Merry Christmas, from Togo

'Tis The Season

Although temperatures are still in the mid-30's (Celsius) most days, and it doesn't feel at all festive here (except for a few fake Christmas trees in houses around the compound - looking peculiarly out of place in this environment), we want to wish you a very Merry Christmas.  This is a time for family and friends.  We will be missing many of ours through the coming weeks of celebration. 

The kids on the compound put on a lovely Christmas program for all of the doctors and missionaries last week in the pavilion outside the Guest House.  They sang their way through the Christmas story.  A lot of hard work by the kids and teachers paid off!

Jessica and the kids

This was 'unscripted dialogue' between
these two young kids

The three shepherds striking a pose.

Although in North America you get inundated with the commercialized side of the season, here in Togo we get none of that.  There's not much mention of Christmas at all, really.  The churches are announcing Christmas services and events.  There aren't any malls to shop at, so there's no advertising.  There are no glittering lights at night.  Singing carols with sweat running down your back is not what we normally experience, either.  We don't listen to any local radio, so we have no idea if there is Christmas music being played or not.  (One thing we did have is eggnog... Dr. Seth made a batch of West African eggnog.)  It's too hot to have anyone dressed up in a big red suit with a fake beard!  A sleigh would be useless around here, our Santa would need a good Land Rover 4x4 and all terrain tires!  This is probably closer to the scenes in Bethlehem than what were used to at home.

However, the real reason for the Christmas season is not lost on us.  The birth of Christ is a hugely significant event in the life of Christians around the world.  We trust that you will be able to celebrate this most important aspect of Christmas just as much as the treats, parties, presents and mistletoe. 

More Goodbyes

While the Guest House here is a revolving door of incoming and outgoing short term staff, some of our long term folks have a chance to head home for well-deserved breaks, family occasions or work back in the US or Canada.  John and Betty left last week for a six-month stay in the US.  It will be nice for them to spend Christmas with family, but this will end up being more work than vacation as they are loading up a container to ship back to Togo.  It will be filled with supplies and equipment for the maintenance department, as well as some medical equipment and housing supplies appliances.  

Before they departed, some of the gardeners and maintenance guys sang for them.  They finished with 'Silent Night', although it was 7:30am.  Check out the video of it below. 

Note:  you might need to turn your sound up a wee bit.

With John (and Betty) now gone, that leaves a large hole in the maintenance department.  I will be helping lead the department while John is away.  My goal is to return the property to him in a similar condition in which he left it.  No small task, but with some prayer and some hard work we'll get there.

(And of course, two hours after they departed the x-ray table broke.  I now know a whole lot more about the locking system of an x-ray table than I did a couple of days before.  And the table works.  No emergency phone call to the airport was required!)

Hospital Care

Christine has been in the hospital assisting the doctors with a couple of difficult cases recently.  Below is a picture of her working on a little 2-year-old girl who was seizing due to cerebral malaria. After a couple of days she was doing well and was released.   Another 10-year-old girl did not have such a positive outcome.  With many complications from cerebral malaria, bad pneumonia leading to bilateral pneumothoraces (yeah, I know what that means) requiring chest tubes, this was not an easy case.  Sadly, the girl passed away after six days, despite huge efforts from all of the staff.   There are some cases that are destined to end in defeat.  

Christine was also very thankful to have had a couple of donated CPAP machines on hand.  Just last night, as she sat down to have supper, the phone rang and she was asked to come to the hospital to assist again.  The new equipment was put into service and the patient was in much better condition because of it!  Know that the generosity of people back home is making a difference in the lives of people here.  Thank you.

A Few Quick Things To Share...

One of the fun things I get to do, working at a small hospital in West Africa, is provide some interesting assistance to the doctors and surgeons.  A couple of weeks ago Dr. Yamena needed a splint and came over to the wood shop in a hurry.  I cut a couple of pieces of plywood and made them smooth enough not to irritate the patient.

The splint just peeking out of the wrap.

Dr. Briggs came to the metal shop to ask me to cut a few pieces of surgical steel rod.  We made some bends in the rod, smoothed some edges and voila... something close to Rush Rods.  They're rods inserted surgically into fractured bones to stabilize and aid healing. 

Dr. Briggs grinding off some sharp edges...

Adding a 'shepherd's hook' bend to the rod...

And the finished product in action!

In a previous blog post I mentioned the differences in vehicle inspections and obtaining insurance.  I still need to tell the story about getting a bank account, but that needs more space.

Getting a couple of cylinders of medical oxygen and a smaller cylinder of acetylene was a fun experience too, however! 

The local Air Liquide is not quite as safe, secure, well stocked, comprehensive (yes, that's the word I'm looking for) as what I was used to in Canada. 
First, the entire operation - reception, accounting, warehousing, shipping, etc. was the same 10' x 10' concrete box - with a window, a fluorescent light that was not turned on, and a door.  With one employee... receptionist (kind of, we had to call him from his home), accountant (that John corrected on his invoice, twice.) warehousing and shipping (he watched as Mensavi and I loaded the cylinders). 
Second, storing some highly flammable gases in a confined room is probably not going to pass MOL inspection guidelines at home.  Not by a long shot.

John and Mensavi in the accounting department.

Beside the door - must be shipping and receiving!!

And once again, Merry Christmas -from all of us to all of you.  May you truly celebrate the birth of our King and Saviour.

Our Togo Christmas tree.