We got up earlier than normal this morning so we could start hanging the wet clothes on the line. What a mess! At least they have not started mildewing yet. We had a very cloudy day so they did not dry as well as we would have liked. It tried to sprinkle this afternoon so we brought them all back in the house. We will try again tomorrow. Now they are spread out all over the main house as well as the apartment. We went to the market this afternoon and bought 40 large bags (toe sack size). I am not sure if that is “toe” sack or “tow” sack but you get the idea don’t you? We plan to divide the clothes as soon as they get dry. We want to give 1 bag to each of the congregations that work with us.
Mr. Iddrisu is still on leave and Zorash called this morning to tell us that she had to attend to some of her volunteer work and would not be able to come to work. At first Steve considered closing the Child Center for the day. Meri is illiterate and cannot help file the charts for the new people. If we do not open there are some children and babies that would not get their food and formula. Then he said we would open and just see the children with blue and green charts. These are the children that need the most attention but that does not seem fair when the mothers walk a couple miles to get to the Center so in the end we muddle through. I was the one who was trying to figure out how to write the names. One was Abduli-ra-haz-da-la-rak or something like that. I am sure Zorash is going to have a hay day with the spelling when she gets back!
We had one pitiful case come this morning. The 1 year 3 month old little girl had lost almost 2 pounds since the last time they had come. And she had terrible rashes. After some investigation we found out her mother was pregnant and that she had weaned her 3 weeks ago. They usually breastfeed until the children are about 3 years old. It is against their social customs for a mother to breastfeed a baby while she is pregnant. We loaded the mother up with all the food we have available for malnourished children. I asked how many children the mother had she said that she had 3 but one was mostly grown and the middle child had to go and live with her grandmother. That sent up a red flag and I noticed how thin the mother was. I asked if there was any food in their house. The mother was finding it difficult to keep from crying. She said there was only a little porridge in the house. Steve went to the mission house and got a bag of rice and some money to give the lady for ingredients to make soup. We also gave her a full bowl of weaning mix so she would have something to eat too. You don’t have to be a baby to enjoy the weaning mix. We also gave her extra dried black-eyed peas. She was so grateful for the food.
Red and a delegation from his father’s house came to visit this afternoon and to thank us for the gifts we took when his father died and for the money we gave when his sister died. It is their custom to go around and personally thank everyone who helped with the funeral.
Thank you for all you do for us and for the work especially with the babies.
In His Service,
Steve and Kandie
