I would have never known.
Last Friday afternoon as I stepped out of the car at the hospital to go pray for people, Pastor Jack informed me that a strike was going on. All the nurses across Kenya at the public hospitals went on strike two days before on Wednesday, February 29th, and this was the first time I was hearing anything about it. I later came to find out that they went strike demanding five months’ worth of unpaid commuter allowances. However, at that moment right before visiting hour started at 1 pm, I couldn’t completely understand what that meant for the nurses to have gone on strike. All I notice at that moment was that there wasn’t the usual crowd of waiting visitors outside the gate, but at the same time I knew this visit to the hospital was not going to be like any one before.
I partnered with Hannah and Roni to pray for the hour, and Roni left it pressed on her heart for us to pray for the women in the surgical ward. As we entered, there was less than half the number of people that were there a few days earlier on Tuesday. We began to met, talk, and pray for people. It didn’t take long for me to understand more about what it meant for the nurses to be on strike. What it meant was for patients to be left on beds unattended, for the sick to be writhing in pain, for family members to look on helplessly, and for the handful of doctors to not have any assistance so they seemed helpless as well.
As we wrapped up praying for the second group, I turned around to see a lady being laid down on a bed. I really had no clue what was going on other than her body was in shock and we needed to pray. As we prayed and literally cried out to God for her, we learned that she just miscarried into a plastic bag that was currently on the floor next to the bed. Her body was extremely weak, and she was internally bleeding. The lady (Joanne) that was telling us all this information wasn’t even with the lady who just miscarried (Jen); Joanne was just visiting her neighbor in the adjacent bed. After 20 minutes of saying prays that none of us knew we had for Jen who literally looked like she was dead to me several times, wheels started to turn as Joanne helped lead us to decide to help Jen be released from the public hospital so we could then take her to a private hospital. Now looking back, it seems crazy to me that we literally helped transfer a complete stranger from one hospital to another. One of the guys, Ryan, on our team even signed legal documents as we transferred her to the private hospital (that only happens in Kenya). The rest of Friday afternoon and Saturday morning were filled of time with Jen as she returned home midday Saturday. Praise the Lord that she was able to receive medical attention! The Lord definitely took Joanne and us to the women’s surgical ward for the specific reason to be Jen’s angels; He works in beautiful ways.
While all of this was going on and as the strike continued for the following few days, my mind was filled with the thought that I would have never known anything about this if I wasn’t currently in Kenya. I would never have heard anything about the nurses going on strike on the news at home; I hardly even listen to the news about what is going on inside the U.S. I would have never known anything about this. I would have never known that selfishness, greed for money, and pride would all come together in such a way that would make nurses physically leave their jobs and in turn the sick were left unattended and some people left for dead. This is actually something that Pastor Jack later shared with me as he casually said that many will die as there will be no one and no way to take care of them during the strike unless they could pay to go to a private hospital. Pastor also shared that even if a nurse, even a Christian nurse, refused to join the strike they would be beat and physically forced to join to strike. My soul churns at the thought of all of this so I share all of this with you so that you would not be like me if I were at home in complete ignorance. Currently, the strike has been called off but many nurses have yet to return to work. I pray that this makes your soul yearn for justice and love to fall down so please add the health system of Kenya to your prays.
Here is a link to the blog that Roni wrote on our experience: http://veronicapabich.myadventures.org/?tuid=11333709
Hey Precious Girl- yes, it is important that we keep our eyes open to needs and in doing so, we must always seek to find the “other side.” These nurses were in a rock and a hard place…their hearts were scared, battered, and torn also. So glad you were, once again, right where God needed you and your friends! Lifting you in prayer right now. love and hugs, momma ali
Thank you for opening our eyes and heart to our responsibility to pray for the poor and sick. Our lives are all together so good, so comfortable in comparison to the rest of the world. Please give our love to the rest of your team. Your blogs draw us closer to the needs of others and to your team as well. With so much love, Dad and Mom
woah…that just made my heart sink reading this. The Lord most definitely had a plan for your visit and Jen is probably thinking now that God just sent angels to her aid.
is there anything you guys can do?
to bring nurses from other surrounding areas? or to conduct volunteer work if that is even possible?
I am having such a hard time grasping that concept…that there are people just left there with no one….it breaks my heart, the little bit that I understand. I am praying for you Audrey! May the Lord guide these trying realities and give you peace and a reminder that He is always in control.
Gaby