Dzuwa children

When the azungus (white people) come into the village, the children flock around. The little tiny ones are often terrified of us, but as they get older their curiosity overtakes any fear. Here are some pictures of the kids. Several of the girls have babies on their backs - little brothers or sisters, usually. They will carry the baby all day, until it cries, then back to Mom for a feed, then once again on the siblings back. If you will, notice how dusty and dry the ground is at this time of year. Since the kids are out in the dirt / dust all the time, they suffer from respiratory problems. Also in at least one of the pictures, the kids are sitting in the dirt, eating the pods from a local tree. I tasted one - mostly something to chew, not much flavor and I am sure not much nutrition. In one photo the back ground shows the local borehole where some of the villagers have gathered to do their laundry. The children are charming, but also heartbreaking at the same time.

Ronald and Ulema Chimzimu, Dzuwa

Ronald and Ulema live in Dzuwa village, where we held the clinic. They graciously let us stay in their house (me) and Gloria and Elliot's house (Jose) Saturday night. The missionaries (the Chimzimus, Gloria, Elliot and a couple of other guys, including my clinic interpreter, McDonald) live in three houses, along with the outbuildings - storage sheds, toilets and bath houses. They have a generator that runs the inside lights and will charge their cell phones, etc. All cooking is done outside over charcoal cookers. The water is fetched from the nearby borehole. The toilets are squatty potties, and the bath houses are for African style baths. One store house is for tools (which also houses a big black snake on occasion, according to Ronald - he thinks it is a black mamba), the other store house is for maize, ground nuts, charcoal, etc (the maize = mice/rats = the big black snake hanging around!). They also have a storage silo for unshucked maize. I got to watch Ulema cook dinner (potatoes and chicken), and got a lot of pointers on how to use a charcoal cooker, plus some good tips on cooking potatoes and chicken. Jose took Ronald into town (Santhe, 44 km away) to buy gasoline for the generator. We had the generator on for about 3 hours, long enough to eat, charge Ron's phone, and for him to do some work with his computer. He occasionally has Internet - but only when he can afford it, as it is very expensive here to be connected. We were able to learn more about what they are doing in the community. Ronald is teaching pastors and deacons - Bible teaching. He is translating materials into their language (Chichewa). Although English is the official business language, in the villages it is not spoken or read often. Ulema teaches at the school and is starting a feeding program - whereby all the school children will get a meal of porridge (thin nsima) with additional protein (ground nuts or soy beans) every school day. She knows that starving children do not learn well. The school is 1st - 8th grade. There are about 500 students, but with the majority being in grades 1-4 - those classes often have 100 children for one teacher. Starting in grade 5, the students must learn English - everything is taught in English. At that point most of the girls drop out, along with many of the boys. The 8th grade this year has about 30 students. After 8th grade, they are eligible to go to secondary school if they pass the national exams and if they can afford the school fees. Most students do not go onward, especially the girls. They often marry between 5th and 8th grade. And they have babies and start the cycle over again. Gloria is doing the micro business with the women - loaning them money to start their own businesses, then watching the finances, etc. She has a little over 40 women in the program - they knit and sell their items, some have started little tea rooms (tiny restaurants), some fry meat to sell or make the local bread. A major problem here is that the men in a marriage control everything - so if they tire of a wife and 'divorce' her (basically drive her out of the hut), she has nothing except hungry children to feed. If she is married and her husband sells his tobacco (a major cash crop here), he can spend the money however he wants - often on beer or other women, leaving the wife and children destitute. So being empowered with a skill is truly life saving for many of these women. These guys (Joy to the World ministries) have also built a maize mill, and of course the clinic that they hope to get staffed and open soon. McDonald is not only a part time teacher, but he is working on an irrigation project to grow Irish potatoes - he says it is going well and the first crop will be harvested this September. These guys are doing quite a work under difficult circumstances! Please keep them and their work in your prayers. The pictures are of the maize silo, Ulema outside her house with some of the village kids that hang around, Ron and Ulema in their living area as we prepare to eat dinner - Ron has the generator going and is working on his laptop!

