Sarah Cooper’s Blog

Rounding, church, hiking

We started off the day rounding at the hospital. I am feeling somewhat more confident with being thrown into it on my own tomorrow. There weren’t a whole lot of changes in the types of patients that we saw with the exception of three who had second or third degree burns. They will require skin grafting which can be done at this hospital.

We went to the First Baptist Church in Nalerigu after that. I don’t know how large this village is, but there are about three protestant churches, one catholic, and a mosque under construction. There was lots of singing and dancing and the people were very welcoming. Kristin and I stood up in front of everyone to introduce ourselves. I think there were about 150 people there. The children recited some of their memory verses and were really excited. The service was a mishmash of the native tongue and English.

After lunch we drove for about 45 mins further north and west. Apparently both Togo and Burkina Faso were visible except for the haziness caused by the Saharan dust (Harmattan). We hiked for about a mile and then climbed to the top of a rock formation. There was a large cliff that we looked over. It was a little challenging to climb up the rocks. They reminded me of Elephant Rock near Johnson’s Shut-ins in MO. We climbed down and visited a couple that live near there. They had a pet baboon, monkey, a baby antelope, and some turkeys. They are involved in ministering to people who are in need of amputation and hook them up with the necessary contacts and resources.