Home Make-Over: Togo Edition

Things are busy in House 3 these days. That's the house just between us and the pool / sports court area. The kitchen and family room areas are being renovated for the Kendalls, who should be arriving some time late this week.

We (the 'we' being Kossi #3, Togbe' the mason... not Togbe' the carpenter... it gets confusing, and me – and sometimes Logan) spent last week smashing and chiseling out concrete and tile from the kitchen, dining area and family room. This week it's been putting new tile in. After thirty years of use and abuse, it's time for a refresh on some of these houses. The kitchen counter was weakened by termites eating away at the underside, many cupboard doors were loose on their hinges. The kitchen itself was like a cave, with no windows in it at all.  A big section of the wall between it and the dining room was removed to open things up.  Much nicer!

The new tile floor, some fresh paint, the new cupboards and a termite-free counter will go a long way towards making this place one of the nicest around!

That's taken up a lot of my time and energy this past week. Hopefully it pays off in the end.  

Maternity Ward

Christine has spent a lot of time with the infants. Just a few days ago a baby was born at 24 weeks gestation. The normal period is 40 weeks, so this one was very premature. The limbs of this little girl were like bony chicken legs. There was just nothing too them. My index finger was fatter than her thigh! She seemed to be doing well for the first few days, but after putting up a good fight she wasn't able to eat anything substantial enough to keep her alive. Sadly, she passed away after five days. Even in North America you would only see a 50% survival rate. There were good lessons learned, and the staff was encouraged by the length of time she was alive. It would have been nice to see another miracle, but it was not in God's plan.

There were twins – both boys – born by C-section. They were premature, as well. Both were put on CPAP to get them off to a good start. They were sent home after a couple of days. That was a nice feeling for the maternity ward staff!

One of the twins on CPAP, his brother
in the background

There are so many women who have had multiple pregnancies and have no, or few, surviving children to care for. Christine has seen several medical records showing five or more pregnancies and no children. This is more the norm than the exception. Having good prenatal and maternity care will go a long way to help improve the trend. This is where performing C-sections for the good of the baby comes into play. The doctors are more likely to do a C-section earlier here because of the poor natural birth stats when risk factors are present. Dr. Sam refers to these as a 'vaginal bypass delivery'. These surgeries also greatly reduce the chance of HIV transmission from mom to infant if the virus is present. Performing C-sections and being able to pass a healthy newborn to the mother is a rewarding experience!

General Hospital Stuff

The staff have been encouraged recently by some of the success stories they've been part of. There is a sense of renewed purpose and hope with these successes.

While pushing for the best outcomes for the patients, there are guidelines and policies to adhere to. We can't afford damage to equipment or go through tons of medications fighting a losing battle. It becomes an ethical dilemma, as anyone involved in the medical field can attest. There are times when you are wishing for just a bit more time / medication / technology because you know you're close. There are other times when you know it's time to stop care because this battle can't be won.

Pray for both the Togolese and North American staff as they fight against patients' diseases, illnesses and limitations on what they are able to do for the patients here in a resource limited country.  Also pray for unity as they all work together for a greater goal.

And just in case someone has a spare oxygen concentrator sitting taking up space in the house - we could use one desperately here. Just sayin'...

Chick Magnets

Since the chickens don't seem to be too keen on sitting on their eggs, we (myself not included) decided to get some pre-hatched chicks. We received a grand total of 15 of these little McNuggets-on-legs. However, due to complications beyond the control of the chick owners such as runaways, sick chicks and accidentally dropping them out of your hands, we are down to eight baby chicks. The remaining chicks have survived a week here in and around our house. I had to lay down some strict rules about smuggling them into the house in pockets or under hats.

Hudson built a play area for his chicks

So, no chicks running loose in the house. They are put up in a big box in the spare room to sleep at night, and let out to roam during the day. The big chickens are getting used to having the nuggets running around the yards. So far, no jealousy has set in.

Logan has been doing the lion's share of the chores and giving them the most attention. He is doing a great job with them. He was crushed when a couple of the littlest chicks became ill and died. He took it pretty hard, thinking it was something he did – or did not do. He's come to grips with it now and he's learning about taking better care of them. Pretty soon we won't have nuggets walking around here but ¼ chicken dinners instead!

Farewell, Kiong!

We were sad to bid farewell to our buddy, Dr. Kiong. He was a great guy; quiet and understated, but with a good sense of humour, keen insight and observation - and a tolerance for our boys! We hope that we'll be able to meet up with Kiong some time back in Canada.

As we say goodbye again, we also get a chance to welcome back a long term family. Dr. Eric, his wife Melissa and their two kids, Sam and Lizzie, are back. They are getting their home set up and preparing to start surgeries and patient care in early August. They also help by leading worship on Sunday evenings and that has injected a bit more volume into our singing time.

More Pictures From The Cutting Room Floor

As usual, here are some pictures that don't warranty a lot of explanation. These depict some of our sights and activities here in southern Togo.

Here are a bunch of little creatures.  Normally we wouldn't pay any attention to them, but they were created for our viewing pleasure... and sometimes our annoyance.

How do you torture a kid who is missing five front teeth?  Feed him corn on the cob!  This is what nine bites looked like the other night when Hudson tried to eat some rather bland field corn.  This certainly wasn't peaches and cream sweet corn!

This is Andy.  He's with the radio project up in Mango.  He wasn't feeling well so the medical staff at the Hospital Of Hope sent him down to Lome and Accra for some further medical tests.  If you have been following along, the team up north in Mango has had two surprise deaths and they aren't interested in any more.  Hence their vigilance in sending Andy for further testing.  

I just happened to be coming out of the guest house when his wife and kids arrived a couple of days later to stay on the grounds here while they awaited the tests and results.  I was able to snap a couple of pictures as the kids jumped out of the van.

All the tests came back negative for anything life-threatening, and we were able to bid them farewell so they could return to their work and teammates up in Mango.

Big, noisy bullfrog from down near the cuisine

Christine and Melissa doing their best to be product
models for hand soap.

Oh look, a hornbill!

Keenan brewing up a pot of goat soup.
He's made two delicious batches so far.

A lizard chilling out on an old shop rag.

Kokou and a bunch of the kids

Lots of little 'easter eggs' to hunt for in the stone work
around the hospital.  The HBB initials almost dead centre
of the picture, for those who are still guessing.)