We completed our second “Aider les Bébés a Respirer” course
on Friday. All of our courses were taught in French. My oldest son gave me a
priesthood blessing before my
departure, and I am grateful that I was able to speak French beyond my natural
ability—it has been 31 years since I returned home from my mission in France!
In the afternoon we held the closing ceremonies where, along
with the Société Togolaise de Pédiatrie (SOTOPED), we presented the
certificates to each of the 100 participants. Our team leader asked me to give
the closing remarks on behalf of LDS Humanitarian Services/LDS Charities, since
I am the only French-speaking member of our team. I explained that the motto of
LDS Charities is “Strengthening Families” and that we hope that by saving
babies through HBB, families in Togo will be strengthened. I thanked UNICEF, SOTOPED,
and each of the participants and encouraged everyone to teach HBB to their coworkers.
I explained that the equipment that was distributed was purchased with funds
donated to the Humanitarian Aid fund by donors around the world—all this
because of our belief that we are all children of God.
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Next we took a group photo and then distributed the teaching
kits and resuscitation supplies including the cleanable/reusable bags and masks
to each participant to take back to the 100 different hospitals and health
centers. (For further information about the resuscitation equipment, visit last
year’s blog: www.congodoc.blogspot.com see Meet "Neo-Natalie")
Following the course we visited the CHR (Centre Hospitalier
Régional) Dapaong and an OB/GYN physician who works there (one of the
instructors we trained to help us in our HBB courses) gave us a tour of the
hospital. He is the only OB/GYN in this city. The hospital has about 325
deliveries including about 75 Cesareans per month. He personally performs all
of the Cesarean sections and all of the GYN surgeries. The Cesarean rate is quite
high due to the fact that it is a referral hospital for smaller hospitals and
health centers in a 40 km radius. Any patient who needs a Cesarean in the area
is transported to this hospital. My OB/GYN colleague is from Lomé. His wife and
children live in Lomé, and he visits them when he has time off.
I wonder what it would be like to personally perform every
Cesarean section that is done at Sky Ridge Medical Center? (We have over 100
OB/GYN’s who have hospital privileges at Sky Ridge.)
