Wednesday, Sept.14-Thursday, Sept. 15- Fabrication and visiting Anold's village

I started my Wednesday with a climb up the water tower for pictures. 

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

Friday, Sept. 16- Choma patient fittings

First thing Friday, Protashow headed to Choma with the New Day bus to pick up patients for fittings. 

Everyone getting off the bus when it arrived at the clinic. It was quite the obstacle course around equipment and bricks to get inside the clinic. Next year, it will be much better after the construction is complete.

Chairs were set out on the covered porch for patients to wait.

Ladies making lunch for the patients who came. 

'Before' picture of John's patient.

And a great 'after' picture. What a beautiful smile! 

Here's Ivone getting instruction on walking with his new prosthesis. 

Matthew getting a new prosthetic socket. The knee and foot portion of his leg were in good condition from last year. He had lost some weight, so his socket was too big. Matthew is great at walking with his prosthesis! 

Dorothy heading into a room for fitting of her first prosthesis. Her husband (directly behind her in this photo) was so attentive in getting all the instructions to be able to help her with the prosthesis.

Dorothy learning to walk with the prosthesis. She did very well, and I'm sure will be walking without a crutch soon.

Joe with two family members who came with him. Joe is completely blind, and we had given him the walker when he came for casting to help him get around more easily.

Joe's prosthesis locks at the knee when he stands to give him a very stable prosthesis to walk on. He just pulls a lever to get the knee to bend to sit down. It was nice he had family who came with him to get instructions about the prosthesis as well.

Here's Anold learning to walk with his prosthesis.

After all the fittings everyone heading back to the bus.

Everyone loaded back on the bus and Protashow drove them back to Choma.

Protashow had arrived with everyone to the clinic around 11:00AM. The load sharing schedule for Friday was supposed to have the electricity out from noon-4pm, so we were expecting to need to use a generator to run any equipment that needed electricity. The power didn't go off at all on Friday, so we had electricity all through the fittings to make adjustments as we needed with equipment without needing the generator. 

The electricity staying on had just kept happening over and over during our trip, which was awesome! One day when we just had fabrication all day, Suzanne and I were at the clinic working on sewing and laminations and John had gone back to guesthouse to work on painting. The electricity went out for about a hour at the orphanage but stayed on at the clinic. The clinic electricity is wired through the same as the orphanage! Suzanne and I had no idea it had gone off....we just kept working. The most amazing witness of God's provision! 

This guy came all the way from Lusaka to measure the garage door openings of the clinic for metal gates. The gates will go over the garage doors for security and to protect the them from livestock bumping or leaning against the doors.

Measuring for the gates. 

We had a great day of patient fittings and were looking ahead to Saturday finishing up with the last few patients and packing up the clinic. We would leave New Day on Sunday after church.

Beautiful Zambian sunset John saw from the water tower Friday evening.

*Next post: Saturday, Sept.17-Monday, Sept. 19- Last patients, church and heading home

Saturday, Sept. 17- Monday, Sept. 19- Last patients, church and heading home

Saturday was our last day of patients. Luxon and Alex came first thing Saturday morning about 9am. They were at the turn off at the paved road, so Ron and Dee drove to pick them up to bring them to the clinic. Suzanne fit Luxon with his new prosthesis while I fit Alex. 

Little Luxon (who's getting to be not-so-little). It's so awesome to see him each year as he grows and gets less shy with us. :)

And every year we make sure to have clothes and a few toys to send with him. Suzanne also gave him this hat.

Checking Alex's prosthesis as he learns to walk with it.

Adjusting Alex's prosthesis.

Matthew and Anold came back mid-day for a few adjustments to their prostheses. Then we spent the rest of the day packing up the clinic. John had 3 people who didn't come back from the Macha area. We hope that it will be a situation like Joel where he came back the next year and was fit. Hopefully in April they will come back to see John. 

We put all the supplies in our plastic totes, stacked and stored in one room of the clinic. 

 

Took a picture of this big, beautiful tree that between the clinic and the grinding mill.

Our wonderful clinic! We were so unbelievably excited to work from the clinic this year, though it wasn't all the way completed. We're looking forward to April working from the completed clinic!

After we got everything packed away, we went to Kids Club that happens on Saturday afternoons at New Day. Surrounding village kids come to New Day for play time, singing/bible story time and a meal. There's usually between 150-200 kids each time!

Playing with these silly kids before singing started at Kids Club. They have lots of questions :)

Lining up to get food.

That's a really big pot of nshima!