Dzuwa clinic

We didn't leave Friday afternoon for Dzuwa as Jose was feeling a little under the weather. He was much better by Saturday morning, so we left very early, arriving in Dzuwa at ~ 9 AM. Ronald was going to meet us in Santhe, where the tarmac ends, but the battery in his car was 'flat', so Jose got to drive on his memory of the roads. Ronald walked and met us a little under half way, but Jose did great getting to that point. There are no road signs.. you just have to remember which way to turn when the road forks... by watching villages and trees, etc. It was just as well that we had not spent the night to start an early clinic, since an 8 month old child had died and the funeral was held Saturday. We had to check with the big chief, Chief Dzuwa, if we could still hold the clinic. He said yes, so we started at about 10 AM. Many of the patients had come from surrounding villages to attend the funeral, so did not have their health passports, which makes taking care of them even a greater challenge. The clinic was set up in a school room. I had McDonald, one of the missionary / teachers / agricultural guys as my interpreter. Jose and Ron Chimzimu were the pharmacy techs. It really worked well. Of course, we had no lab tests, only a scanty history, a BP cuff, a stethoscope, a flashlight, a otoscope (for ears), my hands and our brains (which struggle with some of the African symptoms!). We took a 30 minute lunch break, and then worked until it was almost dark (no lights, so we are have to stop at dusk.) I saw a couple of really ugly rashes on children, lots of upper respiratory illnesses, stomach pains, arthritis (they work hard, dig in fields, carry water and firewood, walk or ride bikes everywhere - their joints are destroyed..), lots of chest pain - most related to arthritis or stomach, some high BP and palpations, diarrhea, bilharizia (the water borne disease that affects your bladder - very common here), some malaria. One child that I think has seizures - probably some partial complex seizure - but we did not see one so it was hard to get a good handle on it. Lots of eye problems - some allergy, but also old traumatic injuries and probable cataracts. A common complaint is 'pain everywhere'. Some yeast infections (you always worry about their HIV status when they complain of yeast infections). Tooth pain and multiple caries was fairly common. We gave out tons of paracetamol (like Tylenol) and Ibuprofen, lots of antibiotics, some BP and heart meds (inc. aspirin daily for the older patients). We ran out of the 'stomach meds' (Prilosec and cimetidine). Dispensed the medications for bilharzia and malaria, along with meds for yeast. Some cough medication. We had one wound that needed to be dressed, and of course the kids with the ugly rashes... it is very frustrating to realize that, for the chronic problems, if we happen to hit the 'right medication' for them, once it is gone, they will once again be in the same situation. Ron and his Joy to the World ministries is trying very hard to have their clinic up and running. Many of these people had never seen a doctor. The closest facility is 44 km - the Santhe hospital - and it is small and doesn't have many resources. Several of the children looked malnourished and wormy, we had multiple vitamins and worm meds to give out, too. All in all, we did pretty well. Ron and Jose were awesome pharmacists, with Ron translating the instructions. After we closed the clinic for the day, we went to Ron and Ulema's house for dinner - Ron asked Jose to take him into Santhe to buy gas for the generator, so Ulema and I had a nice visit. She educated me on some of the eating habits. Their diet is mostly nsima (ground maize flour that is cooked in water, sort of tastes like grits, with a firmer consistency), lots of greens and beans and occasionally fish or chicken. That is a pretty healthy (but low protein) diet, so I couldn't figure out why so many people complained of abdominal pain. Turns out the women often go into the bush to get the greens (inc. okra of which there are multiple kinds growing wild). They cook it with bicarbonate of soda - which is hard to get in villages and very expensive, so they make a substitute using wood ashes and water. For those of who are not aware of this, that makes LYE (like, Drano lye). No WONDER they all had belly aches! I wish I had known ahead of time, I could have talked to them about changing their diet. I also found out that although their village, Dzuwa, has a nice deep borehole (well) that has been tested and found free of contaminates, neighboring villages are still drinking from shallow wells (or the standing water in areas) that are contaminated... those people really suffer from diarrhea and bilharzia. They could come and get water from the borehole, but it is a long trip on foot, so they often chose the contaminated water. The children pretty much run free and play in the dirt (I mean, lie in it, roll in it, etc.).. they also eat a seed pod from a local tree.... mainly to fill their bellies - and I watched them as they rolled in the dirt with this 'food', then promptly put it in their mouths. It is evident why worms are such a huge issue! Between the patients we saw at the clinic, those at Ulema's house, and few that straggled by this morning before we left, we saw over 80 people. I just hope we made a few of them better! The pictures are of Jose and Ronald at the pharmacy, Jose mixing some pediatric medicine and myself examining an unhappy child, with McDonald in the foreground.

