Pomp and Dinner

POMP AND DINNER

Church on Sunday

Church had been on Saturday, so our Sunday seemed open.  Our group met in the church building that is right there on the hospital grounds.  We sang and shared favorite scriptures and were joined by a few African men who altered (and improved) the sound of our hymns.  What a beautiful serendipity, this impromptu international worship.  After that we started organizing and sorting our meds brought in the 13 tubs assigned to each of us.  Separating things to go on the outreach and pre-packaging pills, like vitamins and ibuprofen was tedious and necessary.  Surgical mesh and other supplies were set aside for the hospital.  At  some point in the afternoon a few boys came in with a note asking for financial help.  Not having even exchanged dollars made this impossible, so we played with them.  Frisbees, jump ropes, volleyballs, and balloons all came out.  Soon 50 or more children from the hospital, some patients, some family came and we played.  I am sad to report that my camera battery died, teaching me the importance of planning ahead when the generator is running.  But we had fun playing and getting to know a few people.  We had been on rounds Saturday and a few faces looked familiar.  I saw the parents of  a little boy who had been undergoing debridement of his necrotic leg tissue.  Ok, I’m not medical and I probably just spelled a bunch of stuff wrong, so I’ll just explain:  This little guy had received a shot in the leg, probably with a dirty needle from someone in the village—a witch doctor?—and the skin  had become infected and started rotting away.  In an effort to save him, the dead flesh had been removed regularly.  By the time we were there he pretty much had no left leg.  Every effort was being made on his behalf, and I was surprised to see his folks out with us.  Dr. Erdi predicted that the infection would spread and he would not make it…but she didn’t slack in her care of him.  Daily she hopes for miracles.  Why did I not write down his name??  I will never know him or hear his laugh.  He died Tuesday morning at 5 a.m.

Dinner at ABD's

Big Jeff and baby Jeff

Kumba and friends

Our playing with the kids made us late for a dinner Dr. ABD was hosting in our honor at his home.  Much rearranging had been done as a series of tables joined to overtake the front room where we could all eat together.  Several people had been invited to join us…people important to the cause of Magbenteh and grateful for our arrival.  Kumba, Dr. ABD’s wife and 2 friends put together a meal that was deluxe.  (One thing on the menu was a ‘scottish egg’ (I think)…a boiled egg, coated in some breading and fried.)  Before we ate speeches were made and thanks given for our arrival.  I was struck by the eloquence of  their words and the sense of importance their ceremony gave this dinner.  People were everywhere, sitting in the hallway, and many neighbors on the front porch looking in at us thru the windows.  We were a spectacle and the source of entertainment for the evening, but the informality of our setting was transcended by the elegance of our hosts.  How many of those people actually live at ABD’s home, I do not know.  At any given point there will be 15-35 people staying there.  Many are children who belong to his family…they send the kids there to stay so they can go to school. (His actual birthed children include Abdul, Daniel, Daniela and baby Jeff)  The sense of family is much more inclusive…. When someone says, “he’s my brother” what they mean is ‘we grew up together, we belong to one another’.  What they don’t necessarily mean is “we share at least one parent”.  It’s rather confusing, and kinda cool.  Makes me think about baby dedications when the parents commit to raising a child in this community of faith and the church commits to helping.  I think we need to step it up a bit, my brothers and sisters.  We have much to learn about being in community with one another.   

One person we met was Harold Fifer, a Swiss man who helped ABD start the hospital in 2004.  His commitment to the people of Sierra Leone and Magbenteh Hospital is intense.  He has worked tirelessly to secure finances and stay true to the dream of being a humanitarian presence in Makeni.  We also met Dr. Turay,  Sierra Leone’s former ambassador to Moscow.  He is a national raised in the same village as ABD (and SL’s current president) who, after 36 years of practicing medicine in Germany has “come home” to help his people.  He is the elfish little powerhouse of a man who hiked to out of the way places to find the neediest people to benefit from Dr. Smith’s surgical skills.  All in all, a humbling evening which inspired us to get ready for Monday, our first big day of work.