Dr. Hendrik
Visser & Andrew Visser
April 23
– May 27, 2005
Saturday,
April 23, 2005
Day
1
Packing for this
trip to
When Cathy and I
first went to
I brought some
good reading material to stimulate my midlife thinking, No Time by
Heather Menzies, and The 8th Habit by Stephen Covey. Will get started on the flight to
Sunday,
April 24, 2005
Day
2
My
flight to
We
did make use of our twelve-hour layover by taking in some of the
I do look forward to seeing familiar faces tomorrow. Hope it won’t be too hot to sleep!
Monday,
April 25, 2005
Day
3
We have arrived and as I write this, Ugudu, our cook is just clearing the lunch dishes off the table. Ugudu spent most of his years cooking for missionaries and he cooked a western style meat and potatoes meal for us. But fresh mangoes for dessert (they are in season!). Andrew is really tired, had a nap after arriving, and just had a cold shower. So he’s perking up a bit. It will soon be time to take a walk around.
The
drive this morning from
For me it’s great to be here. Andrew’s eyes were just a popping on the drive down, so I am sure there’s a bit of culture shock. I am anxious to find out how the Church is doing here, how things are medically, and whether there has been an increase in depression and chronic pain as there has been in the West. As far as I can see, parenting methods haven’t changed.
Looking forward to my first feed of ruam (pounded yams, the Tiv staple).
Tuesday,
April 26, 2005
Day
4
Mkar
Guesthouse, 6:00 am
I am sitting on the porch of our guesthouse, after awakening to the sounds of roosters and chickens. Someone is sweeping the night’s leaves and debris from their compound across the way. The power is still off after the electrical storm of last evening. I was napping yesterday, when the wind blew up, followed by the heavy downpour and thunder, so typical of rainy season. Unfortunately, NEPA, the national power grid is still very vulnerable to electrical storms. But our guesthouse is wired to the hospital generator that ran until 10:00 pm.
What an incredible day yesterday was! Andrew slept off his jet lag most of the day, but I was far too excited to sleep. I wept as I embraced my dear friend Terkegh Tsegba (James), who had kept up a long-distance relationship with me for twenty years. We chatted at the guesthouse, and later he and his wife Dooshima, took me to Gboko (the next major town) to email Cathy and post my blogs. On the way back, we picked up some “take-out”—fired yams with pepper sauce, and a type of rice cake with roasted (and peppered) beef. Andrew was awake enough to enjoy it with us as we reminisced and shared together at the guesthouse. Terkegh has a memory as sharp as a tack (he picks people out of pictures that who names I long forgot).
Several heart-warming moments standout this morning as I reflect. Some of the children and nursing students whom we invested time in twenty to twenty-five years ago, are now leaders and doing what they can for their community, and their church. Achir is one such young man. We have a picture of him holding Andrew, when he was eight, and Andrew was a baby. Achir dropped by last night; he is married, is working with youth through Boy’s Brigade, and his big smile speaks volumes of his joy. Another moment was earlier in the evening when a man, in his middle years, had a group of children around him. I watched them from a distance. Later, I found out that he has a passion for youth ministry, and this was a “catechism class.” I was struck by the children’s respect for him, and the rapport he obviously had with the kids.
Day
5
Mkar
Guesthouse
Tuesday, April 26th was a wonderful day in our lives—seeing Andrew revisit his birthplace was very touching. We have pictures of him standing on the very spot where he was born, and we have talked to nurses who were present at his birth. People see him as one of their own.
Andrew
is getting more used to the culture today—yesterday was overload for
him. After sleeping and getting a
feel for the importance of relationships in this culture, I think he is rather
enjoying his time. Achir showed him
around the village, and will climb
I did my first clinic today at the hospital and am starting to get a feel of the prevalence of the conditions that interest me from a research perspective. Depression continues to be very rare, and antidepressants are rarely prescribed. Suicide is also rare; my friend Terkegh knows of one completed suicide. Chronic pain is also relatively rare compared to home, and this hospital does not stock opioid pain killers.
