Friends of Kibimba Hospital excited to send third container to Burundi

One of our partners, Friends of Kibimba Hospital, recenlty filled another container of HOH supplies to send to Burundi. Read more from a blog post about the container and where it is going.

The Friends of Kibimba Hospital board is excited to inform you about another opportunity to send a container of equipment and supplies to the hospital at Kibimba in Burundi, Africa.

Our friends at Hospitals of Hope have recently decided to change the focus of their ministry from shipping equipment & supplies to hospitals and clinics around the world to that of creating Clinic In A Can. These inexpensive, portable container clinics have been used in many countries already, including in Haiti after the earthquake there. You can learn more about them at www.clinicinacan.org.

Because they are changing their primary focus, they needed to clear their warehouse here in Wichita to make room for work on the clinics. Due to our close relationship with them, FKH was given the first opportunity to choose from 200 pallets of medical supplies, as well as gurneys, x-ray, ultrasound, baby warmers, etc. We have enough to fill another container to send to Burundi! Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

You can imagine our gratitude and excitement at the prospect of sending the THIRD container in as many years and the impact that this can have on the patients, families, and community in and around Kibimba Hospital. The ability to show Christ’s love through the healing work of Dr. Elisee and the staff is priceless.

We would like to invite you to participate in this undertaking. The cost to ship a container to Burundi is several thousand dollars. We also have needed to purchase parts to repair & update some of the equipment. Would you consider making a donation to help cover the cost of shipping the container and other costs associated with preparation? You can send your tax-deductible contributions to: Friends of Kibimba Hospital, c/o Connie Young, 3220 S. Oak St., Wichita, KS 67217. If you cannot support us monetarily, please continue to keep the Kibimba Hospital and our FKH Board in your prayers.

Doctor hopes to help with Clinic In A Can

The Omaha World-Herald recently featured the Clinic In A Can being to sent to South Sudan. Click here to read the feature article and learn more about why this container clinic is very much needed in South Sudan.

Earlier this summer, the three-unit Clinic In A Can was sent to Omaha, Neb. as part of the first leg on its journey to South Sudan. The container clinic is being held there until the proper funds can be raised to send to South Sudan. While in Omaha, the converted shipping containers have generated much interest.

This portable hospital is constructed in three forty-foot shipping containers and will be set up in a “U” shape. This small hospital contains exam rooms, a laboratory, a pharmacy, and surgical and radiology suites. It also holds a generator and water system, enabling it to be self-sufficient regardless of the surrounding infrastructure.

Covenant Presbyterian Church is sponsoring the container clinic through The Healing Kadi Foundation which eventually plans to construct a larger hospital, but that will take several more years. In the meantime, the Clinic in a Can will provide much-needed medical care to the more than 450,000 refugees living in Kajo Kaji.

You can find more information about Clinic in a Can at our new website www.clinicinacan.org

New Clinic In A Can Website and Facebook Page

We have a new Clinic In A Can website! Visit www.clinicinacan.org to check out all the information, latest pictures and videos of Clinic In A Can. We also have a new Facebook page at www.facebook.com/clinicinacan where you can “like” us.

We are very excited for this new phase in our ministry. Over the years, many people and organizations have asked for assistance to build a hospital for their community in developing countries. While we would like to help everyone, we simply cannot reproduce ourselves on that level. The cost, time, and government limitations make it impractical and unobtainable. However, we recognize that medical needs exist and something must be done to bring hope to the communities with no health facilities for hours or even days away. We had built several Clinic In A Cans before, but beginning this year, we decide to shift the focus of our ministry to converting shipping containers into clinics. We cleared out our warehouse to make more space for construction. We also have dedicated much time to making new contacts of people interested in Clinic In A Can, new marketing material like the new website, and laying the foundation so we can have a strong Clinic In A Can ministry.

We are taking these steps in faith that this is the new avenue for us to bring quality health care to the underserved. We are excited for the future as we partner with more organizations to utilize a more effective and efficient way to bring medical facilities to remote communities. More than this, however, we seek to continue to share with those we serve the hope we have in Jesus Christ.

Back from the Jungle

This is story from Marcia a volunteer, who spent a month in Bolivia with Hospitals of Hope earlier this summer.

Last week was an amazing adventure! Early Tuesday morning our group of 10 people met up with Miguel and Franklin (missionaries with Cristo para la Ciudad) and Anghelo (a doctor with Hospitals of Hope) and began our journey into the Bolivian Amazon jungle.

The travel consisted of four segments: (1) a harrowing 5-hour drive through beautiful mountains that initially were covered by farms and then gradually began to look like the mountains in the show Lost. (2) then an hour drive on a bumpy road through banana tree groves (3) then a 40-minute ride on a carved wooden canoe. We all sat on the sides and had to bail water out the whole time. (4) and finally a short hike through huge jungle plants to the town. It was so awesome!

We were there from Tuesday early evening through Friday morning. The whole thing reminded me so much of Jim Elliot and those crazy missionary stories. We learned this morning at the international church we went to, in talking to a pilot with New Tribes, that a similar event happened with this tribe. In the 70s, when New Tribes missionaries were still establishing contact with the nomadic tribe, one man was shot with a bow and arrow by the Yuquis hunters due to some superstitious beliefs they have about death. He was rescued after lying on the jungle floor for 48 hours and later returned to the tribe. Amazing! In 1999 New Tribes had to pull out of the area because of the area becoming a Red Zone for cocaine production, diseases, and other reasons.

So about six years ago, Miguel and his wife through Cristo para la Ciudad went into the town, though not living there full time, and have ministered to the Yuquis until now. It was obvious how much the Yuquis respected and cared for Miguel by how they were always crowding around the house asking for help or with gifts and how the kids were always so excited to sing the worship songs Miguel played on his guitar.

During our few days there, we did a breast cancer presentation (which we think was the first time any of them were even informed about the disease), including breast examinations - THAT was interesting for me to say the least. We also made lunch for 70 school kids both Wednesday and Thursday, and thankfully God made the food stretch to feed everyone. In the afternoons we did a Bible lesson, which I did one day, singing songs with Miguel, and then playing games and coloring. We did dental presentations for both the kids and the adults, distributing toothbrushes and toothpaste, and putting fluoride on whatever remaining teeth they had. Their teeth were a pitiful sight; even many of the young children's teeth were rotting away and few of the adults had any.

Nevertheless, they were a beautiful and precious people who I now miss, after the short time we spent there. The kids were so affectionate, constantly clinging to us and saying they wanted to go with us when we leave, and were very sweet and happy. Even the adolescent boys (who are too cool to cooperate with anything in the States) were kind and respectful, attending the Bible classes and joyfully worshiping along with everyone else. That was such a beautiful sight. I spent as much time as I could talking, playing, and kicking the soccer ball around with the kids. One of my favorite things was how all of the kids would call me "hermana" (sister).

Being there helped me to see that I would love to work with a remote tribe like that in the future. Although the tribe has become more Christianized, many of the adults still maintain there animistic beliefs and need prayer.

You can read more from Marcia's time in Bolivia at her blog.