REBLOG: Home Again

Ali, a nurse I met on the Africa Mercy last summer, just arrived back on the ship after 14 months away. Her blog is one of raw honesty--the times patients don't make it, the dengue fever she wound up with while in South America for a few months this summer, her heart being torn between ship life and "home" life... I love following along with her life, although I doubt she even remembers me from our brief time aboard together.

I wonder if this is how I'll feel when I arrive back in Africa after being "home" on furlough. I hope so...

Home Again

I've always wanted to be a vampire!

My friend Michelle is on the Africa Mercy in Sierra Leone right now. I love her recounting of her recent blood donation experience! I never had the opportunity to give while I was on board, but I love hearing people's stories!   I am a vampire, I am a vampire, I am a vampire, and I lost my fangs...

Passion2011 Ft. Worth...

Passion was amazing!

Four of us left from College Station (me, Melissa, Jonathan, and John) and we met up with Peter in Coppell where we stayed with a sweet family that my family met in homeschool group when we used to live there (2001-2005). We quickly made sandwiches to go, dropped our bags off, and hit the road to Ft. Worth!

I knew there would be a lot of students there, but I wasn't expecting 10,000+ students and over 1,000 volunteers!

courtesy of 268blog.com

courtesy of 268blog.com

Worship was amazing! Chris Tomlin, Charlie Hall, Kristian Stanfill, Christy Nockels, and David Crowder*Band!

courtesy of 268blog.com

David Crowder

courtesy of 268blog.com

Chris Tomlin

Christy Nockel's "Carry Your Name"

I wasn't really a big fan of the David Crowder*Band until I saw their "Shine" music video a few months ago...

So, Friday night, first session. We're singing "Shadows" and all of a sudden Lecrae runs out on stage and starts rapping in the middle of the song! :) Gotta love CCM meeting Christian rap!

courtesy of 268blog.com

Friday night was a David Crowder*Band and Lecrae concert... so epic! But by the time we got out of there about 1am we were all pretty hungry, so we stopped at Denny's for their $4.99 Grand Slam! :)

Saturday morning I kick-started my day with coffee and then we stopped at Target for Melissa to grab a mocha and for all of us to buy towels/socks. A big part of Passion is doing something for the community and around the world. Every participant was asked to bring a towel and a package of socks to restock the shelves of Ft. Worth homeless shelters.

courtesy of 268blog.com

We started off the morning in our "Community Groups". Mine was orange and I met up with my "family" that I'd met last night. We spent some time digging into Philippians 2, discussing what we'd learned from the night before, and praying. 

My "family"

Then main session, more worship, and Francis Chan speaking. I'd only heard of Francis because a friend recommended his book "Crazy Love" (which I am just now reading). But this guy was amazing! At one point he was so overwhelmed with wanting us all to fall in love with Jesus like he has that he broke down at the podium... all 11,000+ of us are like "ummmmm...." but it was really cool.

courtesy of 268blog.com

Lunch was out on the grass behind the convention center (we're over on the very far right if you really zoom in!) 

courtesy of 268blog.com

The afternoon main session is where we learned about the main cause that Passion2011 Ft. Worth was working for: raising $220,000 to support a 5-person team to translate 90 Bible stories into the language of the Koso people in Mali, West Africa. The video they showed us was just incredible... wow... that session got to me.

Dinner break during which we wandered through the "Do Something Now" area to learn more about the Koso people, see all the towels/socks ready to be donated, give money to the translation project, pray for the Koso people, and sign up for more information about short term missions opportunities around the world. 

courtesy of 268blog.com

all the people waiting to donate!!!

courtesy of 268blog.com

Then dinner. Thanks to Melissa's iPhone we found a Dickey's BBQ, another Target for its Starbucks, and an elusive McDonald's for a $1 dose of caffeine--we never found that McDonald's in the midst of random 1-way streets in downtown Ft. Worth.

Then back for another main session: John Piper this time. (That guy is way over my head) 

This time we were asleep at a more decent hour. :)

Sunday morning also started out with gratutitous amounts of coffee, devotions with our "families", and more incredible worship!

We said goodbye to people, met up with John and his luggage, found a CiCi's pizza (and a Starbucks for a venti sugar-free vanilla iced coffee for me), and got on the road back to College Station. Then a stop in West, Texas for kolaches.