Epilepsy clinic

This afternoon I accompanied Dr. Diane Young and Cathy to the epilepsy (seizure) clinic in area 25 of Lilongwe. It is a village like 'suburb' of the city. Cathy is from Canada and has worked here ~13 years. She has a school for special needs children. She does physiotherapy with the kids - at the school and at their homes if needed. She has all ages and conditions of kids. She also holds nutrition clinics and this epilepsy clinic every other week. Dr. Young is at ABC clinic and comes on every other Thursday to be the doctor at this clinic. The patients are generally young, but even older adults with seizure disorders come in. Some of the medicine is supplied by the government, but a large amount of it comes out of Cathy's own pocket. I have found that most of the missionaries here give their personal monetary support to much of what they do! When they come to clinic (they mostly walk here), they present their health passport - a little booklet that they are supposed to keep with them for all medical visits. Every doctor / clinical officer / hospital writes a note in the book when care is given. Just something short - vital signs, weight, complaints, findings, medications, etc. Usually less than 1/2 of a page. Really ill people may have several of the little books. They are very convenient when they come for care (even at ABC) - I call them the EMR (Electronic Medical Record) OF MALAWI! Ha! But just as our computers sometimes crash, they sometimes lose their books, or they burn up in a fire. However, if they have their book, they turn it in at the start of clinic - their place in line depends on when they turn in their book - first come, first served. If they forgot or lost their book, they are at the end of the line. As for the patients - a great many are due to cerebral malaria as a child. We saw a couple of what we are presuming were birth injuries and some ?? who knows what triggered them. Many of the adult patients had had seizures all their life - now they are on medications and they have a new beginning. Unfortunately, most schools will not let children with seizures attend - too disruptive. So many of the children have not gone past 2nd or 3rd grade. And most of them have old burns, where they have seized and fallen into the open cooking fires. The patients line up outside the tiny room that is the clinic. They come in when their name is called. They are asked about continuing seizures, if they are taking their medicines, if they are unwell, any other problems... the children are weighed, medication is adjusted if necessary and dispensed. Any other significant problem may be addressed by referring to another facility, as they only do the seizure meds at this clinic. (Today we saw a patient with a nasty abscess, and another one with possible filariasis.) At the end of their visit, each patient is prayed for by the team. Enough medicine is given to get them to their next appointment. Many of the patients had not made their last appointment and had been out of medications for some time. Just the logistics of getting to the clinic is overwhelming for some. They may have to take several minibuses and walk long distances to come in. We take so much for granted with our good roads and transport availability!! Some of the women whose children are in the special needs school / programs have been taught how to sew or knit. They have little items for sale. Of course I had to buy some! It is good to support people who are trying to support themselves! The pictures are of me with a couple of items I bought, and one of the ladies who does knitting. The gentleman on the left is one of the helpers at the school. The young lady with the gorgeous smile is Clara, she helps in the clinic. They keep their own records, in case the health passport is lost, and Clara is a great help finding the previous notes, etc. Two of the patients - Amoni is the little guy, he is a twin. His brother is fine, but he was breech and apparently had anoxic brain damage at delivery. He has multiple problems along with his seizures. The two children are Shadrack and his sister. Shadrack has seizures from cerebral malaria. His sister was the accompanying family for him. She is young, but another patient came alone, got his meds and left - he was 12!!! The last picture is Cathy, holding a stack of the health passports. You will notice her record book is laid out on the table. We had a good day, the patients were all either holding their own or had improved with their seizures. I am again reminded that you can only do what you can do..... for the doctors out there - no drug levels, no definitive testing on the mystery patients to see why they had seizures, no checking liver enzymes..... just treating as best as you can.

