March 29, 2015 - Clark

Sunday, March 29, 2015

I thought I’d document our daily routine which never seems to be routine.  Arise at 6:30, exercise, shower, scriptures, breakfast and prepare for the day to drive to the mission office by 8:00.  Spend half of the day, morning or afternoon with Steve Mutombo, our translator, visiting current projects, partners or potential beneficiaries.  The other half of the day is spent in organizing, planning, calling and documenting what we are working on.  We usually complete our work around 5:30 and return home before 6:00 to go walking with Elder Vaun Mikesell.  We walk for 30-45 minutes while Shelley unwinds and prepares dinner.  We then have dinner and wash dishes until 8:00.  We purchased a French language training program called Fluenz from the Clawsons, which we study until 9:30.  To end the day we usually watch some program to unwind.  Thus far we have tried Master Chef New Zealand, The Amazing Race and most recently, Larkrise to Candleford.  Our video entertainment was provided by the Clawsons, veterans at missionary preparation and service.  We go to bed around 11:00 and begin again the following day.

The evening hours seem quite restrictive because we are not supposed to be out beyond dark.  It turns dark around 6:30-7:00.  For security reasons, almost every residence has a wall around it which is guarded 24/7.  I understand the guards make $4-5 a day.  Most compounds have razor wire atop the compound walls.  In some ways it feels like a self-imposed prison and for someone who is used to being outside working in the yard or flower beds, it begins to close in on you if you dwell on it.  You forget about it after a while but I did want to remember some of these impressions.

Our week was eventful and I’ll provide a thumbnail sketch of all projects except for Operation Smile.  

1. Katimel orphanage and Peage School received their treadle sewing machines.  They were delighted but we’ll have to see if they put them to good use.  Peage has to sew school uniforms and Katimel is working together with Therese from Notre Dame to teach the girls how to sew.
2. Muslim orphanage completed all of their cleaning and painting in preparation for receiving their bunk beds.   We were pleasantly surprised at how much better everything looked with a little elbow grease and some paint.  We should deliver the beds on April 6th.
3. Vision-Dr. Jesse Hunsaker continues to be a dream to work with in preparation for submitting our PDW.  We supplied him the equipment lists and all contact information.  We also visited the Ministry of Health to obtain their consent to provide an exemption from import fees, duties and taxes.  Dr. Eric, who is in charge, is gone for 2 months, so we talked with his replacement, Dr. Oswald.  Things are looking good for this fall to have a vision project.
4. Enoch’s Tabacongo well development-met with members of the Kampemba Health Zone and neighborhood chiefs, worked on developing a memorandum of understanding regarding each parties responsibilities.
5. Water projects-Steve and Sheryl Bailey were scheduled to visit us the first week in April.  They are water specialists who were to review and approve our 3 pending project proposals.  Long story short, they are not coming because they do not have visa clearance.  We’re dependent upon Kenneth Mofokeng once again and are in a continual holding pattern.

Now I’d like to share our most memorable experiences from the week which surrounded Operation Smile.  We have been responsible for providing volunteers for registration, translation, delivery of 3 meals a day, transporting patients to and from surgery and in general becoming an advocate for the patients.  The patients are from  Kamina and Mulongo, which are two villages that speak Tshiluba rather than French or Swahili.

We had a wonderful time just being with the patients and taking pictures and recording them singing and dancing the previous Saturday.  During this past week, all of the surgeries were performed and we felt they would need something to take their minds off their recovery.  We decided on a weaving project requiring looms and yarn and a crocheting project requiring hooks and plastic bags.  It was almost an afterthought but we decided to purchase nail polish and lipstick as well.

It sounds so easy to just go down to Walmart and pick up all of those supplies, but here it was a weeklong procurement process.  The looms had to be constructed from scratch; we contacted the local lumber yard and negotiated for 44 frames and picked them up in 3 days.  The yarn was a challenge.  Whenever they see white people coming, the price can double.  At our first store, the price was 10,000 francs per package and after three additional stops and a visit to the Kenya market, we purchased them for 5,500 francs per package.  We purchased 40 packages.

The finger nail polish and lipstick acquisition was another tender mercy.  We went looking for a few containers because they can cost $3-4 each.  Elder Vaun Mikesell and I frequent a local grocery store where we buy snacks (5-10 bags of potato chips at a time).  The store owner is from Belgium and when we asked him about nail polish, he said, oh I can give you those bottles.  There were only 4 or 5 bottles on display and when I told him what their intended use was, he had his store clerk go in the back room and return with a nail polish bottle and a lipstick for every patient, plus some extras.  He said he wanted to help.  We took some pictures of the activity and can hardly wait to return and show him the happiness his gift brought to the ladies at the hospital.

Steve has had about 8 regular volunteers helping during the week.  They are mostly returned missionaries and two YSA sisters.  The sisters took care of the nails and lipstick, while the RM’s assisted with the looms and weaving.  Steve’s mother and another RS sister also came to assist with the training.  The senior sisters: Anthony, Vance and Draper came to help with the crocheting project.  The patients and their guardians took to the projects like naturals and were having fun in no time.  We spent almost 4 hours with them.  They seemed so pleased and appreciative.  The Operation Smile staff was also relieved that there was an activity to occupy their time with something non-medical.  

We had a moving experience when we entered the hospital ward housing the patients.  The OS doctors came at the same time as our volunteer crew.  The patients had organized a song for us and welcomed us with their singing.  It is somewhat like a chant where everyone knows the chorus but there is a chanter that sings the words between the chorus lines.  The message of the song was translated for us and they said, “we thank you for the food, the clothing, the surgeries and your friendship, before we were outcasts, having lost friends and family; our only friends were the flies”.  It was very moving and not many dry eyes among the visitors.  

Last October, for the closing ceremonies and dinner at Grand Karavia on Saturday night, we invited the local priesthood leaders.  This time we invited Steve’s team members who had provided all of the volunteer work.  For two weeks they have been at the hospital every day except Sunday, with no pay, no transport money, and precious little recognition other than friendships established with each other and the patients.  Of the 8, two received job offers during their service and both attributed their good fortune to their volunteer service.  In a country with 90% unemployment, job offers are not an everyday occurrence.  I know they have been blessed for their service and anyone who visited the patients came away well rewarded for whatever sacrifice was theirs.  Operation Smile has been a highlight experience both times and we look forward to their return for another cleft campaign in July.  

Just a couple of additional random notes.  Likasi District Conference held last weekend had nearly 1,800 members in attendance or 81% of the District registered membership.  Compare that to stake conference at home.  Lindsay and Mike had referred a prospective humanitarian couple to us and representatives from the Southeast Area office called them to visit about Kinshasa, DRCongo and Uganda.  It turns out that they had submitted their mission application form 4 weeks earlier and it was too late in the process to tag them for Africa.  Thanks for the referral, we just need to catch them earlier next time.  President Ferry, I expect to hear from the Brigham City West Stake prospective senior missionary couples.    

Love, Dad (Elder Davis)