State of the {Webber} Union: Past, Present, & Future- PART ONE

PART 1

Hey Y'all!

I can officially say that now that we are back in the good ole US of A. And even though we are not technically in the South (does West Virginia count as South? I think that it probably doesn't considering that we are 45 min from Maryland...), I am still from the South though, and therefore am going to sport my proud heritage while here!

So, since arriving back in the homeland, we have had a number of questions about what exactly our plans are, what we are doing while we are here, what our timeline is, where in the world Kenya fits in, etc. etc. Hopefully this post will help clear up some fuzziness for people. But please feel free to comment below with questions and we will answer them to the best of our ability!

I think the easiest way to explain where we are going and what we are doing is to start with where we have been and what has occurred...

Bundibugyo Overview

Our family arrived in Bundibugyo in September of 2013. Several months before our arrival, our team leader (the physician who was going to be Derek's primary mentor and overseer on the Pediatric Ward of the Nyahuka Health Center) was diagnosed with advanced colon cancer. He was 37, and this news came as a shock to everyone, including us. As he began chemo treatments, we gained new team leaders (who were in the US delivering a baby and preparing to return from HMA), and our skeleton team on the ground was managing chaos on the field.  A few months prior to our arrival, 66,000 Congolese refugees had crossed the DRC/Uganda border due to rebel fighting, and our water engineer/interim team leader was spearheading a water project at the refugee camps, while our last remaining team physician was trying to manage solo the pediatric ward that was bursting at the seams. "Chaos" doesn't seem like an adequate word to describe Bundi before our arrival. 

We departed for Uganda with our new team leaders, the Stevens, right as our above-mentioned teammates were leaving for the US. Josh, our water engineer, was returning to get married and spend a year in the US before returning to Bundibugyo. Jessica, the physician, was returning for her scheduled HMA time and would be back in 3 months to begin training Derek at the health center. 

Since things were still relatively chaotic in Bundibugyo and there was no one to orient Derek to the health center, we took the first three months to gather our bearings and get our home up and running (solar, water, grounds projects, and home repair). This was something that had been recommended to us in our missions training anyway (i.e. not jumping into ministry as soon as you land on the field), and so we were happy for the interim time to get settled. We were hoping to get more culturally acclimated than we did during that time, but we were also assaulted with several GI illnesses, an unknown tropical illness I acquired, and some really intense spiritual warfare. These things persisted throughout our first year (i.e.: we counted recently that I had 11 GI illnesses in 15 months. And the GI bug in Africa ain't like the GI bug in America- that's all I will say about that!). So, in summary: It was a bit of a rough landing.

When Dr. Jessica returned after 3 months, she was engaged. Although it is a difficult decision to make, marriage is a fabulous reason to leave the mission field! Derek concluded his ministry in Belize 11 yrs ago in order to return to the US to marry me. So, we totally understood her position and were excited about the next season for her. Of course, this did make things challenging with regards to Derek "getting his feet wet" for the first time in tropical medicine and treating foreign diseases of the developing world. I wish I could adequately describe what learning to work in a government-run, rural African health clinic was like, but I wouldn't do it justice. Just ask him if you want to know... So, he received a crash course in making rounds on the pediatric ward, and then in March 2014 began seeing patients on his own several days per week. 

The several months that followed (March-May 2014) were a low point for us. Derek became more and more overwhelmed with the seeming futility of the situation at the health clinic. Local staff were not showing up to work (lots of government corruption that you have probably heard us reference in the past...).  It was impossible for him to see all the patients in one day and so parents were rioting or shoving their children at him as he left. He was pronouncing more and more children dead due to the lack of resources or support. He didn't have time to eat during the day and so was coming home completely exhausted, emotionally depleted, and rapidly losing weight. And the District Health Officer informed him that he needed to pursue getting a Ugandan Clinical Officer license (closest equivalent to an American PA license) in order to continue working at the health center.  It seemed to be a spiraling black hole...

In May 2014 (just over a yr ago), we were able to attend a CMDA conference in Greece, which is held every other year for medical missionaries to get the continuing education they need to maintain their US licensure. Being in the midst of 700+ other missionaries who were laboring in a similar capacity was a breath of fresh air! It also was very enlightening on a number of fronts, and made us realize the unhealthy nature of the situation we had been working in. Can you believe that out of the 700 missionaries who were working all across the continent of Africa, only 8 of them were Physician Assistants?? We had no idea that there were so few, but it definitely validated the feelings of isolation and not fitting the mold well, particularly when you don't have a physician to collaborate with.  We were able to meet with counselors, gain some valuable insight and advice, and ultimately really seek the Lord about what the next season in Bundibugyo should look like for us. We returned to Bundibugyo refreshed, and after evaluating our situation and limitations, ultimately decided that Derek would move out of a clinical role (while he pursued getting his licensure) and into primarily a Public Health role. He began working with the local Sickle Cell Club (started by Dr. Travis Johnson in 2012), which sought to educate, empower, share the Gospel, and provide crisis-prevention care for children suffering from Sickle Cell Disease, which is a leading factor in mortality under the age of 5. Bundibugyo actually has one of the highest prevalence of SCD in the world, thus presenting a huge need in our area.

This definitely was a less stressful atmosphere to work in, but ultimately not something he was passionate about doing long-term (at least not as his primary ministry). His heart is in clinical medicine and mercy ministry, and so it was a difficult move to step out of that role when such a huge need existed. On top of that, we faced our first team evacuation that summer (2014) when tribal warfare broke out in nearby Bundibugyo Town. Thus, we lived with heightened tension and a go-bag packed for some time after that.

Around the time of our one-year anniversary (Sept 2014), we found out two pieces of good news: 1) a physician (+ wife and 4 kids) had been recruited to join our team in 2015 (miracle, y'all- they came for their vision trip when D was at his low-point), and 2) that we were pregnant. We were thrilled about these blessings, and we really needed something positive to look forward to after all that we had been through in our first year. It really seemed like we were turning a corner...

The pregnancy especially was truly a special gift from the Lord and a delightful season of anticipation. Therefore, when we went for our first OB visit in Kampala 6 weeks later, we were completely shocked to discover that the baby had died. This was a blow for our whole family, including our kids. I had not had problems with my other 2 pregnancies, I was still in the throes of "feeling pregnant" with morning sickness and an obviously growing abdomen (ie: my body still physically thought I was pregnant), and so we were completely caught off guard. Since it is impossible to describe what it is like to go through a miscarriage while living in a foreign country, I won't get into the chaos of that. But it was tough- I will just leave it at that. 

And, so, returning to Bundibugyo, we felt like we were once again sitting at the bottom of a really dark hole...

continue reading for Part 2...