A few brief updates

Francois is a boy that attends the Sheltering Wings School here in Yako. Last Thursday he fell from a tree and fractured his femur. His mother brought him to the hospital in Yako where they determined it was broken and prescribed painkillers and antibiotics, and told him he would need to go to Ouahigouya for an X-ray as Yako does not have an X-ray machine. His mother couldn’t afford to bring him to Ouahigouya and so she sent him to a nearby village for traditional treatment.

I tagged along with Ruth and Innocent (the director of the school) for a visit to his house on Sunday. We had thought we would still be at the village but sometime Saturday or Sunday they brought him back from the village and to his home in Yako. He was laying inside on a mattress on the ground, and when we arrived his mother helped him sit up. His leg was braced with a stick and wrapped in heavy fabric. I could see that his in injured leg was very, very swollen. His arm was also swollen and his mother said the healer had been doing something to that as well, although it wasn’t wrapped or braced. Beside his leg on the mattress were cement blocks, they told us the blocks were to keep his leg from moving.Since the traditional healers can only do their best to put the bones in place and keep them there the children receiving treatment run the risk of their bones healing misaligned. Ruth has seen children crippled because of this. As of now Innocent believes things are going well for Francois’s healing but Ruth has asked Innocent to check on Francois again after his next treatment from the traditional healer, to ensure he is still comfortable with the level of care he is receiving. Should he not be SW would help Francois by taking him to the hospital for the Xrays (while still respecting the family culturally of course as they chose the means of traditional healing.)

A couple short stories:
The other night Liz and I went out to bring coffee to the night guard and do our tour of the courtyard before going to bed. We checked particularily on the primary school boys room because one of our boys has taken to sleeping outside in funny places. I understand his desire- it is HOT inside and so much nicer outside, however family rules are everyone sleeps in their own rooms (with so many children and girls and boys in the same courtyard the rule is a no brainer really). We observed he was not in his room and so set out to look for him. We started with where he’s been before: under the hangar, on benches around the courtyard, near the clinic and he was nowhere to be found! Then we were walking back towards the kitchen and I saw something. I motioned to Liz and she went “No!” I nodded. Once I got closer I couldn’t contain my laughter. He had pulled a mat up on top of the monkey bars and was sleeping up there! I had to reach up to poke him awake. He seemed surprised to be awakened but agreed to go sleep inside. What a kid! Sleeping on the monkey bars...

Thursday we had our first rain storm. By rain storm I don’t mean drizzle I mean downpour! At the time the rain started I was at the house with Therese, Ferdinand and Osseus. They stayed at the house until the rain ended, mostly I think because people just don’t want to go out in the rain! Therese and I went out for a couple minutes, because I was so excited for the relief from the heat but quickly we were wet and cold and wanted to run back inside. They helped me run around and shut windows. But we had no power so I tracked down a lantern and the three kids snuggled on the couch in blankets (I wasn’t that cold!). We did shadow puppets on the wall for a little while and then I pulled out cars and barbies for them to play with in the dark. Because of the noise of the rain on the roof we couldn’t talk to each other, but hey it was a fun rain shower! Friday the termites came out!(apparently they come out the night after the rain) These are not wood termites but another variety. There were hundreds of them clustered around each light and filling the pathways! They got through the front door and every few minutes we’d kill 5 or 10 until we managed to get it closed enough that weren’t coming in... And then as suddenly as they appeared they died.

Here’s a picture of Joseph and I taken fairly recently. He’s taken to shushing me if I ask him questions or to talk- not because he doesn’t want to talk but because he thinks going “SHH!” with his finger to his lips is hilarious.

Trust

I knew coming to Burkina Faso I would face experiences that would affect me in ways I can’t quite explain; experiences that simply aren’t done justice by my words or explanations. Simply put i'm at a loss for how to put things a lot of the time...

In a recent blog entry I asked you to pray for three babies. Salif returned back to the orphanage on April 29. He is healthy and looking very happy. Jules returned home just last night. I haven`t heard his official weight but I can tell you his cheeks look a little chubby. Pray for his health as he needs to continue to gain and keep on weight. He is now a year old.

Rosaline passed away April 30. She came to us very small and had been recieving treatment at the orphanage for a week or so before we sent her to the hospitall. She then spent three weeks at the hospital in Ouahigouya before the sickness became too much for her little body.

One of our staff members gave Liz and me the news. After speaking with him I returned to the house. I took some time to let myself cry. I prayed a simple prayer and in a moment of silence I had a profound sense of peace because I felt the lord say ``She is home with me”. I am not saying I don`t feel sadness about her death but I feel peace. For a reason unbeknownst to me God called Rosaline home to Him. I will probably never understand why He called her home, but God has not asked me to understand His reasons he has only asked me to trust in Him.

The day after her death Rosaline`s father and 2 uncles came to visit us at the orphanage. (Rosaline had been placed with us temporarily after her mother’s death and would have returned home once she was a year old.)The father and uncles live in a village 35km away from Yako. They rode their bikes in 45degree heat to the orphanage. The purpose of the visit was for them to give us their condolences and thank us for what we had done for their child. I can`t tell how the gentleness of their action struck a chord in my heart.

I had been praying through some of the prayers written by Lancelot Andrews through the month of April. I went back to this one that day and I have gone back and prayed through it several times since. Remember the Lonely:

Remember, Lord, all the infants, the children, the youth, the middle-aged and the elderly who are hungry, sick, thirsty, naked, captive or friendless in this world. Be with those who are tempted with suicide, who are sick in soul, who are in despair. Remember those who are in prison, all those who are under sentence of death. Remember the widows and the widowers, the orphans and those who travel in a foreign land. Remember all those who this day will work under oppressive conditions. Remember the lonely.

Gros Poisson and other brief updates...

