The Children are the Reason

Hello All,

We are moving forward with things here but in "Africa Time."  Africa time is a unique thing.  People here take their time with just about everything except when they get behind the wheel of a matatu (taxi van) or car!  But, not to go into details, we are slowly creeping ahead with the Bethany Kids Wing and also the water project and the CT Scanner and the Mother child health building and the Palliative Care (Hospice) building!  That is a lot in one mouthful!

We are in the process of previewing contractors that we might hire to do our wing.  We went to see one this week that is in the process of finishing up the house for the vice president of Kenya.  We toured the house, and it was quite extensive.  Here is a picture of the house:

This last picture is for Darrell to see the quality in the finish trim!

It is amazing how things are built here.  We are qualifying contractors just for that reason.  The hospital got stung recently with someone they hired to do the new operating theaters.  We want to at least try and pick someone that will do an honourable job.  But, as far as the finishing in the vice president's new house, they should have hired my brother in law Darrell! 

I want to post something here about the main focus of the Bethany Kids at Kijabe Hospital (taking care of kids).  Most of the missionaries here work in that world so I wanted you to have a taste of it.  Here is a post from a friend of ours, Dan Poenaru from Canada:

Young girl with disability waiting to be seen in her wheelbarrow

37 degrees (Celsius = about 100 F) in the shade, sand and dust - back in the Dadaab refugee camp, it felt like I couldn't be any further away from cool Canada... On this first mission back in the camps since August when security issues led to closing all movement between the camps (several health care workers were abducted and/or killed by  militants), the problems we were seeing were very much the same - malnutrition, extremely limited access to specialist care, advanced disease... For the half a million Somali refugees, many of whom had lived for 20 years in this closed camp away from their country, the hopelessness and despair was evident. Late last year the world had paid attention to them for a few weeks because of the great famine which had hit the region. Now, away from the public attention and media hype, people continue their destitute lives as before. The children I see are the same as for the past 6 years I have been visiting the camp -children of all ages suffering from various congenital conditions which should have been treated years ago. We screen the children, promise them surgery sometime in the next months or years when we will get to them and they will be sent to us, and hope that we can keep our promise... After recently working in Montreal, the contrast in resources and quality of care is even more striking - why does almost every child with hydrocephalus (like the one in the photo) get too late to surgery, why do we have nothing to offer to children with orthopedic problems (again like in the photo)?

All in a day’s work: children with severe hydrocephalus and advanced club foot

Why, why? Or in the words of Habakkuk, “Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds.” (1:3). May God use us to bring justice and healing to those in need…

Dan (like many other doctor's here) goes to Dadaab refugee camp and sees patients there.  The cases that need surgery are most times referred here to Kijabe.  They come, when they can get the travel money, and have life changing surgeries.  Many have waited too long for the surgeries to do the most good.  They wait because they do not have the funds to get it done when they first see the problem.  That is why many issues here are well advanced before the doctors can do anything about it.  It is an extreme challenge here, but it is the reason why most of the doctors do what they do.  It feels like an air of "no hope" sometimes, but with the work that the amazing doctors do, they are providing a gleam of hope and showing the love that God has for these people.

Here are a few silly pictures of last Sunday.  We got together with the other sponsors of the sophomore class and ate enchiladas for lunch.  It was just before school started again on Tues of this past week (Yea!! and the crowd cheers! - The crowd being Jim and I):

Trevor and Chris (Chris really likes Trevor!)

Jullie and Dorothy

Jim with a scowling face to Sallie taking his picture

We hope you all have a great week.  We really appreciate your prayers for this upcoming week and the movement of the projects past the speed of the slug I saw yesterday!

In His Hands,
Jullie T.

