Tichak, the night watchman did not bring his brother and the orphan baby this morning. We are now worried about the baby. Divine was here last night and he interpreted for us so we know that Tichak understood that we had to see the baby before we could give them formula and that a doctor also needed to see the baby. Many times the family gets so bogged down with mourning and the funeral that the orphan baby’s needs get pushed aside. When Tichak comes to work we will try and find out what is being done for the baby. If the family has the money they can buy formula in Yendi. Sometimes they will give the baby to another mother that is breastfeeding and she will feed both children. This can be dangerous to the baby because the HIV virus can pass through breast milk.
We finished re-lettering the sign board for the Child Center. The electricity was off a good portion of the day but we are lucky to have a backup generator! We painted the sign board in the print room so we could be in the air conditioning. It was hot again today; 114 degrees.
This afternoon we worked on the thatch on one of the round houses that we had new thatch put on a few weeks ago. The roof had a dip in it and we knew that as soon as it starts to rain the rain will sit in the dip and cause a leak. We jacked up the roof from the inside; added some boards and took the dip out. Red finally finished making the metal door for the round house. Once we get it painted we will have Dawda the mason come and put it in.
We went out hunting and gathering for lunch today. I did not want to eat my usual Banku, fermented cornmeal mush, with okra goat stew. I really wanted stewed black-eyed peas but we did not find any. We ended up eating native rice with black-eyed peas mixed in. It can be dangerous eating the native rice because it is harvested on the ground and sometimes there are small stones in the rice. When we eat it we just chew very carefully. We also found some fried yams and hybrid mangos.
Take care and thank you for the love, prayers and support.
In His Service,
Steve and Kandie
