After nearly 2 years of preparation, I can now say officially GREETINGS FROM THE DR CONGO! After a grueling (albeit wonderfully uneventful), multi-leg journey we finally arrived in Nyankunde on a Missionary Aviation Fellowship (MAF) plane. We were welcomed by 20+ people (both Congolese and Americans), who were singing and swaying with hands raised. They gathered around us as we left the plane, gave us flowers, and then prayed for us. It was a very memorable moment.

After this warm welcome, we were introduced to our new home. We are sharing a duplex with our post-residency program colleague and friend Michelle Doran, an OB/GYN. We are about a quarter mile uphill from the hospital and a major-league baseball player’s stone throw from the Cooper family. Our home is very comfortable with locally made furniture, a nice kitchen that was nearly fully stocked, and beautiful stone arch in the living room, a small fireplace and three bedrooms. A vegetable garden is in the process of being planted by our gardener Julien. There are numerous mango and avocado trees near our house, though we unfortunately have just missed mango season.

Our home (on the right of duplex), and Michelle's home (on the left of duplex). Solar paneling on the roof is our energy source. Its been cloudy, so no warm showers as of yet!

Lindsey (a pediatric intensive care physician) and Warren (a surgeon) Cooper had us over for dinner for the first three nights as we got settled. It has been wonderful to finally meet them in person after corresponding via email for so long. Between their dog Coco, their goat, their African gray parrot and their cat with three new kittens, their home has been a veritable paradise for Luke!

At the cell tower above Nyankunde.  Airstrip and village in background. 

Luke with new friends. Hospital in the background.

Luke seems to be transitioning quite well. He is about the same size as local kids who are 5 to 6 years older than him, so his goofy faces and noises might be a bit confusing to them, but they have been very welcoming towards him. On our second day here, Luke and I went down to the soccer field to throw the Frisbee and an hour later he was rolling on the ground wrestling with some new friends. The next day we hiked up the hillside to see the view and were followed by 8 or so local boys. 

Miriam is constantly moving, crawling, occasionally pulling up, “talking” more and more. We fear that she will be the first to get a stomach bug as she is constantly getting into the dirt. Hopefully some of Nyankunde worms will prevent her from getting asthma and allergies!

Luke LOVED the plane.  He giggled incessantly as we took off and landed.

View of runway and maternity ward of hospital (bottom left in photo)

Today was my second day in the hospital and I am still getting my bearings. The hospital now has approximately 150 beds. I’m currently on the internal medicine team and we’ve seen a great variety of patients (HIV/AIDS, TB, cirrhosis possibly due to schistosomiasis, various cancers, pneumonia, rheumatic heart disease, mumps, etc). I’m still getting used to African French, along with medical French. As for Swahili…I’ve learned how to say hello but nothing more. The challenges keep coming!

Anna has had her hands full taking care of Luke and Miriam, figuring out what and how to cook here, and looking for someone to help clean our home and take care of the kids. Our hope is that in the very near future she will be able to start working in the hospital/outpatient clinics at least once a week and gradually transitioning to half time. In the meantime she is valiantly fielding ceaseless questions from Luke, caring for an ever more adventurous Miriam, and making our house a home.  

That’s all for now. Thank you so much for your prayers and support. We miss you all. We still don’t have internet at our home, so this has limited our communication but we will do our best to keep you up to date.