The Road to Gimbie Letters

09/15/01

Dear Family and Friends,

This is a very sober time for all of us with the recent tragedies in New York and Washington. We are out of touch here and our e-mail has been sporadic, so we didn't hear about things until the next day when we heard it on the shortwave radio through BBC. In some ways I am glad that we did not see this on television because such scenes get burned into permanent memory and are difficult to see again and again.

The U.S. embassy in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, closed for two days and is now back open. They have sent a message to all of us Americans to be careful with travel and going out alone. The reaction that we have received here in Gimbie has been one of support from all we have talked to. We have had no negative reactions from any Ethiopians. The common view is that this was a sad event and people can't seem to believe how the all powerful America could let this happen. The picture of all powerful America has changed in people's minds.

At the hospital, things still keep going on, and we have had miracles just this past week. We had a c-section two days ago at night. The baby had distress and just as the doctor was pulling out the baby, the power went out. Please remember that this was at night and there are no backup emergency lights in our hospital. We called over to the nursing station, who had the only flashlight with working batteries. As she came running over, the doctor somehow managed to clamp and cut the cord without seeing the cord. When we got the flash light in the OR, they called me from the labor and delivery ward. The surgeon, Dr. Debebe, was doing surgery and Dr. Rose was doing anesthesia. I was in the labor and delivery ward about to do a procedure on a woman who came in with vaginal bleeding. They called me over to the OR and said the baby was not breathing and I went running over and got there about the same time as the flashlight. We then discovered the ambu bag to help the baby breathe was in the labor ward and so I had to borrow the flashlight, removing all source of light from the OR, run over to labor and delivery and get the ambu bag and run back. We then started CPR on the baby, who was not breathing and who had a heart rate that was very slow. I was praying as we worked on the baby and, finally, there was a cry on the part of the baby and we all breathed a sigh of relief and a prayer of thanksgiving.

The next miracle of the day happened a few hours later. A woman came in with a pregnancy and in labor. She had about a foot of umbilical cord hanging out between her legs. I checked her and felt only baby feet inside. Then suddenly the feet kicked. Every case I have ever seen of prolapsed cord has been accompanied by a dead baby. We then scrambled, trying to hold the baby in such a way so as to not put pressure on its lifeline, the umbilical cord, and we did a c-section. Somehow, we got the spinal anesthesia in and I did anesthesia while Dr. Rose did the surgery. He got the baby out and the baby cried within a minute of coming out. We were so happy. Baby was only 1710 grams (3.69 lbs). Just after the baby came out Dr. Rose said, there is another baby inside. He pulled this one out, 2500 grams (5.47 lbs), but it was blue and not breathing and there was a very slow heart rate. I started CPR on this one and baby began to cry. What a relief. Both babies were a little sick for the first day, but today both are two days old and they are both beginning to suck and looking better. I am really glad that we had a donated incubator from ADRA Holland so that we could take care of these two. What a miracle that we were able to even save a baby with a prolapsed cord, but to save twins was really exciting and to watch God do it right in front of us was really a thrill.

I have already mentioned previously that we seem to get certain kinds of cases at the same time. This week was no exception. On the morning of the two c-sections that I just mentioned above, we had another c-section for twins. This one was planned and not a surprise. This meant that three c-sections and two of them for twins in one day at our little hospital. That is not all, though, since I had seen two women just a few days ago for ultrasounds in the clinic. They were sent over saying that they were too big for their dates in pregnancy. Both of these women had twins. You should see the faces of these women when I get to tell them they have twins. They both looked scared while their husbands looked happy and thrilled. That means four sets of twin in one week. But wait. Today is the last day of the week and we had a woman come in today with a baby that would not come out. She said that she had twins. One of them was born at home yesterday, but didn't survive, and the second baby did not come out. She had to walk a long ways to get here, so she did not get here until today to get the second baby out. The second baby, sadly, was dead by the time she got here, but we were able to get it out. It had gotten stuck because its hand was on top of its head and was difficult to get out, but mom was a good pusher and we got it out. In one way, it was a mercy since the child looked like it had Down's syndrome, a genetic abnormality that would cause a lot of problems for the parents even in America, and here would be very hard. I suspect the other twin was the same, so I guess it may have been for the best. Mom had three other kids at home, though. This brings our total to five sets of twins. Not bad for a little mission hospital out in the middle of nowhere.

As I close, please know that you all are in our prayers as most of you are a lot closer to this terrible tragedy in America, but I hope this note lets you know that God is still working in this world.

Sincerely in Christ,

Nick, Phosfe, Christopher and Ian Walters