Great Expectations

There is nothing like having great expectations.  Today a couple came into my consulting room their hopes built high.  They had heard people have come to me and hence avoided an amputation of their leg, so now that the elderly husband has been sentenced to an amputation they came knocking at my door. 

“Doctor, we have faith in God and after God in you that you can cure my husband´s leg:” Was the opening statement.  “The hospital in Quito wants to amputate his leg, but we know you are going to cure him.” 

“Does he have an ulcer?”  I asked, not seeing any bandages on his leg. 

“No doctor, he has a cancerous tumour in his leg.” 

My heart sank as I knew they were going to be leaving disappointed.  I was not going to be able to give them the hope of a cure they were seeking. 

The elderly man had developed memory loss two months previously, which was why his wife did all the talking.  He had had the growth just below his knee for 8 months.  His wife complained vigorously that her husband had been in hospital for 2 months but that the staff had “done nothing, not even given him anything for his pain.”  Looking at his test results I could see it already had spread to his abdomen.  The man did have a swollen hard area below his knee, but he was very relaxed and not in obvious distress. 

It was one of those moments when I would dearly have loved to be able to see into the future;   to know how aggressive his cancer is going to be, how long he has left and how much distress the tumour will cause him.  The couple face a difficult decision.  The hospital offers amputation as the only treatment.  But he already has spread to his abdomen – and maybe to his brain.  Amputation will remove the tumour in his leg but will not stop the disease that ultimately is going to kill him.  Is this traumatic surgery the best option?  Or will such mutilating surgery be too much for him to cope with? 

I do not know the answer, but I could help them formulate the questions they need to ask themselves and their doctors in Quito.  I could give him some medicines for his pain.  I could not cure the disease, as they had hoped, but I could offer to accompany them along their journey.  I pray the decision they make will be the one that causes that poor man the least suffering possible in the circumstances, and that their faith sustains them in the days to come.     

A month in the life of Andy in the Andes

It is Monday morning and my first patient is Maria: a fifty year old woman who has a diabetic ulcer on her foot.  She was told by the local hospital that her case was hopeless, and that she required an amputation of her foot.  The first time she came to me she was fearful and tearful.  She was terrified of losing her foot and distressed that there appeared to be no alternative.  She needed to be able to walk again, to be able to work again, to be able to provide for her family. 

Today she is smiling.  As we take off the dressings we can see the beautiful red skin growing over and closing the wound.  It is wonderful to be able to help patients like Maria, here in a forgotten village in Ecuador; to show them God´s love by caring for them in a practical manner, and to restore their hope. 

Later in the week I visit Señora Chuba.  She is an eighty year old woman dying of cancer.  Sent home from the hospital with no medicines and no follow up or support, she and her daughter are immensely grateful for our visit.  The nurse and I attend to her physical needs, and then she asks us to read the Bible to her.  We share Psalm 23, pray and sing a hymn together.  Such moments are amongst the most precious in my life.  They are real instants of heaven touching earth.   When her daughter phones me the following day to ask for the death certificate I know that Señora Chuba was ready for her final journey.  

The next week sees me organising a remarkable celebratory meal.  As well as running the village health centre I also run a sponsorship scheme for local children to be able to afford to go to school.  It is the end of the school year and seven girls are graduating from secondary school.  This is an amazing achievement for each and every one of them, and they have each dedicated themselves to their studies in a truly admirable way.  Angela is one of five sisters whose father abandoned them many years ago.  Their mother has worked washing clothes by hand for the neighbours every hour possible to put food on the table.  Sometimes the girls have gone to bed hungry.  They have walked half an hour to get to school in tropical rain storms and blazing hot sun.  Their mother never had the opportunity to study more than primary school.  Angela now has the chance to find a job as a bookkeeper in a local store in the day and to pursue a University course in the evenings.  She can become a professional.  Her life has been transformed by the support of her sponsor. 

