A Most Unwelcome Visitor...

This morning we woke up to the sound of a screaming child. I thought it was the baby from across the street who cries all the time, but instead it was Mama Jonah’s little boy, who is seven. He has a massive ear infection and is running a high fever and is in major pain. All I could think of was my daughter, Kari, when she was an infant and having the same problem. Because she also had a digestive problem, the ear problem was overlooked for months. When we finally put tubes in her ears she smiled for the first time in her life and she has never looked back. Unfortunately Phil has said they don’t do tubes here so basically the problem has to be treated each and every time it occurs. The screaming was from sheer pain. So Phil put him in the shower to reduce his fever at the same time I was showering. As a result he got the all the water and I stood there lathered from head to toe with not even a drip. I couldn’t even open my eyes because I had just washed my face. So there I stood! My first lesson in patience and it was still so early in the morning. A friend once warned me never to pray for patience but to instead pray for grace. I am beginning to fully understand her words! So Phil and I then began our medical research…where else but on the Internet and have determined that the next step is to start him on Amoxicillin. Right now he is sleeping soundly in Phil’s bed…Hallelujah!

Liz and I then headed out to the kid’s house thinking we might begin the painting process. Liz wants to paint Bible verses on the walls in the rooms. This sounded like a much easier process than it is turning out to be. For starters, Phil wants all the walls in the bedrooms painted white before we begin. This is a huge project in itself as there are 14 bedrooms altogether. Liz has selected beautiful verses to go on the walls – I am so proud of her for spending the time picking them out. She put a lot of time into this project and I really hope that it can come to fruition. She plans to paint the words in big letters, for example, “Love” and underneath it in smaller print she will put the Bible verse it came from, in this case Jeremiah 31:3. The words she has chosen are Mighty (Zephaniah 3:17); Follow (Luke 9:23); Live (2 Corinthians 5:15); Faith (Hebrews 11:1); Beauty (1 Peter 3:3-4); Purpose (Jeremiah 29:11-13); Comfort (John 16:33); Serve (Luke 1:38); Courage (1 Corinthians 16:13-14); Grace (Ephesians 1:7); Strength (Psalms 18:31-32); Thankful (Colossians 3:15-17); Encouragement (Isaiah 41:10); Hope (Romans 8:28); Truth (John 8:31-32); and, Wisdom (Matthew 7:24-27). Since starting to write we have come up with a solution. We’ve decided it would be better to paint these on the outside walls so that all the children can view them. Susan is going to make sure that they are correctly plastered tomorrow and we will allow a few days for drying before we begin. Starting Monday Liz and I are going to be doing the flight of the bumblebee. We hope to do the painting in the mornings while the kids are in school so we can surprise them when they come home. Liz is so excited about doing this and I will be her indentured servant, which I’m sure she will take great pleasure in!

This time I took my good camera and a little digital camera I brought with me thinking I’d maintain control of at least one of them. I don’t know what I was thinking! I no sooner got there both were taken from me by the kids – they love taking snaps! We got there just in time for lunch and had the pleasure of watching Jesca and Steven fill their plates to the brim with posha and beans. I am constantly amazed by how much the little ones can eat. They still have that poverty mentality. I think they are afraid that there won’t be another meal in their future. Then it was time to gather ten children to bring back to Casa Blanca to continue the interviews. This was quite a process. I kept trying to coral them in English and they kept running away to play. I think the lack of a common language was definitely at my disadvantage. No sooner would I gather two one would disappear! Finally I got smart and asked one of the older kids to gather the children. Surprisingly within minutes we were ready to go. By this time the Liz and I were about to pass out with the heat. So we gathered our flock and headed back. I started to head back down the road and they all looked at me like I was nuts. With that they headed through the maze fields dragging me with them. Turned out it was a short cut – who would have thunk it! Meanwhile Sumaya still has my camera and I am talking with John Bosco (who’s English is really good). I told him that later in the day if he will tug on my shirtsleeve to remind me, we will call Brian and Courtney. We were carrying on a really normal conversation in English that for just a little while I forgot that I was half way around the world. As we approached Phil’s house it dawns on me that the young lady with my camera is nowhere in sight. Phil and Susan immediately send me back out in search of her saying that in Iganga the cost of my camera is enough to buy a car! It is safe to say that just a little anxiety begins to creep in! And so I head out in search of the camera to be met at every turn by the sight of nothing. Not a child in sight! At this point in my mind I’m beginning to come up with the story that I am going to be telling to Steve when one of our other kids comes up to me and tells me that my camera (and the girl…yes, in that order) are both at Phils. I am so glad that it turned out that way because I have never once doubted our kids and I sure didn’t want to start now. I trust them implicitly. So when I finish blogging tonight I can’t wait to see all the pictures that were taken. I think throughout the whole day I only took about ten! But I know there are more because I’ve gone through four batteries!!

Back at the house Susan, Liz and I left Phil to do the interviews while we gathered up a group of kids to head back to the market for more shoes. Fortunately for this first trip we had a mixture of young and older children. We got to the market and no sooner had I gotten out of the car than Montezuma’s revenge decided to hit. Now you all need to take a minute to envision this. We are in the middle of a market a good five-minute drive from the house if there are no cows in the road. There is not a restroom any where in sight and we have seven kids with us all running to the vendor in anticipation of getting new shoes. And I know if I make a single move I am going to regret it for the rest of my life. So I kindly (OK, maybe a little loudly) ask Liz to PLEASE get Susan. And she does at a speed, which to me looks like a turtle. Finally, after what seems like hours, she comes back with Susan and they are both laughing hysterically. You have to know I was not laughing. But Little Lizzy was thoroughly enjoying the moment. We left the kids to look at the shoes and headed home. I think Susan made the qualifying time for the Indy 500 and as we approached Phil’s gate not more than 3 minutes later she practically pushed Liz out the door and told her to get the key to our room. At this point Liz was doubled over with laughter. Needless to say I stayed home and did interviews while Susan and Liz did the first two runs for shoes. I did manage to make the third and final run of the day but I have to say my prayer for the day is that I live long enough to laugh as hard at Liz as she laughed at me. Somewhere along the way whatever respect I had is gone. All she does now is laugh. Good thing laughter is good for the soul!!

We have finished the shoe shopping with the exception of a few kids who were nowhere to be found today. We hope to catch up with them tomorrow and be done for good. We still have money left and I hope to be able to buy each child a pair of shower shoes as well. This time, however, we are going to bring the vendor to the children’s house if possible. Carting that many kids to the market place was fun once but it was an exhausting experience. Susan is going to look around and see if one of the vendors will be willing to make the trip. Once we get all the details we will make a decision. I will keep you posted on what we do.

After that we came home and I no sooner walked in the door John Bosco came up and tugged on my sleeve. He is such a great guy and he was thrilled to be able to talk to both of you, Courtney and Brian. He has been a tremendous help to us while here and it has been wonderful to get to know him. Jaimie, Paul Aloko was also very excited to hear your voice. He, too, waited at Phil’s all day to make sure he was here at 5 so he could call. You guys are all very special to these boys.

I am going to go now so Liz has a chance to blog. The day has been a long one and feeling sick has not helped. But seeing the kids always brightens my day. Angela Kitasala ran up to me on her way to school and gave me a big hug. It is the little things that make my day. I love you all. Shalom.