After clinic today, we visited Terkegh’s compound and met all his family; he has four lovely children. We had our first feed of ruam, which I enjoyed more than Andrew. Then back to Gboko to post yesterday’s blog. Today, the Internet Café was like stepping into another world; the air conditioning was working, and for a moment, reading Cathy’s email put me back home. Technology can shrink time and space,
This evening visitors kept streaming by our room. I had a long chat with a dear friend, Peter Dzawua; he and his wife head up a Christian ministry that is impacting many lives. He said that people here are very open to faith, and are not embracing secularism as we see in the West. And Member, who frequently babysat Andrew as a baby, stopped by with her own family of five children. Her husband was just recently elected into civic politics.
All in all, a pretty full day; haven’t had much time for reading. I am thankful for the opportunity to be encourage local leaders to persevere. Speaking of perseverance, two staff I saw today deserve medals for longevity of serving—a nurse who heads up the Under Five’s Clinic, still serving at age 80, and an Operating Room technician, still there at age 90!
Wednesday,
April 27, 2005
Day
6
Mkar
Guesthouse
Andrew and I are sitting on the veranda at the guesthouse enjoying a rain. The wonderful thing about rain in rainy season is that it only lasts an hour, and everything cools down. Today was desperately hot and muggy; almost too much for me, not having had time yet to acclimatize. No one has a thermometer around here to actually document the temperature, but I suspect it is mid to high thirties, with high humidity.
Andrew
climbed
Supper today was with Rev. Joshua Yakubo, an American trained PhD in theology who is currently working on a translation revision of the Tiv Bible. He reminded me of the time I treated him for typhoid fever in the early 80’s, something I had completely forgotten.
The thing about Tiv culture that stands out the most is that these people are so relational—stopping to greet a friend or relative is more important than anything else. For example, we were riding back from Gboko last evening with a physiotherapist who works in a sister rehabilitation hospital (former BLS), when he saw a lawyer friend along the road. So he stops on the road in the middle of heavy traffic to say hi. Others seem to understand and just go with the flow. Everybody greets everybody. I suspect the reason for some of the resilience that we see is because of the strong social network these people have. My other theory is that the value placed on children here, stands them in good stead later. I can’t prove that, but I hope to demonstrate an association.
The highlight of my day was having a few moments with the student nurse helping me in clinic today; she had some spiritual struggles and questions, which I trust I was able to help her with through counsel and prayer.
We’re expecting Terkegh back shortly to take us to Gboko to check our emails and post my blogs.
Friday,
April 29, 2005
Day
7
Mkar
Guesthouse
Hot and sticky is the best description for the last 24 hours. And with NEPA being terrible this week, sleeping without a fan is a challenge. It is a little cooler here on the veranda at 6:00 am. There is a bit of a breeze, so maybe some rain is in the making.
We had a hard time getting emails through, and yesterday was no exception. I did get my blogs posted, but the power went out before I could email my sweetie. Later in the day we called home, and I did eventually reach Cathy for a few words, until we lost the connection. When I retried, there was no local service. But it was good to hear Nathan and Cathy’s voices.
I finished my clinic work yesterday, and am still trying to process the magnitude of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Everyone we tested had a positive result; I wondered about the accuracy of the test but was reassured that they are double-checked. Some people estimate that one in four people are HIV positive.
On the chronic pain side, I saw a number of people with chronic low back pain, severe enough to keep them from their normal household chores (carrying fire wood, pounding yams, etc.). Two had been in a motor vehicle accident. I saw no one with chronic neck pain, or shoulder pain. The ones that had chronic fatigue all tested positive for HIV. Practitioners here don’t recognize Fibromyalgia as a clinical entity, although Dr. Yandev, whose clinic we visited late yesterday believes it exists,` but isn’t diagnosed.
Dr.
Yandev is one of the Nigerian doctors I helped train when he first started
practise at
Today I hope to go to the sister hospital, formerly known as Benue Leprosy Settlement (BLS). Times have changed and leprosy is now treatable, so the focus has changed to rehabilitation. My friend Terkegh works there, along with a physiotherapist, and an orthopaedic surgeon, and two house physicians. I am told they can do total hip replacements there.
