Let’s begin with a hard truth: unplanned pregnancy is for many a matter of life and death. Every two minutes a woman dies due to pregnancy-related complications — a grim transformation of what should be one of the happiest times into one of the most dangerous.
It’s been an eventful year for Cuba since we last visited. The United States policy changes announced on Dec 17, 2014—the result of 18 months of negotiations—signified a new era for Cuba. On July 20 this year, the United States reopened its embassy in Havana which has been closed since 1961.
During the Why Christian? Conference in Minneapolis, MN many people were asked to record a short “audio selfie” that answers the following question: When you think of a moment of doubt or struggle, what person or experience has prompted you to ask deeper questions about your faith? How do these questions sustain you in your journey?
I am so excited to be here at “Why Christian” to debate and discuss and dialogue why we are Christians and the corollary questions: What does it mean to be a Christian? What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus? As Rachel noted, “It is complicated.”
As you follow the walking path, you begin to make it out. . . a woman crying for help. A few more yards and you see her around the bend; an obviously pregnant woman on the ground in horrifying pain. What do you do?
This past month, Hope Through Healing Hands partnered with the Nashville Public Library and local independent bookstore, Parnassus Books, for a boxed lunch conversation regarding the stories discussed in the recently released book, The Mother and Child Project.
But who is a statistic? A statistic is a person, a mother, daughter, sister, an aunty. She is the nameless woman that gets added to the reports about the problems, the needs, and the gaps to be filled.
My colleagues and I have settled into a routine and I have been able to foster relationships that are built on honesty and trust. Trust to do things the way I know and honesty to discuss why certain practices are in place and how to best improve them.
It is an interesting thing reflecting on the nature of care I saw in Guyana. I found myself struggling to keep up with state of the art techniques while practicing in a setting having to comply with the status quo. My favorite mental exercise while practicing down in this resource poor environment was “what drug can I give this patient today”. So much of the time in the states the answer is fairly easy and has a protocol behind it. Often the hospital in Georgetown would run out a typically used drug, which forced me to stop and think. I feel this made me a better physician.