We listened to the CD that was recorded at Passion2011 Atlanta all the way home and I will say that after singing those songs live I will never think of them in the same way! You should definintely buy it... like I mean, you HAVE to buy it! 

We got back to town about 7pm, dropped everyone off at their dorms or cars... and 10 minutes later I was on the way to the ER with my roommate. We finally got back to the dorm about 3am... 

What a weekend!

courtesy of 268blog.com

(Did I mention that I drove basically the whole way there, back and forth from Coppell to Ft. Worth, and all the way home?)

Here's an article about Passion that appeared in The Battalion, A&M's student newspaper: http://www.thebatt.com/features/finding-your-passion-1.2133433

Passports and plane tickets...

I have to say I'm in love with Google's Gmail themes. :) It seems like every time I check my email, the background's changed and shows some kind of desk detritus. This was part of this morning's Gmail theme:

Last night a couple of my friends and I somehow got on the topic of outdated IDs, horrible pictures on our A&M student ID card, our excitement over getting sideways driver's licenses, and passports. I got to thinking that since I got my current passport in 2008 the only stamps it's had are the entrance and exit stamps from Togo... one sad little page. My previous passports have been full of exciting stamps and fun stories of my globe-trotting adventures; not this one. I'll be returning to Togo over Spring Break with my parents as they serve as Associate Trainers with EQUIP Ministries to help lead a pastor's conference. I can't wait to hand the Togolese immigrations officer my little navy blue book and hear "Bienvenue au Togo."

Then yesterday as I *attempted* to clean up my room before my roommate moved back in, I came across the stubs of several plane tickets that I had stuffed in the pocket of my interview suit, the tiny Bible that I carry when I'm traveling, and the folder I took to all my PT school interviews. I love $99 same-day, round trip fares from College Station to Dallas/Ft. Worth! And then as I finished Dear John last night (see previous post) I found my ticket stub from IAW to CDG (Washington Dulles to Paris/Charles de Gaulle) from this summer... ah, fun memories.

I love passport stamps. I love airplane tickets. But what I really love is the excitement that always seems to accompany traveling. You're not quite sure if you're going to land on time, if you're going to be able to find your gate, if your bags are going to get there, or if your ticket is going to somehow get "marked" so that you get a pat-down search EVERY time you go through security. You don't know what's waiting for you on the other end of the jet bridge. But that's OK. You have the plane ticket and you know you're supposed to be on that plane.

It amazes me that some people don't have passports; my parents said I got mine at the American embassy when I was just a few days old and my picture is of Dad holding me. I've never had one expire on me, but I'm glad that now I'm 18, I don't have to renew it every 5 years! The way I see it, a passport = freedom to follow God at a moment's notice wherever He leads. What if another earthquake hits Haiti tomorrow and I have the opportunity to fly down there on an emergency relief team. What if someday when I'm in Africa the embassy's going to ask all American citizens to evacuate because of political unrest. What if there's a short term missions trip to Asia that needs a guide because their original guide got sick? If I have to wait for the Houston passport office to expedite my passport application, I might miss an incredible opportunity... or the last flight out.

Well it wouldn't be a typical "Katie post" if I didn't give you tons of links to check out. :) But I want you to check out this one... http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_1738.html

Dreams...

God, You blow me away.

Per Dad's request, my family's been reading "Put Your Dream to the Test" by John Maxwell. He and Mom have been leading a small group through the book and it's been interesting to hear what the group's been learning.

Go buy this book. Like seriously.

For those of you familiar with the Life Purpose Planning booklet, John Maxwell's book takes it a step farther. LPP focuses on finding the "golden thread" of God's hand in your life as you write down people that have influenced you, verses that have stood out to you, books you've read, experiences you've enjoyed, the meaning of your names, your spiritual gifting... it's actually a rather exciting little booklet and it was a good tool to kind of figure out that God's been preparing me for a life of investing into younger girls and has called me to something in the medical field and that all the traveling I've done is in preparation for overseas missions.

But "Put Your Dream to the Test" comes at it from a little more of a secular side. Mr. Maxwell says, "go dream... what's the biggest thing you can imagine... now, let's make sure it's something that is actually feasible and what needs to happen to get you there?"

