More Changes to Celebrate

The top two photos are once again shots from my visit two years ago. I have included them to highlight the amazing changes that have occured at the hospital in the operating and recovery rooms since my last visit.

The first is of me in my scrubs standing in the hallway waiting to join Dr. Bransford in surgery. Contrast that with the shot of the hallway as of today. I should have stood in the shot to make it even more similar to the one above from two years ago but hopefull you recognize the hallway from two years ago and can contrast it against the latest photo. The other shot above is a closer photograph of the recovery room when I was assisting Dr. Bransford two years ago. You can compare that photo with the updated recovery room photos from the blog posts below.

The other included picture on this post is of the official plaque in the hallway outside the operating theatres marking the official opening on October 8th of this year by the President of Kenya, Awai Kibaki.

More photos and stories - read on...

The Operating and Recovery Rooms - Two Years Later...

These photographs document the changes that have taken place at Bethany Kids over the last two years. The first two photos were taken when I was here two years ago. The first I took from inside the operating room when I observed Dr. Bransford conducting a surgery on a child with spina bifia. To contrast that photo with the renovated operating room below reveals how much change has taken place in the past two years to improve the facilities and capacity to continue to perform the important surgeries for the children at Bethany.

The second photo at the top is of the recovery room two years ago and the photo to the left here is of the recovery room now that renovations are completed.

Your work in Oakville has made an enormous impact on the work here in Kenya. Your willingness to serve others through sacrifice and giving has resulted in tangible changes here in the hospital which are already influencing the work here at Bethany. I was looking forward to sharing these photographs with you and hopefully you are as excited reading and seeing them as I was walking into the hospital. They reveal how much has been done, but as I continue to say with all of these posts - there is so much more to do.

As you know, plans are in place to expand Bethany Kids and increase their bed capacity from 67 to over 100. This expansion begins this winter (2011) and will increase the number of children who will be served throughout east Africa. There are mobile clinics that Bethany doctors perform throughout Kenya and east Africa (the subject of a future blog), and plans to send out the current surgical residents back to their home countries to establish Bethany satellites to expand the ability to serve children throughout Africa. Current surgical residents hail from Madagascar and Ethiopia and the intent is to support them as they go home and continue to the work of Bethany Kids in other parts of Africa.

A lot has been done and I am so delighted to share the progress with you so you know that your work has made a difference which I hope will continue to inspire you even further.

I have been posting multiple posts per night because there is so much to share and so many pictures to reveal. Today is no exception. Read on for more about the new operating and recovery rooms at Bethany Kids...

New Operating Rooms at Kijabe Hospital for Bethany Kids

The main road that cuts right through the heart of Kenya starts at Mombassa on the coast and runs right through Nairobi, past Kijabe, and on into Uganda. It is four lanes around Nairobi but goes to two toward Kijabe. It is a paved road with its share of bumps and obstacles, but all things considered, fairly good. It is when you turn off this main road that things get interesting. When we turned off the main road to head into Kijabe, I couldn't help but notice that it was in fairly good shape. There were none of the massive holes and cracks to navigate. I found out that the reason for the decent shape of the road was because the President of Kenya, Mwai Kibaki, had been down the road on an official visit to Kijabe hospital and the roads were attended to in preparation for his visit on October the 8th of this year. The reason for his visit? To officially open the new operating rooms at Kijabe Hospital and Bethany Kids!

The last time I was at Bethany you will remember I was in scrubs and in the operating room and recovery rooms. In fact, I think they used that photo of me in the recent Oakville Beaver article. While the state of the operating and recovery rooms did not look wonderful, the surgeons were still doing amazing things for the children. A renovation was needed though, and with the support of St. Vincent and other donors who contribute to Bethany Kids, renovations of the operating rooms and the addition of more were recently completed as officially marked by the President's visit.

These photos reveal changes that have occured at Bethany since my last visit. The operating room in the first picture is first rate, the second photo is of Dr. Newton, an anesthesiologist who works at Bethany and will be taking over the medical leadership now that Dr. Bransford is retiring. The third photo is of the recovery room where I was assisting with Dr. Bransford when he was attending to the young boy with the burn, and the last is a photo of the pediatric recovery room still in progress. I added that photo so I can share a story which I will get to in a few moments. The number of operating rooms has been doubled now to 8 in total - all completely renovated or brand new.

