Tales from Africa

Why i am thinking in Spanish I have no idea…

anyway – things here have been interesting. I can’t believe it’s been a week
already. It actually seems like much longer.

Living in a third world country… no indoor plumbing, You haven’t lived
until you have you have washed your hair standing over a bucket, electricity
sometimes and only for the “wealthy”, walking most places or riding
in a car designed for 5 people with 10 or more inside. Gas here is $2 a
LITER. think about how many liters it takes to make a gallon…
walking to the market daily to purchase vegetable for your lunch – no
refrigerators in most houses. There is a common water source and people walk
with several 5 gallon containers to fill up and walk all the way back home
with their water for the day. Sometimes this is done several times a day.
Children as small as 2 fill buckets and carry them as well. All of this and I
can honestly say that I still love it. It’s been challenging and educational.
We take so many things for granted.

I’ll give quick highlights and then try to go into some in depth stuff.
Electricity is a privilege here and one never knows when it’s going to go out
and for how long.

I have developed a wonderful suntan complete with tan lines. My sunblock has
no power against the rays of sun here. Granted I am outside several hours
daily.

We have worked in the school all this week. I spend about 4 hours a day with
six classes and an hour outside with playtime. I teach a Bible lesson, some
fun stories and songs and help with some general education things. The wheels
on the bus will be permanently etched in my head. The kids love it and I had
to sing it about a hundred times for the teachers so that they could learn it
too. The nursery teachers have picked my brain for finger plays and songs to
do with the children so we have had some interesting times. Yesterday after
visiting all the classes and teaching the kids some dances I was sitting in
the van to cool off and take a break. 20 or so kids came over saying Auntie
tell us more about America .
One child came over with the dirtiest rag I have ever seen and pushed his way
through to wipe the dust from my feet. Silent tears streamed down my face
while I tried to keep it together. (no paved roads and just a plot of land
for the kids to play on. You can imagine I am covered in dust from head to
toe at the end of the day.)
Everyone here is so loving and most of them are genuine.

My funniest moment here – A Chief offering me land and promising to build a
home if I would stay here. i told him that his price was tooooooooooooooo
high and my family would miss me in
America . We all know what
“price” I would be paying for the “free” home and land.

My most memorable moment thus far – going to the home of one of the children
in the school. The mother has become a widow since the school opened in Sept.
She and her 2 children were living in a home the size of my former closet
with one bed and one chair for all of them to share. She has been forced to
work so she grows and sells vegetables on the street while her children are
in school. She was weeping, and thanking us for making the school possible
and for the people who pay for her child’s education. (sponsors in the
US pay for
it) I had so many tears. /when it was time to go she clung to me saying over
and over may God bless you for the kindness you have shown to our family.
It’s the little things that get to you.

Prayer Requests
We also spent some time with the mayor here asking for land to build an
orphanage and have local widows run it. He agreed and is looking for land for
us. Please be praying that this works out. The need is great.

God is stretching me and has shown me so much in the short time that I have
been here. Pray that I will keep my tongue when I’m supposed to and use it
when I’m supposed to.

There is a child here with severely bowed legs and God has put her on my
heart to try to get help. The mother agreed to allow us to take her to the
hospital here and try to get X-rays. I will try to have a specialist here
take a look at her and see what can be done but I will also bring them home
to have an orthopedic there look at them and give me their opinion. If we
need to I will find a way to bring her and her mother to the
US for help.

Our lead person found out the second day we were here that her father was in
the hospital and they think he has lung cancer. We don’t know the final
results yet but pray for her and her family.

Next week we will be spending days at the hospital, evenings at an orphanage
and time in between at another school. We need strength. We’re tired at the
end of the day but it’s a good tired.

Love to all of you. I have not read your individual emails. It takes so long
to pull up the internet and get one thing through. Know that I am thinking of
you and will respond as I get the time.

P.S. My sense of smell has returned… This is wonderful since I thought I
would have to have surgery again. I have to wonder though, God allows my
sense of smell to return when I am in a country where deodorant is nonexistent
and daily bathing is considered wasteful. Who says God doesn’t have a sense
of humor? 🙂