Living His Story: April 2021

Happy Easter! Our daily devotional tells us that we are now living in what traditionally was called “The Eight Day”, or the “Bright Week”, the week after Easter in which we continue to remember the joy of the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior!

Here is an update on what keeps us busy here:

Jon is working daily (Mon-Fri) from 8 am – 5 pm. He divides his time between the Outpatient clinic and the Emergency Room. Every morning around 6 am patients begin to line up at the entrance of the hospital. The doctors try to see as many of them as possible, but there are limits, so every patient has to get a coupon to be seen and when the coupons are finished, they will have to come back a different day. The hospital mainly serves the Quechua, the indigenous people of Peru. To increase access, the prices are kept low enough for people to pay – and if they really can’t afford it, an exception is made. After an initial screening, all patients are brought into the large entrance hall that borders the Chapel, so everyone can participate in the short morning service led by hospital staff. Many of the patients travel for hours (sometimes up to 16 or 17 hours!) to be seen, so the doctors here generally spend a good amount of time with them, listening to their stories (often of multiple failed treatments) and carefully examining them. The hospital is blessed with multiple diagnostic options, including a CAT scan! The founding physicians of the hospital want nothing but the best for the poorest! The patients usually have all their tests done the same day, and most consultations after lunch are spent explaining and discussing the results, and prescribing treatments. Jon is grateful that his Spanish has improved enough to understand most of what is said, and his vocabulary is daily increasing, which improves communication with his patients and colleagues. Compared to our time in Sierra Leone, he really enjoys having colleagues and being able to knock on their doors to discuss some of the more complicated cases.

Outpatient Clinic (after work hours - that's why it is so quiet!)

On March 31, Heleen was able to send her completed dissertation to her professors. Although there probably will be some minor revisions to be done, the major job is completed! It has been very hard to find a date on which all eight professors who will be involved in her PhD defense are available, so the date has been set for October 25 – quite a long way off! But in the meantime Heleen is glad to have more time available for her work with Nyandengoh! Thankfully internet has been good enough so far to provide online training for the team and to continue to work on plans for the Nyandengoh! school. She is also going to start working on a Sunday school curriculum that addresses stigma, and will help churches understand the needs of children with disabilities and their families.

We are happy with our living conditions. We have a nice, light room, our own bathroom, and share our kitchen with a varying number of Peruvian staff, mostly doctors/residents who work here for several weeks or months. Almost every day after work and in the weekends, we put on our walking shoes and explore the mountains around us.

Our room is where the towels are hanging!

On a Saturday when Heleen was still busy with her dissertation, Jon climbed up the mountain to see the Apurimac Canyon (you can see the Apurimac river at the bottom)

Over Easter the hospital was closed for 4 days so we arranged a ride to Cusco – a beautiful town about two to three hours away. Despite strict Covid regulations (which closed all tourist attractions) we were able to explore the town by foot and public transport. We even were able to meet with pastors David and Roberto of the Cusco Mennonite church. The Covid pandemic has caused many challenges to both the church and the school (Promesa), especially being located in an area that survives on tourism, which has been non-existent for the past year. Pastor Roberto invited us over to his house where we had a lovely time with his wife, daughter and some friends, and were served delicious coffee and traditional “tres leches” cake! We so enjoyed connecting with these brothers and sisters!