A new malnourished / low weight baby came to the Child Center this morning. This was a Falani baby; the Falani are the nomadic people that herd cattle. They take care of other people’s cattle. They get to milk the cows and they get a certain percent of the calves. This baby was born weighing 7.5 pounds and today 4 weeks later he only 6.2 pounds. We started giving him formula to supplement the mother’s breast milk. We hope that the addition of formula will boost his weight gain and then he will become strong enough to breast feed more successfully.
Before breakfast this morning we started the fires so they would be ready for the ladies to start roasting the corn and soy beans as soon as they got here this morning. We got the grain roasted and this afternoon we took it to Zorash’s grinding mill and made into porridge. We added sugar and salt to the mix. One of the neighborhood children who was about 2 years old kept coming back with his hand out so he could get a little more of the dry porridge. Our weaning mix is particularly good because we add sugar and salt.
After we got the grain ground we went to town to find Gomda the mechanic and set up a time for him to work on the vehicles. Something is wrong with clutch in the old van; it won’t pop back up and the green truck needs an electrician to look at the starter. Gomda said he would come in the morning and look at the old van. He wants to work the vehicles one at a time so we won’t be without transportation.
We had a visit from Timothy and Emmanuel, a couple of the evangelists. Emmanuel is getting old and he is getting forgetful. They did not need anything. Emmanuel heard we were back and wanted to come and say Hi! Emmanuel only has a bicycle so he begged a ride with Timothy. Timothy brought the rest of the aprons he made for us while we were in the states. I want him to make a few more but I do not have the flour sacks. I will have to try and find some.
Thank you for all you do for the work and for us. We really appreciate the help.
In His Service,
Steve and Kandie
