May 28, 2013


What a great finish!

We started early and left at 7am.  We returned to Adingo-Opanga and immediately began to treat patients.  It got hot early.  We had to screen over 110 orphans and widows, so we had to work hard.

Our team's chemistry had gelled and we were moving patients through.  I don't know if I mentioned that we had a physicians assistant with who did full physicals and prescribed medications.  Whooping cough, scabies, ringworm, skin rashes, parasitic cataracts and gastric issues were the main diagnoses.  We were warned to treat every patient as if they were HIV positive.

Mark and I had a lot of tough extractions on the widows, who presented with teeth rotted  below the gum line.  Limited instruments and low light made success difficult.  The sound of the children playing with new soccer balls kept our hearts light.  Several of the orphanage's goats wandered close and started bleating.  I had to answer.  Questions were posed about my sanity.

I passed on the peanut butter sandwich that I had in my backpack, to have my last Kenyan lunch.  Charred pinto beans were added to our menu, so I had the Kenyan version of bean and avocado burrito.

As the end of the approached, the sun was setting in our window, which made it hot, but put warm glow on our patients and actually was brighter than my headlamp.  Was God lighting the way for last few patients?

There was a cheer when Mark finished a very hard third molar extraction.  We had worked longer than planned because we wanted see everyone, but now we had to pack quickly to get down the dirt road before dark.

Today, Mark extracted 42 bad teeth.  Julie and I extracted 21 teeth and filled 22 teeth.  Over 110 kids and widows were screened.  A great day of care.

The Land Cruisers were packed.  The children were hugged.  We waved goodbye.

At 8pm, we returned to the hotel-13 hours after we departed.

Tired.  Happy.  Fulfilled.