Home at Last!

Sunday 14th November 2010


Greetings from Uxbridge!......Yes,we are safely home again. Our flights from Bunia DR Congo on Friday afternoon, and from Entebbe with B.A for a night flight arriving at Heathrow 6.30am Saturday were good.

The change in temperature was noticeable...!!....30 degrees when we left Bunia, and 8 degrees when we arrived in Uxbridge! Even lower temperatures followed!

Our last morning in Bunia was very busy...from 6.30am breakfast, and on to the Students' Church Service for 7.30am[where we were also thanked and cheered for our work and encouragements]; followed by a Student nurses exam held in the Church, which needed help with invigilating, before returning to the house at 11am....where we would finish off the packing, have a light lunch and then off to the Airport at midday.

Well, that was the plan!! But the Congolese often have different plans! We knew there would be one or two call in to say a final goodbye; and we knew the secretary, Lunze, from the Bunia deaf school was coming to see us at 11am.

A couple of weeks earlier, John had decided he would like to buy a new camera when we returned to UK; so when I received a letter giving me an up date on requests for prayer and possible practical help which included the need for a camera and laptop to further their work, John then decided to give them his camera before we left.

Lunze arrived on time, and I was just photographing John showing him how to use it etc.out on the veranda,when I caught sight of Guershom, the school's Director coming to the door.....no, not carrying another chicken!!! BUT, there were 5 other Deaf Shool teachers with him! Another male, and 4 young ladies.The girls were in matching patterned outfits and head scarves [the usual thing for special occasions]. They had come to say goodbye! The next hour was a frenzy of excitement, hugs and kisses, photos, getting our luggage together, saying goodbye to another caller, and a quick lunch...while the cook dished out cups of tea to everyone!

A few jokes about the chicken still caused great amusement and laughter!

Finally, soon after 12, Nancy was ready to take us to the Airport....everyone loaded our luggage [ you're rarely allowed to do it yourself!].....more goodbyes and hugs, then we all waved off...and left the teachers at the gate.

We relaxed, and prepared ourselves for the interviews and requests/arguements over the inevitable payments of money at the Airport! Thankfully,Nancy would be negotiating on our behalf!

We had just parked the car and were unloading our cases and bags,when there was a roar ( actually a Put-Put more than a roar John) of 4 taxi/motorbikes coming to a stop beside us!Yes, it was the 7 teachers coming to see us off...!!! They took our luggage, and all trundled into the small booking-in room! Congolese tradion at it's highest, to be with you until you actually leave! Imagine the scenes there, and in the Departure room[ difficult to call it a lounge!!]. The MAF plane was delayed and we didn't fly until 3pm instead of 1.30/2pm. The Airport staff were absolutely bemused as these hours were whiled away with much animated Deaf hand signing; and wondering quite who we were to have such a send off! An honour in the DR Congo; and there was no way the teachers were leaving until they saw us take off; and some of them had never been to an Airport before! What an amazing end to our month of Congolese friendship and fun!



We were able to spend the evening in the VIP lounge at Entebbe...a comfortable place to relax before the night flight with BA.

We attended our Waterloo Road Church Remembrance Service this morning, and I found it particularly moving to see our DR Congo flag still displayed, and to also poignantly remember the many who have lost their lives in that Country which has beome so close to our hearts.



Love to you all, and thank you for you prayers and support,..........Janice.

Nothing that I can add to that really except to say that there is a pile of letters to get off in the post - the only way to get mail out is to give it to someone who is flying out to post outside Congo.

 John

Thursday 11th November.......

Greetings from Bunia on our last evening in DR Congo!

Tomorrow afternoon we will leave here on an MAF flight for Entebbe. We hope to book into the special lounge there, and have a comfortable wait, plus food included, and showers if we should feel inclined! And stable electric light and water!! We are at Entebbe from 4pm. Then we will be flying with British Airways from Entebbe soon after midnight Uganda time, and arriving at Heathrow around 6.30 am Saturday UK time. Our wonderful month of work, fellowship and fun is coming to an end! And by all accounts we may get a shock to the system re the current UK temperature, while we’ve been experiencing temperatures in the mid/late 20s and 30+...!!



Yesterday evening we were taken out for a meal at a Hotel Restaurant in Bunia.....it was a mystery tour getting there, because neither Nancy nor Philip knew where Mele was taking us for this ‘farewell and thank you’ meal by the College staff. In fact Nancy and Philip didn’t know of its existence in the ‘back of beyond’!! We enjoyed an excellent meal in very nice surroundings, and John and I wore our new Congolese garments!



All the Swahili Bibles [210] have now been delivered personally or labelled ready to be dispatched. The remaining 5 boxes are destined for IBAMBI for the Bible School students [ the school founded by C.T.Studd, and the town where he is buried]; and to NEBOBONGO Hospital where Dr. Sammi will be returning after his few months here at the Bunia Hospital CME. It has been great getting to know this delightful and VERY clever 29 year old Congolese Doctor as he has been staying with us at the house here.

Other money gifts that were given to us have been used in various ways as reported in our Blog news, and the final $200 is going to The School for the Deaf Children in Oicha to purchase vital primary school teaching material/books.

We will be attending the usual Friday morning Students Service before coming back for final packing, lunch, and the almost certain flood of folk calling in to say final goodbyes in true Congolese style!

See some of you soon,

Janice.

Today has been a good day at the college. The stable power supply for the internet is set up and working despite earlier problems. I hope that they just leave it alone end let it do its job! It should be left switched on 24/7 supplying power and being recharged continually.



The lending library database is being loaded with book data. I believe that, as the staff members are inputting the data, they will eventually be more inclined to use it than had it been given to them completely set up. I will follow this with interest.

Last year’s student records database does not appear to have been used! I am not really surprised as the member of staff who would have used it had to go to his home town as his daughter in law died in childbirth. He uses a spread sheet at present and has done for years so change would come hard and I was not there to guide him through it!

I said it had been a good day today. That is not because I have achieved much today but that the little I have done has been done with great difficulty with the staff busy on other things or just not there at all and the offices I needed to access being locked. I am now ready to leave and hope that what has been done will “prime the pump” so to speak. There is plenty that could be done and may be done in the future. The other day I was asked by a visitor to the office if I had any plans to return to which I said “No”. That doesn’t mean we will not return but that at the moment there are no plans. There is some work to be done in the UK, particularly in relation to the proposed new campus for the college.

Looking forward to meeting up with the Uxbridge folk on Sunday and others as opportunity arises. Once again thanks for your support both in giving and in prayer. It is difficult to convey to you the gratitude of the recipient of the proceeds of your gifts.

God’s blessing and His peace to you all.

