Medical Clinic in Tombodo

by Heather Quinn

Here is the latest update! Tomorrow is our day of rest. Please continue to pass along the emails via MEDENT or via listserv and to keep us in prayer. Thanks so much. We miss everyone at Jericho. We are learning a lot and are a great team!

It's hard to believe we've been here for a week. The time has been full and fulfilling. Today we went to Tombodo village to do a medical clinic. We got there by 930 this morning and set up quickly to begin our day. The CHO welcomed us and opened up the village medical center for us to use. Pastor Joshua had gone ahead to register patients prior to our arrival. He had ten registered when we got there. The day went smoothly and we treated almost 60 people. There were a lot of chronic conditions today like HTN, gastritis, and arthritis. There wasn't as many acute care cases as the other days. We saw some TB vs Pneumonia cases, suspected malaria, and intestinal worms. The clinic was peaceful and not as overwhelming. There were four TBA's in which three of them were helping us translate and dispense meds.

Community Meeting at Tombodo

As I was seeing patients today I would ask them their age. I soon realized it seemed like most people were guessing at it. Phebian informed me that most people don't know their real age. Can you imagine? The government came around a few years ago and gave everyone 'an age' in order for then to be able to vote in the political election. Like I mentioned yesterday, this village was attacked by Liberian rebels who occupied the village and set up the headquarters in the chiefs house for several years. They destroyed not only lives but the water and electric system as well as the road going into Koidu. It used to take 15 minutes to get from Koidu to Tombodo and now it takes over an hour. 

The young boy I mentioned yesterday who is in school, studying hard, and remembers the rebel invasion, had written a letter to Phebian politely asking for money for school fees. His hand writing was perfect and his letter was well written. Phebian thought about it over night and today agreed to give him the money for school with the hopes of hiring him for our medical clinic. He's 19 years old and he is almost done with High School. It costs $75 for a child to attend school which doesn't include school fees or uniforms or books. This fee is near impossible for families who earn $2 per day and have multiple children. The children love school here and often excel in their classes. Some go to Koidu which is the nearby town in order to receive a better education. Most of the teachers in the village volunteer their time. As I mentioned yesterday, Tombodo was the most beautiful village with the scenery. It was such a great day there and we made the trip back early to our hotel. While in the village, we received word from Kai -Phebian's brother-  that the hospital patient had passed away. He was comfortable and surrounded by family. We had a moment of silence and reassured Phebian that we did all we could. She knows it deep down but she's still affected by this. The funeral will be tomorrow. 

We plan on resting, reading, and relaxing tomorrow. Thanks for the prayers. We are missing our friends, family, and colleagues back home. You are in our prayers.