Healing Journey

Re-posted from the CaringBridge site for Bayo Oyebade

By Mary Beth Oyebade — Feb 23, 2015 2:57pm

Bayo continues to regain his strength daily. He started eating food today. He is feeding himself and looks to be quite ravenous. 

He has had a very thorough series of investigations at Aga Khan University Hospital. The CT scan, MRI and various lab tests only revealed a few blood clots on his lungs. He is on blood thinner to clear them out. He now needs to regain his strength from his near-death experience. Hopefully he will soon be allowed to get out of bed so he can exercise those muscles. 

I specifically asked the doctor if there was any sign of the seizure and convulsions on the brain scan. He said no.

The night of our arrival, the doctor spent some time asking Bayo questions, trying to determine if he had any memory gaps. 
What is your name?
Where do you live?
Who is the President of Nigeria?
When were you born?
Who was the President of Nigeria when you were a child?
Who is this woman? (pointing to me)
Where did you meet her?
When did you get married?
How long have you been married?

I had to ask the doctor to pardon him on the last two because he doesn't even know those on a good day!

He knows current information as well as past information. Today he saw a woman he hasn't seen for 17 years, and he knew her. The only thing he is missing is a recollection of 48 hours in Jos. His mind is completely blank about that experience, and I'm really glad he doesn't have a memory of how awful it was. 

There does not appear to be any residual damage from the seizure or the convulsions. I am so grateful, not only for his life, but also for his intact mind and personality. 

O God, thank you for this healing. I will never forget it in my life. 

The Power of Prayer

Re-posted from the CaringBridge site for Bayo Oyebade

By Mary Beth Oyebade — Feb 22, 2015 4:53pm

Wow, Melissa. You did such a great job of capturing that timeline. Thank you!

We are in Nairobi, Kenya. Bayo is in stable condition in the ICU at Aga Khan University Teaching Hospital. I'm in a hotel room all by myself, and I'm at peace--incredible peace. I'm standing in the middle of answered prayer--and that's a sweet place to be. 

On Friday morning, I knew my husband was sick--very sick, but I didn't envision we would have a brush with death that same day. He had an ugly seizure at the hospital in Jos while they were transporting him from the emergency room to his hospital room. His neck snapped to a terrible 90 degree angle (chin over the shoulder) and I knew that was bad. He started foaming at the mouth. I called the name of Jesus, and I had to move away--I couldn't watch the rest of it. 

We got the word out and people started praying. Our friends sent the word out to their friends and on it went.

They worked on him and did a lumbar puncture to test for meningitis. That test later came back negative, but they had still started the treatment. He was basically comatose. Sometimes his eyes would open, but there was no recognition.  At about 6 p.m. Friday he starting convulsing. He was on oxygen, had an IV, had tubes all over him, but he could not breathe. His chest was heaving involuntarily, trying to breathe. His eyes were bugged out, like a wild, drowning man. It was one of the worst things I've ever seen. To me, this went on for hours, but my sense of time may be distorted. I stood outside the ICU listening to his wretched breathing through the wall, and begged God to spare his life. 

The doctors worked on him for a long time, but they could not regulate his breathing, his pulse, or his temperature. Two of the doctors called me into a lounge for a private conversation. At that point, they believed the sickness was viral encephalitis. They said they didn't have the medicine for this disease. In fact, they didn't even think it was available in Nigeria. One doctor said, "We have cast our bread upon the water. We have given him an anti-viral medication, an anti-bacterial medication, and even an anti-fungal medication."  Without using too many words, they told me they had done all that they could do. Visions of widowhood kept lurking in my mind although I refused to dwell on them. 

My friend who was with me throughout the ordeal said, "What about an evacuation?" That was the first time it had crossed my mind. Yes! Let's try. Through numerous phone contacts, emails, and scans, the evacuation was planned within a few hours to the nearest adequate facility. The company initially looked at Kenya and South Africa, and then decided to send us to Kenya. 

We continued to get the word out for prayer for Bayo. Visitors continued to stream into the hospital. I couldn't meet them in the main reception area; I didn't have the heart to sit there out in the open. I kept myself in a quiet corner near the ICU and people met me there and prayed with me. I kept peeking through the ICU door to watch his chest. The heaving gradually reduced, but his breathing was still ragged. 

Around 1 a.m. his breathing became much more regular. The doctor was very surprised. We found a ray of hope and grabbed it. By 3 a.m. I saw that he was breathing normally--and I allowed myself to sleep for an hour or two. By 6 a.m. ALL of his vital signs had STABILIZED. His temperature went from 104 to 98.6. The doctor was AMAZED. What an incredible miracle. I can never forget that. 

