July 5, 2015 - Clark

Sunday, July 05, 2015

I have reflected on my feelings of patriotism this past week.  I’m sure having a father who served in WWII contributed to my strong feelings of patriotism, but I suspect my membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints may be the most compelling reason.  I don’t understand the grand plan but I recognize what an amazing blessing it has been to me to have been born in America.  I believe in my youth I was taught to respect the flag, honor the military and place in high esteem public officials.  I always enjoyed my association with the BSA both as a young man and as a scouting leader.  It wasn’t until my mission to Germany as a youth that I had traveled outside the United States.  

While inn Germany, we had to register with the government every time we changed residences.  It felt like big brother was always watching.  The Berlin Wall and the fence and mine fields that divided West and East Germany were a way of life that I felt may never change during my lifetime.  Returning home after two years I flew into New York and saw the Statute of Liberty from the window of the aircraft.  That picture was burned into my mind as my eyes swelled with tears of gratitude; I’ve never forgotten it.  

Emily sent us a picture of the Tabernacle Choir singing at West Point yesterday and it was breath taking.  The memories of Matt’s time at the Air Force Academy came flooding back.  Our family has a better perspective of the sacrifice of those who attend and serve because of Matt’s experience.  We honor him and his family on the 4th as well.   Whether at a football game fly over or seeing the cadets’ parade marches it was an awe inspiring experience for one who didn’t have to endure their torturous demands that were both physical and mental.   

I know we can’t pick the day we would depart this life, but two of my top choices would be April 6th and July 4th.   It seemed so fitting for my mother to die on April 6th and Lester Gray, Shelley’s mother second husband died on July 4th.  Probably enough rambling about the 4th of July.  I’m proud to be an American and it’s a holiday I love.

However, celebrating holidays such as the 4th of July can be a trail while away from home.  Five of the ten senior missionaries are from Canada and the other five are from the USA.  June 30th is the Congo’s Independence Day and Canada Day is July 1st, so we decided to have an Independence Day activity of sorts by having dinner with the other seniors  just last night.   For relaxation, we watched Dave, one of Shelley’s favorite movies.

Time is an interesting thing regardless of the phase of life one is in.  On our mission, during the first few months, it almost felt like a lifetime sentence and missing the conveniences of home had me counting down the months and the days, but now that we are approaching the stretch run, it seems like we just do not have enough time.  We spoke with our daughter Monica this past week and I told her we were counting down the day and her response was you’re making every day count.  With that backdrop let me tell you about our week.  

As humanitarian missionaries, the guidelines are that the area office in Johannesburg will not approve any additional projects during the last three months of your mission.  The three-month mark is July 18th, so we have been working hard to submit project for the area approval before our drop-dead date.  They do this so that you can finish the projects before returning home.  Here is a brief description of the projects we have tried to develop to the point where they can be submitted.  There are lots of financial and guideline limitations but I won’t bore you with all the details; I’ll just describe the nature of the potential projects we’re working on:

1. Kisanga General Hospital-has 150 employees, 95 beds, delivers about 1200 babies a year and performs 350 surgeries.  They have running water only in the morning with no clean water for afternoon, evening and nighttime.  We are having Serge, an engineer from Regideso help with the design we are submitting a water storage proposal.  The idea is to have 15,000 of water storage that can be saved from the morning hours in storage tanks that can be drawn upon during the rest of their 24-hour day.
2. Kisanga General Hospital is one of 12 reference hospitals in Lubumbashi.  They service a population of 233,000 and receive referrals from 80 smaller health centers.  There are probably about 30,000 babies born in this hospital district in these smaller health centers every year.  They have one ultrasound machine that is 9 years old for a population of 233,000.  We are recommending the acquisition of a new ultrasound machine.
3. Katanga province Polio Campaign-we have helped with a Province campaign but they have asked us for additional help in going to some more remote areas of the province called Kalemie and Kabondo.  These have been war torn areas which have not had access to the vaccine.  The population of these two areas combined is 4.7 million people with over 900,000 children under the age of 5.  We have submitted a request to assist with advertising, transportation and distribution of the vaccine supplies to these areas that are over 700 kilometers from Lubumbashi.  
4. Adult literacy program for women.  The chief of Kisanga quarter is conducting a literacy program for 600 women.  They are using an elementary school three afternoons a week (MWF).  They are trying to teach the women to read, speak and write French which is the national language.  Almost all speak Swahili but these women for the most part do not read or write.  We are requesting school supplies for these 600 women.
5. Maturation project-Shelley has been haunted by this program since we arrived.  It is the implementation of “Days for Girls” locally.  The problem is most of the recommended materials are not available locally and Shelley lost her translator when Sister Riendeau went home.  Well, Shelley now has a recently returned Congolese sister missionary who served in London who can serve as her translator and she has decided although materials are not locally available, she will use the best of what is available and proceed in training the 3 relief society presidencies and around 100 sisters in the preparation of these kits.  We just received approval of this project this week.
6. Another long shot is a washed out bridge that needs to be replaced.  We have made friends with the Commune Annexe burgermeister and we are working with him to conduct a feasibility study to determine the sizing and specifications for replacing a bridge that was washed out by the river.  

Although this may sound a little overwhelming, I have certainly been happy I wasn’t the mission president this week.  He had to send 2 sister missionaries and 2 Elders home early.  Emily and Scott have been on the Atlantic Coast tour with the Tabernacle Choir this past week and we have loved living vicariously through their experiences.  They have visited Washington D.C., New York and finish in Boston tomorrow.  We can hardly wait to see all of their pictures and hear the stories from them in person.  We miss you all but in Monica’s words, we’re trying to make every day count (while we’re counting down the days)

Love, Dad (Elder Davis)