John



Latest News from Bunia

Monday 8th November


Hello again, to all our family and friends Blog readers! In 4 days time on Friday 12th Nov. we will be starting our journey home from Bunia, and it seems hard to believe our wonderful 4 weeks visit is coming to an end!

My white cockerel is still alive and enjoying the garden and company of the Wood’s resident chicken! Remember I joked about nearly getting a live goat? Well, a package was delivered yesterday from a grateful Bible recipient....not a live goat, but a LEG of goat ready to be cooked as a thank you dinner! We gave Swahili Bibles to the 3 domestic staff here. They were overwhelmed, and immediately searched for texts to further illustrate their thanks, which we then read out in English.



Having memorised the route to the Tailor, I took John to be measured for a shirt and myself for a Kaftan on Saturday. This afternoon I was prepared to go alone to collect the garments, but Moses the gardener insisted he escorted me; he said it would be an honour! The fact that I turned up at the Tailor’s with a white husband, and next time with a young black man caused great hilarity!

We taught the Saturday evening “English Club” Doctors another hymn. This Male Voice Choir piece went down really well, as it has a great African feel to the tempo: “We are on the Lord’s Road”. We gave them copies of the words to keep.

Sunday morning, as planned, we all left home at 8.50am with John and Philip going to the WEC founded Swahili Church, which John will tell you about; while Nancy and I went to the French Church. We first had a tour of the Sunday School classes which are held from 8 to 10am.Would you believe there are 400-500 children, with some classes of 50 or more crammed into all kinds of basic rooms, mostly sitting on the floors....our health and safety would not allow it!! And babies are also looked after by their bigger brothers or sisters in the older classes! We were welcomed and sung to.

Then from 10 to 11am we demonstrated the flannelgraph Bible Story method to 23 teachers. They all loved it, and can’t wait to each have their turn to use it with their class. It is going to be a huge success, as we anticipated when I had previously taught one of the teachers and Director in readiness for the demonstration morning.



Sunday afternoon Nancy, John and I walked uphill and down dale on the usual rutted paths cross country to visit a needy little family who Nancy supports. We visited them in March, so the recognised us and were so happy to see us all. The most hazardous bit of the journey was walking over a ‘one plank foothold’ bridge which crosses a deep gully and rubbish filled river!!!



This morning [Monday] John and I went to the College for 7.30am...!!...John continued with his Library programme and teaching 2 staff [ David and Visika] how to use it! I continued to label in the library, and finished by lunchtime.....37 various open shelves or shelves in big cupboards, with numerous Medical book catagories. I have now given David, the librarian, the remainder of my adhesive labels and permanent marker pens.....received as if they are precious jewels!

When we returned to the house for lunch we were all relieved to find that WATER supply had been restored! Things were getting very worrying as we hadn’t had water since Thursday evening!!! With 5 in the house, the store of 15x5 gallon containers of water was nearly used up. The water has to be filtered for drinking etc. While the rest is used for everything else!

This is all from me for tonight and thank you for Emails etc......over to John for his contributions...

Janice.

Hi everyone!!

We weren’t able to get this finished and posted last night as the solar charged batteries ran out early! The day had not been particularly bright for the solar panels nor had we had full mains power (which we do sometimes during the night!) to help recharge the batteries. So I am writing 8.30 on Tuesday morning at the college where we have power which is a little more consistent!

As Janice said we wend different ways Sunday morning. I went with Philip to the Swahili church to take them 2 boxes of bibles for church use. These were presented to the pastor before the service. But that was not the end of the matter. During the service the pastor lifted one of the boxes above his head to cheers from the congregation then he put it down and lifted the other above his head to more cheers whilst explaining were they had come from. Then two stewards distributed the bibles amongst the congregation for them to use during the service. They were so grateful for them as they had no church bibles or hymn books. It is a privilege for us to be able to dispense your love and generosity. I only wish that I could more adequately share with you, their gratitude.



Monday’s work of training in the use of the library programme was very tiring mainly because of the difficulty communicating because of my lack of French. My aim is for the librarian, David to actually be using it to record book movements by Thursday.

I must sort out the pictures for you now and get the Blog posted.

God’s richest blessing and His peace rest on you all.

John

PS The power failed at about 9.30 and was off for the rest of the morning so literally nothing got done!!

Friday 5th November......No Fireworks here!!!!

Friday 5th November......Hello from the Congo!



This beats it all for Congo surprises: - I have been given the gift of a LIVE CHICKEN as thanks for my work with the Deaf School in Bunia!!! The Director of the school brought it to the door this afternoon. It was in his shoulder bag [unknown to me!] and I was totally taken aback when he produced a live white chicken from it! It is an honour to be given such a gift, and had to be placed in my arms! I later learned that the teachers had first wanted to give me a GOAT! It is supposed to be killed and eaten, but there’s no way that’s going to happen, please! I’ve hopefully talked Nancy into keeping it in the garden with their other chicken! Tonight it is at present in the chicken shed making friends.....and as we now think it is a young cockerel, this should be OK!!! And you can imagine the hilarity here on the veranda with me, Nancy, 2 students and the Director, as the chicken was given to me! And how do you sign language for “I’ve never held a chicken before” while clutching said bird to ones chest...!!!!



Nancy and I visited the” L’ecole pour les enfants sourd” (Deaf School) on Wednesday morning. 49 children age 5 to 18 were so excited to see us. I was introduced as ‘the lady who cut out all the beautiful Bible Story pictures for us’. It is an amazing experience to see a group of profoundly deaf children smiling and silent laughter with expressive faces and hand signs to go with it all. And all crammed together as 5 school grade classes in the smallest mud building imaginable! Small half walls separate some of the classes. But of course, it IS possible to teach like that when all is done in silence! But, oh how they need a bigger and better building, and better still to have a Residential School again.

The 6 teachers were once pupils at the Residential Deaf School in Nyankunde which was sadly closed in 2001 due to Tribal tensions, which resulted in the wars of 2002. These caring young people went on to train as teachers. The atmosphere was such a happy one, as you will see from photos.



4 children were pointed out as having sight problems, so Nancy examined them, and we’ve now set in motion for them to have a Hospital examination and pay for prescription glasses. To think that any of these lovely bright children could also go blind without help was something I couldn’t contemplate.

Teachers and pupils were highly amused with my British Signing on 2 hands for spelling, compared with their American one handed version. They all burst into trying to copy me when I spelled my name for them! I also used my hand puppet, Charlie the Chimpanzee, to show them pictures which I asked them to sign for Charlie. As usual with Charlie, I end with him ‘telling me’ he wants to show the last 2 pictures on his own! So I sit him down and wait!!....Then he ‘tells me’ he can’t do it alone, he needs me! Then the cross and the heart pictures tell them that Jesus died for them, and loves them, and wants to live in their hearts. Charlie needs ME to love and help him, and we need Jesus who loves and helps US.



