A sonographer serving in Zimbabwe opens eyes and hearts to the mysteries of life in the womb.
It’s a cherished moment a sonographer never tires of. That irrepressible outburst of amazement and joy when a pregnant woman sees the first image of her baby growing inside her womb.
Hopkins trained local medical professionals in ultrasound technology. One of her students, Precious, was grateful for the lifelong gift of learning advanced skills.
Susan Hopkins fondly recalls being a part of those happy moments throughout her 25-plus-year career. She also knows the sadder occasions when the pictures she captured revealed an abnormality or malignancy.
Not all of her patients have been human. In Arizona, she volunteers at an animal rescue center. She has performed ultrasounds on an orangutan and a pot-bellied pig, as well as several dogs and cats.
“My boss is an OB/GYN and was asked to go to the Phoenix zoo because the orangutan was having female issues. The species has anatomy that is similar to human beings,” Hopkins said. “So she did an exam, and I got to conduct an ultrasound.”
Apparently the orangutan was a well-behaved patient, and Hopkins’ work helped identify the source of the animal’s ailment.
Although her career has certainly been fulfilling, Hopkins had been looking for opportunities to serve in international missions. Samaritan’s Purse gave her that outlet with our Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) in Ukraine and the Middle East, where her contribution was nonmedical. She also served with World Medical Mission at Kapsowar Hospital in Kenya, and last year she spent three weeks at Karanda Mission Hospital in Zimbabwe.
A Long-Term Gift
Karanda is located outside of the town of Mount Darwin in a rural district where healthcare services are in high demand. The bustling facility welcomed the delivery of 2,086 babies, performed more than 4,000 surgeries, and surpassed 113,000 outpatient visits in 2024. Patients from across Zimbabwe and the neighboring nations of Zambia, Mozambique, and Botswana seek medical attention there.
Karanda is located outside of the town of Mount Darwin in a rural district where healthcare services are in high demand.
Hopkins said the hospital is the only facility nearby where patients can get a basic ultrasound. The government hospitals in the capital city of Harare offer advanced healthcare, but they are a 2 ½-hour drive by car from Mount Darwin.
“Many of the pregnant ladies who came for scans were almost at their last trimester. I think it is probably typical that they don’t make their first visit until the end,” she said.
In one instance, she was summoned to the delivery room for an ultrasound on a 15-year-old who was experiencing excessive hemorrhaging during labor. It was the teen’s first baby, and she was terrified.
“I asked if I could pray for her. She was crying and in so much pain,” Hopkins remembered. “She ended up losing the baby, which was heartbreaking. I knew that God was there, whether He saved the baby or not, that He was looking after the mother, but it was hard.”
Unaccustomed to the tragic situations faced by many of her African patients, Hopkins said the challenges “made me more determined to do whatever I could while I was there.”
She worked side by side with Dr. Paul Thistle, the medical director at Karanda, and his assistant, a woman named Precious. Hopkins spent a lot of time training Precious in advanced ultrasound techniques and interpretation.
“I gave her textbooks and we practiced a lot of things,” said Hopkins. “I want Precious to have that knowledge going forward. It is a long-term gift for her and for the hospital.”
The Miracle of Life
Most of the ultrasounds they performed were OB/GYN related, but they also did a number of scans on people that helped diagnose cancers, parasitic infections, and other medical conditions. Those results are an important first step in saving lives.
Most of the ultrasounds Hopkins performed were OB/GYN related, but a number of the scans also detected cancers, parasitic infections, and other conditions.
Perhaps what surprised Hopkins the most during her time at Karanda was the high prevalence of cancer among adults in their 20s and 30s. HIV and environmental factors contribute to the crisis. However, early detection and treatment make all the difference.
Cervical cancer poses the most growing concern for young women, particularly those living in rural areas where there is no availability of pap smears or screening services.
Among her male patients, Hopkins saw advanced cases of cancer of the liver, kidneys, and pancreas. The ultrasounds pinpointed the location and size of the tumors, but because the men had delayed coming to the hospital, their prognoses were grim.
“In the U.S. they would get radiation and chemotherapy. But a lot of the patients here, they just accept that they have metastatic cancer and that it’s not going to be treated,” she said.
Community outreach is a growing initiative of Karanda—both medically and spiritually—and Hopkins took a break from her ultrasound duties to spend one day in a farming village. She accompanied a doctor and a nurse to a school where they held a mother/baby clinic.
They weighed the babies, gave vaccinations, and instructed the moms in various aspects of infant care. Even though Hopkins cannot speak Shona, the most common language in Zimbabwe, the mothers smiled every time she held up her camera to take a picture. Their smiles brought her joy too.
That wordless communication reminded Hopkins of the similar response she received at Karanda when soon-to-be-mothers saw sonagrams of their babies for the very first time. The look of wonder etched on their faces was priceless.
“For some of them, they had never had an ultrasound, and they didn’t know anyone else who had ever gotten one either. The women were shocked at what they were able to see,” Hopkins said. “I think seeing their baby inside of them and seeing the heartbeat made them realize how important their role as a mother is in this child’s life. It was really neat to be a part of that.”
“I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.”—Psalm 139:14
During her free time, Hopkins connected with young people in the area with fun and games.
