Liberian Thanksgiving

Today we celebrated Liberian Thanksgiving and I've had a chance to think about all the things I'm thankful for.  I've had an amazing time the last two weeks:  I traveled to Sinoe county for a birthday celebration, rode in a helicopter for the first time, ate dinner at the Chinese Embassy, went to a local soccer game, and made two kids happy with simple coloring books and markers.  

Sinoe county is south of Monrovia and approximately an 8 hour ride over bad dirt roads.  The ride was worth it though because i got to see the country and meet people all along the way as we passed by the villages and made stops here and there.  Most villages are very basic and the houses are made out of clay and tin.  Greenville City is the hub of Sinoe County and is a sleepy little town that was settled by freed American slaves from primarly Mississippi and Alabama.  The architecture is remarkable and the connection between the American south and Sinoe is palpable.  I stayed in Sinoe 3 days and had a wonderful time.  I then got lucky and heard there was a UN helicopter flying back to Monrovia so I jumped on and made the trip back in 1 hour.  The views from the helicopter were amazing - the ocean was off to my left and the interior to my right.  We flew over some very isolated villages and it amazed me how people survive in such remote places.  

Back at the hospital we've almost completed our move to the renovated hospital.  Up until now we've be all working out of the Japanese hospital.  The Japanese hospital was built as a maternity ward and it is very cramped and in poor condition but was the only thing that survived the war.  The majority of the JFK Memorial hospital was looted and abandoned - we are working to restore it and we're making steady progress.  For the last two weeks I've been only performing emergency cases but we've had our fair share.  I've been able to discharge from the hospital over 75% of the patients that were on the wards when i first arrived.  Most of them had been in the hospital for many months because there was no one with the experience to take care of their difficult problems.  Currently we have three kids on the wards and they're very special to me.  Theresa is a young girl that has very bad bone infections that have caused her bones to break.  She's been in the hospital for over three months.  The other day I stopped in late and found her with a small piece of coloring book paper that she had colored in.  She became very excited when I told her she had done such a good job coloring it in and she told me she really liked coloring.  I decided to find a coloring book and markers for her and her roommate Prince.  I gave them the books and markers and wished them Happy Thanksgiving and they were so excited.  Actually Theresa had been crying because she had recently been moved by the nurses and her leg was hurting her.  It was great to see her smile like that when she saw her new book and markers.

Priceless...

A patient told me today that she was happy to see me because I encourage her.  She came in with a severe crush injury to her foot after being hit by a car while she was on the back of a motorbike. She required an amputation and that took a lot of convincing.  She was very scared, mostly because she works in the market and didn't know how she would manage to feed her family with one leg.  I had a meeting with the family and after multiple discussions was able to get everyone on the same page.  She showed me her surgical wound and showed me how well she is doing exercising her leg and she is really making great progress.  I've met with the rehabilitation people and we'll be fitting her with a "false leg (as we call it here)" once her stump heals.  It was nice to hear her tell me I encourage her and in turn she has encouraged me. And I have been reminded how important it is to encourage each other.

So Happy Thanksgiving!  (Liberian Thanksgiving!) 

And remember to encourage someone.  I'm sure you'll be encouraged too.