Shyira Hospital
Summer 2006

Dear Friends and Family,

We have had a few people write recently, asking for ways that they could pray for us and I realized we hadn’t sent a proper letter out in a while, so here is an update on what’s been going on at Shyira since we came back in January:

We arrived in style: on a helicopter; we "hitchhiked’ a ride with a group coming from Saddleback Church. It is definitely a good way to travel in this "Land of a Thousand Hills" and of a thousand and one potholes. We enjoyed having the group from Saddleback come; they will be working with our diocese and also with our church here at Shyira. Pray that this will be a partnership that will be a blessing to all involved.

The children jumped right back into school and they have finished their first trimester. We continue to do some homeschooling in the afternoon. Lydia, too, started school at a new little preschool on the hill. She seems to enjoy it and Moses, the orphan who spends a lot of time with us, also attends. Lydia can now count in Kinyarwanda better than she can in English! Everyone seems pleased about the school. Please pray that it will keep on thriving and that we might be able to renovate the rest of the school so that this year’s class will be able to stay for another year. (addendum: we have recently had a generous donation from St. Luke’ Formby, England, to renovate it)

Life at the hospital is busy: we are often overflowing. The HIV program is going strong. We are thinking of adding a new wing to the maternity to accommodate all the patients. I (Louise) am still working in the mornings at the hospital-mostly focusing on HIV and internal medicine. Caleb is focused on administration and pediatrics.

Some of you may remember our mentioning Lucien, the boy we have been following for several years with a "hole in his heart" (a ventricular septal defect). We had tried without success to get him to UK or US to get it repaired. In his case, if one waits too long, then the condition is irreparable. Our and your prayers were answered: an Australian Heart team came to Rwanda and he was able to get his heart operated on in Kigali. He is doing very well and he made a very quick recovery. Nkurunziza, or "Good News", HIV orphan we know very well is also doing well after now almost 18 months on antiretrovirals. He faithfully attends our "Family Worship" on Wednesday and church on Sunday.

We are starting our "visitors" season. Felicity, our pharmacist from New Zealand, is no longer a visitor, and Susi Dürr, a German medical student with us since February, has also become part of the Shyira family. We have enjoyed visits from Jenette Hunter, a family physician from the UK, and her mother, Carolyn; Justin Mitchell, a medical student from Florence, SC, Hannah Bishop a vet student from the UK and a team from St. Luke’s Formby, England. A special highlight was having Caleb’s parents, Harriet and Kimball, here. The last time they were here, we had just moved in, so it was fun to show them all the changes. We are looking forward to our summer visitors—3 Morehead Scholars from the University of North Carolina, a team from St, Andrew’s, Mt. Pleasant, SC and others. Please pray that they will have safe and fruitful visits here.

Construction projects continue. We have just finished a house for Felicity, our New Zealand pharmacist—she moved in last week, and we are forging ahead with the house for the Kohls Family, from Germany. Matthias Kohls is an Obstetrician Gynecologist and he will be coming with his wife and 3 young daughters. Please pray they will have a smooth transition here and will enjoy life at Shyira.

We are thankful for the support we receive from our friends and family for the needs of the hospital and the patients.

We are especially thankful for our new car, which arrived in April. We’ve almost gotten used to not breaking down. Thanks so much for all those who helped us with that project.

Thanks to all of you who support our ministry.

With love,
Louise, Caleb, Sara, Hannah, Caleb Jr. and Lydia