and beneficial for shipping and fishing, but not recommended for swimming due to crocs and hippos! 

 Scenery on drive from Banga to Bujumbura

 Brick kilns like the one above dot the countryside in our region

 Bicycles are the most ubiquitous form of transportation - on mountain roads the above is a frequent sight as cyclists catch a ride uphill on the trucks. We wonder if we will see trauma patients frequently from this practice. 

 The highlight of last week was a visit by some very wise and experienced friends who gave us a cultural orientation to Burundi. We learned many practical things such as no whistling or yelling and also historical & broader insights. We are so thankful to understand more about this unique culture and also to have trusted folks to ask when we don't understand something. We continue to pray for Burundian friends for each of us who can guide us through some of the cultural differences and who we can mutually encourage. 

 A hike on Saturday provided an excellent opportunity to practice my simple Kirundi phrases - and to enjoy exploring with teammates (Micah and Elise above). 

 Houses on the top of the hill and banana trees

 Our entourage and language helpers. They were very happy to answer all my "What's that called?" questions. (Iki ni igiki?) One way we're studying outside of class is through a curriculum developed by a missionary lady here several decades ago. In Lesson 1 she teaches the verb for "to hoe". That wasn't on my list of most useful verbs to learn, but I memorized it anyways. But it seems Betty Cox knew what she was doing as we saw many people hoeing in their fields on our hike - you can see two kids carrying hoes above. And I can accurately say, "The woman hoes in her garden." Maybe not relevant for the hospital setting, but seems to be important for daily life in rural Burundi. 

The poverty is dramatic, especially at the end of dry season. Hopefully the hoeing and new rain will result in crops growing soon and more food being available for the hungry. 

Psalm 35:10 My whole being will exclaim, “Who is like you, O Lord? You rescue the poor from those too strong for them, the poor and needy from those who rob them.”

Psalm 140:12 I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy.