Today’s blank page…

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Little Amelio had a fever for several days and then began to lose his skin, all of it (photos).  That is when his parents decided to hire a motorbike taxi and travel three hours to Cavango.  We diagnosed him with a relatively rare form of bacterial infection and began aggressive antibiotic treatment and supportive care.  We’ve had perhaps a dozen babies over the years with this infection and none have survived.  But this little guy kept nursing and within a week had lost his whole outer layer of skin and went home “new”.  The Wind…

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Aurelia had a fever for several days, several weeks before arriving in Cavango.  As the fever seemed to be improving, she awoke one day and had lost all vision in both eyes (photo).  She improved otherwise and she and her family waited to see if her vision might improve.  She arrived completely blind to even light, led around by her husband with a stick.  Her pupils were dilated and nonreactive, indicating nerve damage.  She had no pain and no other symptoms.  Exam and ultrasound revealed nothing further.  We told her that either malaria or meningitis had destroyed her optic center in the brain and, because it had been so long, she would not recover her sight.  We said we would ask for our Father to touch her and put her on strong anti-inflammatory medication for a few days.  The next day, Aurelia walked into my consultation room on her own, bumped into a couple chairs and was smiling.  She said she could see light and was thrilled.  She saw nothing else and could not see me.  The following day she returned and said her sight improved and she could make out details. She said she could see me but could not count fingers.  The next day she counted fingers accurately and she said she prepared food and walked without bumping into anything and said she was seeing almost normally.  Her pupils were small and reactive and I was dumfounded.  She went home. No diagnosis/explanation, but The Wind…

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Jarius (photo) walked into Eduardo’s consultation room slowly and deliberately.  His abdomen was distended and caused him much pain.  He held his left ribs as he told his story.  He said a week prior he had struck a tree limb in his left chest and fell off his motorbike. He had worsening pain since while watching his abdomen “grow”.  He said he felt weaker every day and now had difficulty walking.  His abdomen was tender on the left, under his ribs, and distended.  Ultrasound revealed a large area of macerated spleen and his abdomen was full of thick fluid, which we suspected was blood.  His hemoglobin test revealed that he had lost about half of his blood volume into his abdomen.  His blood count didn’t change overnight and we were hopeful that the bleeding had stopped, so we put a tube into his abdomen and drained frank blood – perhaps two liters.  Over a couple days, we lavaged his abdomen with several liters of saline through the tube and watched the return become more clear with each liter.  He will return home well from a lacerated spleen which, without surgery, often takes the lives of its victims.  The Wind…

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We have enjoyed the presence of many visitors lately.  Two stellar medical students, Nathan and Evan, from Ohio, who are interested in this type of work in their future.  Bob and Randy have been working on leveling the airstrip, working tirelessly with a skid steer and bulldozer.  It is not the same “pista” that it was when they arrived.  I think we could putt on it!  Vianne is a wonderful, motivated Angolan physician here for several months to learn how to practice rural medicine in her own country.

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Barry is a physician from Washington and is helping us get set up for performing minor surgeries, including D&Cs, Cesareans, vasectomies and tubal ligations.  Margarida arrived about the same time as Barry with a suspected early, first pregnancy and hemorrhage and pain.  Ultrasound revealed a uterine tumor and her pregnancy test was positive.  This is called a “molar pregnancy” and is a uterine tumor which produces pregnancy hormone and, if not removed, can grow to become cancer and cause death in young women.  We watched Margarida stabilize and the tumor grow over a week and Barry was able to guide Eduardo through a D&C to remove the tumor (photo).  It was beautiful to perform this surgery in Cavango rather than send her by plane to Lubango, at great expense.  Barry’s knowledge and experience in many countries doing the same type of work will benefit many in this little (but growing) rural outpost, for years to come.

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Zarito is a beautiful young man from Huambo who genuinely loves and follows Jesus and is translating for Barry while he is in Cavango.  He said his experience here has been transforming and he is now considering the study of medicine.

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A team of nine arrived via MAF from Lubango from the local church attended by the DeSouzas during their time in Angola before moving to Cavango.  They wish to encourage the patients at the hospital, married couples, youth and those in Cavango, in general.  They are led by Jennie and Carlos and two pastors and are clearly Jesus-lovers who have kindred spirits to see people follow Jesus rather than certain doctrines/rules or churches.  They have already encouraged many.

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Martinho (photo) arrived with great difficulty breathing after having completed an eight-month course of TB treatment.  His oxygen level was < 60% and his chest x-ray revealed widespread TB.  Ultrasound revealed a failing heart.  Over several weeks, we have watched Martinho inexplicably improve with antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, additional TB treatment, nebulized breathing treatments and oxygen supplementation.  He is walking without oxygen and his heart is recovering.  We’ve had a number of people over the years with resistant TB and he is the first to recover.  The Wind…

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For several years, Elsa (photo) had been accused of being a witch.  Last year, she was dragged by church people from our hospital, with a rope tied around her neck, to the center of the village, her clothes torn, and “put on trial” by the mob.  Eduardo and I intercepted the proceedings and rescued her.  She works daily for us at the hospital and is beautiful.  She came in last week with a bowel obstruction and the gossip took off.  She would die because she was cursed.  No one could save her.  We diagnosed her and sent her to Lubango where her bowel obstruction was relieved surgically and she will return to Cavango this week.  Members of our staff were shocked, convinced that she couldn’t survive the demons which had invaded her body.  The Wind…