Throughout Saturday, Bayo was calm, but although his eyes were often open, he was still not quite there. Also, he could not communicate verbally. In the afternoon, I noticed that he would raise his eyebrows in response to what I was saying. I also saw him try to open his mouth, but no words would come out. We asked God to restore his speech and everything that makes him Bayo. I went home to be with the kids and finish packing for the evacuation. When I got back to the hospital, so many people were rushing out to tell me "Bayo is talking! He knows us by name!" Wow God. Another miracle. 

Hour by hour, we have seen him coming back to this side of life. 

I will save the evacuation story for later (I.must.sleep.now) but let me leave you with this anecdote:
As Bayo was being wheeled into the ICU at the Kenyan hospital (a strictly out-of-bounds area with an automatically locking door and guarded by a soldier!!), I was directed to a lounge where I could wait. As Bayo realized that we were being separated, he said, "That's my wife! She's part of my healing! Let her come!" And they did. And that's the real Bayo right there. 

Miracles Still Happen

Re-posted from the CaringBridge site for Bayo Oyebade

By Melissa and Josh Wallestad — Feb 22, 2015 12:16am

Mary Beth and Bayo are currently getting ready to depart for a hospital in Nairobi, Kenya.  Rick and Sandi are currently somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, en route to Nigeria.  Josh and I are here, setting up a Caring Bridge site to help keep all of Bayo's prayer warriors informed.  I'm hoping to get Sandi and Mary Beth set up as co-authors as soon as they are able.  For now, you are stuck with me.

If you are here, you may know some of this story already.

I will have to get Mary Beth and/or Sandi to fill in the back story later, but for now, I will start with what we know.  Josh and I woke up for work Friday morning to discover a message left by Sandi at 4:30am, Minnesota time. Our hearts sank and our stomachs instantly knotted up.  Calls at that time of day are NEVER good.  We learned that Mary Beth had called to say that Bayo was in the hospital, and the doctor's thought he had either cerebral malaria or meningitis.  They were to do a spinal tap to determine what was happening. We started praying, and we alerted our friends and other family to do the same. Soon, a whole army of prayer warriors had been mobilized

By the time we arrived at work, we were getting word that a diagnosis of bacterial meningitis was made, antibiotics were started, and the next three days would be critical.  Bayo was in the ICU.  Josh spoke to Mary Beth during his prep hour, and he reported that she had never sounded so distraught.... Scared. Our sister, who had walked through tragedy with countless individuals, was facing a very uncertain future as her husband was unresponsive and doctors had little hope. 

A few hours later, we got a new message that sent us reeling.  A diagnosis of viral encephalitis had been made.  Bayo was fighting for his life--he needed a miracle.  We updated our end of the prayer chain, and struggled through our day until we could get home to actually talk to each other and the rest of the family. By this time, the updates on social media had been seen by many people and we knew that many more were praying for Bayo. A med-evac was being considered, but we were not sure whether it was possible, or whether it would be to South Africa or Kenya.  More prayers...

After supper, we got the most encouraging report of the day.  Bayo's vital signs were stabilizing, and the med-evac would happen.  Bayo and Mary Beth would go to a hospital in Nairobi while Grace, a family friend who is like an older sister to the kids, would stay home with Tobi, David, and Lily.  We also learned at this time that Rick and Sandi would be able to leave for Africa Saturday morning. God paved the way for them to go.  They still had current visas, tickets were available (and cheaper than the last time they went), and family and friends in the Phoenix area were able to help them make all the preparations necessary to depart on an international journey on very short notice.  We were thankful for their ability to join the Oyebades.  More prayers were lifted up.

At bedtime Friday night, we prayed for uncle Bayo, Aunt Mary Beth, and the kids with Evan and Marin. The worry was evident on their sweet little faces, but we assured them that God was in control, no matter what happened.... I was secretly praying for wisdom to help them deal with an outcome that did not match their request for God to heal their uncle.

We woke to another ringing phone at 4am.  Oh no.  We both grabbed our phones, and while Josh listened to a message from our county sherriff's department about a windchill warning (to take effect at midnight...), I checked my Facebook feed.  I could hardly contain my excitement when I read Mary Beth's most recent post.  Bayo had stabilized during the night, his doctors were "giddy with joy," and Mary Beth knew, without a doubt, that a miracle had happened.  She had been told to prepare for the worst, but our God had provided hope where there seemed to be none.

This was great news.  On our way to the Twin Cities to visit with Jason and Sonja Saturday afternoon, we got another call.  Rick and Sandi were on a layover in Minneapolis, and  Mary Beth had called to say that Bayo was alert.  He recognized his family, and the kids were able to see him.  A text message from Mary Beth moments later confirmed that Bayo was not only alert, but he was talking, and "his personality was coming through."  Praise the Lord!  The trip to Nairobi would still happen to continue treatments and monitor Bayo's recovery, but the journey felt much less like a life-saving mission than it did just 24-hours earlier.

