I want to tell you all about three people, other than the Snells and Ngwangs, with whom I spend a lot of time. They are the surgical residents of the PAACS program. There are three of them, all from different countries and backgrounds and at different stages in the residency program. Below I have attached a picture of them. Their names are (from left to right) Dr Martin Salia, Dr Henry Ndasi and Dr Arega.
Dr Salia is from Sierra Leone and is in his final year of residency; he will graduate in June. He has two daughters and his wife is going to nursing school in Baltimore, Maryland. Dr Salia is most interested in general surgery, although all of the surgeons have to be able to do everything. He is also the coordinator of the hospital’s futbol team. He is like a little spark plug, but seems to always be sleeping (as you’ll notice in the picture below).
Dr Ndasi is the doctor I spend the most time with (both in the wards and in surgery) because he does lots of Orthopedic cases, which is where my interest lies. He is also in his last year of residency, but will finish in December. They are actually hoping to set him up with an Orthopedic fellowship once he is done with his residency here. (A fellowship is just a way to become more specialized and get more training). Dr Ndasi is a Cameroonian native, which is to his benefit because he speaks nearly every language and dialect that can possibly come through the hospital. His wife is currently in medical school in Nigeria and he has two children that live with his parents in a city about an hour from here. Dr Ndasi is the (more) serious one of the three, but is still a very light hearted Cameroonian with plenty of smiles and laughs.
Dr Arega is from Ethiopia and anytime you mention Ethiopia his eyes light up and he gets really excited. He is a very happy person in general though. He always has a smile on his face and has a varying pitch to his voice that is quite funny. Dr Arega is in his first year of residency, but is still a very good surgeon. I’m not sure what type of surgery he likes most, but he seems to do a lot of C sections. He is single, but Yvonne wants to hook him up with Elvyne Ngwang…we’ll see what happens.
Last night we had the residents over for dinner and Dr Salia got to talking about how Sierra Leone, his country, was the western port for the African slave trade. There is an island just of the coast of Sierra Leone, Bones Island, where they would take slaves and drop them off and leave them. They would keep them on the island, without food, for about 10-14 days and then the slave traders would come and select the ones they wanted. The reason they starved them was because they figured the ones who survived were the strong ones and the others they would dump over board as they set sail. As I listened to Martin talk I felt guilty for being white and wanted to apologize for what people of my race had done to his ancestors. I wondered if he looked at me with any sort of resentment. It is very possible that his great, great grandparents were on one of those ships.
Martin also told us about the war and rebellion in his country that lasted for about 10 years, from 1991-2001. He was in medical school at the time and was right in the heart of the chaos. As he told the story I was struck by how different my life is from his. In the future, we may be colleagues or at least share the same profession, but I have never had to endure the types of hardship that he has. He told us of friends who had died and others who had joined the rebels and were bombing the cities; women who were raped and children who were used and abused for the sake of power. War to me is something so distant I could not even begin to comprehend what he was talking about. Yes the United States had a Civil War, but it was so long ago that it seems like almost like a distant myth. We only get to experience the benefits from it and I think that I tend to take them for granted. I cannot even begin to comprehend or process what some of these people have endured. I pray that I am able to appreciate my blessed life more each day and pray for the unrest and unjust circumstances that are still very real on this continent.
These three men truly amaze and inspire me. I will definitely miss seeing them everyday when I leave here. I have loved seeing a huge variety of surgeries, but I am also able to see first hand a bit of what life as a resident, and a doctor, is like. Their commitment to their patients, their work and to God is incredible. They often sleep few hours a night because they are called in for emergency cases. It is also very evident that God is the focal part of their life. Not just because they attend morning devotions and pray before surgeries, but by the way they live and how they interact with patients and staff throughout the day.
The other thing that strikes me is that each one of these doctors could have easily gone to a university and/or medical school in the United States. You may not think this is a big deal, but let me explain. Here, in Kumbo and Africa in general, the average doctor makes about $12,000-$15,000 a year. That is at less than a tenth of the average salary of a general surgeon in the States. My point is that, out of a love for their country and their people, these men have chosen to be schooled in Africa, trained in Africa and stay in Africa to practice medicine. Yes they will be in the higher class and have more money than most of their fellow countrymen, but they could have lived an extremely plush life in the states just as easily (or maybe easier). How often do we as Americans make a decision to take a job or enter a career based solely on how well it pays and how nice we will live as an outcome? Are we basing our decisions on a call and a passion or how good our life will be as a result? Is God calling us to cut back or give more? Just some of my thoughts for you all as I observe the friendlier, simpler, and more genuine, lifestyle of my African friends.
jon
