Passing the Baton

The photo (or photos, I don't exactly know how to work this thing) is of Dr. Lusi.

I was on the ramp in Kisangani the other day when I met Dr. Joe Lusi, a Congolese orthopedic/general surgeon from Goma who is affiliated with DOCS HEAL AFRICA, a group of doctors who try to do just that. He and his mates had just returned from a 2 week stay in Karawa. They go up there several times a year to provide medical care that can't normally be had in the area.

He told me they are continuing in the spirit of Dr. Paul Carlson, a missionary doctor who worked in Karawa 40 years ago. When the Simba rebellion came, Dr. Carlson evacuated his wife and 2 children; but he stayed. Dr. Lusi said he stayed because a local woman having a difficult labor needed an operation; so he stayed and the Simbas caught him. Later on they killed him in Stanleyville (now Kisangani).

Dr. Carlson is buried in Karawa. When they go to Karawa to work, Dr. Lusi said his group will gather by the graveside and observe a moment of silence to honor a brave man. They feel Dr. Carlson "passed the baton" to them and they must keep running with it. His sacrifice is an inspiration.

Dr. Carlson was an American. The people of the area are still well disposed towards Americans because they remember what he did, all those years ago; so Dr. Lusi told me.

(there is short article about Dr. Carlson at www.covchurch.org/cov/pcp/carlson.html )

When they went to Karawa, the DOCS had leave hundreds of pounds of materials behind because the airstrip was too short to allow the Caravan to land with a full load. They only performed 120 procedures on 85 patients in 2 weeks when they could have performed 150 procedures on 120 or 130 patients had they not run out of materials, simple things like sutures and anethstetic. Some of the things they did take in had to be left behind (including one of the DOCS) because the airplane was weight restricted taking off.

Dr. Lusi said it is hard answer a man who asks why his wife or son or daughter couldn't be helped. The response "we ran out of suture" doesn't seem good enough.

He is a good man who is doing good work.