View of the clinic from the water tower.
Beautiful sunrise to start the day.
Met this little guy on my climb up the ladder.
Wednesday at the clinic was spent doing more fabrication to get ready for the rest of the patients coming for fittings. We had 4 more patients coming Friday and 2 on Saturday. John was expecting 6 more people for fittings.
John, Suzanne and Sydney. Sydney left later on Wednesday. It was great working with him Monday-Wednesday doing fabrication and seeing patients. We hope to see him again next trip.
Chelle came to the clinic to help where needed. Thank you Chelle for patiently burning holes in the straps for buckles! Such a tedious part of the job.
Suzanne getting a prosthetic model ready for lamination.
John painting by the door in the kitchen in the guesthouse for best natural lighting.
Group picture before Sydney left.
Thursday we decided to go to see Anold (boy who we've been seeing each year) since we did not have a contact phone number for him and hadn't heard from his family. We went to see him once before at his village in 2014, so we sort of knew where to go. Ron drove Elizabeth, John and I to find Anold. Blu had told Elizabeth directions that he could remember from when he drove us there in 2014, and she also was our translator. After passing the turn off the main paved road, having to double back and asking multiple people for directions, we finally found it.
We stopped to ask ladies who were selling produce and baskets if they knew the way, which was great we did since that's where the turn off the main road was.
Asking more directions after getting off the paved road.
We found it! Anold's mother, father and 3 siblings were there but not Anold. He was at school in Monze where he stays during the semester. He did not take his prosthesis to school, because a piece came loose about 1-2 months ago. So...I was able to repair the prosthesis and leave new supplies even though I couldn't see Anold.
Repairing a prosthesis in the African bush. When I started this profession, I wouldn't have dreamed this would happen. Absolutely amazing where God leads us and what He enables us to do!
The maize bin at their village.
Hut where they sleep. And the bicycle is their mode of transportation.
Here's two of Anold's siblings. The 3rd child was too shy to come out of their hut.
While I worked on Anold's prosthesis, we were able to talk with his parents through Elizabeth translating. We found out that Anold has not been in school in the past when we have seen him because of the cost of school fees. Anold's father was able to pay a portion of the semester's fees for him to get started this semester, and he was working on getting together the rest of the money. Prosthetic Promises is going to cover the cost of Anold's school fees. We told his father to contact New Day before each semester, and we will pay the school directly for each semester's tuition. We want Anold to be able to continue going to school.
When we got back to New Day after visiting Anold's village, Sophia came for fitting of her prosthetic eye.
Beautiful Sophia!
One of the people from the Macha area also came for fitting.
The 'after' picture. So many people we see in Zambia are very solemn. We're used to everyone smiling for pictures, but not everyone does that in Zambia.
Getting a prosthesis assembled.
The stack of legs for the rest of the fittings.
Sunset at the clinic.
I enjoyed walking back each evening from the clinic with the sun setting. Very peaceful.
John and I walked by the water tower as Chelle and Cole were climbing up for the sunset.
Making it to the top was quite a feat for Chelle. It doesn't seem that tall until you get about halfway up the ladder.
After dinner at the guesthouse, we went to the dining hall for Fellowship with the kids.
Chelle and Suzanne with some of the kids before we got started with singing.
Singing and clapping. Some songs have dances, which is so fun to watch all the kids sing and dance.
Chelle and Suzanne keeping up with the dance moves.
We sang songs, had prayer requests and then split into small groups for prayer. Another wonderful day in Zambia!
*Next post: Friday, Sept. 16- Choma patient fittings
No comments:
Post a Comment