The Cessna Caravan 9Q-CMO arrived at a remote village in western Democratic Republic of the Congo to much fanfare: music, singing, and a greeting by a large delegation. On the plane was a group heading to Wembo-Nyama to visit the Methodist mission hospital.
Among the group was Paul Law, MD, an American doctor who was returning to his roots. His grandparents served at Wembo-Nyama from 1950 to 1964, and constructed the hospital. The aging building is decaying, and he and the group were there to assess what repairs needed to be made.
The hospital serves the village of 19,000 and, on a wider scale, the entire Wembo-Nyama Health Zone, which consists of 100,000 people. In its current state, the hospital only has enough beds for 60 patients, but it has potential capacity for 200. While the structure was deemed solid, there’s a lot of work to be done. The group determined the rehabilitation project will take two or three years to complete—and propel the hospital closer to its full potential.
These improvements will allow the hospital to meet requirements for Congo Protestant University’s (UPC) rural hospital internship program. More importantly, the upgrades will benefit the area residents, as it will allow the hospital to serve more people.
It’s likely that 9Q-CMO will be called on again for future flights related to this ongoing project, and later as it brings in UPC students to prepare for serving this vast country. The Cessna Caravan is more than happy to oblige, since it means health care will be available for more people in this remote village, surrounding area, and throughout Congo as a whole. And your adoption is making this possible! Thank you for supporting 9Q-CMO and, in turn, blessing the Congolese people.
Please continue to pray for 9Q-CMO’s pilots and passengers, as well as the Methodist Mission hospital and this important project.
