Love in Togo in the time of COVID

Lament is, “a prayer in pain that leads to trusting God” Mark Vroegop

I have been thinking and praying through this idea a lot lately. It is hard to be here in Togo; watching the news online and reading the stories of healthcare workers, death, stress, lockdowns, quarantines, and social distancing that is happening in the US and around the world. I watch it unfold from my corner of the world of Togo, West Africa. The inconvenience that it all seemed to cause at first to now the total disruption of life that has happened.

For a long while, I have only watched, read, and looked on from a far while all of this unfolded around me. I remained relatively untouched and unaffected from it all. But none of us are unaffected and what is happening and will continue to transpire has and will continue to disrupt all of our lives. 

The way our system works here is that we have a core group of missionary physicians that live and work here all of the time but that group really cannot sustain the work at the hospital for long periods of time and so we rely on short term providers to come and help. Many of the physicians here were slated to take a much needed and long awaited vacation at the end of March. We were all going to a conference and then taking some vacation time afterward. We had called, emailed, and asked volunteers to come and cover the hospital to make it happen so that we could all go. Well, as March went on and COVID ramped up, worry set in that the conference would not happen. Then the news came, no conference. Many of us were like, “ok, no problem, at least we will still get to leave for a vacation.” Then one by one our volunteers decided not to come. Finally, we all decided given what was then happening in Europe and the US that it was smart for no one to come to our still untouched area of the world with the possibility to bring COVID here. So just like that, no vacation and no volunteers coming in. 

I was devastated because I really needed a break even though I knew from every aspect of life and public health that no one coming in and no one leaving was the right answer. After this sunk in, instead of a vacation and a break, we went into prep mode for COVID. 

There was a sense of eeriness for sure, because we have all been here before. We are not new to prepping and preparing for an epidemic here. With the prep, came a weird anticipation that “it” is coming. With all of this, comes all of the emotions of 2016 with Lassa Fever and now every year that follows as we continue to be vigilant for Lassa fever every spring. Now, with COVID, there is a new, invisible enemy that will attack us. But this time, it’s not only us, it is everyone. The whole world is battling this new enemy and affected by it daily. For so many weeks, we just read about all of this and did not truly understand all that was happening. It is strange to be sitting in Africa and only reading about an epidemic that is affecting the entire world when so often we are the ones being read about from afar. 

Being an ER physician, it feels weird to be here and not “there” where I would be in the middle of the fire every day. Instead though, I am here, preparing and waiting, and weathering this in my own way. 

Epidemiologically, we are at least 3-4 weeks behind Europe and the US. The cases for Togo are slowly starting to climb and a week ago, we had a case in our town. Since then, we have went into high gear with vigilance, screening, and preparing an area to treat possible and confirmed patients here despite our overall lack of resources. How COVID will end up in Togo is yet to be written but we at the Hospital of Hope are making every effort to be in the fight to the best of our ability. We may not have ventilators but we are prepping to give the very best level and quality of care possible despite this. 

1 Corinthians 1 27-28 says, “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, God chose what is low and despised in the world even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.” 

My prayer is that God will use our hospital, our workers, us, to bring glory to Himself. There is no boasting in a time of an epidemic but there is a lot of lowness and “things that are not.” May I be used by the Lord in this…in this time of COVID….in this time of uncertainty and inadequacy….in this place….to bring Him glory. 

Please pray, because despite COVID being here, our hospital carries on. Preemies keep coming, cerebral malaria continues, cancer, and heart failure continues. Borders closing are good steps to control the spread. But with that means, no short-term help is coming any time soon. So hunkering down for now is wrapping our minds around that and all the implications that brings to future breaks, furloughs, vacations all of which are giant question marks for all of us. Pray for resilience…pray for strength…pray for peace in this time of uncertainty. As I continue to lament to the Lord during this time I pray that it could be something that turns me even more to total dependence on Him. 

Know that prayers from here continue for the US and the world as we face this thing together….try to laugh a little more….be creative with your time…wash your hands…and don’t touch your face.