Our 2009 journey to Africa began on Friday Morning Jan 2. We hit the road at 9:00 am. We flew out of Raleigh Airport to a connection at JFK in NY. From there we flew to Casablanca, Morocco. With a 12 hour layover we took in a tour of the city and made our next connection to Burkina Faso in West Africa. From the airport we traveled over 5 hours by bus to the mission house in Diabougou. By the time we went to bed that night we had been traveling for over 50 hours.
Our work week began Monday morning with a one hour ride to the village of Nakar. A small remote village without power or water. A village that has changed little in the last 500 years. It occurred to me that Jesus must have made his was into villages just like Nakar.
Each day began with a worship service and gospel sermon. Each day we saw adults from the village and surrounding villages make professions of faith. Following the service we would see patiences until 5:00 each afternoon and then make the one hour drive back to the mission house.
A typical visit to the clinic for one of the locals was an interview with a nurse with the aid of a translator. They would move from the interview to the Malaria testing station. With results in hand they would move on to an interview with a highly experienced nurse or with a Doctor. Following a visit with the Doctor the patient would move to the pharmacy bench where they would receive a worm treatment, a malaria treatment if necessary and other medicines as prescribed by the Doctor. Some of the most prescribed medicines were OTC pain reliever and antibiotics. Many patients went through a wound care area where major wounds were dressed and bandaged. Several severe wounds were treated. Broken leg, burns, lacerations, and the most abused feet on the planet were typical cases.
We saw patients for five days. Concluding the clinic on Friday afternoon by seeing nothing but infants and small high risk children. It was the toughest day of the week. So many sick and needy people and not enough time or resources to help them all.
Our return trip began early Saturday morning with a return trip of 5 hours back to the capital city of Ouagadougou. We took a short shopping trip for souvenirs and dinner before making our way back to the airport for a 3:00 am flight. We flew back to Casablanca and then on to JFK and back into RDU. Upon arrival in Raleigh we learned that none of our baggage had made the flight. I laid down in my bed at 1:00 Monday morning. The end of about 40 hours of travel.
A quick road trip to Dillon SC on Wednesday secured our luggage and we celebrated our trip with our congregation on Sunday night Jan 18 at Sardis.
On the trip we saw 439 people in the clinic. Treated 152 for Malaria and saw 94 people make professions of faith. I want to thank www.shatteringdarkness.org for planning the trip and for the whole team that went. I want to especially thank Frank and Kim Donohue, Rob and Angela Jackson, and my son Jonathan for being such great team mates.
I love you all. Kenn Hucks
