Back to School

Today is the first day back to school after an uneventful but nice spring break. For most of spring break none of my friends were in town so I spent a little time reading The Shack but most of my time was spent bonding with my Xbox. Wednesday through Friday we spent out at Miango along with my friend Jacob whom we brought with us. During the time we were there we played tennis, talked, ate, and slept so overall it was an enjoyable time. The last exciting thing that happened over break was me having Jacob and my Lebanese friend Jad over for the night. At some point during the conversation Jacob and I realized that these hangouts of ours are very numbered. We only have eight weeks left in the country. We are excited to come back home!

Sterling (16)

I before E except after C . . .

Remember that old elementary school chant? After continuing to see misspelled words like “receive” and “relieve”, I decided to teach this old rhyme to my students. I was afraid it would be a bit too juvenile. In class, I had them say it in unison over and over again. The students, who are in their 20s and up, were amazed that there was one simple spelling rule that solved this common spelling problem!

I was quite shocked though when one of my students immediately started ranting a little to the class and me in response; he is normally a quiet, respectful guy. With restrained anger, he expressed his feelings of frustration at the Nigerian school system. What I had just taught him was so helpful, so simple. He repeated what I had just told him, that every American child knows this rule by heart. Yet not one person in the classroom had heard this rule before!

These young men are working so hard to improve their English; it is the key to better jobs and the key to further education. Few materials are written in their native languages, and trained teachers who are native speakers are a rarity (I am the first Western teacher most of them have ever had.) I tried to encourage this student, reminding him that we Americans have had hundreds of years to observe the patterns of our language and pass them onto others. His country just needs more time! His country could also use a few more teachers from the West who would be willing to share their expertise.

The very next day, I was unexpectedly encouraged by a different student to continue doing my job. I passed George in the library and complimented him on the great job he had done in church last Sunday. He had sung an original song he had written in English. The student just smiled at me and said,” See Ma, what you give to us will come back to you!” I was quite pleased to think about what he was saying to me: by helping my students improve their English, I get to enjoy, along with the Nigerians, original worship music written by a local. Pretty cool thought!

Lisa

Senior Trip in Ghana

So this past week I got back from my senior trip. Senior trip is a trip that the senior class takes together every year over spring break. In years past, the class would just go somewhere in Nigeria, but for the past ten years or so the classes have vacationed in places outside of the country. This year the class went to Ghana. Originally we were realistically looking to go somewhere like Gambia or Dubai (I don’t know if I spelled that right and I’m too tired to look it up, haha) but because of some bad decisions on the school’s part and the economy crash, we only made it as far as Ghana.

However, as disappointing as it was that we had to go to Ghana like all the classes before us, we still had a lot of fun on the trip. Most of the time was spent getting to where we wanted to go but it was fun. All the bus trips definitely gave the class time to bond with each other. We spend a night in Abuja so that we could catch our early flight in the morning. Then we spent a night in Accra, Ghana after coming in on an early afternoon flight. In Accra we got lots of time to shop and enjoy the slightly more developed society of Ghana. From what I saw, Ghana is still West Africa, but with a few more western influences. Anyways, from Accra we went on to some random little vacation spot called Big Milly’s. That was nice for the girls, but all the guys got crammed into one room so they didn’t enjoy it much. But since I only had 4 roommates, I liked it. Plus, the beach was amazing. I swam pretty much the whole two days that we were there. Then we went on to another fancier resort called Coconut Grove. On the way we went on a tree walk thing and saw an old slave castle called Elmina, both of which were pretty cool. But Coconut Grove itself was really nice. There was a nice pool and I got to eat Calamari for the first time in however many months. It was sweet. Then coming home we stayed in Accra and Abuja again.

But overall, the trip was definitely worth it. It was some free time to just cut loose and enjoy everyone in the class.

