Dalitso

"For He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. Surely He shall deliver thee and under His wings shall thou trust." Ps 91

This will be a short blog. Last week we had several events. Most of them were wonderful times of service or fellowship. We spent time with the Moffetts at Michelle Clark's house, where she showed us her newest project of crocheting rugs and purses made from discarded plastic bags. We did a village clinic (previous blog), Sue spent time with Kathy Bowler and her team with physical therapy. Katie and Sue went to the carver's market and then prepared to leave and return home. Joseph finished his plumbing project at Michelle's, with cementing the shower floor. We found fuel, even though the lines continue to be daunting. However, we had one overwhelming tragedy. The newest Crisis Nursery baby in Tiyamike (the inpatient ward at ABC) took a dramatic turn for the worse on Friday. Her name was Dalitso, meaning Blessings, she was a twin and was 6 months old. Her problem at the clinic was a breathing problem. She worsened. We were at Michelle's when Carson called. Sue and I went to the clinic, where we met Carson and worked on Dalitso for several hours. We were able to transfer her via the ABC ambulance to Daeyang Luke hospital. By that time we had Joseph involved, he rode in the back, holding her, stabilizing the oxygen. Daeyang Luke had told us they had cylinder oxygen there -when we arrived we found all they had was a concentrator. I suspect her only hope at that time was to intubate her and put her on a ventilator. Unfortunately, the only vent we have at ABC doesn't go below a 10 kg kiddo, and she weighed 4.2 kg. I don't think the other hospitals have vents for such little ones, either. She died early Sat. morning, after almost 24 hours of struggling. Our consolation is that she went from her distress to the arms of Jesus. The real tragedy in this type of death is that it is probably preventable with the correct tools. We are determined that she will not have died in vain, so we are working on more pro-active protocols for these kids and searching for an oxygen concentrator that goes above 5 liters. That looks like it will be a 'purchase in the US and ship here'. The oxygen in cylinders - that seems to be a problem everywhere here and no one knows if it is due to the other issues in this country at this time.

Today we leave in about an hour for another village clinic in Gusu.

Thanksgiving / praise: finding fuel; sweet fellowship with fellow believers; our health; Chikumbutso, who continues to do well; Taona, who we hope to see today in her home village; Katie and Sue, as they returned home safely (although Sue was ill the day of travel).

Prayers: continued travel and personal safety; Sue that she will recover from whatever 'bug' she got here!; finding fuel; comfort in knowing God is in control of all times.

Pictures:

Matt Moffett, Michelle Clark, and Toni Moffett on Michelle's kondi as she discusses her crocheting project.

Fuel lines

Sue Cantrell, Mr. Whiskas, and Katie Cantrell outside our house before they left for the airport Monday.

Joseph, covered in cement, standing by his completed shower project for Michelle.