Christmas Wishes

 'Tis the season, 

The season of harmattan (when dust from the Sahara Desert is blown high into the air and south to us, bringing continual overcast, dusty air.  It gives a lovely glow of slightly golden fog.).  The season of higher temperatures but much lower humidity.  The season of dry, cracking feet, especially the heels!  The season of Christmas, Togo style.

There are a few lights on houses around the compound.  There are a few trees decorated.  There are a few houses playing Christmas music.  A couple of weeks before the big day, our Christmas decorations are still tucked in a single small plastic tub.  Well, we didn't actually pack Christmas decorations, so these were provided by the Guest House for us to use.  But it just doesn't feel like Christmas.  No one has shoveled the driveway (a few yards of concrete, perhaps).  There is no snow.  The village and nearby town show little to nothing in the way of decorations.  There is no bustling or frantic shopping.  Not a lot of extra baking and anticipation of family visits.  It's just not the same as home.

We're not posting this to make anyone feel sorry for us.  We are quite content to be here at this time of year.  We have a great team to spend time with.  We sing carols at our Sunday night church gathering.  We celebrate the Advent, the birth and anticipation of the second coming of Jesus Christ.  We don't have to endure the commercialization of an important celebration.  We don't have expectations to try to live up to.  Too bad you can't join us!

North, but not to the Pole

We were able to put together a visit to family in Mango, in the north of Togo at the Hospital Of Hope, appointments with a visiting dentist from the States, installing kitchen cupboard doors, training on some new respiratory machines and meetings with team members all in three days.

We were able to bid farewell to Baby Leah, a sweet little thing who was fostered by my sister's family and another family while waiting for the red tape of government to permit her to be taken home to be with her new family, a lovely Togolese couple.  What a happy end to a long couple of months of life with an extremely small and unwanted newborn, who was loved and cared for, nourished and nurtured.

Christine and an uncertain (about the 
new lady holding her) baby Leah

The herd walking out of the hospital
compound in search of pastures

Christmas shopping at 'the mall' with Kokou, 
Betty and Kossi

Water and Air

Our work has allowed us to cross paths a few times.  Christine is a distraction but other than that it is fine!  We worked on a gas machine in the OR one day.  She provided the knowledge and he provided the tools and brawn.  It was a good combination!

Old and breaking down, these machines
need plenty of TLC.

With a new boiler and two autoclaves to be installed in the new year, to improve our sterilization capacity, we had to add an aerator to our water system to bring our pH level up.  This was a lot of work.  There were pipes to plumb in, bigger & heavier pipes to stack up to make a tower, a pump to install, and more than a few valves to figure out.  John (who was working, not taking pictures) made it all come together! 

One more pipe section to add, then 
the fan on top.
Photo credit: Paton Kendall

 

An almost birds eye view of the exterior
portion of the aerator system

 

Best Dressed Young Men

Four of the older teenaged boys thought it would be fun to get some very fancy shirts made from some very shiny fabric.  They planned to wear them on the same Sunday evening to our missionary church service.  They garnered enough attention to be all called to the front to lead in the singing of one of the songs.  I recorded video, but I will save you all, faithful readers, the pain of hearing them sing.

Look at them, dashing young men!

(American) Thanksgiving Leftovers

A few photos, some with stories, some without.

People often comment about the driving, the roads and the vehicles we see here.  Coming back from the capital city of Lome, on the second busiest highway in the country, we have road construction.  But here, the lanes are not marked, detours are ambiguous, and the bigger vehicle typically claims the right-of-way.

We were driving up behind this dozer when it just lowered the scrafer teeth and started tearing up the road in front of us.  There was no indication that construction was happening on this particular section of the highway - other than this large bulldozer destroying the road right in front of us!

Oh look, a smaller overloaded vehicle behind a larger overloaded vehicle.  Nothing to see here!

The last of the clouds for a few months!

Anything for coffee!  Dr. Russ was late in grabbing a cup of coffee after our American Thanksgiving dinner.  He couldn't find any cups so he just filled the empty creamer and used that.  He would not be denied his fix!

Tracks in the dirt from a beetle

This is our home.

How was your day?  Did you have to carry wood home
to make a fire to cook supper?  As a 4-year-old?  Or, with
a baby on your back?  

