Medical Mission -Zimbabwe: Tinotenda

Mission trip to Zimbabwe

I have been invited to be a member of a medical team sponsored by Operation of Hope. This is a family run foundation started by a plastic surgeon from Longview, WA. I depart from Portland, OR Oct 6, 2010. The first leg of my journey takes me to NY. My friends Philip and Periuza Wegner will meet me and send me onto Johannesburg, South Africa. A 15 + hour flight UGH...compression hose here I come. I have a short layover then a final flight to Harare.
Once in Harare we will be setting up at Harare Central a large government hospital. We hope to complete 70 cleft lip and palate surgeries over a 2-week span. Children will travel from all over Zimbabwe to have these surgeries performed for free by an American medical team. Apparently there are no plastic surgeons trained to perform these surgeries in Zimbabwe
My last week in Zimbabwe will be spent 60 miles away in Makumbi a Jesuit run orphanage and school. I get to do my favorite thing hug babies and children! My travels home bound take me to Ethiopia, Amsterdam, and then finally back in the Pacific N.W.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Tinotenda

Today I finally was able to connect with the director of L’Arche. After3 failed email attempts; I was able to reach Alice by phone. Three is the magic number because it also took 3 calls.
L’Arche has just completed the assessment and application process. Tinotenda is scheduled to move to an L’Arche home on Nov 10. The spirit works in mysterious ways. I will leave some money to assist L’Arche in caring for Tino I invite anyone who would also like to donate to contact me. I am overjoyed at this development. I simultaneously fell in love and was heart broken with Tino at Harare Central Children’s Hospital where he has lived since he was abandoned at age 3 months. Most of the time he was in his crib in a room by himself. The sisters (nurses) were too busy to attend to Tino.
Visiting Tino became a daily activity while I was Harare Central. Each day we expanded our world together. Eventually getting outside on two occasions. I was determined to hug him every day, but deep down my goal was to get him out of the hospital.
I headed to Makumbi mission with the goal of exploring the possibility of Tino coming here. But it became clear as I explored this option with Fr Mueller that Makumbi was not the best solution. Fr Mueller asked if I knew of L’Arche? And yes I have been involved with L’Arche in Portland. The small world took hold. Another volunteer has been involved with L’Arche had the phone number for Alice the director, Isaac the Jesuit scholastic’s father is involved with L’Arche here in Zimbabwe…..long story short the wheels had already begun to turn.
I will leave Zimbabwe with a lighter heart