The Road to Gimbie Letters

06/15/02

Dear Family and Friends,

We have had quite the week. It has not actually been very busy due to the rainy season.

Our construction folks have been working on the drive up into the hospital. We had some heavy rains, so this road has turned into a thick brick-red mire. By the time it all ends, though, it will be worth it. We are trying to avoid the swampy areas that occur in front of the hospital each rainy season, along with the waterfall down the front steps to the hospital. The tiles are going in on the floor in the new hospital. Very nice. We have a planned opening ceremony for August 9, 2002 for the new building. Most of it should be pretty much ready by then.

I have been on call this week. This has given me some clinical time. Since I have come back, and now that Dr. Rose is no longer here, I spend most of my time doing problem solving, disciplining, report writing and other necessary things that need to happen in the hospital. It was actually nice to be able to see patients on call.

We did have one terrible night this week that I think will stick out in my mind for a good long time. A young man from town killed his cousin, a young woman, because of his concern for who she was seeing. He then tried to kill himself. Sadly, we had to do the police exam on the young woman. The man died soon after coming into the hospital and so [we] had to do the police exam on him as well. No one wanted to take the body of the young man. We were finally able to get the church to let us bury him in their churchyard. A very sad affair.

The same night, we had a car accident out in front of the hospital. Two men were killed and five others were injured. We had to do the police exams on the two men. I am glad I am in the healing business. Having four dead bodies in our morgue in two days is very sad. We have not seen this kind of thing for a long time and hopefully we won't again for some time. When you come home at the end of the night, it makes you go into your kids' rooms just to hear them breathing while they sleep. Life is so precious, and to see it prematurely ended makes you aware of and appreciate what and whom you have all the more.

There are some positive things about this week. My kids got ahold of a wooden packing case for a machine. It had been ripped to pieces, but Christopher and Ian spent days on putting the thing back together again. They had the idea that they could make it into a car. Finally, after much labor, the case was back together. They lined it with Styrofoam. They even carved a license plate out of a piece of wood and tacked it on the back. One problem though, no wheels. They then talked to Uncle Roger, one of the construction volunteers, and they were able to find 4 wheels from a broken and discarded cart. After some drilling and some more scrounging for used parts, they finally got wheels on their car. They take turns rolling it along the porch while the other is inside.

Another bit of news from the home, we were able to get a recipe sent to us from a friend for tamales and Phosfe made a go at it this week. They were great. We weren't sure if the Ethiopian corn would work, since it is so high in fiber, but after a good long time in the pressure cooker, it finally cooked down really well. We had some great tamales. It is also papaya season, so we have had corn and papayas a lot this week. Really good, but the consequences of all that fiber in the diet were quite evident at our home with a line outside the bathroom after each meal. We still like papaya.

Please keep us in your prayers, as we work toward opening our new hospital building in August. It seems that whenever God makes progress, there is an attempt to thwart it. We know who the Ultimate Victor is, and that keeps us going.

Sincerely in Christ,

Nick, Phosfe, Christopher and Ian Walters