Tania has funded her secondary education by participating in our village sewing group.  This afternoon she has brought me her final offering of some intricately embroidered bags.  The money I pay her for them will cover the cost of her graduation.  I am sure these will be a popular item when they find their way on to church stalls in the UK.  Martha has also come with some aprons she has made.  She is deaf and dumb and has not had any education, but she knows how to use a sewing machine really well.  The income from the sewing project enables her to feed and clothe her two young daughters. 

The month ends with my father-in-law´s birthday meal.  He is happily barbequing his favourite meat, guinea pig, while my daughters play and laugh at his side.  The whole family enjoys the special meal and the chance to spend time together. 

This article was published in Life and Work Magazine April 2013

‘Life is but a breath’ – medical mission in Ecuador

‘Life is but a breath’ – medical mission in Ecuador

The importance of Education

Education is so important; essential to be able to achieve your goals and dreams in life.  I was privileged to receive an excellent school and university education in Britain, which equipped me with the skills I can now use in life.  I love the sponsorship scheme of Project Ecuador because it shares this gift of education with so many more children.   

However, sometimes I worry that living in the backwaters of Ecuador my girls will not have the same opportunities as I did.  The level of education in schools is somewhat basic, though they will learn reading, writing and arithmetic. 

However growing up here does have certain advantages too - not least that they are growing up bilingual.  This in itself will open up many doors of opportunity to them in the future. 

A trip to visit a local family on Saturday also got me thinking.  Head knowledge is very important, but moulding a heart so much more so.

The family we visited consists of the young parents, an eight year old girl and a 3 year old boy.  We went as a family to visit them in their tiny wooden shack, which measures 3 by 4 metres.  My girls happily went inside to play with the children, while Vlady and I inspected their small plot and talked with the parents about the possibility of building them a more adequate house.  My oldest, now 4 years old, was full of questions; why the children did not have any toys, why they did not have a bathroom, why they only had one bed.  What an education this is for my daughters as they see first hand how so many people around us live.  In a world gone mad with consumerism they can see how little other children have. Their eyes are open to the great need of our neighbours, and their hearts open to help them.  

I think in the scheme of things a motivated person can learn what they wish to know if they are given the basic skills of reading and writing.  

What a privilege to be able to bring my daughters up also conscious of what it means to live in community and to love one´s neighbour.  

  

Pay It Forward

I am very excited about tomorrow.  Tomorrow I am taking seven very special young ladies out for a well-earned dinner celebration.  Let me tell you why I am so proud of them.

It all started six years ago, when I got to know Angela and her 4 sisters.  Then just about to finish primary school, the girls longed to have the chance to go to Secondary School, but did not think it would be posible for their single, very por mother to send them.  So they started sewing simple felt crafts, which I bought from them to sell in the UK.  This regular income, which we have kept going for six years now, has enabled Angela and Roxana to graduate from Secondary School this month.  Angela wants to find a job in the day and study University to be a nurse in the evenings.  Roxana´s ambition is to be a bank teller.  For girls who live in a hovel in the countryside these achievements will transform their lives – and that of their mother who has slaved to provide for them for so many years. 

Tania came to me to ask to join the sewing group in order to be able to go to Secondary School when she was 13 and had already missed a year at school.  Her father had cancer and they had big debts in the hospital.  He allowed her to study because he was afraid she might never find a husband as fungal infections prevent her from washing clothes and dishes.  She is now looking for a full time job in town, and her niece Diana who has also sewn to go to school wants to apply to be a policewoman.  These young women will no longer be trapped by poverty and joblessness.  They now have ambitions in life and the means to achieve them.  

 Yadira was one of the first children we found a sponsor for.  Her sponsor has supported her all the way through Secondary School, and she is thrilled to be graduating.  Yadira has blossomed from a shy retiring lassie into a confident young woman, ready to take on the world and make something of herself.  It is such a joy to have witnessed this transformation.  

Gabriela has a quadriplegic father and lives in a remote village.  She has also had a sponsor who has paid for her to study by distance learning.  She is graduating in social studies and wants to go on to study agriculture at University.  With her love of flowers and plants it is something she is well suited to.    

Jenny has made jewellery to pay her way through school.   She is a whizz at coming up with beautiful designs.  She has graduated in accounting and already has a part time job book-keeping.  She is sitting the tests for university entry which she wants to study in the evenings.

