All I want is a warm shower...

It's early morning, time for a shower to wake you up, or in the evening, a warm shower to end your day...you walk into your bathroom, turn on the tap, wait about a minute, and then step into that glorious shower to be rejuvenated...or...you live in a part of Africa...and your shower looks a little bit different...

So...my shower takes 10+ steps...and here they are:

1. Fill up hot water heater

 2.  Heat water

 3.  Fill up camp shower 2/3rds full

 4.  Put heated water in camp shower

 5.  Foot pump the camp shower to make it pressurized

 6.  wet down

 7.  Soap up

 8. continuously pump shower throughout shower to maintain pressure as water is released

 

9.  rinse 

 10.  when shower is completed - hang to allow to dry and not accumulate mold

And there you have it - one warm camp shower in Africa :-)  Come visit!!!!

First Week in Africa

We have arrived in Equatorial Guinea, and are trying to settle in.  This entails getting our house set-up including un-packing, cleaning, and purchasing items.  We still have a long way to go, but are trying to figure it all out.  Our cute little 900 square foot house is coming along nicely.

We did experience our first day with no electricity, but we came knowing that was going to be our new norm...so not surprised.

Front Room

Guest Room

Bathroom

Kitchen

Bedroom

Goodbye to the old...Hello to the new

In two days we are leaving the United States to arrive in our new home.  What lies ahead is mostly unknown, unfamiliar, and very unusual.  Our first week or two will be doing nothing but getting settled in our new little house, buying furniture and appliances, going to the market for food, and starting the new life-process of water purification, food bleaching, and showers by way of camp showers.  Bot flies, cobras, black and green mambas, and malaria will be a life adjustment as well.

The life we leave behind also looks very different, at least for me.  I now have no immediate family to return to in California, nor a childhood home.  My mother passed away 4 years ago, and my dad so recently - the house will be sold, and most of my ties on my side of the family are gone...Mike's family still lives in California, we have dear sweet friends that live there, and our home church is there, so California is not gone from our lives, but drastically changed.

Gratefully Madison will be able to join us for the summer, so we are looking forward to showing her what our new lives will look like.

Please pray for our travel, our transition, and our settling into our new lives.

The End is Near

Our time here in the States is coming to an end.  In three weeks we head to Africa, and our new home.  We have had an opportunity to eat foods we won't be eating again for a long time, visit friends and churches that have known us for a long time, and have loved on us well.  We will also be able to spend time with our daughter over Spring Break.

So now is the time to ask for prayers.  We always covet your prayers on a normal basis,  but now we plead with you for focused prayer:

1. Packing - we are having to,  once again,  consolidate what we have and what we can take with us
2. Final time with our daughter, Madison over Spring Break
3. Final church visits
4. Final funds for our one-time expenses including solar panels, water purification systems, mosquito nets,  etc.
5. Saying goodbye well  to friends and family
6. Rest

Bata Airport in  Equatorial Guinea

Thanks for following us on this path, and we are excited to see where the new ministry leads us.

Malaria - the harsh realities

More than you ever wanted to know about malaria:

In Honduras, we know that malaria is a reality, but the actual prevalence was small enough that we didn't really think twice about it.  Going to a new country, we knew that we were going to have to do some research, talk to doctors, and talk to our team mates on the ground to better understand what our new reality is going to be.

A little background - in the 8 years we were in Honduras, not a single person on our team contracted malaria, and given that none of us take medication for malaria prevention, that's saying something.  I never treated anyone at my clinic with malaria.  Again - we know it's a reality, but it's just not that high up on our radar.

Now we are facing a new reality.  To give some comparisons - I've done some research using WHO's (World Health Organization) data - they are the go-to for endemic, epidemic and pandemic problems around the world.  In Honduras, there is a population of 7,960,000.  For the entire country, in 2013, there were 15,000 estimated cases of malaria with less than 10 deaths (1)- so 0.2 % of the population has malaria.  In  contrast, Equatorial Guinea has a population of  821,000.  There were 290,000 cases of malaria, with 440 deaths (2).  That means that 35% of the population in Equatorial Guinea had malaria in 2013.  Malaria is the number 4 cause of death in Equatorial Guinea.

There are many types of malaria, but there are two (primary) types of malaria. The first, and less virulent malaria is caused by P. Vivax.  The second, and leading cause of death, is caused by P. falciparum. P. Vivax is what the majority of malaria cases are in Honduras, and, you guessed it - 100% of the cases in Equatorial Guinea are from P. falciparum.

