Play Day

Yesterday the power went off for a few hours just when Darlene had banana bread in the pan and the oven pre-heated. We left for town and spent the entire day there. We walked in and back (Paul says 7 miles, total), following the well-worn paths of the people who don't have cars -- the *real* main highways. We did shopping and errands, and Darlene had a skirt shortened and taken in by the tailor who made it. Gayle got a few pieces of fabric, one at a regular storefront and two from the "mall"of little shops made of wood. One was so dark that Gayle and Darlene had to carry all the pieces to the light to see what color they were. We had lunch at "Big Bites", which is the only restaurant the Hellers feel safe eating in. Later we had tea at another place. Scott had instant coffee with chicory, and we had the toughest donut ever. They must stir and stir the batter! They would probably think one of our delicate cake donuts (or worse, yeast donuts) would have no substance.

Schedule: we're "off" today, do church tomorrow, work Monday, go to the lake region on Tuesday, be there Wednesday, drive to Lilongwe (the capital) on Thursday and stay at the Baptist Guest House as we did the night we arrived, fly out Friday afternoon, home on Saturday afternoon. So we only have one more regular work-at-the-nursery day.

Nursery work never ends, of course, but it slows down on the weekend. Yesterday was a full one for the nursery. Ann, the nurse who has been the rock of MCN tfor years, took "Adam" back to the police station. It's been no small task to convince them that MCN can't take him in. He's too old, primarily, and he's not an orphan. We learned later that his mother is a prostitute and his father is very young -- to young for this kind of responsibilty. However, the police got the father to agree to take the child to his village and get the grandmother to take care of him. Adam is significantly better than when he arrived almost 2 weeks ago, but still has the hard belly and puffy arms and legs that are typical of protein deficiency. Anna de-wormed the child before he left.

The hospital wanted to discharge the baby with birth defects and Anna got the father to agree to take him home. In the end, yesterday afternoon and evening Augustine drove Anna and the baby (and took his wife of 2 weeks for the change of scenery), plus food and clothes and stuff for the family, and the father, back to the village, a 3.5 hour trip each way.

Today, Victor's family is visiting, in preparation for taking him home with them. He's a cutie and Scott has spent a lot of time with him and with Smart, the two who toddle around everywhere. Smart is probably going to go to Rafiki, soon, as a permanent home. Everyone is really happy about that because there's no guarantee when the babies go to the villages that wife #2 (or whoever) will take good care of them.

Scott has just finished his sermon for worship tomorrow at Mchengewatuwa Presbyterian Church. Gayle is now walking Glory around. Don't you love some of the names? She's having a great time with the babies!