Mary Cripps and the profoundly deaf friends at Church would have felt as emotional as I did to see these previously deprived children ‘released’ from their world of silence and taught by loving, dedicated teachers to live happy and useful lives. We have also given the teachers some of the Swahili Bibles [We exchanged 7 Bibles for one chicken this afternoon!!].

Today I have been at the Nurses College with John, after attending their weekly Church Service, where there was fantastic singing.....congregation, and 4 superb student choir groups. John is well into the Library programme, so I set to in beginning the relabeling of all the shelves! The existing labelling was the scrappiest you’ve ever seen! Pieces of rocks serve as book section dividers in places, which doesn’t help the dust factor! Excitement in the library now!!

Sunday morning John will be going to the Swahili Church with Philip plus one or two boxes of Swahili Bibles; and Nancy and I will go to the French Church, where I have a meeting with the Sunday School teachers before the Service, to show them how to use the Bible Story flannelgraph material, and they all want to thank me......but please pray that there aren’t any chicken or goats for thank yous!! We have also received photos from the Nyankunde Bible School showing the distribution of the Bibles there.

Janice.....still often on cloud nine!!



As Janice said, we had a good early morning service with the students, 7.30 to 9.00. We are not sure what the college Chaplain said about us but we had to stand up to waves and cheers from the students! We were driven there by Dr Nancy and left there as she had other commitments. None of the Directors were there so we had no transport on to the college so had to find someone to escort us on foot as I was unsure of the exact route never having walked it before.

The infected desktop is still resisting cleaning up and power failures don’t help. So I have decided to use stable power here tomorrow morning rather than go to the market. I think we have a visit to the tailor’s in the afternoon to get a shirt made out of material we have bought!

I managed to add (import) the students’ names (all 380 of them!) to the library programme and handed the laptop over to the librarian this afternoon. I then spent the afternoon showing him how to use it and keep it up to date. We will have further session next week and try to get it into use before we leave on Friday.

The battery power supply problem was only a blown fuse in the charger as I suspected. Unfortunately the inverter was taken for checking instead of the charger so that has delayed its use. They have been advised to get an electrician to set it up. I might have a go on Monday to see if I can set it up without blowing fuses!!

Have a blessed weekend and thanks for your support and prayers

John

News from Bunia 2/11/2010

Tuesday 2nd November,


Hello again from the Congo!

After sending the last Blog news on Saturday morning, we set off for the weekly shopping at the Market at 9.15am. Remember the ‘Fish Lady’ who said she wouldn’t have anything to put in the collection last week? Well, we bought fish at her stall this week, so all’s well!



We visited an Electrical shop to purchase the items John mentioned in the last blog for the Nurses College to up-grade the facilities for computer work there. Gifted money donations from our friends in the UK have enabled us to help in this way.



The evening ‘Doctors English Club’ saw 10 of us studying Ultrasound and Scans re diagnosing diseases of the liver, bladder and kidneys! Not that there is much in the way of such equipment here, but the training is continuous! Then we were asked to teach them a hymn in English! The evening ended at 8.30 when electricity power and lights shut down.....and so to bed!

Sunday 31st over breakfast, we discovered that Drs. Philip and Sammy[ the young Congolese Doctor also staying here] had been called out to the Hospital at 9pm, where Philip operated on a man who’d been shot in the mouth and had a shattered jaw and lost teeth.....then, between them they did 4 emergency Caesarean operations!! Never a dull moment!

At 9 am we all set off on the 1 and a quarter hour journey to Nyankunde to the South of Bunia. An incredible journey of 45 km on indescribable roads, with the usual extraordinary sights and hazards along the way! The temperature reached 37 degrees before we got to our destination!! It was One of the hottest days so far. The area of Nyankunde is one of the most breathtaking beautiful scenery we have ever seen. The village and Church and Hospital [all repaired and/or ongoing re- building since 2002] nestle directly under the beautiful mountains.



Nyankunde is where missionaries Dr. Becker and Dr. Helen Roseveare built and started the Hospital and Nurses Training College in the 1960s. The first to have a vision of training Congolese as nurses, and some to further train as Doctors, and then serve their own Congolese people. This is how the Nurses College here in Bunia carries on this important work.

Hospital buildings and staff residential homes and the personal homes, including those of our friends Drs. Nancy and Philip; and Mele [Bunia College Director General] and his family, were badly damaged and all their personal possessions lost in the 2002 wars. The same time as 1500 patients and staff were slaughtered, while others fled for their lives...including the mentioned friends, and other folk we know here. Some were held prisoner, and we’ve met many whose family members were killed.

We arrived in time for the Church service, but before going in we were able to hand over 2 boxes of Swahili Bibles to the Director of the local Bible School. He was thrilled to receive them, and said it will mean so much to the students; and in particular they will be distributed to female students, because it is mostly men who manage to own Bibles.

Inside the enormous Church we were seated on chairs in a raised row adjacent to the backless benches of the main congregation.......it felt like the seating positions of Royalty in Westminster Abbey!! The Service was lively and long [+ 50 minute sermon!] followed by the washing of hands outside, ready for the Communion Service! We lunched with the family of the American builder who is building and overseeing the construction of a new Operating theatre and Intensive care unit. We toured the very basic wards etc.......and also drove right down the nearby MAF runway!! It was an emotional time to see so many derelict buildings and houses either side of the runway......some were the homes of doctors and nurses who we know here. The builder and his wife are living in the house that Nancy and Philip lived in for 6 years up to the 2002 war. It was the most convenient one to renovate for themselves to live in while the extensive building programme is carried out. It was a nostalgic visit for Nancy and Philip.

We got back to Bunia with just 15 minutes for John and I to have a wash and tidy up before going for a meal with one of the College Academic Director’s family!! Robert’s wife is the Head Midwife here. It was a very full and exciting day.

Tomorrow I am visiting the School for the deaf in Bunia.....and taking my hand puppet along to have some fun with the children; and to see how the teachers are getting on with the flannelgraph teaching materials.

We haven’t been able to check our Emails since Sunday, but thank you in advance if you have written to us!

Janice.

Hello everyone!!

Janice gave me permission to edit her contribution today, which I have done, so I won’t add much except to say that I found the visit to Nyankunde very emotional. So many ruined buildings still not rebuilt. I know that some have been further damaged as material has been removed to renovate others. The mission complex and village was totally ransacked. Hardly a building left with a roof or doors. All the contents spirited away and that includes all the hospital equipment. What could not be taken, i.e. sanitary fittings were just smashed. Knowing and working with those who went through this experience and are now seeking to rebuild the work without access to the resources they need is an honour and very humbling and really focuses ones thinking!!

