Prayer Letter

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Though it is two months later than originally planned, Akbar and I are leaving for South Africa (SA) on November 2nd. We will be there for the next year.

The decision to practice medicine abroad after residency was an easy one for us.  Both of us have been traveling to work in developing countries since high school, most recently on short-term medical trips this spring to Papua New Guinea and Haiti.  Though some have been skeptical, we have been grateful for the many friends and family who have supported our decision.  It is one that is grounded in faith, and that follows a long tradition of those who have gone before us and sacrificed far more.  At this point in our lives, with healthy parents and no children to support, we are acutely aware that we have a freedom not many enjoy.

Our decision was also motivated by the ‘brain drain,’ which is crippling South Africa and the rest of the developing world. Each year, thousands of physicians from poor nations leave their native countries where they received their educations and emigrate to the US to fill positions that American physicians refuse. Of those who remain in their homelands, many cater only to the wealthy, leaving the poor without care. This is the case in SA, where there is a huge shortage of health professionals in the public sector, which—just as in the US—serves primarily the poor. The organization through which we are working, African Health Placements (AHP), works to expand health care to the poor by bringing American and European doctors to work in under-staffed public facilities in SA.
We will be working at Wentworth Hospital in Durban. Durban is the 3rd largest city in South Africa with a population of over 3 million. It hosts the country’s largest port and two major oil refineries. It also has the most East and South Asians of any city in sub-Saharan Africa. The suburb of Wentworth was home to many “coloured” South Africans during the apartheid era, after many were forced to move there from the city center. (As an industrial, urban, beach city with great ethnic and socioeconomic diversity, we figure we’ll be right at home there—it sounds like South Africa’s version of Long Beach!) 

While caring for the underserved in Long Beach, Compton, and South LA the past 3 ½ years, we have seen that social injustice exists not only in developing countries but right in our own backyards. God has already challenged us with difficult patients, difficult work environments, and seemingly hopeless medical and social situations. These have all prepared us in some way for what we will face in SA. Our goal is, together with our South African colleagues, to empower our patients and strengthen the community to be its own adovocate.

Moving to South Africa is certainly daunting and exciting. Thus, we have many prayer requests. Please pray for….
     *God’s wisdom, patience, and love

     *Faith & hope in the midst of suffering

     *Health

     *Safety

     *Our relationship

     *Ability to adjust rapidly

     *Openness to doing things in new ways

     *Humility
     *A home church

We thank those who have already been praying for us the last several months. The year ahead is one sure to be filled with challenges we have not even imagined. We are embarking, though, in a spirit of faith and adventure. To share our experience with everyone back home, we will be maintaining this blog (we’ll try not to bore you with medical stuff) and posting pictures.

See you in 2013!

Much Love...