Mr. Iddrisu was back at work this morning. We hired two ladies to help him and Donkey move the block. They also helped with the gravel and sand. The masons finished setting the block on the second bath house today. They also dug the foundation on the third bath house. When we called Red this morning to let him know that they were going to start pulling the blocks we bought from him he said he did not have all the blocks we bought. He said that he was going to have someone start molding blocks today. He was not sure how many blocks he actually had. Please! Even if they mold blocks today we will want them to cure for a couple weeks before we start setting them. They need to be well watered or they will crumble. We hope they will have enough to finish the 3rd bath house. While we wait on the blocks the masons will plaster the bath houses that they have finished. At the end of the day we asked Mr. Iddrisu how his back was feeling and he said that it seemed to be better than it was yesterday. He said he was planning on coming to work tomorrow to drive the motor king for us.
Zorash was not at work today. She took the day off to take some visitors to Zabzugu. They are evidently from the NGO organization that she volunteers for. We will know more when she gets back; we suspect that it is with the women’s farming organization but we are not sure. She has her hands in so many pots that it is difficult to keep up with what she is doing. I said all that to say that we were short-handed at the Child Center. A mother that we thought was suffering from mastitis came back this morning. We had sent her to the hospital 2 weeks ago; she was taking antibiotics and a supplemental formula; we expected her to be better but she was much worse today! She has been back to the doctor and they have referred her to Tamale. She is supposed to go tomorrow. She said that it is so painful for her to breastfeed that the pain makes her vomit. Her breast has begun to turn black which is not a good sign. Steve fears that she might have breast cancer. If it is not breast cancer it is the nastiest infection that we have seen. We suspect that she will be admitted to the hospital so we sent her extra formula because she will be taking the baby with her.
Another baby came that was 2 months old and had only gained a couple ounces since she was born. Upon investigation we figured out that the baby was tongue tied. We showed the mother the baby’s tongue and explained that it makes it difficult for the baby to latch on and nurse well. The doctors at the hospital are very good at clipping tongues. Hopefully if they get the tongue clipped the baby will begin to gain weight.
Enjoy your day!
In HIS Service,
Steve, Kandie and Skeeter
The Monkeyshines
My grandfather, Royce Reynolds built the mission house that we are living in. The dining and living rooms are one big room. My grandfather put wooden logs that still have the bark on them in the ceiling for rafters. Guess what? I figured out how to get up to those wooden beams! There is also a clothes line across one end of the room. There are two ways that I can get to the ceiling beams; I can either climb up the curtains and jump over to the clothes line and crawl along the clothes line until I reach the beam or I can jump on the back of the chair, jump to the top of the door and then jump to the clothes line then on to the beam! It took me a little bit to figure it all out. From my vantage point on top of the beam I can see 8 or 10 other beams that I have not been able to reach yet but I will keep trying! If I am up on the beam it is nigh unto impossible for my parents to catch me! There is also nothing up there to eat; I do love my snacks!
The parents are trying to get me used to riding in the truck again! Please! They do try my patience! This afternoon Dad had to go to the electric company to see about getting the electricity fixed because it was not working at the Child Center. They decided to take me along; it was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. The trip to town was a little nerve racking but on the way back I found a nice place to sit where I was partially hidden. I sat on the back of Dad’s neck in between his neck and the headrest. I was tall enough that I could see out but still hidden. Dad says it is too hot in Ghana to have a fur muffler around his neck. I think that is going to be the place I ride if they continue these road trips!
I can climb to the moon!
Love, Skeeter
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