Helping Others Succeed

I began by walking down to the hospital to the Sal de Reunion for devotions and staff-wide lecture at 7:30am. Dr. Tom Martin (visiting cardiothoracic surgeon) lectured to the general hospital staff about vascular health, more particularly the basic pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. I really enjoyed his talk and found that I was able to understand all of it because of my Biology education particularly the Immunology course I took in Fall 2010. The time closed out with methods of preventing atherosclerosis and a Q&A session. After, the staff prayed and sang together before beginning the day. There is something so special about gathering the hospital staff together to praise God. I love the sound of hymns in French – beautiful! So blessed by the devotional time!!!

I took off with Dr. Keir, Dr. Tom, the surgical residents and the visiting medical student. On some mornings, they have lectures – this morning Dr. Tom lectured about dissections in the heart. I was able to understand a fair amount, but naturally I was not exactly familiar with the physiology of the heart. Keir read a little lesson/quote for the day, that I really enjoyed. It said something like, “To lead is to help other succeed”…So important, especially when you are in a position of leadership. A leaders task is not to be the best or glorify himself but rather to help others succeed. If leaders are always looking out for themselves then they do not serve as good leaders because they are not thinking of others. I think true leaders help others succeed because they have the best interest of others (NOT themselves) at heart. All in all, leader or not, I think this is a model that every human being should adopt...we should all make an effort to help others succeed.

Rounds (after surgery) are my favorite thing, because I love seeing how people are doing and what change surgery has brought about. For the doctors, it is also an awesome opportunity to give an encouraging word and really speak into people’s lives. Today, I observed Dr. Keir tell a patient to not visit the witch doctor in hopes of trying to get better…This is not the first time I’ve witnessed such a conversation. It is a constant reminder of the spiritual battle that goes on alongside the physical. Witch doctors often prescribe remedies that aggravate the present medical condition (i.e., boiling water on necrotizing fasciitis).

You have to understand that the residents are a fun bunch. They are so welcoming. I feel like everyone’s little sister since they are all in their 30s. I love teasing them. I told one resident (Loua) today that he needs to smile more often because he always looks so sad. Then the other resident, Nzanzu, said he would take care of teasing Loua about smiling. Haha. They kill me!...Dr. Keir is funny because I pick up all this random surgical advice. I think I’m going to compile a book of them and name it “Keir’s Medical Maxims.” One a more serious note, I love talking to them and learning about where they are from and what they hope to do. All of these guys have the potential to serve as world-changers. After they finish the PAACS program they will be sent out as qualified Christian surgeons who can help people spiritually and physically. After rounds, I watched part of a laparoscopic procedure…

Me & Simplice Tchoba (2nd year PAACS surgical resident):


Laparoscopic procedure (showing the cystic duct on the screen):

I cut out a little early so I could grab lunch before teaching Luke and Sarah Thelander...Ran home to change out of scrubs and grab my teaching stuff. Luke, Sarah and I headed up to the school house. Joanna wants me to teach the kids about different countries, so today I planned a lesson about Germany. We had a little agenda of what to do…These kids are quite possibly more organized than I am and like to know what their agenda is for the day. So here it is:


Sarah took a picture of me teaching:

The kids learned about Germany, I briefly told them about the big castle, Neuschwannstein…since they learned about the castle, we had a castle building contest afterwards.
Castle building contest (it was timed…of course!):


Lisa, Adam, Meladee, Joanna, Sarah, Luke & I headed into town after. We did a little grocery shopping and some errands. A couple posts ago, I mentioned Afousa…we stopped by Afousa’s store to see her. I’ve seen her a few times now and this time she insisted on giving me a pair of earrings. She is too sweet! I know that none of these people have much, so it is a real honor. We are praying for her salvation…

I am so enjoying being here a second time and really getting to know people….whether it is the residents, Christine, Afousa or others, I love the opportunity I have to talk with them. I will be so sad to leave all my friends when these week are over!!! Between the hospital, teaching & town, it was a busy day!