Hannah

One hundredth ENT Surgical Patient

I have been keeping a log of the patients that ENT (Ear, Nose, Throat) department has been taking to the operating room. On Friday, we had our 100th patient since I have been here. I have been involved in most of the ENT surgeries, though not all.
John is a seven month old boy who was strapped to his mothers back while riding a motorcycle taxi. The motorcycle took a tumble and so did mom and baby. There is a very nasty wound under the bandage with exposed bone and tissue loss (much of the eyelid gone). I was able to do some plastic reconstruction to close the wound and graft the eyelid. We pray that it will heal well.
Michael Mitchell, MD

Missing Charlie Brown

My friend Jacob and his family are spending the weekend in Abuja. As a favor we (primarily me) are taking care of their dog named Rocky. Owning a dog is not such a walk in the park as in America. Along with Rocky the Naatz’s left us his “toys,” which are a plastic bottle and a toy fire truck. Rocky is a lot like Charlie besides the fact that he is a Rottweiler. He is smart and playful but not quite as trained as Charlie. Having him around has reminded us of our dog waiting for us at home. We are looking forward to getting back and seeing our missing family member.
Sterling (16)

Spring Break Begins

It’s March 21st and everyone is on spring break now - -Hillcrest and JETS, so the kids and I are all home. I for one am glad for the break; I always enjoy my students, but I am glad to have a reprieve from the grading!

I have felt especially tired and needy of rest lately. I was pondering why I felt so tired. After thinking about the week that is now behind me, I realized why I am feeling so tired. I thought I would share some of the things that have happened this week with you, just so you can know a little more about our daily lives and the stresses we are facing regularly. Michael has his own equally long list!

In the past week, I have:
-spent at least 20 hours grading and lesson planning.
-spent 6 hours in the classroom.
-taught trumpet lessons for a short time at Hillcrest.
-managed 4 household helpers and fed them lunch daily + our two Nigerian boys (for most of these, it will be the biggest and most nutritional meal they will eat all day.)
-managed a household of 6 and made sure they were fed daily.
-hosted a dinner for our Nigerian pastor and his family of 6.
-hosted a dinner for some new missionaries, a family of 5.
-gathered food for a widow I know who is a supporting 4 children at home and who had little to no food in her home.
-helped set up a consult for physical therapy for a student who was left crippled from a medical injection; this same student desperately needs a new pair of crutches and cannot afford them, so I am pursuing that as well.
-met with another missionary who is also teaching English; we talked about materials and lesson ideas.
-went with my workers to investigate a noise just on the other side of our compound wall. Asibe, my cleaner who has had 6 children of her own, heard the sound of a newborn baby crying all morning. Emily heard the baby the night before. We drove around to the girls’ hostel behind us and met with the principal to search the grounds for an abandoned baby. To my great relief, we found no baby and no signs of foul play in the field behind us.
-dealt with numerous requests from students. Many of them are quite upset that I will not be returning to JETS in the fall and different ones stay behind class daily pleading with me to see if they can change my mind! Others are begging me for help so that they can continue improving their English after I’m gone and are asking me to direct them to materials.
-got signed up for summer classes for my masters at Concordia University.
-got Camille’s paperwork for the International Baccalaureate (IB) program at Columbia River High School sent in. Actually, I accidently missed the deadline by 2 months, and she is now on a waiting list. That is a prayer concern!

I feel very pulled in many different directions and the stress is definitely taking its toll. The needs are almost overwhelming at times. Please continue to pray for us over the next couple of months as we begin to prepare for our return home. We have one foot on each continent now. Emotionally, it is quite difficult. We will be leaving loved ones behind, especially our workers who may or may not be able to find work after we leave.

Lisa

Northwesterners and Their Frappucinos in . . .Africa?

This evening we had the pleasure of hosting a new family to the area: Gary and Kimberley and their 3 young daughters. They are also from Washington, from the Seattle area. Gary has just come to Hillcrest International School as the librarian. I personally am excited about having a real librarian in town! They are a lovely family, and I look forward to getting to know them better in the months we have remaining here in Jos.

We had a lovely time talking about many things, including unique things to Washington and the Northwest that we are both familiar with. It was kind of strange to be sitting at a table in Jos, Nigeria discussing things like Clark College, Burgerville, and Starbucks and to have someone know exactly what we were talking about!

When planning the menu, I knew just what dessert to have for these guests . . .Frappucinos! And as evidenced by the pictures, I was absolutely right. Jordan, Cypress, and Isabel could hardly wait for their decaf drinks. Oh yeah, it’s obvious they are from the Northwest all right! They start young, and they gotta have that coffee!

