From the Field

Jan 17

"I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy, because of your partnership."
PHILIPPIANS 1:3-5A (NIV)

Happy New Year to you from Earth Mission!

We are thankful for you—all of our readers. 2024 was a very good year and we’re looking forward to what God brings in front of us in 2025.

We already have exciting things happening to kick off the new year! Zu Zae Nar and Baw Baw (PA graduates from 2021 and 2022, respectively) got married! Meanwhile, Thit Paw and Kaw Tha Blay (PA graduates from 2021 and 2022, respectively) have a new little girl, Teresa Moo.

Pray for all of our graduated PAs in the field, that God provides the resources they need. Pray for their work and for their families.

PA PROGRAM // Training Future PAs

Year 1 students had holidays in December and started back to classes on Jan 13. Now in January they are continuing with math, general English, microbiology, public health, preschool teaching, and Karen politics.

Year 2 students continued with patient history and physical exams in the morning, and then lectures in the afternoon on trauma, local anesthetics and normal pregnancy. They had exams on skin and pharmacology.

Year 3 students continued with OBGY of ultrasound, miscarriage, and preterm labor. They had exams in neurological disease and anesthesia.

Year 4 students are the most senior students in the clinic now. They are the most responsible people after the PA staff. They take responsibility in the OPD, IPD and also in surgery. Their schedule is mostly in the clinic (IPD/ OPD) but they also have some classes. Classes included OBGY and exams for vaginal deliveries and thalassemia. Now in January, they will have 2 weeks of mental health training. In their Year 5 (the coming academic year), they will take public health classes and do internships at KDHW clinics.

Surgical PAs continue their training with Dr. Hsar and Dr. Augustine. Onsite PA Graduates have continuing education with Dr. Thiri (OBGY) and Samuel for computer skills.

E-TECH PROGRAM // Training Future E-Techs

In December, E-Tech students were on their holiday break. In January and February, they will be based at RTC, learning and helping with the building projects there. Both of their instructors from Mae Sariang will be at RTC during this time. They plan to build a preschool building and make renovations on the outpatient department.

RTC HOSPITAL CAMPUS // The time to build is now

In December, Rain Tree Clinic saw 591 patients, admitting 38 and operating on 43, with 8 delivery cases.

Three of the surgeries were for leg amputations—2 above the knee and 1 below the knee. These young men were brought to our hospital to receive care.

A 20-year-old Community Health Worker/Medic received a gunshot injury through his right thigh while following a squad at the frontline on December 13, 2024 in the Hpapun area. The bullet directly struck his femoral artery, which caused massive bleeding. A tight tourniquet was applied to his mid-thigh to save his life. The frontline medical team gave him 2 units of blood and transported him to RTC.

When he arrived at RTC, he was in shock. Resuscitation and further blood transfusion was given, and we asked consent for an above-knee amputation. He denied consent for this procedure and requested a below-knee procedure, which provides better future mobility. Eventually, we had to perform an above-knee amputation as his condition deteriorated. Another wound debridement and revision of the above-knee amputation was done because of the crushed muscles and non-viable mid-thigh muscles.

He is now stable and healing after serial wound debridement, dressing and secondary suturing of the amputee stump.

Please pray for this young man as his life and future mobility is forever changed.

This is the beginning of the dry season, so the time to build is now. Here’s what we hope to do:

Build a partially underground Inpatient Department that will be designed for blast resistance.
Complete the construction of at least 4 new buildings.
Install bomb-proof windows to the OR by removing the current glass windows and replacing them with steel plates.
Prepare the Outpatient Clinic to accept TB, malaria, and HIV patients, while also increasing our capacity for treating these diseases.

Pray for the wisdom and resources that we need.

Our 6-wheel truck is fixed! Last year, the truck was purchased and a fit up was performed to equip the 6-wheel with a proper bed system. However, there were mechanical issues that couldn’t be resolved. A mechanic with Stronghold looked at the truck in November and diagnosed the problem, also teaching our engineers some diagnostic skills. The part was located, purchased, and installed. Now, the truck is usable and able to haul construction materials and other large loads. This saves the wear and tear on our 4-wheel trucks.

Our new Hilux Revo truck is working great. This truck was fitted with a flat bed that is able to carry loads much better than the pickup truck bed.

SURGICAL MOBILE CLINIC // The war continues

In December, the mobile team saw 141 patients, including 4 surgeries and 19 trauma patients. These trauma patients—primarily young men in their 20s—had injuries due to gunshots and mortar and RPG explosions.

Our trained PAs can take care of many cases, and the surgical PAs are able to do amputations and chest tube insertions. If the patient needs more advanced care, they are stabilized and referred as travel conditions allow.

Ray Kaw, along with 3 of our other PAs, are at 2 locations of our surgical mobile clinic.

Pray for Ray Kaw’s leadership.

Pray for all of these patients that are caught in such difficult situations.

Pray for God’s peace for our staff, as taking care of these patients is emotionally wearing.

Celebrating Christmas

We are thankful for several Christmas parties to end 2024! EMAF had a Christmas party for the community and a staff Christmas party, both in Chiang Mai. Our students and staff at the RTC hospital campus had a Christmas party together as well.