To put things in perspective, Nairobi Hospital has 20 operating rooms and twice the number of surgeons but Kijabe actually performs slightly more surgeries each day. The reason is that Nairobi is a government hospital and the doctors are paid only up to a certain amount no matter how many they do. Most only perform surgeries until noon and then have private practice in the afternoon to make more money. The doctors at Bethany Kids are physicians who have committed themselves to working for children and doing so as missionaries. Money is not a priority as much as serving as many children as they possibly can. The joke is - don't get sick and go into a government hospital in the afternoon because you're likely to get very inexperienced care. That comment reminds me of the story of the young girl with the amputated arm from my visit two years ago. She was in Nairobi general and they had set up a drip into the top of her hand but used the wrong drugs. Her arm started to go black and creep up her arm toward her torso and eventually her chest. Her mother took the tubes out of her arms and against the doctors advice, took her daughter and boarded a bus to Kijabe for the pediatric care there. The reputation of Bethany Kids is what made her make that choice and as a result, it likely saved her daughter's life, though they could not save the arm.
The hospital is quickly becoming a destination for teaching with pediatric surgical and anesthesiologist residents learning at Bethany Kids. Most pediatric orthopedic hospitals lack the expertise and experience with dealing with children with spina bifida and hydrocephalus. They are proud to be the only pediatric care hospital of its kind between Cairo and Capetown.

The inclusion of the photo of the doorway into the pediatric recovery room is to remind me to tell the story of the realities the doctors face. The neo-natal care unit requires a heater to keep the infants warm but the contractor responsible for doing the renovations was going to charge way too much to purchase and install so the doctors - lead by Dr. Newton - are going to do it themselves! Staying on top of the contractors as they worked through the renovations to make everything right for the doctors and patients was almost a full time job itself. The attention to detail and desire to create the best space possible has resulted in amazing changes in two short years.

Students at Joytown

I really enjoyed the chance to interact with the students at Joytown during my visit and thought our students at St. Vincent would be interested in some photographs of some of the students I met while I was there as well as some photos of what their classrooms look like at the moment.

As I mentioned in a previous posting, the school year begins in January here and it runs until the end of November, early December. The Grade 8 students at Joytown are busy preparing for the national exams that all students have to write at the end of Gr. 8. These are standardized national tests - much like our Gr. 3 and 6 provincial testing - that all students participate in. How well the students perform on these exams determines what their choices for secondary education may be.

Joseph is doing a "wheelie" in his wheelchair for me. He was wheeling up and down the corridors having a great time. His balance was amazing!

There are more photos inside classrooms. The first is in a Gr. 4 class. I joined them for some of their science lesson and enjoyed the chance to speak with them about their lessons and how they like school.

The outdoor photograph is of the students getting ready to line up for lunch in the mess hall. They all congregate outside when the lunch bell rings and come together to eat over the noon hour. I will post more photos from inside the school but I hope this glimpse gives you an impression of Joytown and the students who attend.

There are three Joytown-related posts today so read on...

More Evidence of Positive Progress

Though there is much more work to do at Joytown, it is important to recognize and celebrate progress. I have included four more photographs of changes that have taken place since my last visit and more accurately - since Bethany came on board with Joytown.

The first two photographs are of the new laudromat facilities at the school. While it is still a work in progress, it is an encouraging sign of on-going improvements to the facilities. Perhaps more importantly, the improvement of the laundry is as important as a social advancement as well. As I have written about in previous blog postings, many boys and girls who have spina bifida also struggle with incontinence. Updating the laundry facilities is an important to the school so the students can be wearing the cleanest clothing possible. This facility will also serve as a place to learn important life skills as independence is a goal for many of the students. Improving the facilities which help with some as simple yet essential as laundry goes a long way toward the preservation and promotion of human dignity with all the students at the school - something that is an important component of our Focus on Faith initiative within the school board and certainly at St. Vincent.

As you can see in the two photos, the work is not done yet, but there is already evidence of a bright, open, clean facility which will increase the washing capacity tremendously and contribute to the maitenance of human dignity for all students.

The next is of the dormatories. You may remember one of my photos of my visit to the dorms two years ago when I met a little girl with hydrocephalus who was alone in the barren dorm. It was nice to return and see while the buildings remain, the maitenance and upkeep has improved considerably. The cleanliness of the dorms was evident and you can see mosquito netting above every bed now. This is important for the protection against malaria which is contracted through mosquito bites.

There are plans to add on to the dorms which will see a complete renovation of the exisiting shower and toilet facilities in each dorm. We were able to peruse the plans and even offer our opinions on potential options. The new washroom facilities are even more wheelchair accessable as are the showers and will be an improvement on the existing dorms. Though those plans are only at the concept stage at the moment, it was good to see some thought toward step by step improvement of the existing structures while maintaining them to as high a standard as possible.

As I said in my last post - there is much more to do, but with Bethany's intervention at the beginning of the year and our support from home, they are definitely moving in a positive direction.

I'm posting three today so read on below to "Joytown Continued..."

Joytown Continued...

I have so many pictures on my camera from my time at Joytown and look forward to sharing many of them with you when I return, but for now, I'm limited to four at a time on the blog. So, here are some more shots of the library with students in it - taking out books to read and utilizing the new space. The books on the shelf are a good start, but more will be required. I will be bringing many of the books you sent over with me to the library when I go back on Monday.

There was a boy we met when we were at Joytown who was struggling to walk with his walker. Dr. Bransford stopped him and did an examination on the spot. The boy has cerebral palsy and Dr. Bransford wanted to improve his posture and ultimately assist him with his walking by straightening the leg even more and setting it in a cast as you can see in the photo. That, however, is not the reason why I decided to post the photos.