One of the first things I did after coming to Jos was to improvise a frappucino recipe with the ingredients on hand; it was just too hot to have midday regular coffee. It all started with my pet peeve about wasting things. Michael continued to make too much coffee in the mornings. I have always fussed about this in the past. But now, we were hand carrying coffee beans from the U.S. and were continuing to pour coffee down the drain in the morning. What do you do with too much coffee in Africa when every drop counts??? Isn’t the logical conclusion to pour it into ice trays to be used later? (Okay, my family didn’t think so either! I was teased quite a bit.) But now, they enjoy those frappucinos. Actually, our neighbors enjoy the frappucinos. As word got around that the Mitchells have daily frappucinos, the whole mission community enjoyed them at the senior class Valentine’s Day fundraiser thanks to Hannah. Now the gospel of Starbuck’s Frappucinos is even spreading to Nigerians: my cook, housecleaner, and driver like them. (Actually, my driver’s comment in Hausa after he eagerly slurped down his glass was something to the effect of “the bature are killing me with all their good things!” Even Victor, our 10 yr. old “adopted” son, shows up daily in hopes!

Now all we need is an enterprising young Nigerian to come in and take advantage of this market that’s been created!

Lisa

Field Trip to Zaria and Kaduna

Zaria and Kaduna are a couple of the larger cities in north central Nigeria. They are in Kaduna state. Over the past several months I have been sending some of my cancer patients to Zaria for radiation therapy. Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH) in Zaria is a large academic center with radiation and also a large maxillofacial surgery department. Those are both services that are not here in Jos. Since, there are no yellow pages in Nigeria, and it is difficult to make phone contact, we chose to make an onsite visit. We also wanted to see the National Ear Care Centre in Kaduna, one of the more advanced centers in Nigeria.

Jay Maxfield , a short term missionary dentist, came along to see the maxillofacial unit. Ben Babson our audiologist (far left) and Audu, our ENT nurse (far right) came along as well. On Thursday, March 12th, we left for Zaria, a three hour drive away at the end of a very bumpy highway. Nigerians call potholes “gallops”. We did a lot of galloping to Zaria. We were able to have brief conversations with the heads of the two departments we were interested in. On the way out of town, we drove around the nearby Ahmadu Bello University campus, where there were quite a few HIV awareness billboards. We then drove an hour south to Kaduna, where we spent the night.

At the National Ear Care Centre, I had the privilege of giving the grand rounds lecture in the morning. As evidenced by the photo, the chairman, Professor Ahmed, found the talk more interesting than one of the other consultants. We were then given a tour of the facilities. The campus is basically a hospital dedicated to ear, nose, and throat care. They have two new operating rooms and a six bed ward where patients stay after their surgery. They are not yet comfortable with the concept of same day surgery, since many patients come from far distances. There is some very nice state of the art equipment there. They are still working to renovate some buildings and get some essential services going. One such service is audiology, (hearing tests).

At the Ear Care Centre, Dr. Kodiya was our primary host. I got him to show off some of his advanced equipment. At the end, we had a stimulating conversation. His frustrations are not unique. In Nigeria, there are definitely challenges to providing care to poor patients in a government funded system. Often there are gaps in essential personnel and equipment, making it difficult to provide much quality care to those who need it.

