Category: medical

Snakebites and sad goodbyes

A final morning chapel followed our joyful late night escapades last night, with a combination of Amazing Grace and We Are Marching to get a bit of the African clapping vibe working.

Clare Fuller showed us lots of very interesting graphs. Dermatology complaints are known to under present, be poorly treated and lead to people avoiding healthcare for other important issues.

Ladies, feet washing and goodbye curry

Mary Hopper delivered a talk that usually marks part of a 30 hour course over 6 weeks. In 55 minutes.

Your race is a constant.
Your culture constantly changes.

She recommended reading a book called “Desert Flower”, by Waris Dirie.

She mentioned that simple things like Dermatology books rarely have pigmented skin, making medicine itself culturally inaccessible, but then Marli emailed me an African Skin Guide, which is not added to my ridiculous pile of things I need to read…

The Ladies are Dying

Afghanistan has a Maternal Mortality Rate of 6,500 per 100,000. Which is the highest ever recorded, anywhere in the world.

Reducing those MMR stats is simple: we know the answers: Improve access, Ensure skilled staff at deliveries, Increase Utilization &
Education and Family Planning. But the question is how to implement that…

The Cutting Edge…

I started my morning devotion with starting to read through John 1. I was completely unsurprised to find that the word enlightened came up immediately, just like Ian’s talk from the first night, and bringing me back to that Ephesians 1 passage again: “The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world”.

Following that, Hilary Edgcombe taught us about many cool intelligent things in the world of Anaesthetics.

HIV, Mission and Song

Why are we here? Why are we doing Medical Mission? What is our role, what is our ministry as Medical missionaries? There has been a sea change in how we, as the church, do mission work over the last few decades: No longer pioneers, but partners.

HIV is not a medical problem: its a social one that needs churches, politicans, traditional healers and schools working together.