Uncategorized – The Buells in Indonesia

Wrapping up

Well, we are home now and the doctor visits, tests, etc. are getting old. Nevertheless, it’s what I have to do since this headache (there’s only been one – 24/7 for almost 6 months) has forced us home and I am bound to find the cause and a solution.

It was hard to leave our good partners and friends. Yudith, our dear friend at the MERCY home, actually met us at our apartment at 3:30 am to take us to the airport. Such a treasure and so nice. The flight to Abilene TX was a LONG 24 hours but so fun to dome the stairs to baggage claim and see Holly, Jason, Tessa and Everett! We then went to Bella and Gena’s dance school to pick them up and that was a great surprise for them!

It was great getting to love on Everett since he was born while we were gone.

A few days later, Kevin, Brittany and Sarina flew in and we had an early Thanksgiving.

So after many doctor visits, MRI’s, blood tests, spinal tap, etc., Dr. Cooper’s (Neurologist) the initial diagnosis was Neurosarcoidosis – an inflammation of the brain tissue. So he put me on Prednisone but encouraged me to get a second opinion. Dr. Selby (Internist) trained at Mayo clinic so he made a call there. I followed that up and called and after giving them all the information, she asked what insurance I was using, so I said ‘Medicare’. She then said, ‘oh, we don;t take Medicare’, so I’m back at square one. Then an hour later she called and said Dr. Wingerchuk would take me and he could see me in a few days! So it turns our he is the head of the Neurology department at Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale. He wanted an MRV (magnetic resonance venography) so I did that last Saturday. Based on that, they have concluded I have a slow buildup of fluid (blood, serum) between the brain and skull. And based on that, I have an appointment with Dr. Bendok (Neuro Surgeon) at Mayo on January 11. Perhaps to drill a hole in my skull and suck out my brain…..

We are starting the RV adventure soon, so I will start a separate blog for that, I’ll transition over to that one and post the health update there.

The Buell’s RV Adventure

Odds & Ends

Kenya, one of our YSA’s. She’s a physician

Apparently the latest in Indonesian modern dress ware. Not sure I’m game…

I’m not sure which is worse – the mannequin or the clothes

The female version of the newest….DeeAnn didn’t think much of it..

This little girl is about 5 – selling roses car to car in the traffic jam. We bought one – 20,000 Rp. ($1.50)

Nor sure if he’s selling the koi for decorative ponds or tonight’s dinner.

Always love taking pics of stuff people carry on their bikes.

Good friends the Jensen’s at our last dinner with just them. We are the only mission couples in Jakarta and there’s no one else to pal around with.

Selling peanuts and fruit on the street – and keeping the sun off….

Our buddy Tony wanted to buy us lunch at his favorite Chinese warung in Chinatown. Delish.

Odds & Ends

“Tukan jahit keliling” – a small sewing machine on a bike – taking repairs to where they are needed.

Our other guard buddy – Joko. He speaks pretty good English and I call him President because the Indonesian President is also Joko.

MNC – Cirebon Day 3

Basically, more training of the doctors, nurses, and midwives to they can train others.

Nurse Nancy an avid University of Utah fan wanted to go swimming, but needed a tee shirt. So ever-vigilant Elder Buell to the rescue, making sure she wore this one!

Bonnie Grobertg, Dr. Tari and DeeAnn. Dr Tari is head of Pernasia

Bima (our translator) practicing being a mom!

Dr. Groberg brought cowboy hats for the training leaders.

Old friends. Dr.Tari and Dr. Groberg met when he was Mission President here and she was walking in her neighborhood, which was near the mission home.

Dr.Robison letting them practice. He’s Medical Director at St. Mark’s in Salt Lake.

Maternal & Newborn Care – Cirebon Day 2

Today was a continuation of training, although today was Helping Babies Breathe.

Maternal & Newborn Care – Cirebon 1

After the training in Jakarta, we took a 3 hour train straight east to Cirebon. The terrain was SO different than our usual train ride to Bandung. The Bandung trip is through jungle, terraced rice fields, and mountains, rivers and gorges. This trip was totally flat with endless rice fields.

The training was at the Hotel Santika – very nice.

Huge open air lobby – and no, there were no mosquitoes….

Day 1 training – Helping Mothers Survive

Dr. Groberg brought American cowboy hats for the organization leaders!

We commandeered an Angkot for a round trip to dinner. 100,000 Rp ($7.50) for all 12.

Maternal and Newborn Care – Jakarta

The MNC team is here, so we are accompanying them in their training meetings with Perinasia, the Indonesia Pediatric Association. The US team trains Indonesian doctors, midwives and nurses in special baby and mother-care techniques, and then they in turn train others in the more remote villages.

First we had a kickoff dinner:

Dhini, Dr. Titi, Dr. Tari and Sari. Dr’s Titi and Tari were school friends from way back and Sari is the Perinasia manager.

President Rowley with Dr.s Groberg and Anderson

The first day of training was at the Perinasia offices in Jakarta.

breakout session with Nancy Squire (OB nurse)

Our translators – Setiaman, Tony, Natalia, Bima and Vanessa

I’m not sure I can add a thing…….the picture says it all…

LDS Humanitarian Efforts

Being Humanitarian Missionaries for the LDS Church and representing LDS Charities been one of the great blessings of our lives. It has changed our lives forever. Doing what we believe the Savior would do if He were here has strengthened us in so many ways. Hopefully, the lives of people we have served have been blessed, but if not, it has at least changed the way we look at the world.

If you’ve read the blog, you know the scope of what we do in Indonesia. It is a microcosm of what the Church does worldwide, but the Church does so much more as highlighted in this article from World Religion News:

http://www.worldreligionnews.com/religion-news/christianity/lds-church-has-spent-1-2-billion-on-welfare-and-humanitarian-efforts

And for those of you who have not seen the Church website on its Humanitarian efforts, please check it out:

http://www.ldscharities.org

Those of you who are LDS, we can’t encourage you enough to consider serving in this effort. As a full-time missionary, it’s beyond rewarding! (Note: if you are not LDS, you might have trouble getting the Church to let you serve an LDS Mission – surprising I know!)

So LDS or not, full-time missionaries or not, you can still make a difference! There are so many places that could use your help a few hours a week or month: homeless shelters, libraries, community food banks, adult reading academies, refugee centers, etc., etc., etc..

We have loved doing what we have been doing. We encourage and invite you to do what you can – you’ll love it too!

And there’s a million more pictures just like this…..what a WONDERFUL experience this has been!

The Learning Farm

We wanted to visit TLF again for one last visit, so the timing worked out to go to the next batch graduation. What a great group of kids and what a great work TLF does! They take these kids from really tough circumstances and put them together where they learn how to get along, how to work together and the specifics of organic gardening, English and math. A great experience!