Saturday,
April 30, 2005
Day
8
Mkar
Guesthouse
Our time in Mkar is drawing to a close this morning; John Orkar, whom I have known since the early ‘70s from our time in Halifax where he was studying for his PhD, will be picking us up this morning for a few days in Jos, before moving on to Cameroon. Jos is about 4000 ft above sea level, thus cooler. I am hoping we might even find a pool there! There used to be a pool close by here, at the Benue Cement Company’s expatriate staff housing complex, but the whole place was run down. They are making cement again, and the living quarters are being renovated.
Yesterday
morning I gave a short talk at the morning hospital chapel service, usually attended
by all staff and students.
It’s quite a crowd all told, probably 200 people. My words were to encourage them and to
challenge them to raise the bar a notch.
Andrew and I then had a tour of
For lunch yesterday, we joined the Heads of Departments of Mkar Hospital. I encouraged them, and challenged them to think long range, and plan not only for the HIV/AIDS epidemic, but also to address the rising incidence of high blood pressure and diabetes. I saw far more obesity now, then twenty years ago, I am sure from increased use of vehicles as opposed to walking. They also expressed their appreciation for our coming and help, and honoured us with a gift of traditional Tiv dress.
As I reflect of our week in Tivland, several things stand out:
·
Hospitality of the people. As I expressed my
gratitude for their hospitality, one of the hospital staff said,
“Hospitality is
· Respect for seniority, authority and elderhood. I saw very little evidence of teenage rebellion, and when asking some university students about drugs, they said there is some hemp (cannabis) and cocaine, but it doesn’t appear to be a major problem. I remember seeing cases of hemp induced psychosis. I didn’t see much alcohol consumption either, although there probably will be today at the weekly Mkar market. A local brew was also popular there.
· Secure maternal-infant attachments. Babies sleep with, and are virtually inseparable from their mothers, until weaned. I have a theory that this secure attachment helps them with their resilience to difficulty and the lack of depression. Recent neurodevelopment research bears this out. Children are highly valued in this culture.
· Emphasis on relationships. I already commented on how relationships, looking after your extended family, and taking time to relate supersede most other things. With a paucity of TVs, early darkness (about 6:30 pm year-round), people spend their evenings talking, telling stories, playing games and enjoying each other. From what we know about the importance of relationships to health, I am sure this contributes to their resilience.
· Spirituality. These people are very spiritual and the church is thriving; everywhere you drive or walk, you see another church. Their approach to their faith is much more holistic than in the West, and some of my friends here like Terkegh, Achir, and Peter Dzawua, are men of integrity and maturity, whom I deeply respect.
Things are far from perfect here, though. The rich keep getting richer, while the poor get poorer. As all over the world, greed still feeds corruption. The advent of plastic wrapping is wreaking havoc with the environment as non-compostable garbage piles up all over the place.
I am grateful for our first week. Time with these people has enriched mine, and my relationship with my Creator. It has been so rewarding to see the fruit of our labours of our years here from 1979 to 1985.
Sunday, May 1, 2005
Day
9
Jos,
John and Esther Orkar’s home
John and Esther picked us up in Mkar at the prearranged time. After saying our farewells, we were off in John’s Toyota Land Cruiser, loaded to the roof with our baggage, and produce. John asked if we had a chance to see inside our old home; he didn’t mind going to the door and inviting ourlseves in. We did, and had a chance to see the old house, and Andrew’s bedroom. The children’s wall paper with lions, etc. was still up! We took his picture in the room.
The journey from Mkar to Jos took about seven hours, with several stops along the way. One stop was for lunch—pounded yams and “bushmeat.” They call it “grass cutter” as a pleasantry, but I knew this critter as a “bushrat,” something close to a muskrat at home. However, all cooked up, it is not bad meat. Andrew seemed to enjoy it, not really knowing its dubious lineage as a rodent.