Inspection Kwa Jim ni Kali

Hello All,
We went to South Kinangop today to attend the King's Feast at the Into Abba's Arms orphanage where Jim has been helping to build the kitchen.  The kitchen is finished (I will put some pictures below) but the cooks would not venture in there to cook a meal today for the feast for about 350 people!  I can't blame them.  It is very modern and shiny and they just started using it yesterday, so I think it was a bit intimidating.  They would rather use the open fires and giant cook pots that they normally use.  The feast is about honouring the King - Jesus Christ and a man called King Lane.  He had a heart for the Kenyan children and was a good friend of Jane Gravis's (the founder of IAA).  It was about 2 hours (we got there in Kenyan time about 1 hour late) of singing and introductions, then some games and loud music and then eating and more games.  Both of my boys are still not feeling real well.  They had fevers this week and some other pains.  And, the drive there is very difficult.  About 6 months ago, the roads were pretty good, but now they are amazingly awful!  We are always amazed at how fast they can deteriorate.  They just patch the holes and have no concept of doing the job right so that it will last.  They just have to come back and do it again and of course there is no money!

The food line at the King's Feast

the kids like having their pictures taken

Little Eyes!

One of the other orphanages singing a song

Introductions.

The Kitchen

The dining area

The finished building!

The Boys hiked up Mt. Longonot last Monday.  They had a great time, but were all very sore the next day or so! 

This is a picture of Longonot from the RVA campus.  It is a dormant volcano and is very distinct looking.  The station where you park is on the right side of this picture and you hike up to the rim and then go around.  It is a 26 km hike (about 15 miles).  Timothy was adamant that he didn't need any sunscreen. Boy was he wrong!  He was wearing shorts and the back of his legs sure got  sun burnt.  They had some friends with them to make the going easier.  It took them about 6 hours and they came home dirty and exhausted.  Here are some pictures from their day:

Braden, Chris and Trevor (a very strange group of guys!)

Landon, Timothy and JT (another smaller but just as strange group of boys!)

Jim, Trevor and Timothy

A very pretty locust.  I think it is called a Rainbow Locust.

One more funny thing that happened this week:  Jim was at the orphanage doing the final inspection of the kitchen.  John, the supervisor was there and talking to Christine.  Jim heard him say, "Inspection kwa Jim ni kali."  That is Swahili for "an inspection by Jim is fierce!"  They didn't know that Jim's Swahili is good enough for him to understand that!  There are some advantages of learning the language and not letting everyone know that you know!  But, at least we know he has a reputation!

We had some friends over for dinner last night, but we could not have pizza.  It was a difficult situation (not having pizza on a Friday night!)  There is no cheese to be found right now.  The area has been dry and the cows are not giving enough milk.  This is a dire situation and one that might even require us to rethink our decision to stay here till 2014!  But, we have been having lots of rain lately and hopefully, that will produce some milk results, hence mozzerella, hence Pizza.  Please pray for us!
Here is a picture of Sallie and Maureen:

We have been babysitting a dog for the last week.  Her name is Pepper and she is very sweet.  It is good to have a dog in the house again!

Thank you all so much for everything you do.  We are blessed to have you in our lives.

In His Hands,
Jullie T.

In His Hands,
Jullie T.

To Stay or Not to Stay!?

Hello All,

Hope you had a wonderful Easter.  We did.  RVA had a sunrise service then a pot luck breakfast.  Sunrise here is about 6:15 right now and the service started at 6:30.  Surprisingly, it wasn't too hard to get the kids up and going!  It was a beautiful morning and a great service.  At 10:30 that morning they organized an egg hunt.  There are about 400 plastic eggs that someone has kept over the years, and the ladies filled them with candy and hid them all over the field for the kids to find.  It was fun for Timothy and Sallie.

They had a great time and got a few pieces of candy.  The selection of candy here is limited.  It does not consist of the chocolate gooeyness that we have in the states!  It is mostly hard candies, but that is OK.  We can catch up on the Reese's when we get home.