Around the world, malaria is the most significant parasitic disease of humans, and claims the lives of more children worldwide than any other infectious disease.  In 2015, there were 214 million cases of malaria worldwide. This resulted in an estimated 438,000 deaths, 90% of which occurred in Africa. Severe malaria is usually caused by P. falciparum . Symptoms of falciparum malaria arise 9–30 days after infection. Individuals with cerebral malaria frequently exhibit neurological symptoms including seizures, coma and death. 

The malaria in Honduras is not resistant to chloroquine, the malaria in Equatorial guinea is - so we have to take medications specifically for this type of malaria.

OUR Bottom line - we are using bug spray, all our clothing will be treated with permethrin, we will sleep under mosquito nets treated with permethrin, and taking anti-malaria medication.

YOUR bottom line - COME VISIT - but come prepared!  Talk to your physician about which medication to take, treat all your clothing with permethrin, and use bug spray.

(1) http://www.who.int/malaria/publications/country-profiles/profile_hnd_en.pdf?ua=1
(2) http://www.who.int/malaria/publications/country-profiles/profile_gnq_en.pdf?ua=1

The reality of hard emotions

A woman at one of my mobile clinics (photo by Nathan Clendenin)

(The front of my clinic - El Arbol de la Vida - logo designed and painted by Madison Pettengill)

When we arrived in Honduras, we arrived to an empty airport, no one waiting for us, and no clue what we were going to do, what kind of ministry we were going to start, or what life would look like.  We are now leaving Honduras the same way - headed to the airport by ourselves, leaving quietly and moving toward the new path that God has placed before us.

We have taken time to say good-bye.  In a previous blog I wrote about our time in the village that Madison, Mike and I were able to see so many Hondurans we have known to grow and love over the last 8 years of our lives, but we leave knowing that we will most likely never return. This is heavy...my heart is starting to feel the impact of the reality of what is going to happen...I've been weepy, thinking of how my life has been impacted by the beautiful Honduran people I've come to know, and those who I've treated, the clinics I've put on, and the thousands of children who came through my children's program.

In addition, we had to leave our dogs - who have been an important part of our lives...we are leaving our daughter, Madison, so very far away, and 8 hours time change difference.  We are leaving our parents, who are entering later stages of life...our friends seem like they are so very far away (and they are).  All of these things are pressing deeply on our hearts.

My brother wrote something to me that truly spoke to my heart and speaks volumes to the life we live and will try and replicate in Africa.  He quoted a Greek proverb - "A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in."  I don't know what lives I've touched, I don't know if anyone heard the words I spoke...I don't know if the children I cuddled and gave clothing to and food to will go hungry tonight, or even remember who I am.  But that's not my job...that's not the thing I cling to.  I cling for that shade that I pray they will have...that I've planted the tree, and now leave it to flourish.  I will most likely die and people will not remember who I am, and not know what I've done...but the tree....the tree will be there - and there I pray that the roots are deep, and many shall be able to sit under. 

My clinic in Honduras is called the El Arbol de la Vida - the Tree of Life.  The bible reference for this is from Revelation 22:1-5..1Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, 2in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; 4they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. 5And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever. 

In 18 days Mike and I leave Honduras...for good...I pray the roots have grown deep, the tree is spreading it's branches, and that shade is soothing to the soul.

Why Belgium?

Part of mandatory training for our mission board (MTW) is to attend a month long training of cross-cultural acclimation, language acquisition skills, and navigating a place you've never been to before.  We did our training in New York.  However, MTW has moved all of their training over to Belgium. 

Part of my group

But why am I here?  Good question. I'm here to act as a mentor for new missionaries.  I have 5 people I am mentoring and we meet as a group and individually.  They also have personal journals they submit to me to talk about how they are processing things, and what they are experiencing.  In addition, they submit three different cultural analysis papers.  These papers give them structured ways of looking at a culture and making observations about it.

During the week there are practical lessons about team dynamics, language acquisition, etc. And then on the weekend there are some churches that have activities that they are involved in.  This is a great way to get to know a community, a church body, and figure out ways to figure things out!

It's my first time to Belgium and I'm really enjoying the mentoring aspects and training aspects of being here.  In addition, we have the opportunity to see some of Belgium on the weekends in our "free time."