This is Africa! We went down thinking this would be a light trip with plenty of humanitarian work and light clinical work turned into a 3 day trip to Kotwa working with Angel of Hope for 3 days with an estimated crowd of 7000 people. That made for a couple of hectic preparation days tracking down more meds and supplies as we knew we hadn't brought nearly enough supplies with us.

As in always the case; Plan as if everything depends on you, trust as if everything depends on God. We were led and blessed to find medicines and that were more than enough. As we arrived at the clinic site we were happy to see tents set up for screenings, the physicians, and the dentists as well as a small army of medical professionals from the area that our team supplemented.

The days were the kind of long, hot Zimbabwean days we have grown accustomed to but still felt worn out by the end of each day. The work was good and as per usual took us a little time to hit our stride with the team and to get organized but with a lot of help from our local team we were able to treat as many as we could. It is always hard to turn folks away at the end of the day but helped a little knowing we would be back for 2 more days.

Some of my favorite highlights:

Seeing a young daughter work beside her EM trained father.

Seeing the team get creative in helping build splints and walking aids for those in need with little more that a towel, duck tape, a little foam, and a lot of faith.

Watching a nurse carry a wounded and weakened child to the shade for some rest.

Every one of these trips gives me something. Some trips it is miracles. Others it is patience. This year it was gratitude. Gratitude for those who came, gratitude for those who have come in the past. I missed having their steady presence, and their ability to always make me smile after long hard days.

I once heard someone say, 'Africa is soul snatching.' That is it, and I'm not ready to take back my soul from Africa just yet. You should come with me, I wont promise you it will be fun, but I will promise you it will change your life.

Eric