I'm only on the 3rd chapter, but I wanted to share what I've come up with for the answers to the 1st chapter's questions. Maxwell encourages the reader to write down their dream and share it with others. If I can succinctly communicate my dream to those I care about and show my passion in a coherent manner that's a big first step--and a necessary skill for raising the money, personnel, and resources I'll need to carry out my dream.

The following dream has been inspired by many things; but especially by a paper I had to write last year for school, the book "The Hospital By the River," and some subsequent research I've done about that hospital.

I realize that this is not the normal type of post you'd expect out on a blog for the world to see (not that this blog is followed/RSS subscribed to by more than a few dozen people), but I want your comments.

Is this something you could see me doing? Will ya'll remind me of this when I post how much I hate PT school and anatomy lab?

And expect to see more installments as I delve into more of "Put Your Dream to the Test."

My Dream (December 31, 2010)

I desire to be a wife and mom, first and foremost.

I will, Lord willing, spend my life in sub-Saharan Africa, using physical therapy full time until I have a family (after which PT will become a part time position). I foresee myself working at a missions hospital compound, not in a small remote village.

I want to use PT with the amputee and VVF outcasts of Africa as a follow-up to surgeries performed.

After I have spent several years in Africa, have made connections, gained their trust, and built my “dream team,” I want to build a village for my patients where they can live for as long as they need PT or if they cannot return home. New patients will come to the center of the “village” to the “PT hut” for therapy, longer term patients will assist new patients, and permanent residents will help teach patients to read/sew/make crafts to bring in money.

My ideas for this village are based off a project already in existence with the International Fistula Foundation’s branch in Ethiopia, which can be found here: http://www.fistulafoundation.org/wherewehelp/ethiopia/longtermcare.html

Questions from John Maxwell’s “Put Your Dream to the Test” book:

Chapter 1

1.    The Ownership Question: Is my dream really my dream?

A.   What would I do if I had no limitations?

·         Go train with the PTs at “The Hospital by the River” in Ethiopia

·         See answers to C

B.   What would I do if I had only five years to live?

·         Graduate from A&M

·         Go to Nigeria this summer and learn alongside the nationals how to make prosthetics, and then be a lay PT there in Africa.

·         Get married

C.   What would I do if I had unlimited resources?

·         Donate money to NGOs like Mercy Ships and International Fistula Foundation to provide VVF surgeries and housing/training for chronically incontinent women

·         Build a “village” for VVF women and amputees where they share a little “hut” and there’s a PT clinic in the middle to provide long-term care.

·         Create a “dream team” of international healthcare professionals to fully staff the “village” and set it up as a clinical/training site for both international and local healthcare professionals to come train.

D.   What would I do if I knew I couldn’t fail?

·         Complete PT school

·         Get specialized in women’s health PT and prosthetic gait training

·         See answers to C

What I want to do with the rest of my life...

This semester in my Majors-only Writing Intensive Yoga class (yes, I know that it sounds really weird!) we're learning to write funding proposals. The semester's assignment was to write a proposal for a program that we wanted to implement after we finished college/grad school. 

Others chose to write about afterschool sports programs, mobile therapy clinics, or playgrounds for pediatric hospitals, and I chose to write about something that I really am passionate about. I hope that as you read this, you'll catch a glimpse of what I want to do with my life and where I feel God leading me!

Hope for Nigerian Amputees: Manually-Powered Prosthetic Fitment

Katherine E. Farr – Final Paper - Wednesday, April 7

Introduction

The African civil wars and conflicts of recent decades have left thousands of people injured; rural land mines that continue to explode injure people and often leave them with lower limb amputations (Arya and Klenerman, 2008). Although a prosthetic was created in 1975 to suit the unique lifestyles of third-world patients, and several organizations now provide them at no cost (Tuli, 1981), many of these amputees will never receive one because they cannot afford to take the time to travel and be fitted.

Some of these non-governmental organizations also face the problems of overwhelming need, insufficient funds, inadequate facilities, and unreliable electricity. New techniques have been developed to resolve some of the issues, but all of the techniques still rely on electricity. Current donors to the Evangel Missions Hospital in Jos, Nigeria, will receive a copy of this proposal along with the quarterly newsletter, and they will be asked to consider sending an additional donation or to earmark their next regular donation to a fund to purchase a manually-powered fitment device.

