Prayer and Work.

Habari za leo! (Good day!)

It is hard to believe, but I have been at Tenwek for nearly one week.  As is usually the case, time has flown.  Days are full with the work of the surgery service; nights are full with fellowship and sleeping.  Thus far when I've been on home call there has not any emergency cases going back, so I've actually been able to sleep.

To give a better idea of what life is like here for a visiting student, I present my next photo essay: Up the hill.

The guesthouse.  There are around 8 other visitors serving at Tenwek right now.  

The path leading from the guesthouse to the hospital.

The walk up the hill.  Bomet is a hilly town; Tenwek is at the top of a hill.  Nothing like a good walk uphill to get the blood flowing at 0557.

The staff gate to Tenwek.

Tenwek buildings.  The wards are all connected by covered walkways.  This is one of the large contrasts working at Tenwek vs. U of M: you're actually outside.  

On the right are the wards.  Found on the second floor are the ICU, Male and Female Surgical Wards; on the first floor is the High Dependency Unit (2nd ICU).

The entry to the OR, or Theatre.

There is a little library for the residents...

...filled with books on every single subspecialty.  There are a number of quite current editions, which makes reading quite enjoyable: colorful diagrams, latest evidence, etc.

One of the ORs.  Overhead lighting, anesthesia setup, manual bed.  There are 5: 3 general surgery, 2 orthopedics.

Myself with the scheduling board.

The day starts at 6AM with rounds. We see around 20-25 patients and depending on the day we either present the patients to the attendings (chart rounds) or have formal attending rounds.  Conference is usually from 7-8 and then cases start at 8:30.  The surgery services are busy and cases go until late in the afternoon.  During a break we will see the patients again in the afternoon and sign out happens at around 6PM.  On clinic days we will see around 80 people.  When on call residents will work for 36 hours and then get a night to sleep.  They have one night of call per week and then every other weekend.   Overall this is quite similar to surgery services I have been on in the past.

Prayer and work:

I am currently reading through Bonhoeffer's Life Together.  If you have the chance pick up a copy - it is a wonderful 100-page work on what it means to live in Christian community.  In his chapter entitled "The Day Together" he discusses the subject of Prayer and Work.

At Tenwek rounds begin with a devotional.  Prior to every case a prayer is said for the patient and for the surgeons doing the case.  On rounds a prayer will be said with a patient.  

It is written: "Be joyful always, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."  Pray continually.

"The work does not cease to be work; on the contrary, the hardness and rigor of labor is really sough only by who knows what it does for him...But at the same time the breakthrough is made; the unity of prayer and work, the unity of the day is discovered; for to find, back of the "it" of the day's work, the "Thou" which is God, is what Paul calls "praying without ceasing".  Thus the prayer of the Christian reaches beyond its set time and extends into the heart of his work.  It includes the whole day, and in doing so, it does not hinder the work; it promotes it, affirms it, and lends it meaning and joy.  Thus every word, every work, every labor of the Christian becomes a prayer, not in the unreal sense of a constant turning away from the task that must be done, but in a real breaking through the hard "it" to the gracious Thou.  "Whatever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus"

Bonhoeffer: Life Together, p. 70-71, par. 3.

Hopefully everyone is well!

BWANA akubariki na kukulinda,

BWANA akuangazie nuru ya uso wake na kukufadhili, 
BWANA akugeuzie uso wake na kukupa amani.

-John