Wow! 1/5 the space of our NICU at home with the same number of babies (~40)...1/7 the nurses for the unit with the same severity of illness (birth asphyxia, seizures, respiratory distress, cardiac and other anomalies, extreme prematurity, HIV...) no ventilators, only CPAP...no IV nutrition, only sugar and salt water...limited medications. There are many things the Tenwek NICU needs but compassion and love of Christ are not on that list. They make due with the limited space. ALL the mothers come to the bedside of their infant EVERY 3 hours around the clock to express breast milk by hand and feed their baby. The chaplains make rounds daily, and the mothers are very attentive to God's Word. Here, the NICU is no different than any other place in or out of the hospital, that is, when you are concerned with daily survival...you become completely dependent on God for your daily provisions. As one of the long term mission doctors has said, "Living is a marathon not a sprint."
The people we have met along the way have rich stories. The driver from Nairobi, our host mission family, the NICU charge nurse, our house help... They are almost impossible to comprehend. How can this be? Their living arrangements, their wages... By American standards, the struggles seem insurmountable. Abject poverty, illness...the suffering? They should be...I don't know, complaining? Yet, they are objectively happier. Always smiling, always helping, always talking about God's mercy and grace. A Kenyan resident doctor offered this at Grand Rounds this am, "A happy person does not have time to wonder whether or not he is happy because he is too busy serving other people." Rob Bell says, "Jesus wants to save Christians". A play on words. A lot of "Christians" are not living within God's Word. These folks are for real. They know their heavenly Father, literally chapter and verse.
Our family is extremely blessed to experience this. Thank you for all the prayer support. Please continue to pray for Tenwek Hospital, the NICU babies, the caregivers.
The Camerons
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wow! what an insight scott. we as nurses will complain about that 3 baby assignment in the nicu..... now i can't. we miss u at the valley. keep up the good work in kenya and hurry "home" god bless u and your family.
ReplyDeleteDr. Cameron and family, the insight that you and your family have been blessed to see, live and share has already affected alot of people back here in the NICU. It makes you take a closer look at yourself and your attitude towards so many things...work, life and especially your walk with Christ and what it means to you and what you are sharing with others around you. We send continued prayers for you and your family and all the work that you and your family are doing all in the name of Jesus.
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