Water, Water Everywhere But not a drop to drink!

Hello All,
The ladies and I headed to Naivasha today to ride horses.  We rode out into the fields with the Giraffe, Zebra, Water buck and Impala.  We even saw a blacked backed jackal.  It was great being able to get so close to them.  My friend Christina got some pictures that I will try and post next week.

If you didn't read the last post, you might want to go read it.  There was a major situation that arose last week with our supply water.  We (the Hospital and resident housing) lost our main supply header due to land slides.  This also took out a good section of our main road!  It is still passable but, it looks like it may get worse.  On top of that, RVA (Rift Valley Academy) lost their main bore hole pump!  When it rains it pours (no pun intended)!   Thankfully, RVA has about a 10 day supply, but they are working on getting the company here quickly to repair or replace the pump.  But, as Jim said in the last post, there was a commission established about 2 months ago that was looking into the short and long term water solutions here on the station (Kijabe).  One of their short term solutions was to get the Bathi Dam to supply more water to the area.  They currently supply a little to a selected few, but they have the supply and are willing to sell us more.  They started this week with what they can get to us with the small existing pipes.  This has saved us from losing a large percentage of what we need.  God in His providence has helped us avert a major crisis.  Not to say that it is over by any means!  The long term solutions involve getting grants in order to pay for it, because it will be pretty pricey.  We need large water tanks and lots of pipe and new pumps, etc.  Please pray that the rains will subside (we have had 2 days with no rain!) and that we will solve our lack of water in the faucet issues.  It is crazy to be flooding outside and not have enough water in the pipes to flush the toilet!

We went to a benefit dinner for Bethany Kids last night in Nairobi.  It was very nice and we got to dress up!  It was the first time Bethany has done a benefit and they hope to do it annually.  Ambassador Gration was there.  He is the Ambassador to Kenya now and he was Jim's boss back when we were in Stuttgart.  So, we still call him "General."  It was nice to catch up with him. 

Ambassador Gration, left and Justus Marete, our Bethany Kids Africa director, right

 The hardest part about the evening was driving home in the dark.  We have mentioned how difficult it is here to drive at night.  We came up behind at least 2 trucks moving very slowly with no rear lights, and many times the people coming at you only have one headlight and of course it is on bright because they can't see very well due to just having one headlight!  There are no lines on the sides of the road to follow and very few street lights.  That is something we sure take for granted at home!  One of the speakers was a lady who had been helped by Bethany Kids as a child.  When kids are born here with disabilities, they are shunned at best.  Sometimes they are killed with a poison that is mixed into their food.  This was about to happen to Francesca as a baby when her mother ran away with her.  She was eventually brought back and lived a very difficult life.  She has spinabifita.  Many times, when a child with spinabifida comes in, it is the the first time that the parents have had any information about what it is and how to deal with it.  In mild cases, the children can live fairly easily, but they need to know how to empty their bladders and how to deal with other issues (walking!)  When Francesca was about 12, she was brought to Kijabe and had surgery.  She was also taught for the first time how to keep herself dry.  This was life changing for her.  She could now be out and be accepted in society.  She now has a wonderful husband and a child.  She is a wonderful example of how Bethany Kids is helping children with disabilities gain Independence and a sense of worthiness.  For the first time, they see themselves as loved and accepted. 

Francesca telling her story

The Joy Town choir sang at the event also.  Joy Town is an orphanage for disabled kids.  When they have been abandoned to die, they have a place to go to be loved.   We have not been there yet, but would like to visit soon.

Joy Town Choir singing

There has been some activity lately over by the "dormant" volcano, Longonot.  Some fissures have developed in the ground near there that are not due to the excessive amounts of rain we have been having.  It is all the talk in the local papers whether or not the mountain is waking up.  We have been told that it is not, but will keep an eye on what the experts are saying.  Here are a few pictures of the fissures:

We are still "patiently" waiting on our CT Scanner to arrive.  That container also has very large surgical microscopes and wheel chairs and other things that are anxiously anticipated!  It has been sitting in Mombasa since about the last week in March.  Please pray that it will clear the port soon.

The kids had Titchie field day today.  They had a great time.  It was a carnival theme for about 2 hours up at the school.  Here are a few pictures:

Sallie chasing a Donut

Sallie with a "Duma" (Cheetah) face

As many of you know, Sallie is a BIG Eeyore fan.  She has had this particular Eeyore since she was 10 months old.  This week he had a much needed bath!  Here he is hanging on the line to dry.  Sallie was very happy to have an Eeyore that had a whitish nose again!

Hope you all have a great week.  We sure appreciate all that you do for us.  Email when you get a change.  We love to hear from you.

In His Hands,
Jullie T.