I wrote about some of the changes that were evident since my last visit including the library (pictured here) and the increase of in therapists from none to five plus assistants and counselors. Another noticable difference since my last visit and since Bethany Kids have become involved in this school is the palpable optimism in the staff. The assistants and therapists who are working with the children here so obviously love what they do and care deeply for the children in their care.

After Dr. Bransford set the casts on the boy's leg, he made sure everything was alright and left the room with some others. I lingered for a while checking a few things out. I then looked over at one of the therapists as she was writing "I Love You" with a green marker on his cast. She read it to him as she pointed at her heart first and then at him. It was such an amazing moment.

I remember, as I'm sure you do too, the children from my last visit who I often found on their own. This time, I saw children with the same incredible needs and challenges, but I also witnessed an attitude of love, compassion, and care from the staff. The intervention of Bethany Kids here at Joytown has started to make an impact on the physical space and buildings, but there is much, much more work to be done in that regard. Perhaps more importantly, the impact on the care and the culture was even more incredible to behold. There's so much more to do, but it is gratifying to know inroads are being made. Thanks so much for your support in this regard at home!

Good Things Happening at Joytown

My trip to Joytown today was highly anticipated because I was so interested to see what has been happening since the last time I was here two years ago. As I revealed with my photos and stories from the last trip, the neglect at the school was incredible and situation the children were in was appalling. It was obvious something needed to be done. However, getting things done does not always happen easily here in Africa as we have to be very careful about how our funds, time, and materials are used. In order to support the children at Joytown, Bethany entered into partnership with them at the beginning of this academic year which, here in Kenya, starts in January. This commitment from Bethany was intended not only to provide support for the school and children financially and medically from a rehab perspective, but also from an accountability perspective. All funding from Bethany is closely monitored and scrutinized and the expectation is that change will result - no matter how slowly. The needs remain as we all know Rome was not built in a day. However, there are some exciting improvements at Joytown which are a direct result of the intervention of Bethany Kids and you - staff, students, and parents at St. Vincent - as your encouragement and support over these past few years lead to Bethany moving quickly into partnership with Joytown.

So what's new at Joytown? When I was here two years ago there was only one physiotherapist at Joytown responsible for over 300 students! The needs were enormous and the challenge was overwhelming for her. She quit leaving Joytown without a physiotherapist and any therapy for the children for an entire year! When Bethany became involved at the beginning of January this year, the hiring of therapists became a most important priority. Now, just over 10 months later, there are 5 therapists working at Joytown - 3 PT and 2 OT -plus the assistance of 3 assistant therapists, and Francisca as a counselor and mentor I mentioned in my last post. Moving from 1 therapist to none to 9 directly involved in the therapy for the students is incredible. Children are being seen regularly and physiotherapy is a large part of their program now. I spoke with some of the therapists anecdotally and the gains the children are making as a result are amazing. Students were pointed out to me who were in wheelchairs months ago and were now walking with the assistance of walkers, canes, and braces. The treatment the children are receiving is making a difference in their physical development but also in the social development as well. It is amazing (and sad) to think that the most needy in perhaps all of Kenya were without such a vital support for an entire year. The physio tent has some improved equipment and the conditions are cleaner than the last time I was here. Two photos from inside the therapy room are above of Dr. Bransford adjusting the brace on Daniel who you see the first photo as well. Daniel was in the physio tent working on his walking when we came in for a visit.

Another amazing addition to the school is the refurbishment of the library. A team was here in June (one team member being my mother-in-law!) working on the library - cleaning the facility, painting the walls and chairs and book cases, stocking the shelves with books, and making the library a more welcoming place to be. I was looking forward to seeing the changes in the library on this visit and I must say that it exceeded my expectations. There are books on the shelves - though more are needed - and a great table for gathering, teaching, and reading. The library is only one building on a large campus of buildings housing classes and dormatories, but the care and attention to detail in the library reveals a new pride in the facility which will hopefully continue to spread. I have included two photos here of the library for your perusal. I will be sharing some of the books you sent with me to the library at Joytown when I return on Monday. I will be writing "From your friends at St. Vincent School, Oakville, Ontario, Canada" on the inside cover. I also look forward to sharing some bibles which were generously donated as well as a bible in Swahili that was another parent donation. I have two bibles in Swahili - one will go to Mercy at Bethany and the other to the library at Joytown.

As I said in a blog post from 2008, with the right vision, people, and support, amazing things can be accomplished. Is there more to do? Absolutely. In fact, I will post more tomorrow about my time with the children in the classes and around the school. However, this visit today was an encouraging step toward improving the lives of the children at Joytown. We have more to accomplish together, but I am optimistic that we will get there. I posted twice again this evening so please read on below about Francisca - her amazing story of faith, persistence, and optimism that began at Bethany and continues now at Joytown. Read on...