Jose did his last CPR class for the ABC academy today. They all did well, asked lots of good questions and seem to really 'get it'. Paul Chinchen, the president of all the African Bible Colleges, attended and (thankfully) passed the test!

Tomorrow, after morning clinic, we are planning on going to the village of Dzuwa until Sunday. We hope to do an all day clinic on Saturday for the villagers. Should be interesting. One of the patients I saw last time had a weird rash - I took photos and consulted one of the clinical officers at ABC - he thinks it might be leprosy. I hope to get some better photos. I also will refer him to the clinical officer to get a hands on opinion and possibly medication. Anyway, we will be out of touch for a few days! Keep us in your prayers.

Dinner with the Spencers

Wednesday night we had dinner with Steve and Marion Spencer and their children, plus a couple of the kids friends. For those of you who know them, you know that total chaos is the rule! We had a great time as usual. At one point Steve was talking on his land line and his cell phone, Marion was on her cell phone, little Stephen was playing his guitar and the piano at the same time and Charlotte and Ester were laughing... if you are into big families, this is the happening place! Steve and Marion (Chinchen) Spencer are missionaries with African Bible College - again, you can search for the site on the Internet and most of the missionaries are listed there. This group (ABC) does fantastic work here. They have the clinic and pediatric ward, an Academy for younger kids, the Bible College where they are giving the leader's of tomorrow a Christian based education, and the radio station. They always appreciate new supporters! The pictures are of Charlotte and Ester (the baby), Stephen - who barely made it through dinner then fell asleep, and Samuel and Ester.

Lidson

Wednesday we drove to Kasungu and the Children of the Nation orphan village of Chiwengo. They have about 88 orphans living on this compound, complete with it's own primary school and church. My understanding is that the former 'President for Life' (i.e. dictator) President Banda used this compound for his extended family when they visited. There are several homes - the younger orphans live in one of the homes - House of Hope, House of Joy or House of Love. When they are old enough to go to secondary school (grade 9) they are seperated into boys (House of Power) and girls (House of Purity). The younger orhpans have house parents and then 'assistant' parents - sort of like aunties who help cook, clean, etc. Each house has about 14-16 kids. ranging in age from babies to ~15 years old. I have sponsored Lidson since he was about 6 (he is 15 now), and I have met him before, but COTN had always brought to Lilongwe. This time we thought we would drive up and see his house. We also met the on site administrator, Eric, who is also a house parent. He introduced us to 'Joseph', a ~14 month old boy. Joseph's mother died at birth, his father ran off and his elderly grandmother was trying to care for him. The social services found him and asked COTN to come and look, to see if they could take him in. Eric said the boy was about 2 months old, the grandmother was very poor and frail, the mud hut was falling down around them, and she had been feeding him Coke and Fanta to keep him alive. COTN agreed to place him in Eric's home, but first he spent ~ 3 weeks in the hospital with pneumonia and malnutrition. As you can see from the picture of Jose (AKA Joseph) and little Joseph, he has recovered quite nicely! We were thrilled to see Lidson's home and to meet some of his 'peeps' in Chiwengo! Although he confided to me as we were leaving 'have them bring me to Lilongwe next time'!! I think he likes the road trip and the fun of getting to travel! He is, as Eric says, 'a lovely young man'. Very quiet and shy.

Monday and Tuesday clinics....

