Lord willing, this will be our last night in Yendi for a while. We are scheduled to leave for the airport in Tamale at 5:30 in the morning. Red is going to drive us to the airport and then bring the van back to Yendi and lock it in the garage. He is a good egg!
We spent the bulk of the day getting the mission house ready to leave. We had to empty the small refrigerator; clean out the big fridge; give away all the food that would spoil while we are in the states for the next 2 months. Steve had to disconnect the batteries from the vehicles to try and lengthen their life span. We had to cover everything in the house including pots and pans because the dust is so bad. We have found that if we cover the stuff with plastic sheeting we don’t have to do so much washing when we get back, that is unless the mice move into the house while we are gone. We have put out rat bait but they don’t seem to like it very well and we have yet to get anything to take the bait on the mouse traps. We have never actually seen these mice, only the gifts they leave behind. It is possible that they are too small to set off the traps. We have some sticky traps to try this time.
This morning we had a short meeting with the Child Center workers. Mr. Iddrisu suggested that if someone misses days of work while we are gone that they should just accumulate until we come back. It seems that when some of the workers want to make up their days the makeup days coincide with Mr. Iddrisu’s own days off and he has to come to work to open things up so they can work. Everyone agreed that it was a good plan so we are going to give it a shot.
Mr. Oldman, our neighbor, stopped by this afternoon to bid us good-bye. We sent a soccer ball and 2 baby dolls to his younger children. They will be happy to see him coming home this evening!
Red got my brother Paul’s truck running; it took him all morning and a little of the afternoon to get it running. He used the air compressor and blew out all of the nuts and seeds the rats had hidden away in the truck.
The father of the little girl that needs the hernia surgery stopped by this morning to get the transport money to go to Tamale for the re-check. Hopefully they will schedule the surgery soon.
The mother of the other little girl that had the hernia surgery that got infected called and said that the doctors in Accra said that the incision is trying to open and it will cost 700 more Cedis to repair it. That is about 120 dollars. This mother is rather backward and not very proactive where the child’s treatment is concerned. We need some documentation from the doctors or some proof that the surgery will be done before we can release the money. Zorash is trying to encourage the mother to ask questions but it is not working very well. The family has spent a lot of money too and I think they are getting tired.
Warihana, the girl with Osteomyelitis did not have a good outcome on their recent trip to Tamale. The doctor ordered a culture and sensitivity test which they had to wait for two weeks for it to get back from Accra. When they took the sealed test result to Tamale to the doctor they had tested the child for malaria instead of the culture and sensitivity test. Warihana’s father said that the doctor was so annoyed and he shouted at him but the man is illiterate so how would he know what sort of test they did. All he did was hand them the orders from the doctor. They will have to wait another 2 weeks for the results.
Thank you for all you do! Please keep us in your prayers as we travel. Please pray for these children we are trying to help.
In His Service,
Steve and Kandie
