Our Dutch director wanted a small celebration, nothing extraordinary, for the 20th anniversary of the clinic. The already planned visit of the founder of Keru Yakaar, dr. Martine, was nicely timed. But his plans did were not readily accepted; the staff voiced out clearly that this needed to be celeb[...]
Archive for the ‘Medical’ Category
December 24th, 2013 - 13:38 § in Medical
Nutrition Program
Baboucar is 2 years old when his mother brings him to the clinic with pneumonia. He is seriously ill, he’s a fragile little guy. When measuring and weighing he also appears to be malnourished. His mother says he’s a picky eater. Since he’s off breastfeeding, he refuses to eat. He only takes ch[...]
Faith, work and networking
“When leading an emergency surgery in the middle of the night I am just as well worshiping God as when I lead the singing on Sunday morning,” explains Dr. Johnson. This Zambian anaesthesiologist and I lead a forum on medical mission. More than 40 Christian health workers are represented at thi[...]
December 9th, 2013 - 20:49 § in Medical
Statistics turn to faces at the Prenatal Clinic
Ndaye Fatou shares with me her experiences the last time she gave birth. After nine years waiting for a child, she was finally pregnant. Just before the due date she was rushed to the hospital with a placental bleeding. She was helped five hours after her arrival. Her baby had already died in her wo[...]
Water is precious!
As a little boy I once went on an excursion to the water tower in Utrecht. As a reminder I received a sticker that read: “Water is precious , so go easy on the tap!” Oh, how often have I thought of that sticker in the past weeks. Water is precious![...]
A baby in the sheep hut; medical campaign in Widou
A car parks next to the straw hut at twilight. It is the hut of Ahmed, a shepherd like virtually all of his people group (Fulani) in northern Senegal. He isn’t poor, as shown by his large herd of cows and sheep. For this wandering tribe medical care is not taken for granted. This counts […][...]
Wooden stethoscopes and statistics
The fifth pregnant patient enters the Madame Sy’s consultancy room, the head midwife of the district hospital. One sits on the examination table with a trainee, one next to her, one on a chair facing Madame Sy and two in a corner. While I wonder what privacy means in this culture I see a nice [&he[...]
April 12th, 2013 - 16:31 § in Medical
Asthma, coke bottles and the circle of change
“Don’t throw that away!” Christian – one of our nurses – calls out to a colleague. “This empty bottle of coke is too valuable for the trash!” In our clinic we recently started saving them for asthma patients. Asthma is a major health problem in this dusty metropolis. Wh[...]
February 17th, 2013 - 21:08 § in Medical
A day in Keru Yakaar
Keru Yakaar means house of hope. During the morning prayers at the clinic, I suddenly realize that the patients waiting in line are hoping for healing. Often they find it, sometimes the situation is so dire that there is no hope. No hope? In my medical practice and in my conversations I can be a [&h[...]
Giving makes one rich
Every one who contributed by donating objects: thank you! A dental chair, asthma inhalers, and boxes full of toy cars, from stethoscopes to bouncing balls. Giving is something beautiful. Giving without expecting something in return, whether big or small. It gives people value, to know that someone c[...]