Monday and Tuesday I spent at the clinic. Busy but not overwhelming, and always rewarding.

Such a mixture of folks to see: Malawians, Americans (mainly missionaries), Italian, Swiss, German, Indian, Nigerian, Brits, Pakistanis... all in two days! All ages, from infants to village agogos (grandmothers). Did a few minor surgeries (VERY minor)... Prepared and gave a short talk on anaphylaxis to the nurses and clinical officers at the clinic, even did some flow charts to post up on the walls as references. Jose taught CPR this afternoon. We managed to get the car in for an oil change - sounds simple but nothing is really simple here.. there is no 'Jiffy Lube' - haha. Tonight we had a lovely dinner with Dr. Diane Young and her husband and 3 children. We had a tuna casserole - I hadn't realized how tired I was of chicken - boy, that tuna tasted good! Tomorrow we will head north, towards Kasungu, to see Lidson, the orphan I have sponsored for years through Children of the Nations (COTN). He is in the orphan village of Chiwengo. Usually COTN brings him to Lilongwe to meet me, but this time we want to see his home and his village. It will be an all day trip, but worth it.

Pictures are of some road scenes - a roadside village that was holding some sort of meeting; another roadside village; women carrying ?water? on their heads; and a motola. The motolas are small pickup trucks that load people in the back and transport them. They are a very cheap means of transport, but not very safe! As you can see, the people were literally spilling over the sides of the truck bed! All for now, please keep us in your prayers, especially as we travel tomorrow!

Kukuza and the Lake

When we were at the Lake last March, we saw an new, interesting looking place to stay that was pretty cheap - roundels on the lake front. This time that is where we stayed - Kukuza chalets. It is run by a Dutchman (I think). Pretty primitive, but with running water (no pressure, though), and a partial functioning water heater. Also a small refrigerator and a kettle to heat water, mosquito nets and a fan. It was nice to wake to the sound of the lake's waves crashing on the shore. Sunday morning we walked down the beach and I found the place where I stayed my first visit in 1994. At that time is was part of the Baptist mission, now it has been sold. We enjoyed the walk, and then Roger and John caught up with us. They sell curios on the lake shore. We have spent more money with them than I want to think about, but they are very charming young men. Jose ended up buying a hippo tooth... I ended up with some very expensive thank you notes! Oh well. The pictures are of the chalet, the lake front, the 'guys' - John, Roger and Jose, with his tooth, and the old mission house.