When we go out for the meal I am going to present each of the girls with a Bible as a graduation gift.  I hope they will develop Godly wisdom in addition to their technical knowledge.  I am going to ask one thing of them – not that they pay me or their sponsors back for the help they have received – but rather that they pay this help forward.  I hope they will always carry in their hearts the will to take care of their families and parents, and as they are able others in need who cross their paths. 

 

 

Child sponsorship

We are in Scotland at the moment, visiting family and friends and promoting the work of Project Ecuador.  What a contrast in so many ways  to our life in Ecuador...

One of our objecctives while in the UK is to find some more sponsors for children we know who need them to be able to attend school this new school year. 

It has made me reflect on the impact this scheme has for the young people involved.  Karla, who graduated from High School as a result of the sponsorchip scheme is now working full time doing the book keeping in a local shop.  She studies University in the evenings.  Instead of leaving school at 12 years old, and looking for casual labour washing clothes in the river, she is now well on her way to being a professional. 

And the impact does not stop there.  Karla has four younger sisters.  As she now has full time work and a regular wage, she is able to help her youngest sister attend primary school, and buy her the things she needs.  Not only has the sponsorship helped Karla, it is now also improving the life of her sister. 

And as Karla goes into the future she is now in a good position to be able to look after her mother when she becomes older and more infirm.  She will be able to improve their house and living conditions.  She is no longer so vulnerable to calamity and disaster befalling them all. 

Karla has also learnt many valuable life skills through her education.  She has been taught how to evaluate evidence and information placed before her, instead of being the gullible victim of whatever old wives tale she is told.  She now has a good idea of how to prepare a healthy balanced diet for her future family, and the importance of hygiene.   She will have better living conditions and be able to educate her own family.  The impact will continue into the next generation. 

On my return to Ecuador 7 girls are graduating from High School as a result of the support of Project Ecuador.  I plan to have a celebratory meal with these youngsters, and present them with a Bible each as a graduation gift.  These girls have really achieved something important and worthwhile in their lives.  I pray that as they have gained, and continue to gain knowledge, they will also be acquiring wisdom, which Proverbs tells us comes from God. 

These reflections spur me on to keep looking for sponsors for the new children needing them... like Cristian, a 9 year old who did not attend primary school this year because his father did not have work, and like Jessica a 12 year old whose single mother cannot afford to send her to secondary school in April. 

How wondeful to see even more children able to pursue their dreams in life and become responsible, God fearing citizens. 

A Christmas Bonus

It might seem a simple task – paying some workers their Christmas bonus.  But unfortunately nothing remotely bureaucratic is simple here. 

The first thing I had to do was purchase a form from the Ministry of Work.  I duly went to the office to be told I had to go and pay the grand sum of $2 in the government bank.  My heart sank.  The queue at the bank was out the door and round the courtyard.  We stood waiting expectantly, advancing in excruciatingly slow mini-steps in the blazing sun.  Gradually, inch by inch, I advanced round the courtyard and finally stood outside the door.  Big guards clutching even bigger guns frowned at us lowly punters, and eventually waved me inside. 

The inside of this bank was painted a dreary brown, matching the mood of most of the people inside.  The heat was tremendous, hardly touched by the token fan whirring away in one corner.  The smell of sweaty bodies was overpowering and the flies buzzed around us provokingly.  As I inched around the curves of the queue, each new step forward was a step towards freedom.   At last I reached the fan in the corner and lingered under its welcome breeze for as long as I could before reaching the home straight. 

The relief, the joy, of at last being able to deposit that $2 in the bank… clutching my deposit slip fiercely, and with a wide smile on my face I burst out of the bank doors.  Back across town in the office they gave me my form – now I “just” had to navigate the ministry of work website to be able to fill it in correctly.  (A little help from a friend and a box of chocolates made that task a little easier).

Finally I paid the workers. 

I won´t think about what procedure they may think up for when I have to go and hand in the form so that they can check it has all be done correctly. 

It is nearly Christmas after all.