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Leonardo is twenty and arrived after two weeks of abdominal pain and fever with a distended abdomen and he had wasted away to nothing over that time.  We diagnosed him with a bowel perforation secondary to typhoid and put a tube into his abdomen and drained more than two liters of frank pus.  We left the tube and transferred him to Lubango (photo) for definitive repair.  The surgeons there said they removed almost another two liters of pus from his abdomen at surgery.  How is it possible that a body would manufacture that amount of pus over so much time and survive?  For several days with us, Leonardo saw me give suckers to others and he was permitted nothing by mouth.  On top of all his suffering, his doctor wouldn’t allow him even a taste of some candy!  I promised Leonardo that he would survive and that he would receive a sucker every day, on his return, for as long as he would like.

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The prevailing worldview/philosophy/faith in rural Angola is “Que será, que será”.  “What will be, will be.”  We are subject to forces beyond our control, we are what/who we are and we can’t change what is.  Unseen/seen powers, genetics, curses, luck, chance, stars, mother earth, etc… This is not the philosophy that changed the world over the past 400 years.  With all of its positives and negatives, the attitude that changed the world was that we can improve our lives and/or the lives of others.  One of the primary messages from our Father in His letters to us is that our choices affect us and those around us, today and tomorrow.  All of our choices “ripple”, inwardly and outwardly.  Jesus said that how we value others would affect our choices and that real love involves giving our lives away for the sake of the beloved. Service of another was valued over personal benefit.  The purpose of invention and innovation was more about benefiting others, rather than personal profit.  Change is always possible, no matter how dire one’s circumstances.

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That attitude has never been present in Cavango and that is largely why the people of this region live as they did 2000 years ago.  Now the developed world is moving in the direction of Cavango as it aggressively abandons our Father’s ways, which value selflessness and “other”.  Jesus emphasized abandoning the pursuit of fulfillment of personal desires and to, rather, pursue the benefit of those in need.  This has been deemed unhealthy by our all-wise, psychology-driven, modern experts as we are encouraged to satisfy personal desires and feed ambition for personal benefit.  We must never “stuff” desires as they will fester inside and cause us harm.  Seriously crazy nonsense, promoted by the modern “profession” of psychology (“science”) without verification, and believed by many (most).

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In contrast to the fantasy novels/movies of today, history is full of true stories of heroes who have benefitted many with disregard to self, and who remain unknown to our younger generations because “history” is not relevant or valued when compared to our stimulating, false fantasies.  Today, those who have benefitted from the sacrifice of others deem self-sacrifice psychologically unhealthy. You might burnout!   So many have gone before us and tolerated circumstances we wouldn’t bear today and were driven by the idea that they might improve living conditions for their kids and/or the following generations.  Obstacles/tragedy/difficulties could be overcome.  Work to change and improve was valued over personal comfort.  No longer…  The most prosperous and comfortable cultures ever wallow in victimization and self-pity – today’s “virtues”.  This ungrateful generation chooses to forget what/who gave them what they have.  “We can’t change” is the prevailing godless attitude in Cavango and it shows.  Cavango is a snapshot of what was and, if more people would have to carry river water in a bucket on their head to an open fire over wood they gathered over hours, I wonder if it would impact their work ethic and attitude re change?

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We had a 10yo patient recovering this week from a near death experience whose family marveled that their son was so hungry that he ate three times in one day…

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As we seek cultural relevance in churches around the world, we forget the history of Jesus’ real church.  His followers have caused conflict in virtually every culture in which they have lived.  In the early days, and since, they were mocked, beaten, exiled and killed.  Why?  Because they treated people poorly?  Or perhaps because their sweaty, tired lives of abandonment to self for the sake of the valued “least” exposed the real motives of those who led their cultures, promising the same while delivering self-aggrandizement.  Jesus’ followers have been persecuted by every national “church” for the same reasons. 

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The underground church revolution in China rose up while facing persecution by the sanctioned, national, “traditional”, culturally accepted churches.  Most of the (horrific) persecution of Jesus’ followers in the middle ages was perpetrated by the sanctioned, culturally accepted “churches”.  North America was settled in large part by people run out of their own countries and culturally accepted “churches”.

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“You will be turned over to the authorities and killed” was spoken by our leader, not “unity” and “relevance”.  Unity was what would hold His few followers together as they stood against the (popular) mob, not an ideal to be pursued with the culture. 

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We are called to serve, with calculated, chosen abandonment to ourselves, our dreams, our desires, our esteem, our comfort…  Who will join us in Cavango and elsewhere to serve those who haven’t heard, to give witness that our King lives and values especially those forgotten, abused and neglected by their own cultures (and churches)?

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In the same speech, Jesus spoke of the value of abandoning our lives for those hurting and confused, and that He is the Vine and we are the branches, purposed for one reason – to bear fruit… to reproduce the work of the Vine in the same garden, in the weeds and woods surrounding, and in every mountain and valley…

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