Michael Mitchell, MD

Flesh Eating Bacteria: ENT Tropical Version

Since early February, I have been busy with a patient who has an unusual type of infection. The inside of his nose and left sinus is being eaten away slowly. He first showed up last month after he had such a bad nose bleed that he required transfusion of 15 units of blood. By the time I evaluated him, I could see the normal structures inside the left nose were gone. Over the course of the next couple of days, it was apparent he had some kind of infection slowly eating away from the inside out. It has taken some time to get a firm diagnosis, partially because of our limited lab support and partially because of my inexperience with a rare tropical disease. I am now fairly confident that he has a condition called rhinoscleroma which is caused by an unusual bacteria. For an American ear, nose, throat surgeon it is an obscure disease that is mentioned in one paragraph in our American ENT (Ear, Nose, Throat) textbooks. Something we were tested on, just to make sure we read the book. It is very rarely seen in the US, and then only in patients who have come from third world tropical climates. It can be treated with some common antibiotics and surgery, but not before significant damage has been done. He will need to be on antibiotics for six months, and even then the infection can recur. Today he went back for another surgery to remove dead bone and tissue from his nose and sinus. He now has a hole in the roof of his mouth. I am optimistic that we can control his disease now. If left untreated, it could eat away his cheek and nose and spread to other more vital structures in the head or airway.
This has been quite a trial for the patient who lives a three hour drive from here. He was going to be discharged at one point when he was looking better, but then by a miscommunication he did not take antibiotics for seven days. This is not uncommon when working with patients who do not speak English and who are unfamiliar with western medicine. He got much worse. He initially did not want to be admitted and treated again since he was already having a tough time paying his $500 dollar bill for 25 days in the hospital and three surgeries. We agreed to help him with our ENT Poor fund and he agreed to stay and undergo more surgery.
It is interesting that the Evangel Hospital ENT department is not new to the family of this patient. In 2005, his then two year old nephew’s life was saved by Dr. Joel Anthis, when Dr. Anthis removed a nail from the esophagus that had been present for many months. Many of our friends in the states have seen the chest x-ray image of the boy when we showed the Anthis video. Our ENT department is certainly well known to one family in Nigeria.

Michael Mitchell, MD

Marketing 101 – A Business Venture

You have heard us talk about Victor and Gwokman a lot. They are two young boys on the compound, ages 10 and 15 respectively. As the time gets closer for us to leave, I have been concerned for these two who have become a part of our family. I had the idea of trying to help them start their own business so that they can generate a little income and help their single mom who is raising 6 children, 2 of whom are her niece and nephew.

The boys are already selling eggs from their chickens. We are trying to expand this business. In addition, we are adding selling whole wheat flour since most of the missionaries make their own bread. There is only one store in town that sells whole wheat flour already ground.

Our first trial was a success! My driver bought 10 mudus of wheat kernels, and then my housekeeper showed the boys how to wash it and separate the stones out of it. (It was very cute to see the boys washing and drying the wheat.) After several days of first gathering, washing, drying, and having the wheat ground, the big day finally came: bagging the wheat and going door to door selling it.

First, with a pen and paper, I gave the boys a little business lesson. We tallied up our expenses and figured out how much we would have to sell each bag for to make a profit. Once the price was set, we then moved onto a short lesson in marketing strategies. I coached them on what to say, and why they needed to say it. (In this culture especially, they had to emphasize that Mrs. Mitchell had helped them, that the wheat had been washed 3 times with clean water, and that the wheat had been packed in clean bags from America.) I coached them on how to increase their pool of customers and how to give good customer service. Before I turned them loose on the community, we rehearsed several transactions with them knocking at the door and going through their speech. Victor, who is a born talker and quite charming, is a natural salesman. They laughed out loud as I pretended like I was an old lady and hassled them when they didn’t give enough information about their product.

I was very happy when the boys came back a short time later with all of the bags of wheat sold. And they were ecstatic: 350 naira of profit ($2)! It’s been two days since then, so I asked them today if they had spent their money already. Yes, was the reply. But it was not your typical frivolous expenditure, by any means. They spent all the money on tomatoes to put in their soup . . . After telling me this, Victor quickly asked me when we could go and buy more wheat so they could do it again. What a different response from what I would have expected from my teenage American son. What a joy these boys have been in our lives!

May God bless their business!

Lisa

Hillcrest School Carnival

Today was the one of the long awaited Hillcrest Carnival day. The school has an annual carnival complete with cotton candy, ball tosses, forty foot high zip line, and many other activities. It is anticipated every year by the Hillcrest School community. The carnival is put on every year by the Sophomore Class (and their parents) as a fund raiser.



A few days ago I was volunteered by Sterling to cook hot dogs for the event. Sterling worked the basketball shooting game. Hannah helped with the zip line. Lisa helped with bussing tables. I grilled 400 hot dogs over four hours.

It is a fun event for all. It provides a meeting point for the community as well as entertainment for the kids, since options for family entertainment are rather limited here. It is also fun to see all the different nationalities and cultures come together.