April 18, 2011: Agape Guesthouse in Ghana
Jason's days at the 40-bed Hopital Baptist Biblique started early with medical rounds, and he usually spent the rest of the morning in the operating room. Jason had ample opportunity to hone his surgical skills, as he was the lead surgeon for C-sections and assisted with hysterectomies and hernia repairs. After a two hour siesta from noon until 2 (which is “mandatory” for all Togolese), he usually spent the afternoons in the outpatient clinic, treating a host of tropical and common diseases.
Men's Ward
Pediatric Ward
An infant after one of Jason's first C-sections
Malaria was a common diagnosis, and several children with cerebral malaria died despite our best efforts. This child was diagnosed with malaria, but he was able to be treated as an outpatient.
Easter Sunday was a blessing in Tsiko as six of the local congregations joined us to celebrate the resurrection. This is one of the local choirs singing a beautiful hymn.
The following Sunday, we visited one of the local congregations "up the mountain".
A couple of Thursdays, Jason accompanied several nurses and chaplains to rural villages to put on a mobile medical clinic.
Jason's office
Mobile lab
Typical Togolese Village -- Dzedrame
While Jason toiled at the hospital, Katherine was ably assisting the long-term missionaries with childcare and various tasks of cleaning, cooking, and organizing. It didn’t take her long to fall in love with the four children (Sydney, Jadon, Maddox, and Adilyn) that she often watched for one of the missionary families. The youngest, Adilyn, won her heart as the little girl reminded her so much of herself as a young child. This young toe-headed, blue-eyed girl was adventurous to say they least (often picking up strange insects that she would find around the compound and showing them to Katherine). This sweet 2-year old loved to do things by herself. You showed her how to do things once, and then she took the reigns and moved you out of the way with the exclamation, “Addy can do it.” It was wonderful to see these children fully adapted to the mission field and loving their surroundings.
On the day before we left Africa, we were extremely blessed to have many of the hospital staff sing and share some encouragement with us as we prepared to return to the States.