On Monday morning we set up the battery, charger and inverter and ran the computers and the internet very successfully on it all day. This morning we found that the battery had not recharged and had insufficient charge to run the inverter so it was back to square one. The charger is being looked at find out why it failed to operate. In spite of that today proved to be quite profitable as I ran health checks on three laptops, updating or installing antivirus etc. It was a relief not to find any problems.

Tomorrow I am being collected at 07.15 and we will see what the day brings!!

God’s blessing and our love to you all.

John

More news from Bunia

Greetings from Bunia:


Wednesday 27th 10.00am

Greetings to you all.

I will take the initiative today and write the first part of the Blog!

I am writing this in the office while the library laptop is being scanned and another antivirus programme is being downloaded (when the power is on)! Who says that men can’t multitask!

I have spent most of my working time at the college so far trying to clean the main desk top computer and the lap top which is destined for the library, of some rather nasty clever viruses. Whatever else they do I don’t know but they take up so much of the computer’s processing power that there is only 1 or 2 % left for real work and they also have the ability to block attempts to remove them. On top of that the power supply has been so intermittent that the desk top machine crashes, sometimes every 2 or 3 minutes, when the voltage drops or goes off altogether. Dr Philip has suggested that we purchase a 12v Car type battery and a charged and a 110volt “inverter” to run the desk top machine. This will act a UPS and stop the computer crashing. For the uninitiated, an inverter takes 12v DC from the battery and converts it into 110V AC and a UPS is an “Uninterruptable Power Supply”. We hope to be able to make this purchase on Saturday morning before we go to the market for the weekly shop. Please pray that all will go to plan.

Back at home we had no mains electricity all day yesterday and suddenly it comes on at about midnight!! The light on the veranda, which had been left switched on, was shining in onto my face. So I got up to switch it off only to find Dr Nancy also up. She was filling two “Thermos” flasks with hot water from a kettle, the kettle having been left on the electric cooker with the switch on just in case we should have power in the night!! This ensures there is hot water for drinks in the morning.

The power was off by the time I got up and so was the water. There was only a rusty sludge coming from the tap as I went for my morning wash! Fortunately there is always a supply in the kitchen in plastic cans mainly to be passed through the filtration system for drinking water but available for other uses if necessary.

Dr. Nancy was at the hospital first thing this morning so arranged for me to be picked up by the college Director General, who sent a driver in his spare car. I think Janice has told you about it. To say that the windscreen is cracked is the biggest understatement of the year! I must try and get a photo of it for you. The car creaks and groans as it “bottoms out” over the ruts in the road and there is a worrying smell of hot oil around the outside!! A definite MOT failure with no hope for a retest!!! Having said that, the young driver was very cautious and careful, picking his way along the road to take the least rutted path irrespective of which side of the road that was!

We arrived at the college in time for morning prayers. I like to sit with them, although not understanding what is read or said. Sometimes they will sing to a tune I recognise and I try to recall the English words. This is a little easier if they sing in French! It is good to know that they are sharing THE WORD and having fellowship together before starting the day’s work. But this morning, as the talk began, I was passed an English Bible opened at 1 Corinthians 15.58. “So then, my dear friends stand firm and steady. Keep busy always in your work for the Lord, since you know that nothing you do in the Lord's service is ever useless.” This was just the encouragement I needed, as, in my wakeful moments last night I was getting very despondent at achieving none of what I had planned! This morning we also had an encouraging Email from Maud Kells who is a WEC Congo missionary on furlough who has read our Blog. We certainly need your prayers, without which we WILL achieve nothing.

Now for the Englishmen’s favourite topic: the weather. Really it’s hard to imagine that we are only 100 or so miles north of the equator. The daytime temperature is about 26C and the night about 19C. Being the rainy season there is plenty of cloud about during the day which keeps the temperature down as the sun is very powerful. The rainy season is from September to May and we understand that the last two weeks have been as “rainy as it gets”! The rain is not every day and when it does rain it’s pretty heavy as the picture in the last Blog shows. The showers are usually short lived, an hour is about usual. We did have several hours the other day though, which left the roads in a mess.

Friday 29th 10.00am

Friday always starts well as it starts with the Students Service at 7.30am. This morning I was on my own as Janice has a Hospital morning with DR Nancy this morning. I am sure she will have some stories to relate as a result. It is great to part of the students worship once again. The choral singing was very moving and although it seems to be so informal, starting with one person singing in the congregation then others joining in and walking to the front still singing; it was obviously prearranged and rehearsed as those who came forward were dressed similarly!

As Dr Nancy was at the hospital The Dir. General, Mele, was my chauffer this morning driving the MOT failure! On the way from the church to the college I had another new experience; a police road block. The physical block was length of timber with 6” nails sticking out of it placed across the road. Pass at your peril. Apparently they were checking insurance and believe it or not the MOT failure is also uninsured! The result was an additional passenger, a policeman, to the college to ensure their instructions are carried out. Mele has now gone off with the policeman to get insurance cover.



I had almost given up on my old laptop which has now developed the dreaded blue screen but one last attempt just before lunch and we now have a clean machine! Software reinstalled and waiting to update the antivirus from the internet on Monday.

Today was supposed to be the day we were collecting 210 Swahili Bibles from Shalom University. We arrived there at 16.00 as arranged to find that the key holder had gone home early. No one had thought to tell him we were coming. So now 14.00 tomorrow, Saturday, is the time. I hope we succeed as we are going to Nyankunde on Sunday and want to take a box for the Bible College there.

God’s richest blessing on you all.

John.

Greetings and news now from Janice:-

It hardly seems possible that we’ve been here for 2 weeks now.....halfway through our visit!

On Thursday morning Nancy asked if I would do some more labelling of tins and jars in the kitchen store......I clearly labelled a lot for her in March, but this time I had come with a lot of adhesive labels ready for such requests at the home or Hospital. It makes it far easier to pick out a tin when the electricity is off!!. I then went out with Marguerite to do some shopping in 2 local markets. We were out walking for an hour and a half in glorious sunshine 27 degrees plus [ sorry, I know it’s been very much cooler in UK!!]. These markets are much more ‘rustic’ than the main Saturday one. The pathways between the little stalls are almost like ‘mountaineering’, they are on such uneven rough ground! My ankle stood up to it all, amazingly! And of course it was great fun!