Our family is thankful for so many things.  Above all, we are thankful for God's provision and protection for Bayo.  We are thankful that no matter what happens going forward, He holds us.  We are thankful for the faithful, prayerful people who pleaded with Him, and who continue to do so.  We do not know what lies ahead just yet, but we go forward confidently and in faith.  God is good!  All the time, He is good!

If there is news before Mary Beth or Sandi can take over, I will certainly update here.  I imagine they will fill in details that I do not have.  Feel free to leave messages here for Bayo and Mary Beth to read.  Your thoughts and prayers are indeed felt.

Praising God,

Melissa

Bright Spots

I love to stop by the various classrooms so I can listen and see what is happening.  This wall poster really made me smile today. Why does something as simple as "Ask Questions" make me smile? Well, in general, asking questions in school is frowned upon--but not in our school. In fact, we even encourage children to ask questions. 

Our teachers have learned that it's ok to say, "I don't know"  when they can't answer a child's question. Or they might say, "I don't know, but let's find out!"

The other sign says, "Be Creative in a Positive Way." I like this too because it encourages creative thinking and originality. 

Here is Mr. Albert teaching in the Foundations class. He is working with some of our older students who have not yet mastered basic reading and basic math. Once they become proficient in these two areas, they will be placed in a regular class. 

What factors caused these students to be in Foundations class? Well, there are many possibilities. Some of the children have been in school most of their lives, but they may have been in an overcrowded school that couldn't give them the attention they needed. Others have missed some years of school due to family crises, etc. The important thing is to give them the foundational instruction that they have been missing so they can move on with their education. 

The 4-year-olds were in the Library when I stopped by their classroom. To my great delight, I saw some beautiful pictures on the wall. What made them so beautiful? Well, about a month ago during staff training, we had a discussion about *not* prescribing the exact colors that children should use when coloring a picture. Many teachers felt it was best to always tell children exactly which colors to put in certain places. The end result would be that all of the pictures look exactly the same. This method greatly stifles current creativity--and most likely future creativity. I briefly gave some examples of "group think" in Nigeria that I have encountered. This was eye-opening for the staff because when you are inside of "group think" you usually aren't aware of it!

And here is the 6th grade class reading an abridged version of Oliver Twist which is a mainstay of education in Nigeria. I'm pleased with this class for so many reasons.

Number 1: I'm pleased that we actually have a 6th grade! What does that mean? Well, most schools don't have 6th grade any more. Students simply move from 5th grade to JS1 (7th grade equivalent). Schools will justify this by saying that 6th grade work is taught in 5th grade (and so on down the line). However, I really feel that many students go to secondary school unprepared. I'm proud of the parents of these children for allowing their children to attend 6th grade. Every year we lose a lot of our would-be-6th graders because their parents pull them out of our school and take them to JS1 (7th grade) in a different school.

Number 2: I'm pleased that all of the children have a copy of the book!

Number 3: I'm pleased that the teacher is reading outloud along with the class. She is modeling correct pronunciation and expression, and she is gently correcting the students as they stumble over words. She is also taking time to discuss the story with the students as they are reading.

Number 4: The classroom is bright and cheery--and it has maps on the walls! That's a world map on the left and a Nigeria map on the right.

I'm so proud of our teachers for pouring their lives into our students.

Rest...

I'm just coming off of four days of rest (the weekend plus two public holidays). Wow. That was incredible. I deliberately didn't do any work. I even got to sleep in til 8 a.m. most of the mornings. That was a real treat as the sun usually wakes me up around 6 a.m.

I took time to read to the kids, play a board game, and make fudge. I also cleaned up a few areas around the house. It was so good to de-compress a bit. When did life get so overwhelmingly busy?

I also enjoyed the very definite shift in seasons that I felt today. The dry season has come--and it has made me very happy. The dry season has a lot more sunshine and heat--at least for a month or two before the cold harmattan winds will blow in. I can't say that I enjoy one season more than another; I think it is simply the change that is so important to me.

Rest is good because of the perspective it gives on the work that needs to be done. And so, I now approach tomorrow with a readiness that comes from deliberate rest.

Nigeria & Ebola

On July 20, 2014, a Liberian-American man with Ebola flew into the Lagos, Nigeria airport, collapsed and was rushed to a hospital. He was incredibly infectious at that point, but did not let anyone know that he had been exposed to Ebola in Liberia. About 10-11 Nigerians contracted Ebola from their direct contact with him. At this point about 5 have died and about 5 have survived. Patrick Sawyer died in Lagos on July 25.

Nigeria is now reporting just one confirmed case of Ebola although more than 100 people (secondary contacts) are currently under a 21-day surveillance. Nigeria has really taken the issue of Ebola seriously.

