January 28, 2006

Hello Friends,
Here is the latest news from Tumutumu.
Maria

MONTHLY PRAYER/STEERING MEETING IN SAN DIEGO:
The next meeting will be February 8, 2006 from 7:00-8:30 at Maria and Randy Zack’s house. E-mail mzack@ptloma.edu or call 760-753-7861 for directions. The March meeting will be at Sharon Peterson’s house.

PARTNER CHURCH PRAISES AND PRAYER REQUESTS:
• A small group from Glenkirk Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles, CA is visiting Tumutumu for part of the month of January. Please pray for a good visit for them, safe travels and that the hospital staff would be encouraged by having friends from the US among them.

• First Presbyterian Church in San Antonio, TX is including Tumutumu in a Lenten devotional guide that they are producing. Please pray that reading about the hospital would help the people of First Pres to celebrate the progress on AIDS education that is being made in the community surrounding Tumutumu via their financial support and prayers.

• South Highland in Birmingham, AL has had a long-term interest in helping Tumutumu to improve its waste treatment system via a constructed wetland. Tom Pollock, an engineer who visited Tumutumu this summer has some specific ideas about how this can be accomplished.  Please pray for the complex process of obtaining the necessary estimates, approvals and finances to move forward with this much needed project.

• Solana Beach Presbyterian Church in CA has a great Advent offering for the hospital. It raised over $7500 that can be dedicated to projects in 2006.

• 2006 looks to be a year of changes and transitions in some of the partnerships as well as in the hospital, please pray for the year ahead.

• Glenkirk Pres and Solana Beach Pres are beginning to prepare teams for the summer. Please pray for the formation of the teams and the details of the trips.

PRAISES AND PRAYER REQUESTS FOR THE HOSPITAL:
• To evaluate ways to improve Tumutumu Hospital’s sewage system. The work on changing the unused Amenity Ward into the Boys’ Hostel for the School of Nursing is progressing. The hospital is also making the repairs and upgrades in various wards that were required by the Nursing Council of Kenya. Please pray for the safety of all who are working on these projects.

• Progress continues on the needed hospital improvements to finalize the upgrade of the Nursing School for their new program. Please pray that these would be completed soon and that the Nursing Council of Kenya would finally sign off on all of them. I am hopeful that the Glenkirk team will return to the US with an update.

• Samuel Mwaria (the retired hospital administrator) remains in a interim position at Chagoria Hospital, another Presbyterian hospital on the other side of Mount Kenya. More than a year ago he was asked to do this for a few months. Working at Chagoria has him separated from his family during the week. Please pray that the last of the issues at Chagoria that Samuel was asked to resolve will be settled so that he can go home. His most recent communication anticipates being there through March.

• Please pray for the senior hospital leadership in this season of transition: James Kariithi (Chief Medical Officer), Emily Njuma (Head Nurse), Catherine Mukunya (Head of the Nursing School) and David Maringa (acting Administrator).

• The hospital is appealing the Kenyan Health Insurance reimbursement system. It offers lower reimbursements for private hospitals than for government hospitals. Please pray that this appeal will be successful, it is an important component of continued financial health for the hospital.