Friday morning...today 29th....dawned really hot. At 7.15am I went to the Hospital with Nancy, and accompanied her on her ward rounds. She checked on many sick children and women; some extremely sad cases of Aids and Diabetes, and a young woman who was unconscious after a severe stroke. Mavis Swallow had knitted some cute little teddy bears, and I gave out at least 6 to sick children today....They and their Mums were thrilled, and of course these children rarely have toys of any kind, so they look quite curiously at such gifts! The Maternity wards were full of adorable babies and proud Mothers. Guess what?...I took loads of photos! The Mums are thrilled to have their babies photographed. The Unit didn’t have any prem. babies today, so there were none to wear the gifts of tiny hats and cardigans knitted by Sue Burns and friends of Audrey Watts.

A nasty road accident case was brought in while I was at the Hospital...an 8 year old boy with a very severely fractured leg of both femur and open wound tibia. I watched Dr Philip operating on it... What incredible skill!

MANY thanks to all family and friends who sent Emails and Texts this week. It was great to have news My mobile connection is suddenly playing up today, so I can’t be certain of if and when it works!

The lights have all gone off, so on battery power now.8.30pm. I don’t think this Blog will be sent this evening....who knows! But I will wish you all ‘Good Night and God Bless’....and sign off! Oh, there is light....but like dim candle level!

Janice.

Greetings from Bunia: Tuesday 26th October 2010

We haven’t been able to check our Emails since Sunday due to lack of electric power etc, so I can’t acknowledge any yet! Poor John and other college staff have also had problems with their computer work. John will give details on that. I am typing again in readiness for an Internet slot....hopefully with photos this time.

Yesterday morning I completed the next Flannelgraph set which is for the School for the Deaf here in Bunia.....” L’ecole poor les enfants sourd”......! [ My French is expanding!].

At 9.15 am today the Director and another teacher came for their lesson. Oh, how I valued my sign language knowledge because, although limited, it was my lifeline for today’s teaching! The Director only spoke French and sign language; the young lady teacher was profoundly deaf, so could only sign! So, English wasn’t much help!! However, with my basic French plus signing we all communicated, and they were soon able to understand the flannelgraph idea. We had a lot of laughter, and over coffee they were both intrigued with comparing our British Signing compared with their American method. We practiced with each other and had an enthusiastic and fun time signing in both styles and being amused by some of the differences! I was able to give them copies of various diagrams of the British signs [from my past lessons with friend Mary Cripps!], which they were keen to learn. They were thrilled to take the Teaching Flannelgraphs back to the school. There are no books of Bible story pictures, so this will ‘bring the stories alive’ in their Religious Study lessons. I hope to visit the school soon.

All the medical items, which were donated by friends, have been gratefully received. Absolutely everything is useful and needed. The toothpaste and brushes are going to the Deaf school when Dr Nancy will be giving a Hygiene lesson!

We hope to collect the Swahili Bibles on Friday, and some of these will be taken on our proposed visit to Nyankunde on Sunday where there is the Bible College and a Hospital. This will be an interesting visit to the area where Nancy and Philip were until the 2002/3 wars caused them to flee following the slaughter of many patients and staff and destruction of the Hospital and their home. Nyankunde is an hour’s journey from here......on those rutted and bumpy mud roads! We will write about the trip in our next Blog news.

Greetings and God bless all friends and family,

Janice.

Greetings from Bunia.....Sunday 24th October.

It is 4.40pm and it has just stopped raining after an hour’s storm! We were just about to set off for a half hour’s walk across country to visit a little family when the thunder and rain began! It was fortunate we hadn’t already set off! It was sunny and hot when we went to Church this morning, and there were even more in the Service than last week’s 1,300. The Male Voice Chorale was a joy to listen to, as always!

No electricity again, but I’m starting to type on battery power, ready for a Blog to be sent whenever we next get power and Internet! Our last diary account went out on Thursday evening. We haven’t been able to check since yesterday if we have any more comments on the Blog system, or any other Emails; but we do hope to get ‘home news’ from friends and family.

Friday morning at the 7.30am Student Nurses weekly pre-College Service we had difficulty hearing speakers, due to yet another rain storm! The locals said it was BIG rain, and it was! It battered deafeningly on the corrugated iron roof! However, the lively Swahili singing could be heard OK!

I was brought back home after the service to prepare for my afternoon teaching session, while John was driven to the College to continue his work there.

The flannelgraph teaching session went well. Jeanine[the Sunday School teacher] and Marca[ the Oicha Deaf School Director]were amazed when they saw the materials. Marca’s English was good, so it helped me to explain everything with my minimal French and Jeanine’s minimal English! We had an enjoyable 3 hours, and they soon got to grips with making the picture stories; with much laughter too! How’s this for dedication and keenness to help the deaf children.......Marca travelled over 6 hours by bus [ that means very old coach!] from Oicha for these lessons, and then another 6 hours back on Saturday morning, happily taking a set of the Bible Story material with him, eager to show the other teachers and children this super way of visual teaching.

The first Deaf School was started in Oicha 5 years ago, and there are now 5 schools. I will be teaching at the Bunia school next week. It is so sad to know that Marca and others often have a difficult time persuading parents to let their deaf children be educated! It is like the time many years ago in UK when the profoundly deaf were often considered to be ‘stupid’ and would never be able to communicate, be educated or work. Some Congolese say “it’s no point him/her going to school...it’s not worth it”. The next step here, is trying to provide a residential school.

Marca was amazed to see our hearing aids.....and to know that we can get them for free. Even if hearing aids were available here, no-one could afford them. We can forget just how very blessed WE are! Here they pay for schooling, medical care, hospitalisation.......IF they can!

Saturday morning was hot and sunny for our weekly Market shopping....it really is a fun experience! One amusing incident this Saturday: - Nancy chooses fish at the stalls, looking for the freshest etc. As we were leaving after our fish purchasing, a woman called out, quite aggressively, to Nancy “You didn’t buy any of MY fish today, so I won’t have anything to put into the collection tomorrow!”

The Saturday evening Doctors meal and ‘English speaking’ was interesting!! It was on Childbirth and all the medical problems imaginable......gory bits and all! The senior midwife was also here, and I gave her the first bundles of premature baby cardigans and hats. She was thrilled.

All from me for now......hoping to hear from some of you......over to John later.

Janice.

Hi Everyone!!!

It was good to meet with the students for worship at 7.30 on Friday morning and despite the lack of understanding of what was being said and sung and no one to interpret for us the atmosphere of worship seemed to bypass the understanding and go straight to the heart!