I enjoyed the climb up the plateau, an ancient volcanic mountain range that reaches over 4000 ft above sea level. Driving up is a nightmare though, with overloaded lorries (trucks) in first gear, smoking billowing everywhere, holding up traffic. It is so tempting to pass when you shouldn’t; people do it anyway, although John was the most cautious driver we have had so far. Sometimes I just have to close my eyes and desist the urge to be a backseat driver.
The
landscape on the plateau is almost dessert-like, with cacti and large rocks
everywhere. Jos is a large city,
with more modern buildings and architecture than Ggoko. For supper, John and Esther took us to
the Cedar Tree Restaurant, a place I remember from years ago, run by a
Lebanese. We overate on Lebanese
Mesa, leaving plenty over for takeout.
We met some important people there, and a missionary who I recognized
from years ago, Dick Seinen. He was
entertaining visiting Mission brass from
From the restaurant, John was anxious to take us to the Internet Café. If we thought the one in Gboko was another world, this one was on another galaxy! The interior was very modern, it was air conditioned, and everything worked! And it was high speed.
It was great to spend time with John and Esther. I already mentioned the long history of our acquaintance. They are wonderful hosts, and people of strong and deep faith. I look forward to worshipping with them today.
Monday,
May 2, 2005
Day
10
Jos,
Orkar’s home
Today Nigerians are celebrating “May Day” as a public holiday, to commemorate the labour force. Yesterday was Sunday, and we enjoyed worshipping with the Orkar’s; he had pre-warned us about typical long African services. This one was two hours, not at all intolerable for me. In fact, it bugs me at home when people complain of a service that goes over one hour, when most movies, concerts, and sports events, go at least two hours.
We arrived in church early and were given a tour of the facility. It is quite large, probably could seat 600. There were extra classrooms that weren’t being used yet, but there is vision for the future, such as conferences. Pre-service worship started about twenty minutes before service time—led by a contemporary worship team and band, 4 singers, keyboard, drums and electric guitar. I thought back to my time in Sri Lanka where the same emotions overwhelmed me—the songs that we sing at home, I’m singing here, having become a global worship repertoire, connecting us as brothers and sisters all around the world. I think it’s a foretaste of heaven.
The
crowd was truly multi-ethnic, part of the vision of this English speaking
church, to reach out to students and faculty of the
John and Esther had invited a whole crowd over for “Sunday Dinner”—ruam of course. This gave us a chance to meet some of the mission staff still in Jos, and some of their friends.
After lunch, Andrew and I decided to work off some of the ruam, so we hiked up a small mountain behind the Orkar’s house. They live on the edge of town, on a street that I would classify as “upper middle class.” Here all the homes are within highly secured and walled yards. The tops of the walls typically have something sharp at the top, such as barbed wire or spikes, and there are steel gates guarded by round the clock security. Two or three beeps of the horn is the sign for the sentry to open the gate.
From our vantage point at the top of the mountain, we could see Jos nestled between several mountains. Jos overall seems more “progressive” than Gboko—we saw our first women in slacks here. Traffic and the unreliability of NEPA are no different than Mkar. John is a cautious driver, but I must simply close my eyes at times.
We ended our day at the Internet Café, where we had a wrap and a Coke, before we checked emails and posted Saturday’s blog.
Tuesday,
May 3, 2005
Day
11
Jos,
Orkar’s home
Today
is to be our last day in
Andrew
and I played tennis yesterday; took a while for me to get going, as I have only
played occasionally while in
In
the afternoon we did some visitation, Andrew did some shopping, and we picked
up our flight tickets to
We had a quiet evening with the Orkar’s. Esther has started writing a memoir of her life, which she hopes to be an encouragement to other women. She seemed frustrated with her layout and asked for help. I hope the suggestions for the outline that I gave her will improve the readability, and the impact.
