Bert and Debbie Oubre

This new outpatient waiting area seats two hundred.

We saw 300 patients yesterday and 150 were eye patients!

The eye campaign ends Friday and the international team will leave. However, we have had excellent rapport and fellowship. Our best male scrub nurse, Theo, has attracted attention by his unusual aptitude and positive attitude. He is a new believer — saved here ?.

The ophthalmologists want to arrange formal training for Theo in Togo for two years. After this, he will return here to serve in our eye clinic and will be able to do cataract surgery.

There is a possibility of CBM (Christoffel Blinden Mission) building a new eye care center here and staffing it.

God is good!

Bert

This giant ovarian cyst in a thin 70-year-old woman has really changed her profile.

She came in looking 20 months pregnant and now has a scaphoid abdomen.

We could not weigh it on a 20kg scale.

In addition to this case, we did a laparotomy and found, sadly, widespread cancer on a 48-year-old pastor’s wife.

A baby with hydrocoele and circumcision.

A 20-year-old female with a ventral hernia.

A cholecystectomy for a 39-year-old female who had six gallbladder stones.

Bilateral orchiectomy for 80-year-old male with advanced cancer of the prostate.

Keep praying!
Bert

 

 

Dear friends,

The long line of women in this photo are moms waiting to get their babies vaccinated.

Most of the babies were born here at Hôpital de Guinebor. Debbie is inside maternity helping do the vaccinations.

We’re glad so many moms are faithful to comply with our requests to vaccinate their children as Chad has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world.

Today the temperature outside is only about 90F but in the hot season it will get as hot as 120F, and we have a three month + rainy season that makes waiting outside, as these moms and babies are doing, difficult or not even possible.

Thus, to make this vaccination program more efficient we will need to build a simple waiting area that will cost $20,000.

To help with this project, send your gift to:

CEF PO Box 2652
Lexington, SC 29071
USA
Attn: Evans Jones

Please designate clearly that your gift is for “Vaccination building” Hopital de Guinebor, Chad.

Blessings,
Bert and Debbie

This is our all-African Trained Surgery Team at Guinebor Hospital.

Kalbassou Doubassou is the surgeon as well as the newly appointed Hospital Director. He was one of our first students in Cameroon in 1993.

We have served with Kalbassou in Cameroon, Nigeria and now Chad.

His skills and gifts are not limited to surgical as he has much experience in hospital administration.

He may be our best evangelist as well as is gifted in languages. He functions well in Fulani, English, French, Arabic, Massa, and others. He can preach in five languages.

He helped us train the rest of the team here in Chad. In addition, Kalbassou is a church planter and pastor.

If you look closely, you will see the white face of Dr. Jim McGuillivray of Canada as he observes and approves of our team’s performance.

We are feeling very blessed that the Lord Jesus has chosen to use us in this exciting Kingdom-building ministry in one of the “uttermost parts of the world.”

Bert and Debbie

Dr. James McGilliavry had a 60-year surgical career in Canada and retired “too early” at age 86!

He contacted me and told me he felt he still has a little tread on his tires and is still feels he can help needy people.

I said, “ Okay, Jim, let’s give it a try!”

How many people his age can or would travel alone from Canada to Chad?

He arrived in good form and has been living with Debbie and me. We have never had an easier guest!

His surgical experience is vast and he knows his profession well!

We have had many interesting conversations and I respect him as he is just a decent, ethical, competent brother surgeon as well as older brother in Christ. Hey, I don’t have many older ones! Older by eleven years!

Jim has certainly been an inspiration to me. He will serve with us three more weeks and we will really miss him when he leaves!

God is good and continues blessing us and this place.
Bert

 

This is what Debbie shared with MSF: 

Cutting Edge Foundation (CEF) is an NGO working in Chad.

Hôpital de Guinebor 2, which opened its doors in 2010, is a 45-bed hospital in the village of Guinebor 2 (a small village north of N’Djamena).

Our hospital team consists of multinational expats and 84 Chadians.

Our goal is to offer excellent and affordable health care to the local population in one of the poorest countries of the world.

We offer many services such as surgery,  general medicine, maternity with prenatal clinic, pediatrics, in patient services, pharmacy, laboratory, ultrasound, 24 hours emergency services, under 5 vaccinations, physio therapy, and outpatient clinic.

Our hospital:
– sees over 2500 patients a month in the outpatient clinic
– 130-150 surgeries (thyroïdectomies, general surgery, OB/GYN surgery, orthopedics
–  130-200 deliveries a month
– over 4000 laboratory tests monthly

We have been ordering items through CPA, PRA and small merchants.

Recently, we have been having problems finding and buying supplies that should be available for good functioning of a hospital especially with an urgent need for wound dressings supplies.

We would be very grateful for any assistance in finding supplies to help provide the best health care to the local population.

Dear all,

Hopital de Guinebor ll has earned a good reputation and now along with this comes a bit of a problem (but expected).

Almost every day we start the day with the hospital inpatient section full. No empty beds. The maternity unit also is usually at capacity or beyond.

We only have a 45-bed hospital which is now too small.

This makes life hard for all concerned. Maternity has a new building only two years old and it is already too small.

We can’t just ignore this situation. We must add at least 16 beds.

This can be accomplished by building a new ward right adjacent to the maternity unit.

My estimate of cost is $40,000.

On the positive side, we are consistently financially either breaking even or have made a profit even during this Ramadan and rainy season.

Someday soon we will be able to pay for such projects with funds earned by the hospital. This is quite unusual for a mission hospital only seven years old. But not yet.

For three years the CEF  home office sent $5000 monthly for day to day running costs of this hospital. For about another 6-12 months we sent $2,500. But for about 3 years CEF has donated nothing monthly.

If you would like to help with financing this urgently needed hospital ward, please contact Evans Jones. He’s the CEF finance officer.

Or simply send your financial gift to:

CEF
PO Box 2652
Lexington, SC 29071

Evans will see that you receive a receipt for tax purposes.

Blessings,
Bert

“Dr. Mac” was a nice surprise when I returned from the states two weeks ago.

He is a real believer, reportedly is a good and compassionate doctor, loves his profession, and witnessing for Jesus. My kind of colleague!

Besides that, he likes Ag projects!

Plus, I know he is a considerate husband though I have not yet met his wife. I know this because he asked me for my opinion of a request his wife made of him.

He told me his wife was supposed to prepare lunch for the entire extended family. She asked him to “pick up something substantial for lunch.” He really didn’t have a clue what to do.

So I asked him how much he could pick up and you can see from his big smile that he thinks his wife will be pleased with her strong husband and how well he provides for his family.

Bon appetit! (This story told with just a smidgen of poet license.)

All proceeds from our goat sales will go to our newly resurrected “Poor Fund.” The latter is used to help poor patients pay their hospital bill. 

Dr. Mac is interested in goat farming and already has the field.

Monday he will take his young herd sire home on his motorcycle. Tuesday he will take the doe that will become the herd matriarch.

And it all started right here in Goatville, G2, Chad!

Stay tuned for the next account of “How to be a Husband Any Wife Would Love.” Hey, lots of luck without goats!

Bert

We are obliged to give the 27 goats some help as they have been unable to control the weed problem.

We have 13 acres and the high grass is 8 feet tall in places. An army could hide there.

So we’ve hired grass cutters with machetes. It will take 8-9 days.

The rains will stop in a week or so, and all the grass will start dying.