Tribute to Tenwek

Tenwek Hospital is to Christian missionary hospitals what Yankee Stadium is to baseball lovers, what Carnegie Hall is to musicians, and what Everest must be for trekkers. From my perspective, it is an amazing place to see how effective medical missions are done.

Dr. Ernie Steury, one of my medical heroes, founded Tenwek Hospital in 1959. Perhaps part of the charm of his story to me is the fact that he was born and raised 20 minutes from my grandparents and cousins' home in a small Swiss community known as Berne, Indiana. My mom grew up very near this town and our family knew of the Steury's and their work in Kenya.

In college, I began to read about Dr. Steury's life and most recently have been reading Miracle at Tenwek, written about the life of Ernie Steury. This book was given to me this past year by a patient on my family medicine rotation actually in Berne, IN when she heard that I had an interest in the life of her old neighbor.



Finding myself within 200 kilometers of Tenwek Hospital, I decided to plan a trip to visit the place I respected so much.



My trip to Bomet, Kenya did not disappoint. After making arrangements with a willing visitors coordinator, I rode a public shuttle to Bomet. This trip was an experience in itself as we stopped in nearly every village between Eldoret and Bomet to load and unload people. At one village, we loaded a very sick-looking mother, her daughter and husband helping her walk. I was praying she would not code while she was in the van. After we got her safely to a larger town, Kericho, where another car took her to the hospital, another experience unraveled. Two pick-pockets casually loaded into the vehicle after having stolen money from a store. A witness to the crime had followed them and also loaded onto the vehicle, letting them know that he had caught them. Arrangements were made with the driver to take him to jail once we got to Bomet. So from sickly patients to thieves to very friendly, helpful passengers, I had quite an exciting trip to Bomet.



At the hospital, I met up with Tommy, a Cincinnati med student doing orthopaedic surgery, Sarah, a young teacher from Michigan who had come to teach the MK's (missionary kids), and Heather, an emergency medicine resident from California (above from left to right are Heather, Sarah, and Tommy). Tommy, the fellow meddie, gave me a tour of the hospital. Walking around the compound, I felt as if I was on holy ground. I was so inspired to walk around the compound that I had read so much about. As we were ending our tour, rain began pouring. We sprinted through the hospital grounds down the hill to the guesthouse, drenched from head to toe with fresh rainwater. It was refreshing to run through the night getting rained on and have some belly laughter.

That first night (Saturday), I stayed in Casualty (or Emergency Room). There was a road traffic accident in Bomet which brought many patients to Tenwek in need of suturing and in some cases, minor operations. Erik, one of the interns, and I sutured a man's legs after they had been lacerated in the accident. In a short time, I was able to see Casualty, the Theatre (operating room), and wards.

Since we were out of surgical caps, I had to improvise with a biohazard bag in the Theatre...





The next morning, I was able to round with the pediatrics team. They have an impressive NICU with more respiratory and feeding support than I have seen elsewhere in Kenya.



Church with the community at Tenwek on Sunday morning was like the refreshing rain the night before, after not having been in church for four weeks. As we sang "Count Your Blessings" and other old hymns, I definitely felt at home. Singing every single verse of each hymn was an uncharacteristic delight. We had a communion service, and I was able to meet some more long-term staff and friends of Tenwek. One of the long-term missionaries invited all of the students over for lunch: chili and cornbread (a Hoosier's soul food).

I spent the afternoon walking around Tenwek, hiking up to a local village, and visiting the hydroelectric dam that Dr. Steury and Dr. David Stevens (now president of CMDA) helped bring to Tenwek, which helps power the compound. Dr. Steury had a dream to utilize this huge natural resource for good at the hospital. This dam was the actualization of that dream.

In the middle of the river downstream of the dam...



Downstream...



Each of the two evenings I was at Tenwek, I made the hike up the hill from the houses to the hospital. I imagined Dr. Steury making that hike, sometimes in the middle of the night, to care for a sick or dying patient. He often cranked out 36+ hours shifts, being the only doctor at Tenwek for some time, on call 24/7/365. I am inspired by his humble, sacrificial life to the Lord and medicine in Kenya.



A legend among the Kipsigis and Maasai people around Tenwek, Dr. Steury was affectionately known as "Mosonik" or "left-handed one" because of his ambidextrous surgical skills. Many people traveled hundreds of kilometers to be treated by Dr. Steury. When asked why one such gentleman had traveled so far, passing by several government hospitals to reach Tenwek, he replied, "Because the hands here are kind."

Ernie and Sue Steury's home when they lived at Tenwek



One of the most poignant stories to me about Dr. Steury's ministry came through the encouragement of his best friend and prayer partner, Rev. Johana Ng'etich. Living across the valley from Tenwek, Johana would pray for Dr. Steury whenever he saw the light within the hospital building. He could not help but think that his endurance through all-night surgeries and difficult cases rode on the prayers of Rev. Ng'etich. Passing the modest building where Dr. Steury's ministry began one night, I was moved to see the light on. I imagined that this image was what Rev. Ng'etich saw across the valley so many nights as he prayed for Jesus to guide and protect Ernie's mind, heart, and hands.



Needless to say, the weekend was very significant. Animal parks and island getaways are incredible but my visit to Tenwek certainly surpassed all.


Sarah (teacher to the missionary kids - MKs) and two very cute MK's



Tenwek from a distance...