Monday, June 18, 2012

Father's Day

Marcia is the daughter of Jim and Rose Unger who will be starting her third year of medical school in the fall.  

It’s been a wonderful Father’s Day here in Njinikom. Marcia arrived last Monday and it has been great having her here. She had a great 1st week and has gotten to see and do a lot of things. The first day she was here she participated in two deliveries. Later in the week she got to scrub in on a hysterectomy. In the meantime she has gotten to see lots of interesting patients both on the wards and in the outpatient clinic. Dr. Hake has been very generous with his time in letting Marcia see his interesting patients as well as making rounds with him.


Today, Rose and I traveled to Bambui to visit the Dominican Sisters there at their monastery. I had the pleasure of taking care of one of the sisters from there at the hospital here in Njinikom a couple of weeks ago. She is doing very well and well on her way to recovery.  There are twenty sisters there and all are Cameroonian except for one. She is one of the founders of the monastery from Holland.  The sisters are contemplative sisters and their lives are devoted to prayer, manual labor, study, and works of penance in an atmosphere of silence and solitude. We were treated to a wonderful tour of the monastery and a great lunch. We also got to participate and witness their midday singing of the Divine Office in their chapel. It was quite a wonderful experience all the way around. Best of all, they have promised to pray for us and for our family.

Our days here are quickly winding down. Only two weeks left. This has been a great experience for us and we are very grateful that we could come here. We are also very grateful for all the support of all our friends and especially all the generous donations we received from St. Joseph’s parishioners. We can tell you the money has been put to great use both here and in Douala. The money has been used to purchase badly needed medicines, help pay patient’s bills so they could return to their families, and contribute to the building of a desperately needed TB ward here in Njinikom.

I am sure the next two weeks will go by fast. We continue to look forward to the work and play (like with the kids at the orphanage) here everyday. What more could you ask for?