Back home on April 1st it is April Fools day. If I am truly honest I will admit I missed this tradition (although only a little bit!) on the 1st of April. That day I didn’t see any pranks or hear anything about April Fools. I suppose I missed the comfort of knowing it was there. Little did I know... Here the whole month of April is April Fools. In French it is termed Poisson d’Avril (literally translated Fish of April) and when someone pulls one they say “Gros poisson!” (big fish). So the fact that I didn’t hear anything about it on the first didn’t mean that by the second and third I wasn’t still hearing things.. The kids would come and tell me someone was waiting for me at the office, or there was a phone call for me but when I would arrive there would be no one. Silly things but the singsong of Poisson d’Avril sang through the air every time I made the mistake of trusting them! April 30 is the last day for pranks and so Liz and I planned our “revenge” for that night. We invited all the kids for a movie night to the house. Adiara even went out and told kids it was mandatory: she woke one up, and made one stop washing laundry to come for the movie! Once they were all here (okay we had 22 of 28 but that’s pretty good! It’s hard to get all our kids in one place!) we suggested we could explain to them what the movie was about. I started off by telling them the movie was about something they (the kids) all liked a lot. In fact it is something they do a lot. Someone interrupted me but one of our Abrahams (we have 3 Abrahams. This one is our oldest.) stopped them and told me to continue. I elaborated only a little bit more and then Liz pulled a drawing we’d done of a fish and taped it to the TV. She said “it’s kind of like this.” The kids gave her a blank stare “what do you call this?” she said “un poisson” they all said. And then all of a sudden a look of shock came across their faces as everyone went “un poisson?!” I said. “could you even say un gros poisson?” the room errutped with laughter. Abraham put his head in his hands, several of the kids were jumping up and laughing... It was quite the commotion.
But because the next day was a day off school, and it was May we showed a movie that day. This month is MainauDos (hand on back). Anytime sometime catches you not walking with your hand on your back they have free reign to slap you on the back. It’s not so bad though because often kids don’t do it, or you can figure out they’re planning to hit you before they do and get your hand on your back quick.




Saturday morning we welcomed Ruth back to the orphanage! Sunday morning Liz and I did a pancake breakfast for all the kids and as a welcome home Ruth breakfast. Liz and I made 65+ pancakes, homemade syrup and served pancakes with peanut butter and jam. It was so much fun. I think the kids finished off everything! We brought pancakes over to the babies and tantines and everyone seemed to enjoy them.

Below: two of our primary school aged boys waiting for their pancakes

The school year is coming to an end and our students face challenging exams. For our students in 3ieme(equivalent to 10th grade) and terminal (final year of school, like grade twelve) their final exams are a pass/fail exam. If they pass the exam they will pass the course if not they must repeat the grade. This is a very stressful time of year for them. Pray for them as they prepare for these exams.
While Ruth was back in the States many exciting things were put in motion for the orphanage. God made it very clear he is not done in Burkina Faso and he has lots going on here. Praise for the exciting things God is doing.

Just in case you aren't tired of my pictures yet!

Just a few more pictures from Djibo! Be sure to check out my two previous posts from today: A New Child Available for Sponsorship and Ya Souma

I've tried to split up the pictures by category like I described them in my post about Djibo so hopefully you'll have some idea what you're looking at!

The Touareg Village:

Just a sweet little boy at the village. Behind him is a baby camel waiting for mama to come back (I assume from the well).

Below: A shot at the well. One man would toss the bucket and guide the rope while the other rode the camel to pull the water up.

Above: Rice and Sauce at the Touareg village. Note the special spoons!


The Fulani Village:


A little Fulani boy. The french word for Fulani is Peul just for interests sake.

That's me! At the Fulani well. Below is a much better snapshot of the Fulani well you can see them getting a bucket of water, and the yellow container is an old oil can they have cut open to use as a trough.

Above: Niery (Fulani To) and Sauce. The Niery is on the left and the sauce is on the right. Niery is made from millet.
Below: Bouille (liquidy, sugary cream of wheat like stuff). You drink the bouille from those spoons. It is made from millet.

This is where we slept in Djibo:

The Djibo barrage:
What is fascinating about the barrage is Djibo (the desert!) has water, and Yako's barrage is dry. I thought it was interesting and wuite beautiful. It was almost like sitting beside a lake...

Below: The woman in this picture walked through the barrage with baby tied to her back. Once she was on our side of the barrage she stopped to take baby off and wash her feet.

This little boy and his friends came up to us while we were sitting by the barrage and sat down too. They just smiled and were happy to sit near us.

New Child Available for Sponsorship

I've posted a little bit of information about our sponsorship program previously and there is always information available on the Sheltering Wings website:
http://www.sheltering-wings.org/

As sponsor commits to 25$(American) a month which contirbutes to school feees, food, clothes and other necessary items throughout the year. Sponsored children within Yako proper (like Madina) also attend weekly meetings at a local church. They will often write letters and you will be given the opportunity to write back; the orphanage takes care of translation from english to french.





Ouédrago, Madina
Summary of need- Madina was born December 20, 1992. She lives in Sector 2 of Yako, Burkina Faso. Madina’s father died in 2003. Madina is the youngest of 5 children. She has three older sisters and one older brother- none of which are married. Madina lives with her mother and two of her sisters.
Madina’s mother sells vegetables and peanuts for a small amount of money each day for the family but it is hardly sufficient to support the whole family. The home that the family of four inhabits is a mud-brick, one room house. It is probably no bigger than 10 feet by 10 feet. There is no electricity or running water and she has to walk to a nearby community water pump to fetch water for the family.
Madina attends the school Communale in Yako and is in Sixieme (comparable to 7th grade). She lives a distance from the school and walks back and forth each day. At this time, Madina is in good health.