Hello everyone! We spent today in a bush clinic about 20 miles on VERY bumpy, rock roads from Maua. LOTS of patients showed up with a variety of ailments to be seen by the doctors or the PA's. Diseases seen included malaria, tinea (fungus) on the scalp, toothache, arthalgia, diarrhea, dehydration, a couple of orthopedic problems, and a host of others. It did indeed remind me of the ER African style!!! As usual, there were lots of cute children with their mothers, a few older folks, and in general, a very patient population. All in all, it was a great day!
I will truly miss this place! Alice Finnell

What a warm day! It was another beautiful blue sky day here today.
Some of us help with the final construction of the ZOE orphan house and painting. We had a lot of local help and were directed by a local master carpenter. I did mostly sawing of boards and painting the thin coat of tar on the house. There are no electric tools, just manual labor. However it was a lof ot fun to do this for a young lady named Alice and her 4 siblings. At the end of the day we had a house dedication service. It was wonderful to see the joy that the children had on their faces. Truly this is a step forward out of poverty for them. Truly this is another miracle of God manifested. Our van drivers pooled their pay for today and bought Alice and her family a few items for their household such as a lantern, a teapot, a giant washpan and cooking pots. That brought tears to many eyes. All for now. Alice Finnell

It's Thursday afternoon 1:28pm. Teresa, Shannon, Susan & I skipped the house "painting" because there were more people than brushes/need on such a small home. We went to Maua Methodist Hospital for pediatric rounds instead. There were MANY kids there, mostly babies. some were VERY ill. Heartbreaking, especially for a former preschool teacher, now nurse who can't handle SICK kids. But there were one especially that LOVED our attention, he followed us, wanted us to keep playing & LOVED the camera. I would love to bring everyone of them home with me! But don't worry Joel, no one would let me! The hospital is short nurses due to some US grants that have pulled theirs away with more $$ at the not private hospitals. Gives me some ideas for a job transfer!!! We also went to pre-rounds with the doctors, I was VERY SURPRISED when it ended in prayer. Can't say I've seen that at any hospital I've seen! We are off to see a home dedication for ZOE. Keep your prayers coming tomorrow is clinic day!
Shirley

as part of joining a working group the kids write/draw a "Dreams" sheet. This is work in progress