So Monday will start the 5th week of our project/ campaign, it's called Sobona Sonke which means so all can see, here in The Eastern Cape of South Africa. We are partnered with the Fred hollows Foundation, and the Eastern cape health department to provide training to surgeons on a procedure called msics and to transfer skills to hospital and clinic staff that will improve efficiency and decrease the number of people blind from cataracts. The first three weeks were spent in Port Elizabeth, the surgeons worked at a district hospital there, while our screening team, thats the team i am on, worked at three different clinics in PE for one week each uitenhage, motherwell, and grahamstown. The second three weeks which we are now in week two of are being spent in Queenstown. The surgeons are at founders hospital at the Sobona eye center, and my screening team will move each week, we spent last week in stutterhiem, this coming week will be aliwal north, followed by cofimvaba. We will then spend our last three weeks in Umtata, the suregon will again stay at one hospital while the screening team moves to three different locations.
Each clinic and hospital had it own complications,, we basically start from square one each week with new staff and a different understanding of why we are there. One thing that remains consistent from week to week is Gods hand in all of this, we are always reminded of His grace in love in our lives, the clinic staff and the community volunteers that help us with translation and praying for our patients.
Being here has been such a blessing ive had more alone time than i have ever had in my life which is both good and bad. Good because ive had lots of time to spend with God and work on my relationship with him its also given me lot of time to read..if you know me well you know im not a reader haha, and its been bad b/c at times i am bored out of my mind which leads eating lots of junk food lol
South Africa is quite unquie as it is still considered a developing nation some places seem just like home shopping malls, paved road, movie theaters, restaurants and then there are things that remind you that you are not in the us anymore like driving one the other side of the road, which is difficult enough to get used to now add that i am driving an american left side drive vehicle, which is why we drive as a team haha the passenger has to see if it is safe to pass the big truck that is 30 km/h under the speedlimit on a two lane road one lane going in each direction, Not to mention the monkeys on the side of the road where you would usually find squirrels and zebras and elephants instead of deer. I am def enjoying my time here Please continue to pray for us as we build relationships with the others that we work with and with the patients we come in contact with that we would be a light shining for Gods glory!
Here are some pics of what we've been doing!
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Shannon, God has and will continue to bless you for your obedience to Him. Thank you for keeping us updated on what you are doing and how you are doing!! Love ya, Aunt Lisa
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