We have had severe water issues for the last 2 months or so.  The hospital has run out almost on a weekly basis and we run out almost daily now.  It usually comes back at least for a little while so that we can fill the hot water tank and get some toilet flushing water in buckets, but not always. We have some jerry cans that we can take up to the school and fill up.  They have a consistent source and seem to always have water.   Have you ever lived with out water for any period of time?  My friend Ruth has been without for 4 days now!  This is unfortunately a pattern at her place because she is in the top apartment (3 stories up).  We need water for dishes, hand washing, showering, laundry, toilets, cooking, drinking!  It is something that we really take for granted at home.  There is a place about 2 hours from here called Ndabibi.  They have a small, new AIC (Africa Inland) Church there.  They have been without water for over a year.  I don't know how they survive.  The pastor emailed me last week and said they had a sprinkling of rain and he was praying that it would continue.  Please pray for rain in Ndabibi and also for the water issues here in Kijabe.  We have a new commission for water that Jim is on.  It is unprecedented because of its unity.  There is a representative from each faction that makes up the station and the decisions they will come up with will be joint, therefore, there should be no power playing once they decide what to do.  We need prayers for that committee too, that they will act as one and for the best of the hospital and the community.

Timing is everything!  Ever have one of those times when all things come together?  We are seemingly having one this summer, and not all to the good!
1). Our CT scanner is here in the country, but it won't be in Kijabe for another week or so.  But, we still have not ordered the UPS (Uninterpretable Power Supply) for it.  It will take about 13 weeks once we pay for it to get it here.  That will put us at about July 14th (second week in July).  This means that the team from the US will come at that point to hook it up and test it.
2). Our new timeline for the Bethany Kids wing has it commissioning operations July 5th.  That will probably slip a bit, as we still need to move the Quonset Hut, so, about the second week in July.
3).  We leave to come home for a visit on July 24th! 

So, not sure how all this will play out, but we will just trust in the Lord's timing that it will all work out!

Sallie found a caterpillar a few weeks ago.  She thought it was cute, so put it in a jar.  A few days later it started acting funny.   It turned into a chrysalis!  Just a few days ago, we saw that it had emerged.  Here is the picture of her moth:

OK - We are rethinking our timing as far as how long we will be here in Africa.  We had originally committed to coming here for 2 years (Jan of 2013).  That changed pretty quickly as we realized that we needed to be here till the summer of 2013 in order to at least finish the school year.  But, that would have graduated Trevor from 11th grade (he will have just enough credits).  With all of the delays associated with the project, we are now looking at the summer of 2014.  If we stay till then, we should see the finish of the project and part of the defects liability period (6 months to identify problems after completion) and we can see Trevor Graduate from RVA properly.  This is a big one as I couldn't see sending my boy off to college a year early!  Once we started to consider this timing, several things came to light that were clearly doors opening in that direction!  We have decided that barring the cancellation of the Bethany Kids wing (which is a possibility) we will stay till the summer of 2014.  We had sent out a letter to our monthly supporters that told them this was a possibility, but we are now making it official.  It is difficult to do this for many reasons, none the least of which is not living in our house back in Michigan and not being near family.  But, we feel committed to this project and know that God is leading us to see it through.  So, summer of 2014 it is, barring any problems with the project!  We so appreciate the support you all have given in making this decision and being behind us in your prayers.

In His Hands,
Jullie T.

Oh, the Roar of Lions in the Morning!

Our Campsite at Sunrise

Hello All!
Easter week end!  Can you believe it?  From what I hear, the weather in Michigan actually feels like spring this Easter, not like the middle of winter as it usually does.  The girls can wear cute Easter dresses and not have to wear their snow boots with it!
Tomorrow (Sunday) we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  What a special day.

Acts 2:31-34
31 Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay. 32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. 33 Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. NIV
John 11:25-26
25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
NIV

We wish you all a great Easter Celebration and all the Love that God poured out on you this day!

Last week-end we went camping at Lake Nakuru National Park.  We had a great time and came back in one piece.  At 3:00 the first morning, I heard the lions roaring in the distance.  That has never happened to me before while camping!  Also, on the second night, a hyena ran through the camp right next to us!  They were friends from RVA and had 4 kids with them, none too small as to be snack size, but they all piled into the car and came over.  It was dark by then (it gets dark here every day at 6:30ish) and since Craig had a huge spotlight, he went out into the field with them to see if it was still there.  They spotted the hyena and a huge heard of Cape Buffalo.  They tell us to stay away from the buffalo because they can charge and be very dangerous.  But it was night and I think they were settling in because they were still there in the morning after we had about 3" of rain overnight!  We were all soaked!  I think Jim pulled out about 1 gallon of water from Trevor's tent!  I myself was fairly dry with just one drip coming on my head, but Jim was getting sprayed.  Thank God the rain was done by light and we made a bacon and pancake breakfast and started the drying out process.