Today
we hope to visit
Wednesday,
May 4, 2005
Day
12
Today
is a travel day—Jos to
Yesterday
started with a visit to
After the Evangel tour and interviews, Andrew and I went to Shere Hills, a volcanic mountain area where we hiked and climbed. I remember going out there before; we have a picture of a time we took out mothers out there for a picnic with other missionaries.
The
afternoon was quiet, and we spent the evening with Chris Roos, a missionary
nurse who has spent her entire career in
Let
me summarize my impressions. The
BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) recently released a report that placed
1. Religious (# 1)
2. Happiness (#1)
3. Corruption (#3) – used to be #1, so improvement
I would concur with the BBC report;
spirituality is a high priority here and people express their faith openly, and
even on secular radio there are constant references to things spiritual. The Church is growing rapidly, with
Pentecostal churches showing the fastest growth. Chris also said that these churches are
most effective in HIV/AIDS prevention.
Islam of course also has a major presence in
The BBC’s
finding that Nigerians are the happiest in the world does surprise me somewhat,
and I wonder what tool they used for their survey. Certainly the paucity of depression
might explain it. Some earlier
studies I have seen placed
My own findings revealed more low back pain than I remember from before, but still less incidence than in Canada, although when you consider how much back work they do, you would expect more degenerative disease. Neither I, nor the people I interviewed, see any post trauma neck pain, what we call WAD (Whiplash Associated Disorder) at home. As mentioned before, depression and suicide are extremely rare. In Tivland homosexuality is unknown, incest is rare, as is the physical abuse of children. Children respect their parents and authority. I saw no cigarette use (except one Lebanese woman in an Internet Café). People do use alcohol and I cannot say how much alcoholism there is. I saw no teenage rebellion.
People are industrious, trying to scratch out a meagre income in anyway they can; everybody is trying to sell produce or services, so there are vendors along every street and at every intersection. Although people all report hard times, I saw no starvation or malnutrition.
So on the positive side, here is a culture that is resilient and happy despite very low average income. The strength of their relationships, secure maternal infant bonding, and strong spiritual beliefs surely contribute to this.
The major
challenges
I am thankful for my time here. We in the West can learn from African culture, and this has spurred my passion to teach the importance of relationships, healthy spirituality, and the importance of a solid nuclear family where children are raised with unconditional love.
And we are
thankful to those who have lovingly hosted us. Hospitality is a way of life in
Thursday,
May 5, 2005
Day
13
Baptist
Guesthouse,
Air
conditioning! A pool! We’re
in another world this morning after spending most of yesterday sweltering in
The
flight from Jos to
We
had about a six-hour layover in
The Lagos Douala flight was then delayed an hour, I think because the main door was stuck shut. In any case, we ended up boarding through the aft door. It was an aging 737 with many of the trays broken, and the overhead bins kept popping own—likely just overuse from the years. In any case, we arrived safely and my nephew Bert met us at the airport. It was good to be met by a familiar face.
Rather
than drive all the way to
Friday,
May 6, 2005
Day
14
Bert
& Wilma Visser’s Guestroom, Yaounde, Cameroon
From what we have
seen of
We
started out our drive yesterday from the Baptist guesthouse, after a swim in
the pool, by stopping for breakfast at a beautiful Café where they had
delicious French style pastries.
This is one of the treats of
Bert
and Wilma live partly into
I spent much of yesterday afternoon preparing for the Everything that Hinders Seminar that I am offering today and tomorrow. It was a public holiday here yesterday (Ascension Day), so Bert had the day off; he and Andrew planned for tennis, but the courts were wet, so they shot hoops instead. We saw Wilma’s office where we also checked out emails and posted my journal. They have a network connection to the SIL network, which in turn has Internet connectivity
We
had a wonderful evening chatting with Bert, Wilma and Mary Jean. Mary Jean graduates from high school,
and is planning to attend
Saturday,
May 7, 2005
Day
15
Bert
& Wilma Visser’s Guestroom, Yaounde, Cameroon
Today is the start of week three. The length of the time away from home, and the rest of my family, is becoming harder. That is especially so, now that we are staying with family, Bert and Wilma.
