Chegada (arrival)

We're now back in the USA, and it's Independence Day! Hooray! After two months at Kalukembe (more pictures to follow this post), we packed our bags, left a few belongings in our friends' container and boarded the plane out of country (and then 3 more to get to Philly). Zeke had a great time watching 'avião' after 'avião' take off and running down long terminal corridors.

Thanks for your prayers. We will be in Philadelphia after visiting family from this fall at least until the end of 2014. Priscila will be taking her oral boards, we will be looking for organizations to return with and, God willing, will be going back in 2015 to Kalukembe. Daniel will be working in Delaware at Christiana and hoping to take some cataract surgery training towards the end of our time in the US; Priscila will be working part-time at Esperanza health clinic in North Philadelphia as well. Zeke will be playing with his cousins, living with two who are in Japan right now. He's already on cloud 9 with so many planes flying over our south Philly home.

Priscila giving a talk on cancers affecting women to over 1200 women in Benguela

Zeke and his favorite lady friends, our neighbors Bety (r) and Avidé (l)

Since the water pump/tank was not working our entire time there, water was a daily struggle for the hospital. Here, they are filling the tank to be used for the operating room (but without a gravity feeding system, the staff would use the faucet at the bottom to cart the water into the OR).

Priscila, with the vesicovaginal fistula ladies she operated on during her last week of operations. She has gotten to know these ladies well over the course of time together with them. We miss them and pray for their social, physical, emotional and spiritual healing

Towards the end of our time in Kalukembe, one of Zeke's favorite things to do was to walk around the house, mimicking the local ladies carrying loads on their heads

But don't think we are immune to the draws of materialism! Zeke was amazed at how many cars were in just one store at the airport in Johannesburg. "Bue! (a ton!)"