Sunset photography near the port of Lome

A harmattan sunset over the mountains, looking over
the wall to a very small village behind the hospital.

Thanks for reading.  If you've made it this for you can probably handle one more.  This was sent to Christine from a fellow missionary working four or five hours north of us.  A new restaurant opened in her city, catering to those who like to eat... well, read for yourself.

Photo credit: Jane Schmitz

Merry Christmas

Wishing all of you, our faithful supporters, our friends, our family, our church members and those hangers-on, a very Merry Christmas.  Take time to consider the true meaning of the season.  Ponder that first Christmas where, in a frosty Bethlehem, tucked into a little stable, the Saviour was born.

Enjoy time with friends and family.  Embrace the snow and cold.  Be generous to those in need.  

If you'd like to contact us on email: penny.missions@gmail.com

You can follow on Instagram at  5cent_mission

Facebook, too...sometimes  5 Cent Mission

Views For Miles

With so much going on around the hospital and on the compound it's hard to condense things sometimes.  I want to tell stories about the work we're doing, enjoying seeing our part of the country, frustrations we get to celebrate - and how God helps us through so many more aspects of living in Togo.

I tried to sneak this little guy into 
the pocket of one of our workers. 
He didn't go for it.

Carte de Sejour

One of the joys for Canadians wishing to extend our visas into residence permits is a fun 'scavenger hunt' called Carte de Sejour.  It's basically a game of gathering documents, stickers, stamps and signatures to compile and finally submit to the government department in charge of well, permitting Canadians to extend our visas.

My sister (who is in the north of Togo at another mission hospital) has a great story about one experience she had which highlights the red tape and bureaucracy, and silliness at times, of applying for the Carte de Sejour.  You can read about her experience here:  Please God, Not Africa  

We are currently going through this same scavenger hunt.  We have been asked for documents no one else has been asked for, been told some of the other documents are unnecessary (only to be called back and asked for said documents as they were most definitely required).

Buying stamps at the local government
office, indicating we have paid 
another fee.

A good sign, the stamps match!

Waiting in the taxation office...

This is why she's waiting - YouTube is more
important.

Christine has been working through this very diligently and has been reveling in the fact that it is nearing the end.  At the local taxation office she had the joy of being 'assisted' by four staff, two of whom were content to watch videos on their phones while sharing a desk.  I was able to sneak a photo of them, not that they would have noticed or cared if I set up a tripod and snapped dozens of pictures!

A Day's Work

Okay, not a single day, but a quick glimpse into what the maintenance side of things looks like.

- Greet the guys at the shop at the start of the day, at 7am, and get them pointed in the right direction for the day's work.

- Go to the hospital and turn on the boiler, which I've nicknamed 'Old Faithful'.  Check in and see that the oxygen concentrator is working as it should.

- Head back to the shop and grab some tools and equipment and head out to the first task on my list.

John and Mawuli working on the grader

Ingenious?  Need to drill a pilot hole
for a nail?  Use a nail.  (I bought more drill
bits for the carpenters after seeing that.)

Cutting keys for a new lock

Broken wheel studs on a hospital vehicle

How many guys can we cram into
one tiny washroom?

A short story:  While digging a trench to replace an
electrical cable going to a house, one of the guys hit 
a septic line with a pick axe.  That septic line may
or may not have been on the map. 
That created a whole lot more work.

- Get distracted by someone who has another item to add to the list.

- Work until it's time for lunch.

After lunch it is more of the same until the crew leaves around 3:30pm.  After that I have some time to myself to finish up projects and jobs without distraction.  Home time is around 5:00pm, when it's time for a shower and rest before sitting down to supper.

Restrictions Being Eased

There were restrictions in place over the last month due to coronavirus.  Churches, bars and nightclubs, and other gathering places were shut down.  With the easing of these restrictions many people are hopeful this will be the end.  One local church in the village of Goudeve (pronounced Goo de Vay) is celebrating by opening a new building.  It's not much, by our standards.  It is theirs, however.  They wanted to add a touch of 'new' to the little platform, so our carpenters were making a new podium for them.

The new church building

The first Sunday inside.

                                        (Photos of the church courtesy of John and Tabitha Groeneveld)

Left-over Pictures To Share

These big, nasty bugs are noisy.  A high-pitched
buzz or squeal comes from them vibrating 
their wings.  They like to vibrate late at night, when all
decent critters should be sleeping!

