Mvura Ye Upenhu Palliative Care and Hospice

And we're rolling....

How does one start a pilot palliative/hospice care program in Mozambique? That's the question I've toyed with for a good nine months now.

First priority...Mozambicans. I need a Mozambican to learn from and to train up. My impact in a community as a “pink person” (as Nede refers to us) is minimal compared to a respectable Mozambican. So...

This starts the 4^th week of my training Rebecca in palliative care/hospice. I have chosen Rebecca as my first “trainer”. For many reasons, she is the obvious first person for me to train. I have known her for greater than 6 years, she's been a friend but has also demonstrated compassion and care to the sick in the villages (out of her own initiative). She speaks English well. She's well grounded in her Christian walk-- these are great first steps. Rebecca has made many choices to reject her cultural “norms” and stand in a “Kingdom culture.” These were requirements for me in anyone I would work with on this program. So, with my first “trainer” selected, we've kicked off...

We have now completed 5 weeks of 2 days of training each week. First, we started talking about what palliative care and hospice care are. It's interesting as I start to recognize the philosophy that I so believe in just from being raised in America. The understanding of alleviation of pain and suffering are not the natural thought process here in Moz. The mountain is big!

Into the 2-3 weeks we spoke about grief and bereavement because, tragically, there was a traumatic car accident recently so these talks were not just theory-- it was needed practically. This week we started on HIV/AIDS.

Already I've been faced with many cultural questions and challenges. Imagine being told by the pastor, at the death of a loved one, “don't cry” you will see your loved one one day? Don't show your sadness!

Imagine believing that every death needs to be blamed on someone. There's no acceptance of accidents. There's no understanding of disease pathology-- there must have been a curse.

Imagine that I just spent the equivalent to almost $40 on a box of latex gloves! Oops, I need to do some shopping around for that! That will not be feasible (but necessary)!

To be honest, I'm not sure how to work with this. But what I do know is that I'm excited to try. I'm eager to keep teaching, I'm eager to start working with families. And, yes, we could dive in and start visiting but the crises was here yesterday, it'll be here tomorrow and, I'll feel so much better to start and do it well when we're ready. It's my goal that by October we'll have admitted and started visiting our first family with...Mvura Ye Upenhu Palliative Care and Hospice (Living Waters Palliative Care and Hospice) Because...Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. John 7:38 Yes, that is our prayer....

 Please pray for us!

We've also started recording for our Wildlife Animal players that our patients will receive. These girls have started recording music with Chad. Soon stories and scriptures will join them to bring peace and hope to our patients at the end of life. This is exciting...

(No, the video is not frozen, it's just one photo. I didn't know how else to share the song! ;)

(Wildlife Animal players which will play the music we're recording, along with scriptures and Bible stories)