Day 8 – 4 July 2017

Happy 4th of July everyone! I can’t remember the last time I was in the States for the 4th.

Today we headed back to the village early…day 2 of the dental clinic and the first day of the medical outreach. When we arrived the children and their parent/guardians were all lined up ready to be seen. The teams arrived and quickly set up and they were off. The dental clinic will see 50 children today and the medical team will see around 70.

In the medical outreach, the children will be assessed and tested for malaria, typhoid and HIV three of the main illnesses here. They will be consoled and given treatments, and if necessary referred to a clinic. The main thing the team found today was many children with malaria, and while that sounds severe to people in the US, it is completely treatable for about $6USD.

I headed down to the community resource center to see how construction was going, and maybe to stop and play with the kids on the playground for a bit. When I walked up I just stood and watched for a minute…there was a group of ladies preparing porridge for breakfast for the workers, the girls were helping to mix cement and clear the construction mess from the area and the boys were helping plaster walls, haul wheel barrels full of cement or whatever else was needed. The men were busy working on the exterior walls, and another group were inside leveling the floor and finishing the interior walls…but what I saw when I looked at it was a community coming together…all ages, boys, and girls…to make this building possible.

Throughout the day I would venture down to the center just to check on things, or I would help our social worker do projects with the children, or check on the dental and medical teams. Making sure everyone had water, and whatever else they needed.

We are so incredibly blessed to have an amazing social worker, Eunice. I love watching her with the children or their families. She has such a love for the people of Musima and it shows in how she treats them. Without a good social worker, we wouldn’t be able to have good programs.

Most of the day I was followed by my boys Agrey, Noah, Diogo and some others. And they absolutely lit up when I brought out a football (soccer ball) that we brought for them. I was going to play with them…but didn’t want to show the boys up!

I walked by the tent and found one of our older girls Caroline who had just graduated from a vocational program on hair dressing do someone’s hair. I loved watching her, she is so happy and proud of her trade. Now she has a skill that she can use to earn money and provide for herself.

We had just sat down for lunch at the end of the day when a big storm came through and I mean a big storm. Everyone took cover we sat and listened to the sound of the rain hitting the tin roof and before we knew it most of us fell asleep for a nap until the rain stopped.

After the rain it was time to pack up and head back to town…everyone was slipping and sliding in the mud and the dirt roads were a mess but thanks to our driver extraordinaire Job we made it back safely.

Tomorrow is back to the village for another day of dental and medical…and I think we are going to be able to start painting the center.

So for now…Mweraba!