Target Population

There are approximately 7,000 physically handicapped people in Nigeria’s capital city of Jos (Ardill, 2006), and many of them support themselves by begging. Evangel Hospital's prosthetic facility has been able to provide lower limb prosthetics to many amputees who live in Jos, but many patients who live in remote areas of Nigeria cannot afford the time or money to travel to Jos even to receive prosthetics free of charge. There is a great need to increase process efficiency and mobility so as to serve the maximum number of people.

Project Description/Rationale

The current fitment procedure is very inefficient. First, the entire casting, fabricating, and fitting process takes 2-3 days—an amount of time that most low-income families and subsistence farmers cannot spare. Secondly, the process requires a large amount of plaster of Paris (approximately 8 lbs (3 kg) per fitment), which means that all plaster must be transported with the machine for field services in more undeveloped areas of Nigeria (Garcia, 2008).

A vacuum-casting procedure has been newly developed to increase efficiency by reducing the entire fitting and fabrication time to an hour and a half and eliminating the need for plaster. However, the vacuum machine is expensive and relies on electricity to provide the negative sand mold of the patient’s stump. Philip Garcia, an undergraduate student at MIT, worked with a team of 20 interdisciplinary students to explore the idea of a manually-powered vacuum machine to be used with the sand-casting technique (Chandler, 2008). The vacuum-casting procedure coupled with the MIT team’s design would provide an effective solution for Evangel Hospital.

The team’s design utilizes four bicycle pumps and 10 other readily available parts. Some of the parts could be replaced with more native materials to further reduce the cost from USD147 to approximately USD50 per machine. The device is lightweight, requires very little setup, and can easily sit on a tabletop; these features allow for extreme portability. Technicians using the machine would not need intensive training, as many of them would be familiar with hand-crank machines common to local water wells. Since the devices are simple, local tradesmen or mechanics could make any necessary repairs.

Expected Outcome

The entire procedure has several huge possible positive outcomes. First, the vacuum-casting procedure has the potential to increase Evangel’s patient load fivefold (Garcia, 2008). Secondly, eliminating the need for plaster will reduce the cost per prosthetic limb. Thirdly, the manually-powered machine will allow the Evangel workshop to operate at all hours, independent of the hospital’s generator and its erratic running time. Fourthly, since the machines do not require electricity, the workshop technicians would be able to organize mobile prosthetic teams to travel into rural Nigeria and serve those amputees who cannot travel to Jos. As a result, many Nigerians would hear about Evangel Hospital, and word would spread about their free or low-cost medical and treatment programs and facilities. Lastly, donors from around the world will have the unique opportunity to make a difference in the lives of many Nigerians by restoring their dignity and livelihood providing them a lower-limb prosthetics.

  

Conclusion

The number of amputees can seem overwhelming, the recent economic situation that reduced Evangel’s donations can be disheartening, and the challenges of serving in a third-world country can be daunting, but the new fitment technique and device offers incredible prospects. With rural prosthetic fitment and fabrication teams many more amputees can learn to walk again, work again, and be a part of society again. Truly, advancements in medicine, engineering, and science—coupled with faithful financial partners—can offer hope for Nigerian amputees.

Works Cited

Arya, A. P., and Klenerman, L. (2008). The jaipur foot. Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery, British Volume, 90B(11), 1414-1416.

Tuli, J. (1981). The jaipur limb. World Health, 2-5.

Ardill, B. (2006). Prosthetics project. Retrieved 3/30/2010, from http://www.ecwaevangel.org/mambo/content/view/248/70/

Garcia, P. (2008). Optimization of vacuum pump device for use in rapid fitment of prosthetic limbs.  Retrieved 2/22/2010, from http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/45794

Chandler, D. (2008). A leg to stand on. MIT News, March 5, 2008.  Retrieved 2/20/2010, from http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/itw-jaipur-tt0305.html

Serving through medicine for God's glory... together

I'm reading a book called "Where Elephants Fight" written by Dr. Ardill, a missionary surgeon serving with SIM in Jos, Nigeria. The book is about his earlier missions days in Liberia during their civil war. I read it a few years ago, but it didn't really hit home like it has this read through.

