Heading home!

We are back in Monrovia after two great weeks in Ganta, northern Liberia. Danny enjoyed running the pediatric ward at the Ganta United Methodist Hospital where he did real hospital medicine, saving babies. Danny also did weekly health talks for the staff. Kathy preached most mornings at staff devotions. She also sat in on a start up community based health program training.

This is a photo of Kathy with Marylou, an OPD nurse. They are standing in front of a mosaic cross and flame. The red shattered glass that was swept up from the chapel after the war. It had been a window in the old chapel and it was reclaimed and made into a piece of art. The red shattered glass is now the flame of the United Methodist cross.


Our time in Monrovia has been productive. We have met with Bishop Innis to discuss the possibilities of future plans and ministry in Liberia. The Bishop introduced us to THE President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. It was a great honor to meet her!



This is probably our last blog entry until we get home. Thanks for following us along the continent. We will be meeting with our Bishop to talk about what we may do next. Stay tuned!

Ganta United Methodist Hospital

We spent a short time in Monrovia between work at the Camphor and Ganta Misison. While in Monrovia, we were able to complete our absentee ballot and vote for the next president of the US and see friends. We arrived at the Ganta Mission on Saturday. We have very nice housing with Sue Porter, GBGM, a UMC missionary here at the Ganta Mission. She is the Director of the School of Nursing. Danny is busy with the Out Patient Department and is excited to be scrubbing for surgeries. He will be working with Dr. Wilhcor, the local surgeon here at the Ganta United Methodist Hospital. It is a perfect place to spend two weeks as we wind down our work in Africa. Before we left the Camphor Mission Station the people hosted a great good-bye ceremony for us. We were presented with African clothes and Bassa names. Kathy is Madayee and Danny is Gadayee, woman has come and man has come is what they mean. They mean that when this woman or this man arrived, all of our problems are solved and there is nothing more we need to worry about. An answer to prayer or sorts. Not sure all of that is true, but is in an honor to have been given Bassa names and to be considered family.

Here's Kathy looking like Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the President of Liberia!

Camphor Mission Station, Liberia

We are winding up our time at the Camphor Mission Station in Liberia. It has been a great month here at the school, church, and clinic. Danny and I will be heading to Ganta, Liberia next. There is another UMC mission there with a bigger hospital. We will be there for about two weeks. Here are a few photos more photos from the Camphor Mission.

Some of Kathy's ABC class at the Camphor Mission.

Danny with the rest of the clinic staff at the Camphor Mission.

Kathy with a baby girl that was delivered at the Buchanan Government Hospital.
This weekend we had to transfer a bad labor patient to the government hospital in Buchanan,about 15 miles away from the Camphor Mission Station. The mother was not progressing and Danny could not hear a fetal heart beat. Danny went along to the hospital. On the way to the hospital our old,broken Jeep ran out of gas on the bad road leaving the mission. Someone had siphoned the gas to put into the generator so they could watch a video the night before. The laboring mother and about 10 family members were very patient as our driver took off running to find some gas. They were also patient 45 min later when we had to stop to bleed the brakes because the master cylinder leaks to fast. After all of these trials we finally made it to the hospital only to find that there is no doctor at the government hospital. The doctor had left for training in London and has not been replaced. Danny is the only doctor in Grand Bassa County. Buchanan is the second biggest town in Liberia and there in no doctor! This place has some challenges. The mother and baby are fine and even delivered naturally, it's a girl! Danny was recruited to do ultrasounds on all the mothers in the OB Department.