In the last Blog posting I told you a little of the problems I was encountering at the College. I found software to remove the Worms which I had identified and having spent an hour and a half downloading it I found that the download was free but to remove the Worm was not free!! All day Friday the power supply was very erratic and in the afternoon it cut-out about 4 times midway through scans of the computer, resulting in idle time and a restart when the power was on again. On Monday we intend to move the computer so that it can access the internet directly – that might help a little as the cleanup programmes seem to want to be updated with the latest data on viruses etc over the internet before running. Please pray for continuous power on Monday!!

There are no pictures today as our internet connection, which is wireless to the MAF compound and then via satellite, is very slow this evening we think because of the stormy weather which us in this afternoon.

God’s Blessing on you all.

John

Greetings from Bunia.....Thursday 21st October.

Dear All.

It hasn’t been possible to get onto the Internet for more than a few minutes in the last 3 days. Apart from everyone being busy, we haven’t had any mains electricity in the house for all Tuesday and most of Wednesday, and none so far today!! John also had problems at the college.

A big tropical storm yesterday afternoon also made the light indoors very dark, and I had to resort to using my ‘headlight’ to continue cutting out and cataloguing the hundreds of flannelgraph characters. These Betty Lucan sets are wonderful and very detailed, and I’m sure the children will love this teaching method, but it will take a lot of organising on the teacher’s part......and I gather the Congolese are not the most organised people! I’m giving the first demonstrations tomorrow to the Director of the Congo Deaf schools, and to the local Sunday school teacher in the French Church. Next week I will demonstrate at the local Deaf School.

Dr Nancy has recovered from her Malaria attack, and I think we will soon be taken to the Shalom University to collect the Swahili Bibles and then discuss the distribution system.

There will also be visits to the Hospital and the new Maternity Unit which was being built when we were here in March. Supplies of the beautifully knitted premature baby cardigans and hats which we brought with us will be taken to them. I hope to get some photos of babies wearing them later on.

This afternoon Nancy and I went to one of the MAF homes to attend a ‘Baby Shower Party’. I had met the mother-to-be in March. She is married to an MAF pilot.

Moses, the gardener, has worked wonders in the garden here since March. We are eating a lot of home grown salads and vegetables. There are also Banana, Papaya and Avocado trees. Moses stands on a shaky corrugated shed roof, holding a 15ft. pole with a knife attached, and slices huge Avocados from high branches!! They fall on the roof with a resounding ‘bong’!!

Over to John now.......

Janice.

Good Evening all.

There has not been much for me to tell up to now. Entering, or rather “importing” book details into a database is not very exciting and doesn’t give one much to tell.

I have been walking to and from the college more as Nancy has been housebound. Three 20 minute walks per day is much more exercise than I am used to but I enjoy it even though one has to watch every step for stones and gullies in the path or road in case you stumble. You also have to be aware of the motorbikes coasting downhill from behind – all you hear is the squeaking suspension!! They take great delight in passing as near to you as possible!

The excitement at work started yesterday afternoon when one of the young men, who was having trouble printing a document from his desktop machine asked to borrow the laptop which will be dedicated to library work to try to print the document. I arrived this morning to find that he had unnecessarily loaded software on to it and with that, viruses which crashed the machine. My data is still there but it will take some work to access it. I will probably bring the laptop home and work on it over the weekend. I identified two “Worms” or something similar on the offending desktop which were consuming all the processing power, leaving so little that there was nothing left for normal work. Another problem was trying to run anti malware software on a machine that is not connected to the internet. They would not let you proceed without updating their databases on the internet!! I left a scan running this evening which I trust will find and destroy the worms or whatever they are!! I think my priority tomorrow (Friday) will be ensuring the machine is clear of viruses and unnecessary files.

We really do appreciate your interest and covet your prayers!

John.

Sunday and the First day at work

Hello again from Bunia!


Sunday was a very full day, and a very hot one at 30+ degrees!

We went to the 10 o’clock Morning service at the large French Church. Hundreds of folk were pouring out of the earlier Service when we arrived; then we were packed with about 1,300 men, women and children for our 2 and a quarter hour Service! It was the usual dynamic time of singing by the congregation and several choirs; welcoming visitors, where a microphone is passed round to say who you are and where you’ve come from, and why you are in Bunia. Many were cheered and applauded, especially the many students who were here from N.DR Congo ready to start the new academic year which starts this week.

We quietly melted in the heat, but didn’t fall asleep during the Pastor’s long and animated sermon on the whole of Ephesians chapter 3...!!

We were enthusiastically welcomed and greeted by folk we had met in March.

At 4pm we were invited for a meal at the home of Jonathan and Jeanine. Their 5 yr old daughter was thrilled with the baby doll we’d brought for her; and the 7 and 9 yr old boys whooped with delight at the small motor bike toys! The 5 teenage nephews / orphaned friends were grateful for gifts of biros and exercise books as they started back at school and college the next day.

We will be spending some of the donated money gifts on more pens and books, because many school and college students can’t afford them. What to us costs very little money here, is often unaffordable to them, on top of the struggle to pay school fees for juniors and seniors. And for many families it is impossible to afford schooling at all. They would not comprehend our free education systems!

Dr Philip drove us to the Nursing College this morning......at 7.15am!! Nancy had to rest today because she’s had a mild dose of malaria for the last couple of days. Despite daily Malaria tablets and insect repellent vigilantly applied, it is still possible to get malaria symptoms. This is Nancy’s first attack for over 2 years, and she hopes to feel better very soon.

We had a 5 hour working morning before returning home for lunch! John went back to the College in the afternoon, but I stayed at home and got stuck into cutting out and filing the hundreds of Teaching Flannelgraph characters and scenes. Teaching people how to use them will come later!

John’s Library Programme has been excitedly well received; and there is a new admin. young man who speaks very good English as well as being very computer literate. So John has an excellent assistant [ David] to help set up the complicated Library records system [in French, of course!]. David had already listed 500 of the Medical book titles to give us a good start. It is good to know that once John has set up the whole system, there will be a competent person to use it! My shelf labelling of categories will come later.

The biggest and most welcome surprise was to find that the College now has Internet access!! This is rented from M.A.F. in the same way that Internet comes to Doctor Woods’ house.

John says, no-one will read this if I write too much!! So, sorry if you’ve fallen asleep at your computer!

Greetings to all,

Janice and John.

PS Have added a picture to the previous posting!

Arrival & First Day in Bunia

Hello to everyone,

We arrived safely in Bunia, DR Congo at 1pm yesterday [Friday 14th Oct]. Tim drove us to Heathrow on Thursday evening, and our journey was trouble free with excellent B.A and MAF flights. Dr Nancy met us at Bunia airport just after we had been interviewed and cleared very quickly and without customs being at all interested in our 8 items of luggage. We were then surprised to find that we didn’t have to fill in any lengthy forms or pay an entry fee this time! We learned it is because it isn’t our first visit! We were passed through with a smile and thumbs up!