Sunday was a very special time at church....John got to preach the sermon! And I'm sorry to report, I don't have a single picture. It didn't occur to me to take my camera. I just love church on our trips to Zambia!---everyone seems enthusiastic to be there, so attentive and participatory during the service and the singing is beautiful!

After church and lunch, we loaded up the bus and headed to Livingstone with Protashow. We were able to go to Victoria Falls on Monday morning before heading to the airport. I'm so glad we could fit that in for Suzanne, Cole, Chelle and Gil to see. John, Chad and I liked seeing the Falls during the dry season to contrast with when we saw it during the rainy season. Huge difference!

Chad, John, Protashow and Gil in front of me on the steps.

Protashow and John. We loved getting to know Protashow more this trip and having him work with us! Definitely looking forward to working with him again in April.

After Victoria Falls, Protashow dropped us off at the airport for our journey home. What a wonderful 4th trip for Prosthetic Promises! We are so excited for the next trip in April 2017!

We are so thankful for everyone who has supported us and prayed for our trips--safety in travel, our work in Zambia and for all the people we serve. We know that the work we do through Prosthetic Promises is not us---it's God---He sent us, but it's all Him. Though we're the ones who go, this would not be possible without so many people loving and praying for Prosthetic Promises. Thank you!

So close

A little over 2 weeks til we leave for Zambia! We leave September 3rd and return September 20th (except Jason and Chris return Sept. 11th). Flights are DFW to DC to Johannesburg to Livingstone. Those traveling in our group are myself (prosthetist), John (ocularist), Suzanne (prosthetist), her son Cole, Rochelle (Suzanne's cousin). Jason (my husband) and Chris (engineer) will be working on installing solar energy equipment with another few guys there...we refer to them as "the solar guys". And another young lady is traveling to New Day with us who is taking a gap year to stay for an extended time as a volunteer at the orphanage. Between the 8 of us and our extra baggage with supplies, it will be quite interesting at the airports. 

So many emotions this year. And so many areas of personal growth since last trip.  

Learning to stay flexible: We've been trying to stay with a trip each Spring but had to push this year's trip back to September to make sure back up generators made it there on the shipping container. The change in date reminded me that I have very little control in this situation...or any situation for that matter. A lesson in trust and faith in our Father to guide me through each day. 
  The shipping containers have arrived with most supplies and equipment. We are still unsure on several items (like the sewing machine). There will be another container leaving with the rest of our supplies and more that will hopefully be there before next year's trip. 
  The laminating resin was at the Zambian border as of Monday, coming from South Africa. Praying the rest of transport goes smoothly so that the resin arrives before we do. 

Learning to be brave: I'm so sad and so nervous that Chris will not be able to make this year's trip. Suzanne, another prosthetist with years of experience like Chris, will be going but this is her first trip. Chris has been my mentor and "safety net" for the past 2 times I've been to Zambia. I feel nervous that she won't be there. A lot of my excitement I've had in the past as the trip gets closer is overshadowed by doubts and fears. I'm trying to see that this is an opportunity to learn to trust and lean on our Father for strength, wisdom and endurance. I'm so much of a "I can take care of it/I can be strong" kind of person...I need to learn to "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6.  I keep trying to remember that I am just the "hands and feet" and God will direct this mission where He wants it to go. 

Learning to talk in depth about my call (and Chris and John's) to this mission: It seems that the longer and more involved Prosthetic Promises' mission gets and the more discussions I have with people, the more I encounter questioning, even judgement, and self doubt on my part. Don't get me wrong....I've had tons of awesome conversations with people about Prosthetic Promises. It's just not all "sunshine and butterflies". I've found that global missions doesn't appeal to as many people as "keeping it local". Lots of questions about why Zambia, why do you do it this way, etc. Describing why we put this much effort and planning and funds into serving people across the globe is sometimes difficult for me to articulate to someone. And conveying that we really are trying to do responsible mission work is hard since everyone's opinion on this is different. I just feel God has called me to do this. 
  "Comparison kills contentment". A quote that was shared at bible study this week while we were discussing Luke 18: 9-25. It sure does---I was pretty content in life until I made my first trip to Zambia in 2014. Compare my life, our lives, here in the U.S., the land of opportunity and plenty, to those in many other parts of the world. I'm comparing....and I'm not content....I have the responsibility to do something to change the world. This is why I feel called to Prosthetic Promises' mission. 

We would SO appreciate your prayers for our trip! Safe travel, having the supplies we need, that people will be able to get to us for prosthetic services. But above everything...that we give glory to God in all that we do and say during this trip. This is about Him, not about us.