A major reason we came to Mbingo was to teach young surgeons and send them out to work in very underserved, difficult places. We have 10 surgeons-in-training at a time (aka residents). I get to play a small role in training them, teaching surgery within the head and neck. A major issue here is that when doctors finish their training they leave Africa to take higher paying jobs in the Middle East or Europe, even though they're desperately needed in their home countries. Doctors that stay in Africa often move to larger cities and demand very high prices. I'm humbled to see our residents so dedicated to serving God in tough places. For example, we graduated 3 residents last year. Two went to underserved areas in Cameroon, and one went to Liberia and was placed on the cover of Time as an Ebola Fighter. This year, we just graduated 2 more (Dr's Tony and Njume). Dr Tony will serve at a mission hospital in Kenya, and Dr Njume will remain in his home country, Cameroon.
Dr's Tony and Njume at the graduation ceremony.
The residents are absolutely dedicated to giving their lives to Christ, forsaking the opportunity to leave Africa for a higher salary, and stay to bring light to dark places. Here I am with 5 of our residents, with the countries of South Sudan, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, and DR Congo represented. It's been a joy to work with them.
There's training programs at Mbingo for anesthesia, nurse practitioners, and more. I also get to work with ENT nurses. Every year in March we get new nurses who train with us, then get sent out to work in hospitals where there's nobody with ENT training. Here's our ENT team rounding: 2 of our nurses, Anastasia and Evelyn, and Marcin, visiting oral surgeon from Poland.
God calls his followers to make disciples. He tells the older women to teach the younger women and older men to teach younger men. We bear a great responsibility to share ourselves with those that will one day take the reigns from us. We do this by living out our beliefs and showing the next generation what Christ has done for us. Speaking of the next generation, one of my greatest joys in life currently is teaching my children. So thankful for that privilege!