The weather was hot and sunny with 30 degrees temp.

The Domestic staff at the Doctors’ house greeted us with cheers and hugs, and 2 of the Nursing College Directors called in to give us another welcome.

We were given a free early morning at home today, while Nancy went off to do her Hospital ward rounds at 6.30 am!

Later, we all set off to the Market for the weekly shopping which is always an exciting experience! After lunch and a siesta it was then time to get ready for the ‘English Club evening’ when the young Doctors come for a meal, followed by a Medical Presentation via Philip’s Laptop, where they have to discuss everything in English. This evening the subject was ‘Surgery’!

Tomorrow we will be going to Church in the morning, and then we are invited to an evening meal at the home of one of the College Directors. It will be lovely to meet Jonathan’s family again.

Work at the College will start on Monday morning at about 8am. John will be checking on the previous Nurses records programmes that he set up in March, and we will then find out what is needed to be done in their library. Cataloguing and labelling will no doubt start in earnest after that!!

We already feel very at home in Bunia, almost as if we have never been away!

Thank you for your prayers and interest,

Janice and John.

Ready for the OFF!!

Dear all,
3.30pm Thursday 14th October 2010. Just two and a half hours before we leave home for our second visit to the DR Congo this year!
There is just time to reactivate our blog before John packs up his laptop for the journey.

Preparation and packing has gone very smoothly and unhurriedly which has been a great blessing.  We have 5 pieces of hold baggage and 3 pieces of hand luggage which is well within our limit of 6 pieces of hold baggage and 4 pieces of hand luggage.  Two of the cases are Philip and Nancy's as they were over their allowance of 12 pieces of hold baggage!! How different to charter flights!!  We have 1 case of "mission" items which consists of baby clothes, medical supplies, toothpaste and brushes, a calculator, some AA and AAA batteries and some battery LED lights.  What an assortment!!

Last evening John had an Email from Nancy to see if John could get 2 printer cables which were urgently needed.  He was able to reserve then on line at Argos last night and picked them up this morning.  Mission accomplished!!! 

We made known the need  for Bibles to be made available to the Congolese, particularly Bible students, who could not afford to buy them and have been amazed at the response from our friends who have given us £1200 to use, mostly for Bibles but some for other needs which we become aware of.  There is a supply of Swahili Bibles in Bunia and we have been told that we can have as many as we want!!  There is also a need for Lingala Bibles at the WEC founded church in Isiro, about 600 km from Bunia.  We are exploring how best that need can be met.  We will keep you posted.  

A big "Thank You" to all who have been praying, and will be praying for us over the next month.  We really do  appreciate it and need it.

Love     Janice & John

We are off again!!

We are starting our blog again, as we are bound for the DR Congo again for another four weeks from October 14 to November 13. We have been asked to return to continue the work which we started in March. This morning, I have been up to the Congolese embassy in King's Cross and collected our visas. I had less trouble this time than previously, only three trips being necessary despite the fact that the procedures seem to have changed since March. Next time, if there is a next time, it will only be two trips, as I have found that the application forms are available on the Internet!!


Our international flights from Heathrow to Entebbe, Uganda are booked and paid for. We use a specialist mission travel agency in Holland to arrange these flights, and they have an arrangement with British Airways, which allows us an extra 23kilos of baggage free of charge for mission supplies. We have taken up this offer and will be taking various items out with us for the mission.

Our MAF flights from Entebbe to Bunia are booked, but still have to be paid for by international money transfer. This is a bit more complicated than just paying with a credit or debit card but can still be done over the Internet.

Tomorrow evening, we will be giving a presentation to those attending the Congo Field Conference at Bulstrode. We will be talking about our experiences and showing pictures not only of our work but also of the fantastic work done by Drs. Philip and Nancy Wood, with whom we stayed and shared so many experiences.

I don't anticipate that there will be much activity on the blog until we actually arrive in the Congo on 15 October but keep looking.

I will close now. God bless. And thank you for your interest.

John

Back In the UK

Hi to everyone who has followed our time in the DRC via this BLOG,
We are trying to settle back into the routine here following our return to a bright but very chilly UK at 6.00 am Thursday  morning.  The return didn't start too well when we decided to get a taxi home rather than getting Tim up early.  The taxi driver claimed he diddn't know where Uxbridge was and asked beligerently is we lived there, then proceeded to take us on to the M25.  I commented that I thought that they (taxi drivers)did something called "The Knowledge" and knew where places were and that really stirred things up.  The truth is that they expect to pick up fares into Central London and don't like short journeys from the Airport to places where they are not likely to get a fare.
Good Friday we had a Male Voice Choir engagement at which Janice sang a solo.  Her voice was in good shape considering how little singing she has done over the last month and the rendering was very moving.   Our choir leader decided to include a quartet piece that was not on the official programme. I am one of the voices in the quartet.  We had practiced it some time ago before we went to Congo.  It was well received so I think we did it justice.
Shopping at Sainsburys just highlighted the fact that most of the food on offer is processed in some way and not the raw materials for cooking as we have been used to in Bunia Market. (rice by the 50 kilos and beans and peanuts by the 5 kilos)
Everybody was very welcoming at Church on Sunday and anxious to hear how we got on.  Sunday the 18th will be the day for us to tell the church, Janice in the mornking and me in the evening.

Thanks to all who followed our progerss, particularly those who were able to jump throught the hoops and post comments and those who were not but Emailed us in stead..  You have no idea how encourageing it was to here from you all.

This will be the final posting for now. We will let you know if we start posting news again.

May God bless you abundantly as He has us through this amazing experience!!!

John

Is this the final posting?

Tues. 30th March.


I’m doing some afternoon typing, and we hope to get our final Blog diary from the Congo off to you this evening.

Janice with Moses the gardener.

We seem to have been here for a lifetime! But tomorrow we will be setting off on the first leg of our journey home. If there are no April Fool Day Flight surprises, we should land at Heathrow around 6am Thursday!!

Tomorrow we will be leaving this fascinating country and people, and many new friends. The last few days have been very busy, and particularly for John as he’s been finalising the computer work, and instructing the College Staff in the use of the programmes etc.

We have also had many invitations to people’s homes for ‘farewell meals’....including one this evening. And Nancy and Philip have arranged similar meals here; all featuring Congolese food, which we have thoroughly enjoyed during our month’s visit.

Nancy and Philip are amazing people, as are so many dedicated missionaries. Without being here to witness everything, it is impossible to imagine the amount that is packed into every day. Via our Blog we have tried to give you an insight into the work undertaken by them. They are totally dedicated for caring for the sick, preventative medical work and the education and training of the young Congolese people as Nurses and Doctors to improve the conditions and welfare and to serve in their own country.