Most of yesterday, and most of today, will be spent on the Everything that Hinders seminar. We had a good start last night, with about 40 attending, mostly SIL staff. We will resume today at 8:30 am, and wrap it up by 5:00 pm. I hope the material will be helpful and allow them to raise the bar in their personal, family and professional lives.
Mary
Jean and Andrew has been busy planning for our outing to
Sunday,
May 8, 2005
Day
16
Bert
& Wilma Visser’s Guestroom, Yaounde, Cameroon
Last night was definitely my poorest night from a sleep perspective, except the overnight flights. There must be a local group playing at the bar just a half block away, and they are still whooping it up at 6:15 am. The drum has a penetrating quality with an irregular beat, spurred on I suppose by a night of drinking, that goes on and on. I don’t blame Bert and Wilma hunting for a new house when them come back after their summer leave.
The Everything that Hinders Workshop went very well, at least from my perspective, and from the feedback on the evaluation forms. Responsive chords were struck in the area of living our values, boundaries, and maintaining what we call margin, a reserve of time, energy and finances to prevent a crisis and undue stress. Some of the missionaries, a few pastors, and all the pastor’s wives, recognized that they have been placing ministry before family. One MK (missionary kid) who is now back on the field as an adult, shared from her perspective. Many realized how much healing they already experienced. The group really opened up, shared their struggles, and we had a wonderful time together. I pray that the time invested will yield Kingdom dividends.
Some
of the participants have booked for individual consultations with me, for
Monday and Tuesday morning. From
there, the plan is to head for
The
best part of yesterday was hearing Cathy’s voice. She called on Wilma’s cell phone,
and that really made my day.
Overall, the infrastructure here is further than
I look forward to a more relaxing day today—Bert is preaching in church (in English), so it won’t be a struggle to hear. And we have plans for a swim in the pool at he French Club, and maybe some tennis.
Today
is Mother’s Day in
Monday,
May 9, 2005
Day
17
Bert
& Wilma Visser’s Guestroom, Yaounde, Cameroon
For
my birthday today, Wilma cooked a nice supper of chicken, potato scallop and
vegetables, followed by a delicious carrot cake. After supper we worked at planning and
packing for our trip to
Most of my day was spent seeing some of the missionaries who had attended the Everything that Hinders Seminar. I believe these consultations were productive, and I hope that people were helped by them.
Yesterday
was an enjoyable day. Sunday
morning worship was with Bert and Wilma in a small francophone church they
attend; Bert was preaching, in English, translated into French. He had a good message on marriage, an
area that needs significant work here, just as at home. He quoted some stats from a BBC
interview he had heard about the divorce rate in
After a lunch of potato salad, we were off to the French Club, a private sports club. Here we played tennis (it was too hot for my liking), followed by a refreshing dip in the pool. We relaxed and read some, and by 5:30 pm, we were actually starting to feel cold; Wilma was wrapping herself in her beach towel.
There was an evening service for all the SIL staff, which was quite a large crowd. The highlight for me was the time when new people were welcomed, others preparing for furlough (missionary leave) were prayed for, and all the needs of the mission family were shared, and in turn prayed for. It was heart-warming to experience the caring; Cathy and I well remember how the mission family becomes your “surrogate family” when abroad.
Tuesday,
May 10, 2005
Day
18
We
are presently at the base of
Mt
Last night it
rained hard in
Wednesday,
May 11, 2005
Day
19
Seme
New Beach Hotel,
We woke to a beautiful clear day today, just a few upper level clouds hiding the summit of the mountain. We spent the night in a local hotel and had an omelette (with spaghetti) in it, with quite a bit of pepper. The kids were either too nervous, or excited, to eat much. After breakfast, they met their porters and guide, a send-off picture, and they were off. They will aim for Hut Two, where they sleep until 3 or 4 am, then with flashlights until daybreak, head for the summit. After their descent tomorrow they will be ready for a swim in the ocean.
After dropping the kids off, Bert, Wilma and I drove to the coast. On the way we had to detour where the lava from the 2000 eruption just crossed the road before coming to a halt.
