New hope for H.E.L.P.

We at HELP (Hôpital Evangélique ‘Le Pionnier’) are excitedly awaiting the arrival of a new missionary family. The Samoutou's are preparing to come to Impfondo to set up the first eye center in the Congo.

There are many eye problems that go untreated because of a lack of resources. The town of Impfondo and the whole region will benefit enormously from this care.

There was an article about them in the BBC News explaining some of the process. Here is an excerpt:

They are hoping to set up a clinic helping patients with eyesight problems in Impfondo, capital of the Likouala Region.

Dr Joyce Samoutou said she had worked at the Leeds practice for three years but she and he husband felt they had to help those with limited medical provision in Africa.

She said: "We found out that Republic of Congo has never had eye centre offering surgery before.

"According to World Health Organisation four out of five people in that region are either blind or visually impaired for avoidable reasons.

"Simple cataract surgery costing about £50 will change lives.

"Imagine you've got an eye problems so life is hard, it's even hard to get to visit a doctor because of either distance or money.

"Yet, with a simple operation these problems can be resolved, but the doctors out there cannot carry out the work and there are no referrals, so we're really passionate about going.

You can read the whole article "Leeds couple to open Congo eye clinic." Please keep the Samoutou family in your prayers as they finish their preparations and prepare to move.

Consultation?

One day as I looked out the kitchen window this is the scene that caught my eye. I had to chuckle at that. What exactly was going on?
It turned out that Stephen was bringing a wheelchair home to write the hospital name on it before placing it in maternity. A few people stopped him to ask a question before he made it. Fortunately, he had a ready made seat while he listened.

Ambassador- Part 2

After the ribbon cutting ceremony and a brief tour of the hospital, everyone made their way over to one of the houses on the hospital compound to enjoy a light breakfast: juice, coffee, tea, doughnuts, muffins, bananas, and sugared peanuts.
Stephen was busy corralling the kids while I tried to finalize details for our trip and the breakfast itself, so we didn't get any pictures, but Laura got this one of Stephen and the kids. :)

Amabassador- Part 1

Dr. Harvey and the Ambassador

At the beginning of October we had a visit from the Ambassador. He came to do an official ribbon cutting ceremony for our new oxygen filling station. The station was purchased with funds from a grant we received through the US embassy.

Dr. Harvey showing the Ambassador how the filling station works

The filling station in one of the OR rooms
(it may not look exciting, but it has helped to save lives and improve the quality of care)

Monkeys

One of the challenges we have for school is focusing (or refocusing) despite the constant interruptions. Many people come to our door during the course of the day. Two men came with some monkeys to sell. I politely declined in spite of their insistence that they would be great pets.

Faces

Mashed Potatoes

There is a potato here that is similar to a cross between a white potato and a sweet potato. It is slightly darker than a white potato, very hard, and sweet, but not as sweet as the sweet potatoes in the US.
We use it in stews, soups, for french fries, chips, and at Thanksgiving for mashed potatoes.

The children really enjoyed the mashed potatoes that we had on Thanksgiving. I thought it would be a good idea to ask our cook to make some. I explained that I wanted her to peel the potatoes, cube them, cook them, and then mash them. My explanation didn't go far enough.
The photo above is our mashed potatoes. After mashing, she formed them into balls and cut them into pieces. With a little margarine, they still tasted (sort of) like mashed potatoes.

Faces

There are two of the ladies who cook for the missionaries who have babies. We were able to get some cute pictures of them recently.

Update

When I last wrote an update, we were in the midst of preparing for a trip to Brazzaville while participating in a ribbon cutting ceremony and breakfast with the ambassador and some of his staff.

We were able to make it to Brazzaville that day, and the next day I had my last dentist appointment to finish the long process of having a crown replaced.

We had planned to spend a week in Brazzaville, but due to complications with the last minute cancellation of flights we were there 11 days. I wasn't really disappointed since it gave us some extra time with our CMA missionary friends in Brazzaville.

Since we have returned, I have been busy with homeschool, visitors, guest housing, and the many details of daily life. Stephen has been busy as usual, wearing many hats at the hospital: seeing patients, teaching, administration, preaching various times at the morning devotionals for the staff and the Sunday morning service, meeting with 2 nurses for discipleship, dealing with electrical problems, supply shortages, and much more. He fits a lot into each day.

But he has had a few chances to take some time away from the hospital. He has been out in a canoe with David Marsh whenever they both have a free Saturday.
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We've been having lots of candlelit evenings lately. Our electricity comes and goes, and we have to be very conservative with what we have. Our hospital is somewhere between "orange alert" and "red alert" for the electricity system.
I've been thinking about this post for a little while. I had the pictures, but I wasn't sure how to explain the way things are without sounding negative or complaining.
Things are inconvenient and hard at times, but we've also enjoyed having a quiet family dinner by candlelight, sitting together while we read a book by candlelight, playing games together by candlelight...
Now even when the electricity is working, we sometimes choose to turn off the lights and light the candles.
We were without propane gas for our stove and refrigerator again, but mid-November we were able to get some propane gas for the stove. We've only had a working refrigerator for 4 months this year.
It's not as bad as it sounds, though. For one thing, there is not much available to buy that you need to keep in the refrigerator. There's no butter, cheese, milk, yogurt, etc.
We also have a cook who shops for fresh produce and meat five days a week. Then she prepares it using the kerosene burners and a charcoal burner that we keep outside. We're trying to save the gas for the stove for baking. I'm hoping it will last through Christmas.

Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers!

What's for lunch?

We've had many different types of meat since living here: beef, chicken, turtle, various fish, crocodile, antelope, goat, and sheep. We've also had the opportunity to try bats, monkey, and caterpillars, but I've chosen to refrain from each of those.

I've had a few moments of confusion when our cook is trying to tell us what she bought for the day. She knows the words for many foods only in Lingala. Once she told me that she bought horse. I knew that horse is not sold here, and we (fortunately) knew the Lingala word for goat. I was glad to realize that it was not horse, but goat meat that we were having for lunch.


Today she bought another meat for the first time. She didn't know the name, and the only description that she could give is that it is similar to an antelope. I was stumped,so she suggested that I pull out our animal encyclopedia.

I waited somewhat nervously while she flipped through the book, breathing a sigh of relief when she passed the section with monkeys! It turns out that she bought pig, and I was able to reassure her that yes, we eat pork. :)