Malaria, Moving, and goodbye Mwandege...

Okay. So I know that it has been a good while since you all have heard something from me about what is happening here in Tanzania. For that I am sorry. This last month has been pretty crazy. Beth and I started out celebrating the New Year with a mass crowd of Tanzanians. We went to an overnight prayer and worship celebration at the Uhuru National Stadium with some of the people from the base. We were the only white people there! It was pretty incredible, but I have to admit that both of us couldn't make it through the entire night and fell asleep at different points during the night. Since then, as a team we have been taking a lot of time focusing on team unity. We have really enjoyed the new staff that arrived last month and I cannot believe the change in dynamics that they alone brought to our team. Bek, Sarah, Rachel and Menno are amazing. They are servant-hearted, gracious, and a lot of fun. I have really enjoyed Bek being here. She is pretty wonderful! She is from Seattle too and her sister Molly and I did our SBS (School of Biblical Studies) together in 2005. She has similar humor as her sister, so I am enjoying the jokes and laughter. Last week, I started to feel really tired and weak. I went to the clinic on base and it turns out I had malaria! Just a small little case. Nothing major. I was given some medication and was feeling back to normal within a couple of days. The worst part of having malaria though, was finding out the news that the team is moving to another location for the remainder of the time in Africa. Oh, and not that we are moving, but we are moving in the matter of 3 days! By the grace of God I was able to pack up my things and managed to get enough rest to recover from malaria. The decision to move was one that the staff took very seriously. Several of us had built very strong relationships with the staff and families on base as well as people in the village, so the idea of leaving was very painful and difficult for us. I was one of those people that had a hard time adjusting to the idea, rather the fact that we would be leaving people that I loved behind to move in order to accommodate for the external needs of the team. In the end, I did have a lot of peace about the decision and know that it was a necessary change made to help us move forward in positivity and unity. It is closer to the hospital that we work at, we have air conditioned rooms with our own bathroom, and personally I have one of the best roommates out there...Bethany. A big thank you to the staff for working so hard to find a beautiful place for us to live. So we are moved and settling in. We have had some opportunity to explore our surroundings. We are living in a Catholic Monastery and what seems like a mini walled city. This is what I have found so far, a dispensary, an orphanage, a nunnery, a somewhat cryptic cemetery, a church, and 3 canteens. It is pretty cool. I have more to explore though.
Today I delivered another baby! It's a girl! Hannah. She was born at 11:19am weighing 3.4kg and was perfect. At least I think so. It was a pretty smooth delivery. Her mum did great! Her name is Aisha and she is 16 years old. Hannah is her first baby and Aisha was able to take her time in pushing so there was only mild grazing. An answer to prayers. Bek assisted me. She was speaking praise to Jesus over the mum and the mum repeated the praise at different points of her delivery. It was really uplifting. Glory to God for a healthy mum and baby!
Ok that is all for now. Internet time has run out. I will be posting pictures for you all tomorrow! Many blessings!

Sorry just a quick hello. I am doing well and will post some pictures and updates tomorrow. We were in the process of moving last week to a new location for the remainder of outreach, so it has been pretty stressful to say the least. We have been pretty busy. I will be posting updates tomorrow after coming home from the hospital.
Much love.

Hello 2011!

Our new staff are here! Last week three new staff arrived from Perth to take the place of the staff who have been here with us for the last 3 months. It was a pretty smooth transition. With the new staff came a burst of energy and joy that has begun to revive us all. Thank you Jesus.
So we are into the new year. I am not one to make the 'new year's resolutions' that most everyone makes and then forget about come February, but I have decided that there are some commitments that I need to make to myself and to God for 2011. I am still working on that list of commitments, but the main one is that I desperately need to finish nursing school. Africa is calling me for good and the sooner I complete my studies the sooner I can come and be in a land I have come to call another home.
Work in the hospital has resumed. This week we have seen 10 deliveries in the hospital so far. Yesterday, I spent the day in the ANC and Postnatal ward and was partnered with Bethany. I love her by the way. Anyways, at one point I needed to take 5 women for ultra-sounds. Out of those 5 women, 3 had live single pregnancies, 1 had live twins, and one was 29 wks and had an IUFD. I took the women back to the ANC ward and the doctor reported the news of each ultra-sound to each of the women. My heart continues to break when I think of the look on the woman's face as she was told the news of her infant's death. After the experience though I had even more of a respect for that doctor. He took her hands into his, looked into her eyes and explained the situation. I have been struggling to get that look on her face out of my mind. It has almost been haunting. Her face turned from excitement to complete torment. Two others from my team and I were able to pray with her. I pray now that God shows himself more than ever to her and that she can see His heart even in the midst of personal tragedy.
You can't escape some things here like you can in the states. Death is almost unavoidable. When you work in a hospital like the ones here that have a lack of resources and supplies, it seems inevitable that you will encounter it everyday if not at least once a week. Processing death, especially infant death is difficult and seeing God in all of it is sometimes impossible. The fact is that no matter how impossible it seems, God is here. He is in the smiles of the women who hear their baby's first cry or lay their eyes on them for the first time. He is in the hands of skilled surgeons who make sure that they do their very best at keeping both mother and baby alive during risky cesarean sections. He is in the comforting embrace of a doctor who is giving the mother the news of the death of her infant. He is here. I just have to keep my eyes open.
Please pray life over Temeke hospital. Please pray for the doctors and nurses. PRAY FOR MORE SUPPLIES!!! They are in desperate need for even the most basic of supplies. Pray for blood. They are out of their supply.