Water Worries, What GOD has prepared us for

Dear all,
I am writing this blog post as an urgent prayer request and as a praise GOD.  Kijabe Mission Station has been beset with a water shortage since early January this year.  As the shortage became acute to most the residents on this station, the station management desired to take action and commissioned a team of technical people representing the different departments serving here. We have the Hospital (about 2000 patients and staff), Rift Valley Academy (about 1000 students and staff), Kijabe boys and Kijabe Girls High Schools (1200 students each), Moffat Bible College (about 400 students and staff) and the community (about another 2000 people).  In April our team (9 people) started looking at short term and long term actions necessary to get us out of this water shortage and prevent it from happening again.  We provided our findings to the Kijabe Station Board (run by Africa Inland Church) last week and they accepted all of our recommendations to move forward and start fixing the problem.  Well, we have had an unprecedented amount of rain over the past 42 consecutive days and this morning it finally took its toll.  Landslides in the area damaged one of our main water supplies.  This supply represents about 40% of our water coming into Kijabe. So, the problem is now fiercely worse.  In fact, it is the spring that was founded by Engineering Ministries International about 12 years ago.  We met today and realized that even though we are in a serious water crisis, our planning and actions are not neccessarily a crisis because our team had already done the lions share of the work of coming up with solutions.  GOD was preparing our team for what we now face.  We now realize that we will need to be extremely aggressive with some of the fixes but they are doable.  We do need your prayers though.  The eMi spring may not be repaired for several weeks at best due to the danger of doing anything on the side of the mountain when all the soil is saturated and loose.  We are going to start asking for government assistance and help from other outside organizations as a means to help pay for and progress the solutions.  Government assistance is not easy to come by here in Kenya.  So, we just ask you to pray with us that we will be wise in how we approach the solutions, organizations and even the leadership here at the mission station, and that water corrections come in quickly.  This problem has the potential of affecting not only our community of about 7000 people but also the thousands of people living nearby and in the region of East Africa who come to Kijabe for healing.

GOD's richest blessings to you all and thank you for standing with us in prayer and hope.
Jim

BTW.  If you know of any organization who might be able to help us in this crisis, please provide any info you have to JimT@AHC123.com

Birthday the Kenyan Way!

Hello All,
Remember when I wrote a few weeks ago about the lack of water?  Well, we have plenty of it now, but all outside in the yard!  The long rainy season has started and it sure feels like it.  Every afternoon the thunder starts and the rains come in sometimes continuing through the night.  The hospital is occasionally still out of water (and us too) but it is not quite as bad as it was.  Kijabe does not have a good water collection system, but that will hopefully be addressed with the long term water solutions.  The new water project has a line item for rain water collection.  But, we are still seeking grants to fund the project and that will take some time.

I wanted to give you an update on Yvonne.  She is the granddaughter of our house help, Rose.  Her mother died of a brain tumor 2 years ago now and her father was never in the picture.  Many "friends" of Rose have told her to let Yvonne go, meaning to an orphanage, but she just can't do it.  This time last year, we took a collection from you all and Yvonne is now in an excellent school and doing very well.  She is diligent about getting her homework done and she really likes it.  She was number one in her class for term 2 (Sept - Dec).  There are maybe 36 kids in her class (first grade).  That is a lot!  We still have enough money to get her through 2nd grade and maybe into her first term of 3rd grade.  The school year starts in Jan here so we are talking about enough money through about Dec of 2013.  If you would like to help with this fund, please let me know.  Whether you want to donate now or will just plan on it in the future that would be great.  It works out well to send a check to my mother-in-law and she deposits it into our account and we can access it from there.  This school is a life changing event for her.  If left in the government schools, things would be much different. In Integrity school, she will get computer class starting in second grade.  The public high schools don't even have that advantage!   It breaks down to about $36 a month right now for her tuition and sundries.  She had a birthday last week and we had a nice celebration. Thank you all so much for caring about her.  Her life will be different (in a great way!) because of this!

Yvonne has a great smile

Yvonne (left) and some friends

Rose and Yvonne

Sallie taking pictures of herself!

eating stew and rice and chapatis

The neighborhood kids come out of the woodwork when there is a party!

Yvonne gets a gift

Sallie and Yvonne cutting the cake.

Well, we were expecting our CT scanner to arrive yesterday (Friday) but it never came.  We are now told to look for it next Friday.  It is very difficult to know what is going on so we just wait (not very patiently I may add)!  Below are some pictures of our CT Scanner room and the waiting area of the Mother Child Health section.  The floor should be going in today (Saturday).  We got a sheet laminate product that we are hoping will give the room a warmer feeling.  We plan on using some chalkboard paint on one wall so the kids can draw while waiting.  Anyone have some chalk??

waiting room for MCH

CT Scanner room

They started to pour the concrete pad for the second floor of the palliative care building on Friday.  They had some issues with getting enough concrete (they were out getting more bags as the pour was going on), but they did it.  Great job to the crew out there:

There is a beetle here known as the Nairobi Eye.  It is a pesky little thing!  They are prevalent in the damp weather we are having right now and they come into the house because they are attracted to light (especially fluorescent lights which are most of ours).  They are very colorful and are not harmful if left alone.  The problem comes when you crush it on your skin.  Its body fluids are apparently ounce for ounce more toxic then a cobras venom!  When they get on you, you are supposed to blow them off and not try to brush them like you would a mosquito.  As long as they are whole, they don't bite or cause harm.  Here are some pictures of a few:

Jim got it a week or so ago and the marks boiled up and became like burn marks.  Nasty!

Jim and I have problems with waiting as evidenced by him getting into trouble a few times. I too am not immune to this issue!  Just wanted Jim to not feel alone!  Please pray for us as we continue to muddle our way through the issues.  We are moving forward on things but it is hard work to make any progress!  Jim is planning on updating the project page of the blog today sometime, so go to that tab on the top of the page to see what is going on.

Take Care and we will see you next week!

In His Hands,
Jullie T.

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.