Salima District Hospital

Friday we drove to Salima District - we stayed in Senga Bay (more on that later), the next morning we drove to the Salima District Hospital and met Peter Maseko. He started his call Thursday morning - he stayed at the hospital until Sunday morning, getting up all hours of the day and night to manage the hospital - he was 'the' person on call for everything nights and weekends. We made his morning post C-section rounds with him and then saw a young woman who was 36 weeks pregnant who came in with meningitis. She was actually sitting up drinking water, 36 hours after arrival and treatment. He was amazed. We had our portable sonogram (THANK YOU SONOSITE FOR THE LOANER!!), so we checked her baby right there at bedside. Soon a line started forming of the ladies who had come to 'ante natal' clinic. We checked several, with Peter interpreting for us. They were thrilled to see their baby's heart beat and head. Then we were called to the labor ward... a young woman had arrived from an outlying clinic with 'obstructed labor'. Peter decided she needed a C-section and asked us if we wanted to attend. Of course, we said YES! We suited up..... if you notice the pictures, the scrub dress I am wearing is literally falling apart on my body. I am glad I wasn't going to be touching a patient, because it offered virtually no protection. Actually, watching Peter get ready for surgery - the scrubs, then a plastic apron, then he scrubs in and puts on a sterile gown (which was in pretty good shape). The surgery was very much like here - and, on the other hand, very different. Only clinical officers and a couple of nurses, but the clinical officers really know their stuff! The anesthesia was a spinal, and the clinical officer had it in fast, she was numb very quickly, Peter had the baby out in less than 15 minutes from the time she got her spinal. She was nicely closed and done in less than an hour. She had a fine looking baby boy! After the surgery, we changed back and planned on returning to the maternity ward to do more sonograms. Peter was called to do several emergencies evacuations, so told us to go on without him. The line was long! And no one in the department spoke English! So, we entered them into the sonosite computer as Jane Doe... I think we ended up with 24 or 25 of them. I learned to point at the screen and say ntima (heart) and mutu (head) and chabwino (OK).. ending with bos amayi (you are done madam). It worked out pretty well! The ladies were patient with us, they were all smiles and hugs, and all seemed thrilled to see their babies! We even had a couple where we got good profile shots and pointed out nose and lips (just had to point, my chichewa doesn't go that far!). Jose and I took turns using the actual sonogram scanhead, the other of us doing the computer part. He has a real knack for finding the umbilical cord! We even found a set of twins - ha, and we couldn't tell her!! We finally finished at after 4 PM, a long day. Not as long as Peter's, as he was being called to another STAT C-section as we were leaving. We had hoped to return one day this week and do more sonograms, but Peter has meetings starting Wed for over a week. Hopefully we will get back. Just a note for those of you keeping up with the blog - if you remember the little boy with cerebral malaria that we saw the first visit to Salima hospital? The one with a blood glucose of 28 and in a coma? Peter finally found the nurse that had been there - she said shortly after we gave the glucose and then left, the boy woke up. He did have malaria, but ended up going home in 2 days! A miracle... helped along because Peter had a glucometer and could check his glucose.

Wezzie's birthday dinner

This is a short note, mainly for all the Maseko girls who are reading this blog! Since we were all busy on Wezzie's birthday, we agreed to take her out tonight. Here we are at Mama Mia's in Old Town Mall. One of the nicest restaurants in Lilongwe. Of course, Jose and Wezzie got pizza (I had the lasagna, actually very good for Malawian lasagna). And of course, ice cream for dessert! Happy birthday Wezzie!

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Clinic and CPR

Today I spent the morning and afternoon in the clinic. It was a busy morning but the afternoon was pretty quiet. We start the mornings with a devotional - singing songs, prayer, reading from the Bible (someone shares what God has laid on their hearts), more prayer. It is a sweet time that reminds us we are simply God's servants - His hands here on earth. Since the afternoon was pretty quiet, I found some other things to do: Kinn (lab tech) refreshed me on what malaria looks like under the microscope, and Lewis (rad tech) had me come and see an interesting sonogram - large ovarian cyst. Lewis is a very bright guy, with official training as a radiology technician for plain films. He has taken a few courses on sonogram and is able to use the clinic's sonogram amazingly well. Someday maybe he will get the complete, official sonogram course! I roamed the halls and took some photos in the clinic, a few of which I am sharing with you here. Kinn is the lab tech (white coat, by microscope), one of two techs in the clinic. Both he and James (other tech) are bright and very helpful. Rashid (in vest) is one of the clinical officers, and he is smart, smart, smart! He is an excellent source of information for me, and he specializes in dermatology - and we see a lot of weird rashes here! Dora (green jacket) is the charge nurse for the clinic. She is always cheerful and willing to help. She manages the nurses and their duties with efficiency and kindness. The other photo is my office.

Jose spent the morning preparing for another CPR course - this is the first of 3 he will be teaching for the ABC Academy. They want all the teachers and teacher aides to have CPR. Today he did the teacher's aides, all Malawians. The first photo is of the class after they finished the course.

Tomorrow after morning clinic we head out to Lake Malawi, Senga Bay, to spend the weekend with the Masekos. Peter is on call at the district hospital, so we are hoping to go to the hospital and use the sonogram I brought, see some patients with him and just generally 'hang out' with the family! Should be a fun week-end.

