Beyond our Backdoor: The Trajectory

trajectory |trəˈjektərē|

noun (pl. trajectories)

1 the path followed by a projectile flying or an object moving under the action of given forces

As we enter into our fifth month living here in Kibuye, much of what was unique and sometimes shocking to me at first has now become very ordinary. I suppose this would be true of almost any job. For example, I have become used to being asked to perform an echocardiogram on a 1 week old (I still have no idea what I am doing, but at least I am now no longer surprised when I get the request). I have become very used to the fact that I am working at a hospital with no running water (although there is a large water tank being installed just up the hill from the hospital which should resolve this problem soon). But what is still exciting to me is the trajectory that this hospital is on. The long term team of missionaries arrived here at the end of 2013, and the amount of change that has occured since then is astounding. No matter where you walk around campus you will see evidence of recent change, from state of the art ultrasound machines in the E.R. to a new dormitory for the medical students, and so much more.

Recently, when the team from Samaritan’s Purse was visiting, Jason gave a presentation explaining the 20 year plan for Kibuye. This was the first time I had seen this plan, and it is a site to behold. There was a team from Engineering Ministries International, who visited Kibuye even before the missionaries arrived and drew up plans for a new hospital with a new ER, eye unit, ICU, patient wards, 6 O.R.s and much much more. There are also plans to build a large conference center in hopes that this will become a meeting site for international medical conferences. And when I look around, even 1 year into the plan, I see so much of it has already started to happen. What I also appreciate is that the 20 year plan revolves around empowering and equipping the local Burundians to affect this change. It is not Americans who are out there day after day laying bricks and digging trenches, it is Burundians, hundreds of them. And while there is still a notable presence of “muzungus” walking about the hospital each day, the goal is to teach and train Burundians to do this same work, thus making ourselves obsolete. This will take time. As Carlan told me, “this is not a sprint, it is a marathon”.

In 2010, I got to visit Tenwek hospital in Kenya for 3 weeks (it was there that I met the Mcropders). Tenwek is a rural mission hospital, which was served for years by a singe missionary surgeon, I believe starting in the 1960s. Today, Tenwek is described as the “Mayo clinic of Africa”. And this transformation took place because over the years there was a dedicated group of Christian men and women who committed their lives to serving, caring for, and empowering a people group in need of better health care. I am so excited to get to be here now, at the place where Tenwek was 40 years ago, and to have this vision of what Kibuye will one day become, because of the love of a small group of men and women who have laid down the riches and comforts of American life, to love a people in need. And they do this in response to the love of a Savior, who laid down the riches and comforts of heaven to love and to serve them.

Finished: The new medical student dormitory