Happy Thanksgiving to our American friends! We have some thanks to share to all. On Sunday while we were at church, our house was broken into and, among other things, our wireless modem was stolen. Today, through private detective work by our hospital maintenance and administrator, the thieves were nabbed and most of our stuff was returned (minus the money and functional hard-drives). We are extremely thankful to have our internet modem back. The one we have can't be found in the country anymore, apparently. Not that ours is THAT fast, but it does give us ability to post this blog, which other modems have not had enough speed do do.
We are also very thankful to the hospital community support here and glad we can rejoice together. While we were cut off from any outside connection, we were given solid hands of support here at the hospital. Although we're bummed that we lost access to files and movies, some presents, etc, our kids especially are glad that the robbers never took their beds or books or bikes :) Interestingly, our family has been memorizing Psalm 121, a psalm that goes over and over God's watchful protection. Even if we let our guard down and the threat of future theft remains, we have a Lord who never tires.
In even more thankful news, Jaime, one of our nurses, has shown himself to be quite an active speaker for public health. Yesterday, he shared information on personal hygiene that was well-received. We've been hoping for a member of the hospital staff to engage the community in health matters; he's shown quite some promise.
As for the water project, the work is continuing. A few solar panels have been placed and tests for the water pump show it works. We can't wait to see how the tanks fill. And in the meantime, public water points are still getting set up.
Hope you will be surrounded by family and the ones you love this Thanksgiving!
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| Naomi, sharing one of the dolls we brought from Canada on Pediatrics ward (thanks to Mrs Vanderkruk!) |
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| Exploring down by the community gardens/farms, where we found a water snake, amphibians and other interesting wildlife that live in streams and irrigation canals |
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| The community was more than eager to be a part of the test drive for the solar-powered water pump on Sunday. And our boys were more than eager to direct the water distribution |
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| Jaime giving his hygiene information session yesterday. Only a fraction of the turnout pictured. And already requests for more! |
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| Entry by unwelcome guests. We pray the burglars will make better choices in their lives |
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| This sweet little toddler has survived a horrible dental infection and we can now plan to remove the dead parts of her jawbone. Reconstruction will be left in the capable hands of Dr. Annelise Olson in a hospital in Lubango. Bad dental infections are common around here, especially for those who choose to try and treat with traditional medicines. |