Moto rides and views.  We get to see some beautiful 
countryside!

Not Australia, not Uluru - but a pretty sweet rock formation
none the less.  So we rode up it!

The view from on top.  Look at the scenery...

It seems to be a regular segment where I share pictures of the vehicles on the roads.  This month is no different.  First up, a passenger on a moto-taxi loaded with rolls of conduit, a level and trowels in a bag, a folded up mat, a long piece of wood.  He's just leaving a hardware store.

There is a guy inside those rolls of conduit!

Bed, Bath and Beyond - your order has shipped.

And finally, a taxi doubling as a hearse, outside the
hospital morgue.  A stark reminder of the reality of death
and our need for salvation.

A strenuous 2-hour hike can offer views like this!  Imagine climbing 150 flights of stairs...

On the left, tumble to your death.  On the right, the 
more direct route.  But the view, oh, it's totally worth it! 

Wli Falls, claimed to be the highest in West Africa at 80m / 260ft,
straddles the border of Ghana and Togo.

Thanks for taking the time to read through all of this.

If you'd like to contact us on email: penny.missions@gmail.com

You can follow on Instagram at  5cent_mission

Facebook, too.  5 Cent Mission

Settling Into Life In Southern Togo

Shopping at a fruit and veggie stand in Lome

We arrived in Togo almost a month ago.  In that time we have begun settling into our roles here and have been introduced to new teammates and have greeted old ones.  Our boys have begun cultivating relationships with new and old friends.  We're blessed to have so many kids here!  

Testing out some new equipment

Enjoying a break from the heat in the pool

Stripping protective shipping film from the roof
of the Land Cruiser we are fortunate to be able
to use.

We have been regaining what bit of French language we had and have been trying to expand on it.  Our Togolese friends and co-workers are so gracious as I'm sure we make so many blunders they can't correct them all!  I'm sure they go home at the end of the day and tell stories of how we messed up again today.

VBS at Patatoukou

Pa-ta-too-koo... kind of rolls off the tongue - once you get the hang of it.  The junior high and high schoolers held a one day Bible school at a tiny local church.   About 60 kids were counted in attendance, but that number grew throughout the morning.  There were songs, games and a Bible story taught by a local lady, so the kids could fully understand.  The little bamboo-walled, tin-roofed church is one that was established in the community because of the services provided by the hospital.

This is the church building.

Kids enjoying lunch at the end of the session

In the Hospital

Sadly, the OB wing has been closed because of a lack of medical staff (OB doctors, midwives, etc.) for the time being.  We are praying that staff will come out so we can open this important part of the hospital.  It is now acting as the isolated, Covid-positive patient wing.  Definitely not as much fun as the new baby ward!

The lights are out in the OB wing...

Repairing one of the OR gas machines with John K. 
(Technically, it's a NarkoMed anaesthesia
gas delivery machine, from around 1986 or so, for
those keeping track at home.)

So - a fun story...  A couple of years ago, a short-term doctor working here had an endoscope break while she was using it.  After trying to fix it here, her husband (also a doctor, but still back in Hong Kong at this point) was able to assist by contacting the very man who developed this particular scope.  The man was able to source a replacement cable - from the museum the scope was in - in exchange for our broken cable.  This allowed us to keep using the scope and keep his museum piece intact!  Here's a picture of the museum piece we are still using here at HBB!

Infected breast cancer patient, after surgery

Thirty-three week premature infant 
on a CPAP machine.

And, the Leftovers

A few leftover photos and stories to give you a glimpse into life here in southern Togo.

Ice Cream!!

Who would have expected Dairy Queen soft serve ice cream in Tsiko, Togo???  An Ebay auction win of $202.50 and a container ride is all it took.  Now we have monthly ice cream Saturdays!  Check out the smiles on the givers and receiver!

Tracking down a leak in the concrete 
wall in a guest house room.

Making some repairs and giving a 
quick tune up to a prosthetic leg!

Someone celebrated a birthday just a few days
past.  Sharing a photo with a couple of cute kids!

An old friend stopped by for a
visit.  Kong quickly found her favourite
person!

Thanks for reading.  

If you'd like to contact us you can track us down on email at penny.missions@gmail.com

You can follow on Instagram at 5cent_mission

Facebook, too.  5 Cent Mission