I've been reading during my walks between classes, on my way to the Rec center, and on the bus ride to the grocery store... :-) and today one paragraph really hit me. I've been thinking about two seemingly incompatible desires--wanting to be a wife and mom and serve as a missionary physical therapist in Africa for the rest of my life--and wondering how God's going to work it out. It takes a special guy to want to serve in missions in Africa! I know He's going to work it out, but it's still hard to trust Him in the meantime; Dr. Ardill's words really encouraged me that God will work things out!

"...We said a tearful goodbye to our church friends in Baltimore and Dorothy's [his wife] parents and family. Saying goodbye is never easy but this time, for me, it was so much better returning to Africa with my best friend at my side. We were going together with a strong sense of God's leading and His confirmation in so many tangible ways. It had been a great nine months [since the wedding] together in the States. Now we were going out as a team to minister through medicine for His glory."

That's what I desire... a best friend to serve as a team through medicine together! But I want God's best more!!!

Haiti...

Haiti... it's something that we're all thinking about. We've seen pictures all over the media. I've personally seen three different A&M student organizations looking to raise money, received four emails from ministries whose newsletters I email-subscribe to asking for donations, seen two different blog posts on people's desires to go serve there, read two missionaries' pleas for help, seen at least eight signs around campus saying "Pray for Haiti," and been invited to a worship/s'mores/pray for Haiti night.

I understand that something horrible happened in Haiti. I realize that there are people dead and that more are dying and even more are left homeless or orphaned. I understand. I care. I pray.

But what about the other atrocities that never make it to the headlines, the front page, the internet sidebars, and the breaking news RSS feed emails and popups? What about the people in South America dying from malnutrition? What about the over 1 million girls sold into sex slvery each year? What about AIDS that ravages the African continent? What about the orphans in Ecuador where my friends are serving at a babies' orphanage? What about the civil war veterans in Liberia and Sierra Leone that are left amputees? What about....?

Why?

Why these tragedies?

Why the devastation?

Why the chaos?

Why the sadness?

Why the death?

Why, God?

I've recently been reading "Captivating" (girls, it's a wonderful book, but the workbook really makes it hit home!) and came across these thoughts from the chapter entitled "A Special Hatred."

We ask why? Because Satan is wreaking destruction on the glory of God in the earth like a psychopath committed to destroying great works of art. Satan was a beautiful angel (Ez 28:12-15) but he fell because no longer wanted to be "best supporting actor;" he wanted the Oscar all to himself. Now he seeks revenge on all that is beautiful and good. As women, I believe that he targets us especially because we are the ones who give life, who nurture, who allure the world to God. History is full of such examples. And they cannot be explained away by inherent evil in man, greed, or the lust for power.

"For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms." Eph 6:12 NLT

The only way to fight that is to pray; at this point, all I can pray is "Come quickly, Lord Jesus!" (Rev 22:20)

Praying for and supporting Haiti is a good thing, don't get me wrong... but won't you step back and look at the big picture?

finally!!!!

So, sitting here on my desk is a glorious large white envelope with my MercyShips application safely tucked inside. Tomorrow morning it will be walked to the post office on the North side of the A&M campus, weighed and metered, and then dropped into a tub of mail to be sorted and sent on its way...

Oh my gosh, I am so excited!!!!!!! This has been a several year process from realizing that God was laying the African people on my heart, finding out about MercyShips, having an entire summer without summer school (first time in 3 years!), and having my parents totally on board with it.

And then the process of filling out the extensive application, getting 2 letters of recommendation, and getting a complete medical exam. (and soon will come the wonderful rounds of vaccines and the process of getting a visa :P )

It's hard to believe that instead of sitting here reading the ship's blog, watching videos, and dreaming about being a part of MercyShips, next summer I might be off the coast of Sub Saharan Africa as a part of the world's largest non-governmental hospital ship! If I am accepted to go, I will be just housekeeping or kitchen staff, but that is OK. Until I graduate from physical therapy school and pass my licensing exam I won't be allowed to do anything hands-on, but I plan to spend most of my free afternoons in the therapy/prosthetic clinic!!!

Anyway, this is a somewhat random post--an unusual derivation from my typical blogs--but I just had to tell ya'll!