DR Congo has many, many highly intelligent people among the very poor and throughout the whole range. But so many cannot afford education beyond junior school. Nancy and Philip support individuals and families as well as the Hospital and Clinics via the support of WEC and their own Home Churches and individuals etc. Our admiration for them is vast.

Some Emails have asked how my ankles are faring!! Well, they’ve taken a hammering I guess with all the walking on rough paths, and climbing in and out of the high 4x4 car!!! But miraculously haven’t hindered all that was needed of me!

By the way, the baby I saw born by caesarean has survived and is now flourishing. As well as the various practical Hospital and Clinic work I’ve done, I have also spoken/encouraged staff and students with their English.

Enough now, it’s over to John for a Final contribution.

See you in the UK soon!

Love and thanks for all your interest and prayers,

Janice.

Well, I have nothing to add to what Janice has said except to say that so much is achieved with so little of the resources we in the West take for granted, and with such grace!!

Truly AMAZING GRACE!!!!!!!!!!!

I had intended finishing work this morning but transferring the programme to the school’s computer threw up one or two problems with the format and language. Sorting it out was also a problem because the operating system on the school computer is in French. So I was relying on knowing where things are rather than the written directions! Mind you, language has been a problem all the way through. The blame for that is mine more than anyone else’s. So a return to the school was necessary this afternoon just to tidy up.

I have left them with a copy of the programme to play with for “training” purposes and trust that when they come to actually use it in July when the students finish they won’t find any bugs!!

John with Aaron the anaesthetist.

A meal with Melkizadek and Rose.

It truly has been an amazing month. So we will see you soon back in the UK

God’s blessing on you all.

Latest News from Bunia DRC

Hello, again! It’s Saturday afternoon 27th, and I just have some time to type some Blog news with battery power before we get a meal ready for the usual Doctors English speaking evening! Family and friends know that I am not an ‘early morning’ person, but a night one! So, I have had to be in complete reverse in the Congo! Breakfast a 6.30 am and bed around 9 pm or earlier!!


For example, this morning I had showered [cold water of course] before breakfast; then a 15 minute walk with Nancy and Marguerite to the Tailors [more outfits for us!] and back home; then off by car to the Bunia market for the usual big Saturday morning shopping [John stayed in computing today]; then I was dropped off at the Church to go to a typical Congo wedding and free to take all the photos I liked.....and what a spectacular wedding, like nothing one could ever imagine!! All that packed in BEFORE lunch at 12.30!!!!

Wednesday morning I was at the Hospital fixing my labels in the Pharmacy and women’s ward, helped in the ward by a couple of handsome male nurses, and watched with the usual Congolese enthusiasm by the bedridden patients!

I spent the afternoon with Wendy at her Physiotherapy clinic in Bunia [walking there and back]. A fascinating assortment of patients! And I spent Thursday morning at the clinic in Bunia town with Nancy at her surgery/outpatients session. 31 patients seen and treated between 8am to 1pm!! All ages with a variety of problems: Diabetics, lumps and bumps, infections, TB, Aids......some to be sent on to see Philip re surgery etc. The people walk for miles, or by motorbike taxi, and sit happily and without complaining on the veranda from maybe 7am until they are seen!!

This will amuse you: Nancy explained that when she says” I will give you the Coca Cola test”, it’s the finger prick blood test for “Glucose Tolerance”!!!And when she says” I want you to go to the weight loss clinic”, it is the Aids assessment clinic!!

Friday morning at 7.15 it is off to the weekly Church Service for the College Nurses. We had been asked to sing and give a testimony. They all ‘knew’ us because we’ve been every week, and they know we love there amazing singing. We sang “There’s a New Name Written Down in Glory” as it’s got a ‘swing’ to it!!! You expect clapping and arm waving and possible cheering for all kinds of situations, but WOW, the clapping and cheering etc. after our singing was more on a par with having scored the winning goal for England in the World Cup!!!!! The Congolese exuberance is amazing to hear and behold!! Then we were asked to sing it again at the ‘Thank you/farewell’ meal and entertainment they put on for us at the College in the afternoon.....more cheering and their wonderful spontaneous laughter, especially when I demonstrated that I would have to sing in England with the step and arm movements [and hip wiggling!] that they do!! They joined in the chorus too!! John will mention some more about the ‘Farewell Meal’, but family will know that i don’t like to think of my meat as animals or birds that were once running around, and especially not recently alive and well!!!....read on!

And thank all family and friends who have emailed us. It’s seemed a very long time since we were able to email anyone at any time we liked, or pick up a phone and talk!

Janice........now over to John for his contribution!

Hi to you all.

It’s now Sunday evening, 6.50 and we have had a full day again, but more of that later!! As you will gather Janice is having a much more varied and exciting time than I am! I did take a morning out to visit the hospital during the week to see the patients and conditions there but usually, following breakfast at 6.30, I am at ISTM (the Nursing College) by 8.30 where I work on the Computer Programme until just before 1.00. No one takes a mid-morning break but I have coffee brought in for me!! Walk home for lunch takes about 20 minutes. Following lunch I walk back to the college for about 2.30 and work through till about 5.00 then walk back. I have got to the stage where the staff will be able to input each student’s marks into the database and produce an end of term certificate without having to type all the details into a Word template as they do now with all the possibilities for transcription errors. If I can I will try to include a copy of a certificate with this Blog.

The farewell at the college was a full blown evening meal and Janice and I were given a special piece of chicken as honoured guests – the gizzard or crop – which signifies that the chicken was killed specially for us! Another sermon there I think!! We were also given a gift, an African carving of a canoe with two people in it with a load of fish. The people are Janice and I and the fish are the results of our work. Janice was also given a dress length of material with some significant decoration!

Church this morning at 9.30 to the French language service with three choirs taking part; (the men’s’ choir were in a different outfit again, that’s three we have seen!). Nancy took us out for a buffet lunch. Our evening meal was with Jonathon and Janine (Jonathon is a Director at the college). They live in a property on a 7.5 acre plot which the college are hoping to buy and develop into a new campus with office accommodation. The site is on the edge of town with stunning views across the valley to the hospital.

Our time here is coming to a close and tomorrow I hope to give some instruction on using the database, document the instructions and maybe add another group of students to the list of those they can produce certificates for!

Many thanks go to those who have followed our blog and also to those who have commented on it; also to those who have emailed us. Your prayers have enabled us to tap into that inexhaustible source of strength that is available to us all if we commit ourselves wholly to God.

God bless you all – see some of you soon! (on Good Friday)

John