Mark Dirksen: the man with two right hands
For nearly a year, Markus Dirksen (top right) has worked as Surgical Technical Assistant at the Mission Hospital. He is a rather quite guy. But every word he says you can rely on. Before he left Curahuasi, he offered to build an “extention table,” a stretch table that is used to perform operations of femoral fractures. The original price of such a device would be almost $8000.
A few days ago, Markus wrote us this email:
“I’m finally finished with the table, and I had it packed yesterday! In the next few days, my brother will take care of shipping it to Wiesbaden …
… I must honestly confess that I initially underestimated the “Project Extension Table.” Both the cost of material and the cost of production were significantly higher than expected. But it’s amazing to see how God just puts together different things, so that in the end, He creates something good.
At first, I was given a budget of just over $1000. This I have not exceeded, but still the table has a value of $2700 without my work! An astonishing number of people have expressed their willingness to either waive the payment or even to donate. So including my boss on the shop floor, the head physician at the hospital, and my neighbors, 11 people have taken part in the cost! I myself have been working about 2 1/2 weeks on the table … After its completion, I met up again with one of my senior physicians to check the functionality, and everything is looking perfect. Many Greetings! Markus
Michael Matzerath (top left) donated a portion of the material. The device was put togehter in his work shop.
