Saturday, May 30, 2009

Our Places of Ministry



I'm not sure if after 6 months in Kenya we had shared a picture of the Maternity Ward and the Dental Clinic.  Here we are in our respective places.  
      The Maternity Ward is dedicated to Edna Boroff.  Edna was a legendary Nurse Midwife who served humbly at Tenwek for over 30 years.  I think it was estimated that she had delivered over 10, 000 babies.   Edna was responsible for overturning a long standing tragic Kipsigis tradition.  If a Kipsigis mother had triplets it was considered bad luck, and the last of the three was left to die. She took these children in as orphans and through prayer and love was able to eliminate this horrific practice.
Sara spends much of her time (when not operating) in the maternity clinic.  I believe Tenwek maternity delivers over 20 babies daily. They have multiple wards with well over 100 beds.  (I get lost if I am there--and just ask for Doctorie Sara!)   With over 100 preterm, post-term, and active labor patients and families it is always a spectacle of sites and sounds!  I think the patients enjoy sleeping, eating, laboring, and feeding together!  Tenwek also has a Maternal Child Health Clinic to encourage healthy prenatal habits and well baby checks.
This is Tenwek Dental Clinic.  We have two dental chairs- the one I am standing by is where I spend most of my time.  We do similar dentistry you would find back in the States including fillings, crowns, dentures, Root Canals, extractions, and x-rays.  We have a small dental lab, x-ray room, second operatory, front office, and office/chai room.
We see about 20 patients per day.  It is a mix of meeting urgent care needs of patients in pain and giving ongoing dental care to much of the staff and community near Tenwek.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi, i just wanted to post a comment so u dont think nobody reads u!!!

Anonymous said...

It is so nice to see these pics. Thanks for letting us view your professional "homes". Many prayers for a blessed day.
Kathy
Bend, OR

sharon and sue said...

it was very nice to see your pics, comments, joys and sorrows....we will be praying as you and your family go thru another transition! it brot back MANY memories of our time visiting dino and janice in march/april! we are especially praying for you as you try to deal w/ the maternal and fetal and infant deaths that we are not used to dealing with so often in the states! say hello to the crognales for us! we hope to see you again sometime when we visit kenya! love, sharon and sue holuk

Megan N said...

That's A LOT of babies to deliver!

Anonymous said...

Asak for more windows in Kijabe. I suppose mopm was able to get tosee your respective clinics. Keep up the good work. Grampie