WE GOT RAIN! We got a good rain. We got a tiny rain last night but this afternoon about 3:00 it started raining heavily and it rained for about an hour. Maybe the temperatures will cool down for the next couple of days. The problem was there were some strong winds in this storm. The wind blew over my calabash (gourd) tree, it blew lots of mangoes off the tree, and it blew down some dead branches from some of the other trees. As soon as the rain stopped Steve and I went out to see what could be done for the calabash tree. Evidently, when the tree was growing the tap root hit rock and turned sideways. Once the tree was blown down, we could see the problem but what to do about it is another problem. A couple weeks ago after the first rain, it was leaning; we tied it to the cement wall but the wind was too much for it today. Steve got out the post hole diggers and made a large hole for us to set it back in. When he was packing the dirt around the roots he could hear the roots cracking. We are not sure if the tree will survive or not. I started the tree from a branch cutting I got out in the village of Bungbali. The branches are sprawling and very heavy so this afternoon Steve cut part of the branches off in hopes that removing some of the branches would help it not be so top heavy. Hopefully, we have not killed the tree but just in case I took several cuttings from the branches we removed and am going to try and root them.
The rain almost filled the cistern; so, we will have plenty of water when our guests arrive at the end of the week!
Adamu, the very malnourished child that was identified as a snake by the Juju (witchdoctor) came back to the Center this morning; she lost weight again; this is the 3rd time she has lost weight. We are worried about her; we asked her mother to feed her so we could see how she was eating. She ate very well; the mother said that she feeds her several times a day but obviously she is not getting enough to eat; we encouraged the mother to feed her more times a day. We tried her on some of the PPP (peanut butter protein paste) but she was having none of that! Adamu pointed at every baby that came in; I think she is about 3 years old. Since she was so interested in the other babies, we decided to give her a baby doll of her own. She was so sweet when we gave her the baby; she made her mother use a cloth and tie the baby on her back! Adamu’s mother tied Adamu on her back before she left; Adamu still had her baby on her back. We could not help but take a picture of the baby on the back of Adamu and Adamu on her mother’s back.
Divine called this afternoon and said that he had to go out to the village and get his mother and bring her to Yendi to the hospital. He said that she was in so much pain that she could not even walk. He said that to get her to the hospital he had to wedge her between himself and another man on the back of his motorcycle. Can you imagine being in so much pain that you can’t sit on a motorcycle without assistance? It is about 20 miles from his mother’s village to Yendi. He said that they had to cross water that was up to their waists. When they cross the water; the men carry the motorcycle on their heads. I presume that he had to carry his mother across the water too. We just do not know how lucky we are!
Thank you for the love, prayers and support! Your prayers mean so much to us so please keep them coming!
In HIS Service,
Steve, Kandie and Skeeter
The Monkeyshines
I was so happy that I was inside the house with the parents when the big storm came. I could hear it coming before it actually started raining. As soon as the wind started blowing, I started pacing and tried to hide. I tried to hide inside Mom’s shirt but I was too nervous to stay in there. Then Mom left and went outside to unplug one of the gutters and I had to rely on Dad to save me! Then the electricity went off and I could not see anyone which made me even more frightened! Finally, Mom came back in and laid down; her clothes were wet but I did not even care!
To add insult to injury; Dad got out that needle and syringe and gave me a shot of Ivermectin (it is for parasites, fleas, ticks and other intestinal things)! Excuse me, I have said it before and I will say it again “I don’t have parasites or fleas or ticks!” I am highly insulted when they think that I have those nasty things! The shot hurt and it was on my back in a place I could not reach it! I kept trying to reach around and figure out what was hurting me so badly! Dad got me a grape which is my favorite thing; I took it from him but it took me a little while to eat it because I was in pain! Dad is not even a vet; I am not sure he knows what he is doing!
NO MORE SHOTS!
Love, Skeeter (I am now damaged goods!)
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