The Mission

Dr. Michael Mitchell will be working at ECWA evangel hospital, a 150 bed hospital with 4 operating rooms. He will be training Nigerian family practice residents who rotate through his service. He will also be helping establish Dr. Aboiyar, a Nigerian family practioner who is doing an "ENT fellowship" in Lagos and will be returning in Nov 2008. Dr. Mitchell will be practicing a wide range of ear,nose,throat, head and neck medicine and surgery. The practice will be similar to his American practice in many ways. There will however be the occasional massive face tumor and extreme facial trauma that is not seen routinely in the US. In addition, he will be involved in the community and hopes be an encouragement to the expatriates as well as the Nigerians.

Lisa will be establishing the home first. Then she will be finding opportunities to teach English as a second language. The VVF clinic is a ministry that helps women who have been outcast because they drain urine and stool as a complication of child birth at a very early age. They are generally uneducated and have few opportunties because they often do not have any family support. Another place may be Gidan Bege (House of Hope). This is a shelter for homeless women and children. An opportunity for teaching advanced English may be available at the local seminary, where students have a wide range of English skills.

Emily has taken a leave of abscence from Willamette University where she is a premed student. She has already spent 2 months in Indonesia and she really loves living in developing country. She wants to work in the hospital with Dr. Mitchell and his colleagues. It will be an eye-opening experience for her. If she continues her pursuit of medicine, her experience in a hospital will help her application.

The three younger children will be attending Hillcrest School. Hannah will be a senior in High School, Sterling a sophomore, and Camille will be in 8th grade. Hillcrest is an international school. It is the only high school in Nigeria with an American curriculum. Recently 29 nationalities were represented there. Only one fourth of students are American. Sterling and Hannah are already communicating with future classmates.