We had a great time and took some really good pictures.  But it really did feel like we were camping "in the zoo!"  I am going to put a bunch of pictures here.  Not sure of all the names of these animals, but I will try and find out:

I know this one is a Timothy Animal

And this one is a Sallie

Grants Gazelle

Greater Blue-eared Starling

(we see these everywhere)

Think this is a Dickenson's Kestrel

Hartlaub's Bustard

Superb Starling

Common Fiscal Shrike

Zebra with a Candelabra Tree in the distance

This was cool as it was a zebra crossing.  They were all going somewhere and we waited till they crossed the road one by one.  

Cape Buffalo

Southern Ground Hornbill

Our first of many Hyena spottings

Black-backed Jackal

(We saw a pair of these moving away - it was very cool!)

The Black Rhinoceros

These come in Black and White varieties although that is not really a description of their color.  The "White" name comes from a corruption of the Afrikaans word "Weit" meaning "wide."  This refers to the shape of the mouth.   The black rhino has a narrower mouth with a prehensile upper lip.

We saw both varieties this week end.

Zebra on the hill

Zebra on the hill looking nervously at the hyenas coming!

The Greater Timothy Muffin Eater

The Flat Topped Acacia Tree

Defassa Waterbuck (Females)

A typical African Scene (Zebra in the distance, Giraffe, Impala and a Baboon)

White Stork

Baby Baboon checking out his toes

Male Lion

This was my favorite part.  Seeing this lion lying right next to the road.  We almost drove right by!

At this point he looked right at me.  If I wasn't in the car I would have been very, very scared.

Blacksmith Plover

Sallie at the Lake Nakuru Lodge swimming and getting sun burnt!

This was the relaxing part

Timothy horrified with the Father Daughter kiss!

Cool Butterfly (Sallie took this picture)

Helmeted Guinea fowl

Zebra and an Ostrich

Another Cape Buffalo (there were hundreds of these)

Baby Giraffe

Trevor ringing out his "sleeping" bag!

The Puddle that Trevor slept in

Impala

The boys loved hanging out of the Sorely's Car

Kirk's Dik Dik

(These are so cute.  They all look like babies and are very elusive)

Overlooking Lake Nakuru from the Out of Africa Lookout point

Agama Lizard

Overlooking the Lake again

Another snack stop (very important to keep everyone happy!)

Warthogs and 5 babies

Timothy and Nathan

I know this was a lot of pictures.  Hope you enjoyed it.  I am just glad that the kids were able to see a lion after living in Africa for over a year!

We just bought our tickets to return to Africa in Aug.  We will be traveling to Michigan in July on the return leg of the tickets we used in Dec.  We actually stop over in Rome for a week on the way home.  We are going to head to La Maddalena and visit Cynthia and Reno Panzani, and Nonna. We are very excited about this trip.  I used Vayama Search engine and was actually able to get a stop over in Rome for a week at no extra cost!  When we return to Africa in Aug, we are going to go through London.  What Jim and I didn't realize is that the Olympic and Para-Olympic games are in London this summer!  We actually will be there for one night right in between the 2.  We land at about 10:45pm and our flight to Nairobi doesn't leave till 10:30 the next morning.  In our young 20 something days, Jim and I would have just hung out at the airport, but those days are long gone!  With 3 kids, it will be much easier to just get a room and sleep a bit.  Wish we had time to see the city, but maybe Timothy can get some Hagas for breakfast!  That is something he has been wanting to try (not sure why)!

Our prayer is that you have a wonderful Easter.  Remember that God has so much love for you that he gave his son to die on the cross to cover your sins.  We all sin because of our humanity, but he has a plan to cover us because of the love he has for us!

In His Hands (always),

Jullie T.