We
are at a lovely beach hotel. It's good
to hear the
Thursday,
May 12, 2005
Day
20
Seme
New Beach Hotel,
It rained overnight, and I thought of Mary-Jean and Andrew on the mountain. I checked the time—it was around midnight so they should be dry in Hut Two. It was sunny first thing this the morning and they were able to finish their climb and return before the weather again changed to cloud and rain. It poured as we drove to pick them up; they just got back just moments before the downpour.
We
all went back to the hotel for the rest of the day. We had a swim in the rain, followed by a
delicious three-course meal at the hotel restaurant. We're turning in early to get up for a
swim before leaving back to
Friday,
May 13, 2005
Day
21
We
are back safe and sound to Bert and Wilma’s house in
The
rest of today will be spent getting ready to for the next leg of our journey
tomorrow. We will leave
We
so much have appreciated Bert and Wilma’s hospitality during our stay
here. They will be travelling to
Saturday,
May 14, 2005
Day
22
Our
time in
Although
Overall,
urban
As
in
Sunday,
May 15, 2005
Day
23
We
arrived safely in
Dave
and Joy live in a very attractive home on the campus of
After
our arrival, Dave and Joy took us to a local hotel pool for a swim and
lunch. In the evening there was an
English service in the chapel for students and staff, followed by the
longstanding tradition of “waffle night” for the expatriate staff
in the home of the Chinchen’s, but tonight it was French toast
instead. I very much enjoyed
meeting the Chinchen’s, who have spent thirty years in Africa, initially
in
Monday,
May 16, 2005
Day
24
After
breakfast prepared by Jackson, Dave and Joy’s cook, I joined Dave for
some errands in town. The
“new town” part of Linlongwe is definitely more spacious and modern
than either Jos in
The biggest part of my morning was spent with Sue Harrell, a counsellor who works with the children in the Children of the Nations (www.cotni.org) sponsored orphanages, which Dave and Joy also work with. We shared some of the latest research on neurodevelopment and she concurred with my observation that secure early childhood attachments do “immunize” children and adults somewhat against the negative psychosocial effects of trauma and hardship later. She also noted the resilience of Africans from the attitude that says, “You just have to accept that life is hard.” While the children and adolescents she works with here do show the signs of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), depression is still surprisingly rare. And the kids do very well in the homes where they are re-parented by house parents, who feel this work as a calling, rather than a job. I look forward to visiting some of these homes over the next few days.
In
the afternoon, Dr. Mark Boersma gave me a tour of ABC Community Clinic, a
medical facility on the Africa Bible College (ABC) campus. It was funded by money raised in the
Later, Dave took Andrew and I on a tour of areas that he has been working at since his arrival here in July, 2004. We saw the Chitipi Children’s Home where 32 children are cared for by Esther and Patterson Lungu, Malawian houseparents, along with two aunties, who are younger single women. There is a farming operation at this facility, with an ingenious irrigation system that very much impressed me. This is a model that could easily be reproduced around the region, helping alleviate the food shortage when the rains fail. There were hogs, three dairy cows, 42 goats, turkeys, chickens, rabbits and pigeons. Some of the pigs are sold, the profit being reinvested into the farming operation.
Dave has been supervising a building program for a new children’s home in Njewa, a village nearby. That project is temporarily on hold due to the government’s request to have the land rezoned, even though it is out in the country. They hope to resume building within the next month. A large portion is already built, all red brick.
Tuesday,
May 17, 2005
Day
25
I
spent most of today with Dr. Chris Brooks at his clinic about an hour and a
half from here on
There
are good treatments available now for AIDS. In
Dr. Brooks has not seen depression in the patients he treats. Nor does he believe that fibromyalgia is a clinical entity here. People with chronic fatigue generally test positive for HIV infection.
I
very much appreciated the time Dr. Brooks took to take me to his clinic, as
well as sharing with me his passion for this work. He finds it so fulfilling, after a
practise in
Wednesday,
May 18, 2005
Day
26