Making progress....

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Our time here is getting short. We have less than 3 weeks to go and much to do. The leaders here are in unity about the F.I.S.H. program and we are encouraged by the response of the people. We don’t have unlimited funds so most will have to wait for assistance. We will start with a few people’s businesses to see how to go about it and hopefully be able to help more in the future. We are working hard to make sure they are doing the work of it and decision making with help and support from us. We want to equip them for the work. We repeatedly tell them this is not about financing as much as it is about them learning to work together and take care of each other. They are very responsive.

Last week we took Christine’s husband, Patrick, to the doctor. This is the same doctor that took care of Austin and Joel. He’s from India and seems to be competent and caring. He only charges 300 shillings for an office visit. He is not ‘getting rich’. His office is small. He has a receptionist and a couple of benches for a waiting room and an office with an examining table. He pulled out a BP cuff that looked like it came from the 18^th century. He has no nurse and uses a notebook to document his findings.  I talked to him about what we could do here to help with health care. At first he talked about a friend who is doing work in the villages. When I told him we want to do something here in Nakuru he seemed to get excited. I asked him if I could come work with him a day or two and he said he would like that too. We will head in a direction and let God lead us. I am thinking we could set up a lab to do diagnostic tests for people at a cheaper fee than they charge here. That would help a lot. Most people just guess and self treat because they can’t afford the lab and doctor fees.

On our way home today we stopped by the butcher to get a chicken for dinner and some meat for the next couple of days. There was a fresh side of beef hanging in the window. They will keep it for up to 2 days that way making cuts as it is sold. They say if you refrigerate it you lose all the juices. I told Petranila she would never see a sight like that in our country. She was surprised. She thought that was the way everyone processed meat. If you ask for a chicken they go get a live one and kill it, gut it, and pluck it for you. Fransisca is our butcher. She used to work at a place in town but now she has her own shop. She just opened a couple of days ago and was bringing the meat to our house before that. She’s very kind and I like supporting her business.

Oh, by the way, there are no Christmas trees or decorations, no “merry Christmas” or parades. We are going to have a feast where all the ladies will cook together at the church and a Christmas program. Most of them have never done any of this before so it will be a new experience for them. I’m looking forward to seeing what God will do.

We had a youth meeting today. Noah told parts of the story of the birth of Christ and the events surrounding His birth. Then we came home so they watched the RCV version of the Christmas story. On the way home in the van they sang Christmas carols. That was nice.

Please leave your decorations and Christmas trees up for us to see. It would be fun to tour the village for a late Christmas.   Missing you all……………Haviylah

                                      Here comes Michelle Haviylah to help me write this blog.