Well, we just have to take a look at Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone and know that we don't want to go down that road. From my reading on the internet, it appears that Patient Zero died in early Dec 2013 in Guinea. Then three more members of that family died over the next two months. Various health workers then died, and people who attended the burials unknowingly carried the virus to their areas. Patient Zero's location in Guinea was very close to the Liberian and Sierra Leonean borders and the virus quickly spread to those countries. However, it wasn't until March 2014 that the dots were connected and Ebola was named as the culprit. That gave the virus a real headstart into many areas of the three countries. It really is a raging outbreak at this time.

By the way, Ebola has been springing up in various countries in Africa since 1976; prior to this outbreak nearly all cases had been in Central Africa. This time in appeared in countries where it had never been before. Local residents had no idea what they were dealing with. People in Central Africa probably have an eye for the disease as well as a much greater awareness of how it spreads.

When Patrick Sawyer flew into Lagos and collapsed, it was not immediately clear that he had Ebola, but within about 24 hours, the authorities did know and quickly put Sawyer into isolation and started following up with his contacts. Nigeria had the benefit of seeing what has already happened in the other countries. Just compare three months to one day and you can imagine the difference in containment.

Yesterday the Federal Government demanded that all public and private schools close (or extend the summer holiday they are currently on). This is a bit of a shock to the system when things seem to be getting so much better in Nigeria. I'm hoping that once all of the people under surveillance have come out of the 21-day potential incubation period that this ban will be lifted. Meanwhile, we are going ahead with staff training and sending homework packets home with the students.

Math Woes

On Saturday, we conducted our Common Entrance Exam for students who are hoping to gain entrance to our secondary school in September. Seven students sat for the Junior Secondary 1 (7th grade) exam. All of them are currently in 5th grade at various schools in Jos. (For a number of years it has been a growing trend for students to skip 6th grade altogether. Personally, I am not in favor of this at all.)

Our exam consisted of three basic tests:
1) our baseline math exam--25 questions each on basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division to be done in 6 minutes or less.

2) a 20 question math test based on a Nigerian 5th grade math book.

3) Fluency reading--how many words per minute can the student read.

Since I've been doing this for a number of years, I could predict the results even before I marked the tests. Even though I was pretty sure I knew the outcome, I still came away with an incredible sense of sadness.

1) Baseline results ranged from 34 - 75% with the average score being 45%. I watched these 10-12 year olds counting on their fingers or drawing tally marks to add 7+3 or 11 - 4. They have not been drilled to the level where this is just something that they know. In fact, a lot of teachers even encourage counting on fingers and drawing tally marks.

By the way, a student who knows their basic math facts should be able to finish our baseline test in about 3 - 4 minutes with 90% accuracy. We know because we have lots of students who can do just that. But we had to make a deliberate plan to teach the students to know their basic math facts.

A byproduct of knowing your math facts lickety-split is that you feel smart! We have really been seeing the lightbulbs going on with our students--what a joy to behold!

2) The math test results were the most sobering of all with a range of 0- 40% with the average score being 15%. There was not one single trick question among the 20 questions, but most of the questions did have words.

For example:
What is 50% of 500?
Write 63/100 as a decimal.
What is the square root of 25?
If one side of a square is 4 meters long, then what is the area of the square?
What is 4 x 1/2?

3) For the fluency reading, I would expect a student entering JS1 (Grade 7) to be able to read a new passage (5th grade level) at a rate of at least 100 words per minute. Our candidates ranged from 50-150 words per minute with an average score of 87 words per minute.

Here's the really hard part: At the end of this next week we will have to share this information with the parents of these children. These parents have worked so hard to pay school fees for these children for the past 7-9 years (most started school when they were 3). As they have been paying these school fees, they believe that their children are learning what they are supposed to.  They know how much they have sacrificed to be sure their children get an education. These are very difficult discussions to have with parents. And then we will have to tell them that we can't put their child in JS1 (7th grade). We will be offering these children positions in either 5th or 6th grade. Many parents will not be able to accept that. They will simply take their child to another school and get admission into JS1 at that school. We have become known as the school that takes students back a grade or two. A few parents will understand our rationale and our desire to re-build that broken foundation, but many will not, and they will relentlessly push their child through the next 6 years of secondary school, whether the child understands or not. And the child will be no better off for that push.

I am a very firm believer in the foundational learning that takes place during the primary years. There is a common belief here that "anybody can teach primary school." Actually I try to put some of the very best teachers I can find at the primary level because the foundation is crucial to all future learning.

Bombing in Jos

Three bombs were detonated in a crowded downtown area in Jos between about 3:00-3:30 pm today. We are all fine. We are getting most of our news from the internet right now. Please pray for the injured and pray for Nigeria. Thank you.