Return to Addis Ababa, June 2012

Barbara stayed in Orlando to be with our granddaughter and attend her ballet recital. I came back to get my group of students and the team together.

At this point for the summer I have the following:

Dr. Bae and Dr. Kim's children: Khan a sophomore at BrynMar and Jinx a senior at Franklin Marshall

Kari Neutzling, a Junior at Concordia College in Minnesota

Tirsit Mackonnen, a recent graduate of Johns Hopkins

Carl Chotas, a 2nd year medical student at Marshall University

Hailu, my colleague Orthopaedist

Yilikal and Tinsae, both residents from Black Lion

Wendu, my colleague Orthopaedist

Verena Peters (not pictured), an intern from Germany

Koreans in Orlando, May 20-24, 2012

Dr. Kim and Mrs. Lee (his wife) and Dr. and Mrs. Chang attended the Korean American Christian Medical Association meeting in New York and then came to Orlando, for meetings. George Stewart arranged a meeting with the University of Central Florida Medical School Dean (Dean German) and her staff to discuss areas of possible common interest. It was exciting to share with them as the MCM Medical School will open its doors to the first class in September.

Tuesday we had a party at our home for people who had some recent or past connection to MCM. Fifty people attended. The party was catered by Pearson’s Catering. It was a joy to reunite with so many friends and to share them with our Korean guests. Wednesday, was a meeting with Florida Hospital, arranged by Montey Jacobs, who has been working with Florida Hospital on their Ethiopia project. Dr. Kim spoke at our church and met many of our friends. Thursday they departed for New York. Barbara was so happy to be able to have the Kims and Changs visit in our home and meet our Central Florida friends. She even provided Kimchi to make them feel at home!

Duke University Football Team, May 2012

Dave Harding, son of David Harding, CBF Missionary, arranged for the offensive line of Duke University’s football team to come on a mission trip to Ethiopia. Dave is a Duke student and center for the team and initiated this trip. They worked on Water is Life Foundation projects of drilling for water for villagers without access to clean water. They spent a day with us and delivered caps that women in our church had made to the children on the pediatric ward. We were honored to have them with us and their fine spirit made quite a hit with everybody. They stood out in a crowd!

Florida-Texas Team, May 2012

Walt Evans and Scott Winn helped Taye with orthopaedic supplies and teaching care and use. Walt and Scott have years of experience and shared with Taye. It was fun to see these big Americans take Taye under their wings.

Patrick Lawrence (Orthopaedic resident from Orlando Health), Raj Nair (Oncology Surgeon from M.D. Anderson), Phil Meinhardt (Spine Surgeon from Jewett Clinic Orlando), Ted Belanger (Spine Surgeon from Texas Spine Institute) and Josh Langford (Trauma Surgeon from Orlando Health) performed many surgeries and teaching to our staff especially with tough cases. We are always grateful for these volunteers. We got them into church for Parent’s Day with Pastor Song preaching in Korean and English.

Steve’s Departure, May 2012

Steve Weinstein ( Rick Hodes’ assistant), his dad Neal, and Mark Yaffa (all physicians) and family visited us for a day in the out-patient department. Steve will  depart in several weeks for Michigan where he will start his first year in medical school . Steve has a great can-do attitude, and I’m sure he will be a very fine physician. Best wishes Steve!

Lars & Julie Houmann, May 2012

Lars and Julie Houmann and Dr. Fekede visited with us. Lars is the CEO of Florida Hospital, an Adventist System with 22 hospitals under that umbrella. Orlando, is their headquarters. Lars was born in Ethiopia, the son of Danish missionaries. The Adventists have beautiful land nearby where they have a wonderful school and farm and clinics. Dr. Fekede has been an international motivator in this vision. They are working with the Korean Hospital to do some joint projects. We are honored to have these fine folks as our colleagues and friends.

Texas Spine Institute, May 2012

Ted Belanger, Orthopaedic Spine Surgeon from the Texas Spine Institute in Dallas, returned for a second visit. His brother, Eric Belanger, from Anchorage, Alaska, a radiology tech, Walter Evans, and Jonathan techs and reps accompanied him and worked around the clock. Ted and Phil Meinhardt did many major cases each lasting 5-8 hours, which left little time for relaxation. However, the teaching and experience for our folks was great. Ted is considering a longer term arrangement for major pediatric spine cases.

Alamacen, April 25, 2012

This is a small compound established and run by the Catholic Charities for rehabilitation of children with orthopaedic diseases. Many of these children are waiting for further surgery. Each of their stories tears at your heart. My patient, a little 10-y.o. with severe osteomyelitis of his pelvis, will have to have half his pelvis removed to get the infection under control. A little 5-y.o., whose smile lights up the room, will have his leg amputated above the knee due to out-of-control osteomyelitis. He’s looking forward to it and says, “I don’t like my leg”. The little boy whose hand is crippled from the treatment of a local traditional bone-healer. An 11-y.o. girl that had a burn on her leg when very young. It was so contracted she had to “crawl like a dog." She was locked up in her hut for years until she was discovered by a Swedish volunteer and brought here to start a new life after her surgery to walk. Volunteers teach and love these little ones in need of so much.

Julie Zilenski, Pediatric Orthopaedist, visited us again from Chattanooga, Tennessee. She gave us specialist evaluations and treatment that we could not do ourselves. Many thanks, Julie, for your willingness to give.

Easter, April 2012

We went to the Korean church for Easter Services. No need for translation as you could feel the warmth and celebration of the service. The talented choir and young people playing a multitude of instruments, singing, and performing creative drama needed no translation. Daniel Moon, the choir director and his wife, a concert pianist, both trained in St.Petersburg, Russia. They produced a top-tier musical celebration. Ethiopian Easter was celebrated one week later with lamb dinners. The young people led worship in the vibrant hospital service.