Tomorrow I will head to Egypt....yes I was supposed to be a "Champion" in Guatemala for the next 2 years but they decided that you truly needed to be" bilingual" in order to effectively teach there which I totally "get". My Spanglish was not going to be enough & I did not in the last 6 months have the ability to take a month long 5 night/a week Spanish language intensive course. So I was a little disappointed as I made a lot of sacrifices to go to Guatemala last year with the idea it would be a place I would go back to...but clearly there was another plan :). In May as we were en-route to Maui I got an email in flight asking if I would go on a "Complex Palate Teaching Mission to Egypt" This too would require some sacrifices as it was the same dates as my mission last year meaning I would miss Drew's 1st Bday (we share a Bday) & I missed his birth last year -so I have some making up to do...but Sarah graciously said "yes mom go" & so did Doug so then I text my boss to ask if I could goon an Op Smile Mission & as a bonus see the pyramids for my B-day. My boss is also very supportive & said yes. So I was confirmed on the team from 35,000 feet in the sky!
Fast forward 8 weeks & I am leaving tomorrow for the Abo El-Rish Mission in Cairo Egypt. There are only 8 US volunteers going - it will be a small largely Egyptian team and those of us who are going are there to help train the Egyptian team members on these more complex Cleft palate cases that will require bone grafts as they are too large to be "closed" in other ways. That does give me a few concerns- historically the palate cases can have problems with bleeding. There are always a few "bleeders" every mission & often they have to go back to the OR. As I have said the Recovery Room (PACU) on a mission consists of times of "boredom" before patients come out & then many moments of chaos - the bleeding is the worst chaos so it will be interesting to see how this all goes... The goal of the mission I believe is 60 cases over 3 days of surgery. We may do some simple lip repairs as well I am not 100% sure. It will depend on who they are "planning on for the "complex repairs" & who also comes to the screening day. I am excited as the night post op nurse Lisa who is from NY is a friend of mine from past missions. It is always nice to have a familiar face :)
We got our "final team packet on Monday but this week at work was a doozey with 12-14 hour days Mon-Thurs so I am just looking at it now! As I understand it there are some "well to do people" in Egypt but 60% of Egyptians live near or below the poverty line. The average salary in Egypt is about $300 USD/month & I think that is for people who have "real jobs" like the nurses we will work with so the majority live on much less than that. There are 1100 slum areas in Egypt & about 350 of them are around Cairo where we will be. These slums lack the basics such as electricity, running water& sewage. So I am anticipating some poverty similar to other part of the world I have traveled to.
I was excited & hopeful when I heard we will be at the Cairo University pediatric hospital but I looked it up & it was built 40 years ago in 1982 with funding from Japan. So we will see what has been "kept up" in the last 40 years - it may be great :) and heck I've been in Africa a lot (while my geography knowledge is minimal at best I do know that technically Egypt & the Middle East is considered part of Africa) but I am thinking it will be better than the places in Africa "proper"...like Ethiopia!
As I typically do I reached out to my church contacts in Egypt- what a blessing it is to belong to a worldwide church & be able to connect with strangers who share your Christian faith & desires to help however I might be able to during this short time in Egypt. Nathan Ayers in the Branch President there & he said there are 2 congregations - his is the English speaking one that has mostly diplomats & others working in Egypt & all of those families are very well off & many are back here in the US for their summer vacations. There is a 2nd Arabic speaking branch that for reasons of privacy & security is not "public" The members are mostly refugees from South Sudan & areas where there has been unrest in the region. There are tremendous needs there & the church helps with support but there is a fine balance between helping them to be "self reliant" and providing for all of their needs, he is going to see what specifically they are challenged with & get back to me as I told him I did have "sacred funds" from wonderful friends who want to provide humanitarian aid. The only missionaries in Cairo are "adult couple missionaries" providing humanitarian service so they may be aware of needs & he will reach out to them too. I leave on these missions trusting in God that whatever "service opportunities" I am to assist with will always present themselves to me while I am there either thru my church contacts or thru Op Smile and it always works out....I am blessed to be "on the Lords errand" both in the medical care I will give to His children in Egypt and in any other ways I can be used as a conduit for the generosity of others who send me with their sacred funds.
So I am calling this mission "Palates & Pyramids" - not a bad way to spend my Birthday! And we did get to have an early family Bday for Drew with Ryan's family & our neighbors so we celebrated Drew early with his 3 Kraus girl cousins & had FUN. Kelli is headed to Utah w/ her 2 littles to be at the BIG Bday party as a follow up to her being there last year for his birth when I was in Guatemala & arrived 2 days later, I am so grateful to her for being there while I am gone & Doug is in CA with Clark - our family is "moving in all directions this month" to be together at different times. I sill need to finish packing & Ryan has been here this week w/ his 3 girls escaping the AZ heat so I have tried to get some "FUN" in with them at night & we had a donut trip this morning but I still owe them a trip for french fries. As is always the case I truly appreciate & feel the support that comes thru the love, prayers & positivity from family in friends. I am hoping for travel blessings (I go LAX to Istanbul then have a 6 hour layover & a flight from Istanbul to Cairo arriving Sunday at 9 pm Cairo time (which is 10 hours ahead of Calif). Alos hoping that our team will be able to meet the needs of these complex patients & their families. So I welcome all that you have to offer! My next post will be from Cairo!
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