I am really sorry it has taken so long for us to get a newsletter out. We have had a busy and difficult month and we are just now getting caught up on things. Here are a few highlights…
Computer Crash
One of the main struggles that we have had is that our Mac computer hard drive crashed and we lost everything. Hundreds of pictures. Our website. Our reports. Everything. I was actually in the process of copying everything to our external hard drive when it crashed. We have done our best to recover as many documents as possible from old emails, etc. but we have lost nearly all of it. So, needless to say, that is why we are using this new format since our website is now lost. We bought a new computer in Dar and are doing our best to recreate as much as possible.
Hospital Finances
As a result of our last email plea, we received over $2,000 in extra donations for the hospital…straight from you. We were overwhelmed by the donations and my mom will be sending over the money on this next month’s electronic transfer. We will be putting this money directly into the hospital account to buy medications and supplies for the people who need it the most. We hope you know that your money is changing the lives of people every day and we (and they) are so very grateful.
Offering Hope…Where There is None
This month we had a huge pick-me-up from two wonderful visitors. Drs. Danny and Nancy Smelser from Alabama (working now in Arusha in northern Tanzania) came to work with us for three weeks. They are building a clinic in the north and wanted to come down and help us while their clinic is being built. Danny and Nancy are not only great clinicians (Danny is an MD and Nancy is an RN with her Master’s in Nursing and her doctorate in Education), but they are both dedicated Christians. Each clinical encounter they had with a patient involved not only diagnostics, medication, and treatment, but Bible studies, prayer, and words of hope and encouragement. As a result of God working through them, three people (all HIV positive) started their walk down the path of hope and salvation and made that statement in baptism. Though terminally ill, they will eternally live. Pretty incredible stuff.
NWOCYC…all the way in…the bush of Tanzania
Melissa and I had a crazy sighting the other day while “grocery shopping” in the local market. We were walking throughout the market buying our tomatoes, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, okra, and ground nuts. The market was bustling with hundreds of people. I had been bargaining with some vendors over a radio since I had been wanting a little cheap outside news from the international BBC radio (which broke before I even got it home) and we were walking back towards the house. Among the hundreds of people surrounding us in the market, my eye caught this young teenager wearing a green shirt with yellow letters. I stared at it wondering where I had seen it before. As I looked at it closer, the boy walked past me and I turned and looked at the back of the shirt as he kept walking. It read, “NWOCYC STAFF 96”. That was it! North Western Ohio Christian Youth Camp! This was the church camp that I had gone to almost every year, where I met Melissa for the first time, and where I worked as a camp nurse last summer. We kicked ourselves for not having a camera and were tempted to tackle the guy and drag him back to the house for a picture…we figured that wouldn’t be appropriate. After Melissa and I got over the excitement we tried to figure out how in the world that crazy 12-year-old-shirt got all the way here. We got a little pang of homesickness as we reminisced about how we met and all the memorable summers we had there with David and Laura Miller, Marcus, Chris, Kelsey, Titus, Jenny, Joshua, Montae, Evan, Chrissy, Tim, Patrick…lots of good memories.
A Medical Miracle
Tumaini is a 30-year old patient who was admitted to the Chimala Mission Hospital several weeks ago – HIV positive and “psychosis” secondary to HIV encephalopathy. The doctors and nurses had done everything possible for her and yet her delirium progressed from screaming and violence to slipping into a coma. The staff had switched gears to comfort-care and had lowered the mosquito net to protect her at least from malaria as she lay unconscious. Dr. Smelser had even begun to lose hope and had decided to switch some medications around in a last-ditch attempt to cover all the bases. The Smelsers prayed together with the family and tried to comfort them. Within in a few days, we unofficially changed her name to “Lazarus.” Tumaini began opening her eyes, talking, and functioning again. There were obvious neurological deficits that had remained – she woke up with a disconjugate gaze and her eyes were not tracking well. But day-by-day she began to improve. Finally one day we all about began to cry when we saw Tumaini walking toward us with a big grin on her face. Throughout their discussion, Nancy and Danny began talking to Tumaini’s husband Joshua (who is probably also HIV positive) about Christ and the hope that he can have through him. Joshua eventually decided that he wanted a part of this life and began his walk in Christ with baptism. Tumaini was a dedicated Christian already and now she and her husband both have so much to look forward to in the future. Tumaini came to the hospital again this week for an eye appointment with some visiting eye specialists. She had a new haircut, a beautiful new dress, and a bright toothy grin on her face as icing on the cake. She came with her aunt who praised God and gave him full credit for her niece’s miraculous recovery. We’re thankful that credit was given where credit was most definitely due.
Black Mamba
We were on our way to church on a Sunday evening a few weeks ago when we heard two gun shots fire out. We called our neighbor Tam and she said that she thought they were shooting a snake. I ran down to the front of the mission just beyond the house where the Smelsers were staying, and I arrived as the excitement was ending. Several dozen children were gathered around the guard as he picked up the six-foot dead black mamba and carried it away. Apparently the snake had been spotted hanging out in one of the bushes, and Bill had been called down to shoot it. If you are unfamiliar with the black mamba this is a snake that most people consider to be the deadliest snake in the world. Often called the ‘two stepper’ (you take two steps after being bitten before you die) a single bite is enough to kill 40 people as I read on the internet. Needless to say, we are very careful when we are out walking around the mission.
Mahongo Mswiswi
I have begun teaching health classes in the village of Mahongo Mswiswi every Sunday and the classes have been going very well. Last week I taught about diarrhea and dehydration – one of the biggest killers of children under five in their area. I taught the six health workers how to prevent diarrhea, how to make their own inexpensive oral rehydration solution (ORS), and how to pick-up on the signs and symptoms of a dehydrated child. I made a “water-bottle baby” (I called her baby Sofia) and filled her up with water. I poked holes in the various locations representing where fluids are lost (I won’t go into graphic details) and we all had a good laugh as I showed them how babies become dehydrated quickly. At the end of the presentation, I had Juma, one of the older students role-play and make his own ORS for “baby sofia.” I gave him a hard time as he “filled her back up” with ORS and I allowed the “loss of fluids” to continue. The other students laughed at him as he struggled to keep her hydrated. Sundays are never relaxing here in our work, but they are some of the most rewarding days of the week. To top it all off, nearly all of the class members come to our worship time on Sunday mornings at the small church in the village. One of those people is the wife of the village leader who is a devout Muslim. The entire village is very Muslim and so these small steps have been extremely encouraging.
Missionary Cookout
On Saturdays, we like to take a break and do something perhaps a little more relaxing. Two Saturdays ago we had a missionary cookout. As you can see, Melissa opted to sit at the ‘kid table’. We ate some good hamburgers and french fries. Bill and Cyndi even made homemade ice cream. Several competitive games of knock-out finished off the evening (Melissa came in second place, Kyle came in…well, he put in a good effort).
Kimani Falls
This past weekend we took our guests, Mike and Helena, to Kimani Falls. This is a beautiful waterfall that is about one hour away from the mission. We packed a picnic lunch, hiked to the top, and soaked up some sun. It was good to get away and relax after a busy week at the hospital.
New Phone Number
Kyle switched to a different cell phone provider because his old one did not have a good signal at our house. His new number is: 255-783-722-733
We are so thankful for the support of each and every one of you. We hope to have a new blog up and running in the next month as we catch up from our computer crashing. We will send you the link when it is finished. We love you all very much!
Love, Kyle and Melissa