More Dzuwa

Dzuwa is about 2 hours away from Lilongwe. In the green season (rainy season), the road is very difficult. It is the dry season now, so there is a much easier route. Ron met us at the turnoff at Santhe, where the tarmac ends. We followed him (or his dust trail) into the village. Some of the photos include that wild ride. Also, Jose with the young boy he cleaned and bandaged, Ulema cooking chips and Ron with fresh bananas. These are small but the flavor is unbelievable! They make US bananas seem totally flavorless. There is also a picture of a young girl with Gloria's baby (Gloria is another one of the team). If you are interested in learning more about this group of missionaries working in their own country, search: Joy to the World Ministries, Malawi. You can learn about their vision, what they have done and what they are hoping to do. There are more photos there, and a way to donate to their ministry. I think if the Christian church in the US would skip one restaurant meal a week, eat a sandwich at home, and donate the saved funds to God's work around the world, they would make an unbelievable impact on the world!

Big chief, Chief Dzuwa

While visiting at Pastor Ron's house, the big chief came by, Chief Dzuwa. He is over 46 other chiefs and their villages. He is a charming man, with a good sense of humor. We had the disadvantage of having most of the conversation go through Ron as the interpreter, however (I have GOT to learn Chichewa!) He has a heart for his people. He told us how he had been asking God for deliverance of his village (so much witchcraft for a long time), a good school and a nearby clinic... as he said, 'God overtook me, and gave me a clinic right here, and missionaries to help us'. He sold Ron and his team all the land they needed for their homes and the clinic and clinic housing - which is really a big deal, because the chief does not always sell land to outsiders! We pray for him long and healthy life, and a continued vision for his people. The picture is Chief Dzuwa and Ron Chmzimu.

Dzuwa clinic

Today we went to Dzuwa. We got a little bit of a late start because the pharmacist at ABC forgot to put the malaria medicines in the box I was taking to the village. Once we got there, it turns out that Ron was not able to organize a 'regular' type clinic day. So, we walked to the clinic building and gave him some ideas on setting it up, what he needs, etc. We also saw the new houses - one for the clinical officer and one for a nurse. The government will supply those employees if the clinic will build them each a house to the government specifications. They are almost done with the houses. The village hopes to have electricity by sometime next year. We had a nice walk around the clinic and housing area, then Ulema (Ron's wife) fixed us lunch - chips, eggs and tomatoes. A boy came to the house after falling off an ox cart - with a very dirty and deep abrasion to his knee. Jose got him cleaned up and bandaged. Ulema said that the word would soon be out that a doctor was at the Pastor's house. The 'big' chief came by to visit (more on him in a different blog) and we had a nice conversation (with Ron interpretating). By this time, the word WAS out that a doctor was at Pastor Ron's house. We started seeing patients in his living room. A church member came in and told us his daughter was sick at home. He lived ~9 km away, so after we saw all that had gathered, we drove to his village to see his daughter - house call, African style. Of course, we had the attention of the village children when we arrived! The daughter was ill, but not so ill she needed to be in hospital - we treated her there, along with her older brother who was also ill. On the way back to Ron's, we stopped at another village and saw a couple - I was able to go into their home to get the history of their troubles. While I was in the house, Jose made friends with the group of village children that gathered around the car. They all wantged to greet him and shake his hand. Then we drove back to Ron's to find another gathering of patients. We just left our medical supplies and medications in the back of the car and worked out of there... a real mobile clinic - ha, ha. We hoped to be done by ~4:30 to make it back before dark. The roads here at night are terrible! However, how do you turn them away? So, we worked until dusk but managed to at least get to the main road before complete night fall. We hope to go back in two week -ends and actually stay in the village for a couple of nights, so that we can do an entire day of clinic. More on that when - and if- it happens! Pictures: The children at the house-call village. The little girl we went to see. A couple of pictures of our impromptu mobile clinic, and lastly Ron, Ulema and Jose - turns out it was Ulema's birthday, so we shared - and left- the last of the chocolate cookies with them! Thank you Lord for a wonderful day!