before I left..

Greetings!  I'm finally back in Namibia!

 

I had a lot to talk about before I went on my trip, but I just got busy and it never happened.  So I am going to write a few emails instead of one big one.  This email will include those things that I should have written before I left.  Sorry if I am by mistake repeating any stories!

 

Their time has come

Rob & Alisa's time is quickly coming to a close.  The papers needed to take Rachel are coming along nicely, and they are scheduled to leave June 8th.  I try not to think about it much, but I know it's going to be a really hard transition for me!  Please pray for them as they start packing and trying to figure out where God is leading them in their near and distant future.   

 

Lauren and Janeen's time ended on April 11th.  For their going away party they decided that they wanted to have a bonfire and a drum circle!  We invited all the volunteers that they work with at the OVC project as well as friends and colleagues from work and had a grand time!  I have no rhythm, but they tried to teach me the basics of playing the drums!  Then they took the time to go up to Victoria Falls.  After that they toured Namibia for a bit they made their way to South Africa where I joined up with them and we traveled together for 5 days.  But.. more about that in the other email.  :-)

 

I had the pleasure of hosting Hannah, Rebecca and Rachel.  British nursing students who were working in the capital, Windhoek, for a month or so as a part of their schooling.  They had chatted with the two students that I hosted last year and got the idea to come and visit me here in Rundu, so I got them for a week.  They each have different areas that they are interested in practicing, so I was able to place them in different wards in the hospital.  It was a wonderful testimony to the staff to see such hard working students that were so eager to learn!  It was also nice for me to have such eager students! 

 

Other than that, Mary, who has been working out at the college of education teaching teachers for just over a year now, will be leaving in December.  I know it sounds like a long time away, but I know that it will happen in the blink of an eye!

 

At this point, it looks like by January every one else will be gone and I will be here for those last few months on my own.  Of course people decide to come at the shortest notice, so I'm only slightly worried about it!  ;-)

 

New comers

Right now aside from David & McKenzie (did I mention them already?  They're a young married couple from Montana that are living out at and working with the Kaisosi orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) project), we also have Sheena, a nurse from Washington, who is here for a very short 5 weeks.  She is also living out in the community and working with the OVC project.  She is doing some home based care (visiting sick people in the community) and teaching some basic hygiene.  She arrived just 2 days before I went on my trip so I haven't had much time with her, but we are planning on having her shadow me a bit at the hospital as well.

 

Newly arrived (so new that I haven't met them yet) is also the O'Neill family.  They are a family with 3 kids from Canada that are also living out at Kaisosi and working with the project.  They will be staying here for 3 months then they're going to Malawi to help with their friend's orphanage for another month.  I look forward to being 'Auntie Kimmie' to a new set of kiddos!  :-)  I will meet them for the first time later today!

 

Looking ahead

Right now we are awaiting three more people to join our Rundu team.  One is Shelley Jacobs, a newly graduated registered nurse from Australia that will be living with me.  She will also be working in the Pediatric Ward.  She is newly graduated so it will be interesting to see how she adapts to conditions in the hospital.  It might be easier for her since she won't have to un-learn certain things.  Even though I am only in the ward one day a week, I will be working closely with her to get her settled in.  She is supposed to be here for 8 months.  The other two are more Canadians!  :-)  Daryl and Sabrina Neufeld will also be coming for approximately 8 months.  Daryl is a pharmacist and will be following in Lauren and Janeen's footsteps.  I think that he has a very rough time ahead of him, as it wasn't at all easy for Lauren and Janeen in their work situation.  Sabrina is a massage therapist and will be volunteering a few days in the physiotherapy department as well as being involved in the OVC project. 

 

Work

Before I left for the retreat, work was going well.   I really enjoy the teaching and the students have been really great to work with.  The regular staff has been a whole other issue.  Before I left I was asked to teach Neonatal Resuscitation (NRP) to the regular staff.  The Matron (head of nursing) decided to make it mandatory.  I decided that to get the 70 or so nurses to all be able to come to it I should teach it in 3 sessions.  I held 2 before I came.  Anyone want to guess how many showed up?  Only 7!!!  For a mandatory teaching session!!!  I am supposed to teach one more on Tuesday, but I don't know what will happen.  The problem is that there is no accountability.  The Matron made it mandatory, but nothing will happen to the nurses that don't come.  It's really frustrating!  I think that I might make this next one open to the students.  Because there were so many nurses that were supposed to come, I told the students that I wouldn't let them come.  Looking back I think that was silly of me!  :-)  At least they would have come and paid attention!   Monday is a public holiday so I won't be starting until Tuesday.  Please pray that I will respond with grace to the nurses who are so blatantly disobeying the rules, and that I will have wisdom in how to proceed in my teaching sessions. 

 

The Snake

Looking at the pictures and a good animal book, I can now say that it was a stripe-bellied sand snake and that it is not poisonous.  However, in the beginning we weren't willing to take any chances!  Being the strong minded women and Ms Fix-its that we both are, when Anna's kitchen sink stopped being able to turn off, we decided to change it ourselves.  We knew that it meant turning off the water to start with so Anna spent time locating the water meter.  She found it behind her house, half buried with a cover with a few small holes in it.  She went and got her hammer and used the claw edge to open it.  Much to her surprise, when she did open it, there was something staring back at her!  She was much braver than I would have been, she didn't run or scream, she just closed the cover!  She did immediately go out to the front of her house and call the first guy that walked by, which happened to be another teacher.  I got there at this point, where he was getting ready to go out to kill the snake.  I was way too chicken to be standing around when he started getting it out, so I stood around the corner.  It was only after he announced that it was dead that I turned around the corner.  I edged closer and closer, and jumped back when it moved again!  Of course logically I knew that it was just the nerves, but it didn't stop my from wanting to empty my bladder on myself!  Then he kindly buried it so that nothing would try to come and eat it.  I will try to put the pictures online.  It was a pretty snake, but it was still a snake!

 

I am sure that there is a lot that I am forgetting, but those are the highlights that stick out in my mind.  I hope that you are all doing well.  I will be working more on writing the email about my trip tomorrow.  I have it started but I know I won't get it finished tonight.  I will send out an email with the links as soon as I get the pictures uploaded!

 

love and hugs to all!

kimmie

 

 

Kimmie Tibbetts
Serving the people of Namibia at the Rundu State Hospital
http://thekimmieconnection.blogspot.com
http://s207.photobucket.com/albums/bb136/thekimmieconnection/