Reflections on the Safari and Return to Kijabe.

We returned from the safari on Sunday with an awe of what we had just seen of God's creation.   I have had the blessing of seeing many beautiful places on this earth, both near and far.  I think one of the ways God's rewards those who rise early is by allowing them to see terrific sunrises periodically. Here in Oconee County we also have some fantastic sunsets that I get to watch while I drive home (I guess God gives the gift of his beautiful creation to those who don't have to get up early, too).  I have always enjoyed our trips to the mountains and to Lake Rabun because of the great beauty of those places.  Growing up near Clark's Hill Lake, I have fond memories of skiing at sunset on a surface of glass.  I love driving to the Lowcountry of South Carolina and driving under the oaks draped in Spanish moss on the way to the beach.

Madeline jumping from the boat dock at Lake Rabun

Lake Rabun

Despite the natural beauty all around us in the southeast, there are a few places that I have been in this world that are almost overwhelming and are certainly a testimony to the greatness of the Creator. Oahu and Maui, though more than 20 years have passed since our visit, are among these awe-inspiring places. Parts of Bermuda, where Amy and I went for our honeymoon, were fantastic, as well. Much of the Caribbean is similarly spectacular. The coast of central and northern California provides one incredible view after another, and standing at the base of a redwood is an experience encourages humility regarding our own importance.  Our family road trip to Arizona two years ago led us to the Painted Desert, the Petrified Forest, and the Grand Canyon. The varied hues of the Painted Desert were phenomenal, the bizarreness of the Petrified Forest was amazing, and the beauty and absolute vastness of the Grand Canyon was overwhelming and inspired worship of the One who created it all.

California Coast

At the Foot of a Giant

The Painted Desert

Between the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest

Petrified Forest

Grand Canyon at Dawn

Grand Canyon in the Morning

    

Grand Canyon with Clouds Rolling In

The Maasai Mara savanna was one of those places which inspired such awe. The landscape was extremely beautiful and quite vast (see sunset pics on the previous post), but here it was the wildlife that triggered such captivation. Our photos (see the last post), though quite amazing to me, still do not do justice to what we actually saw. I couldn't help but wonder what this must have been like 100 years ago or so, before these lands were disturbed by overhunting and tourism. Teddy Roosevelt came to Kenya to hunt (and laid the cornerstone at Rift Valley Academy while on one such trip) nearly a century ago. What must it have been like back then, before the endangered "big five" (lion, leopard, elephant, cape buffalo, and rhino) became endangered? It is difficult to fathom how much more impressive it might possibly have been.

Whenever I am awed by creation, I am reminded that this is one of the ways that God reveals Himself to man:
Romans 1:20     For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.  New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995, S. Ro 1:20

After our return from the safari, I was apparently rather busy the next three days, because I did not have the opportunity to jot too many notes on the events of Monday through Wednesday.  I made a few notes about Wednesday, but I was apparently a bit sleepy when I wrote them, because they are largely indecipherable.  There was a preterm baby who was admitted after a home delivery.  This child had an encephalocele (a fluid sac at the base of the skull, which may or may not contain brain) and apparently never cried after delivery.  The baby presumably had birth asphyxia and was to be treated for possible sepsis, as well.  One of the other babies in the nursery finally got an echo because of a persistent murmur (actually, two murmurs: a contiuous machinery murmur and a loud systolic murmur) and turned out to have a large patent ductus arterious (a persistent fetal blood vessel that is supposed to close after birth) and pulmonic stenosis (narrowing of the valve that leads from the right heart to the lungs).  Another baby had an echo late the previous week and was found to have an atrial septal defect and pulmonary hypertension, which contributed to a persistent oxygen requirement.  One of our preterm "feeder-grower" babies was reported by the lab to have a bilirubin of 23 (possibly dangerous) but did not appear jaundiced at all.  A stat repeat bili was performed and turned out to be 2.  Doesn't instill a lot of confidence in the reliability of the lab.

Over on pediatrics, a Somali patient was admitted with spina bifida and a massive encephalocele.  This poor 9-month-old had an encephalocele that was roughly 3/4 the size of the rest of her body.  Just turning her from one side to the other was at least a two person job.  How this mother managed to take care of this child for 9 months is beyond me.  We were consulted by surgery on a child with massive hydrocephalus who was going to eventually get a shunt to decrease the fluid and pressure in his head.  I was saddened to hear that our girl with the low calcium had passed the previous night, presumably from sepsis (severe infection).  The cause of death will never be known for sure because no post-mortem labs or autopsy was done.  We crowded about 10 people into a rather small hospital room the next morning to talk with the family.  The conversation was translated from Swahili to Somali, so I truly did not understand a word of the conversation.  I did the only thing I could, which was to stand there and pray for this family to be comforted and to come to know the Comforter personally.  Fortunately, or rather, providentially, there is a missionary couple in Kijabe that had spent several years working with Muslims in Somalia.  They were present for the conversation and remained with the family after our discussion.  Feel free to pray for the family of this Somali girl.


As Wednesday drew to a close, less than a week remained for us in Kijabe, but it would be a challenging and memorable week.