A Quiet Week?

It's been a relatively quiet week here in Tsiko.  Still, that doesn't mean that there has been nothing of interest going on.

Jasper and Keenan watching bugs under a glass.  My money is
on the big, nasty stink ants!

Walkin' In The Rain 

We walked to the Tsiko church on Sunday morning.  It takes about 20 minutes to get there from our door to the church.  Add a few minutes more when you need umbrellas in a good solid downpour!  We were drenched by the time we got there.  Rain coats, umbrellas... it didn't matter.  We were so wet that we were leaving puddles beneath our seats where it was dripping off our clothes! 

Keenan's silent, solitary protest march

Sharing the misery.

And can you remember this feeling??  The itching and chafing as clothes, once soaking wet, begin to dry while on your body.  Yeah, that was a great feeling to endure during the service!  

We seem to end up sitting in the front rows every week.   We were finally told that it's because we show up late every week!  The sign on the church says 9:30AM.  We've been showing up at 9:20 or so every week.  Well, as it turns out they have been starting at 9AM for a while now and we didn't know.  Oops!  So glad we discovered our mistake.  We'll maybe get a seat a bit further back next Sunday.

During the sermon last week, Logan was pulled up out of his seat by the pastor.  (Part of the risk of sitting in the front row!)  He stood quietly beside the pastor for a moment and then received a big embrace – which he of course returned.  He's not shy!  But then he was pushed away quickly.  The pastor was explaining that when the rapture comes, even those holding tight to you won't be able to keep you from being taken away – if you're a Christ follower.  Logan was returned to his seat, but the point was made.  You don't want to be left behind! 

Pastor Jeremie and Logan

Take Your Kids To Work

Christine has been identifying and inventorying broken equipment and also purging obsolete equipment.  There is a bio-med technician coming in a week or two so the hospital wants to have him repair as much stuff as possible.  He needs to have a list of what pieces and parts to bring to our hospital from the States so we can get this equipment up and running again. 

Add to that, she's had a couple of babies who have benefited from CPAP treatment, as well as two different adults on the BiPAP machines that we brought over with us.  She also performed some pulmonary hygiene, which basically means sucking out mucous from the lungs.  It's gross, but helps the patients immensely.  She spent time teaching some of the doctors and nurses about the benefits of deep suctioning and how some of the machines worked.

Monthly code cart inspection?  Check!

Keenan was actually able to go into the hospital one evening and watch Christine do the suctioning.  He had lots of questions – about lots of different things in the hospital.  Any of you who know Keenan can imagine how fast his mind was going trying to process all of what he was seeing - and his lips were also moving equally fast!  Christine said he wasn't taken back by anything he saw there, both the interesting stuff and the gross stuff.  (He doesn't care for the looks of bed sores, he stated.)  Now it's a toss up between following dad to the shop, mostly to chase lizards - or follow mom to the hospital in hopes of seeing a C-section!

Work for me involved a couple of oil changes, installing new screens in windows, replacing two shower faucets,  fixing a faulty autoclave valve, building a bunk bed (the same one Jack Weston jumped off into the ceiling fan) and other odd jobs.  The list isn't getting any shorter.  Anyone want to come help??  Please!  Anyone?

Flying Snack Food

We have had a large number of termites flying around our porch lights over the last couple of nights.  It seems to be something about the time of year.  They fly, lose their wings then go somewhere that I haven't quite figured out yet, maybe the termite mounds?  Some get confused and stay in groups of dozens or hundreds on the ground.  (Some of you know where this is going...)

Agbese (pronounced Og-beh-say) and a couple of other guys in the maintenance / landscape department (probably Kossi, Kossi and Kossi...) gathered up a bunch of termites one morning and around 9am they called me over to the back of the wood shop.  They had fried them up and were snacking on them, taking handfuls like they were popcorn.  

To fit in, I grabbed a few in my fingers and popped them into my mouth like I'd done it all my life!  The taste – kind of like slightly overcooked or burnt seeds with a bit of a hard exterior but a softer middle.  They weren't bad, but the legs did tend to stick in my teeth or in the back of my throat.  A quick drink of water fixed that, well that - and the odd leg spit out for a few minutes afterwards.  After I popped a few more into my mouth I went home and grabbed the boys so they could see this.  And of course, they were game to try termites!  These are the same boys who were too scared to try the Flower Power rose-flavoured juice last week! 

We have popcorn, some Togolese prefer termites.

No rave reviews, but they did try more than one handful.  Logan posed for a picture before this one disappeared!

John Teusink had a great quote.  He said that a person in their first term, when a bug lands in their food they throw it out, bug and all.  In the second term, they pick out the bug and just continue eating.  In the third term they don't bat an eye and eat the bug along with the meal.  In the fourth term, they forget the meal and go looking for more bugs to eat!

Young Boys As Missionaries 

The boys had an explosion of kids at their Pre-School this week.  Normally there are 4 kids, but this week there were 11 kids!  Some Mennonite missionaries from a couple of hours away were staying on the grounds and at the hospital getting some immunizations and check-ups, so of course their kids were invited to join in.  It made for a large herd of children, but they all seemed to have fun and our guys did a good job of telling a Bible story and keeping them occupied – including gladiator-like Bug Wars.  

Thanks to all of our faithful Sunday School teachers for the great examples you have been to our guys!  They now appreciate how much work it is, preparing even a short Bible lesson.  It's cool to see the boys being involved and helping out the other missionary parents for just a couple of hours.

Waterfalls

We managed to squeeze in a hike to a couple of different waterfalls this week.  We joined another family and hooked up with a guide named Expedit, who showed us all kinds of neat plants and how the Togolese have used them for more than food.  

We really didn't know where we were, despite the sign

He painted on the kids with red dye from a teak leaf and yellow from – forgive my lack of plant knowledge –  an “aranjaga de Madagascar”.  Something may have been lost in the translation there, so if you care you can google a West African tree that gives yellow dye from under the bark... that's likely it.

Expedit painting Hudson's hand

RT's reading this should smile at the
"Respironics" backpack our guide was
wearing.

Bamboo fences tied together because nails
are hard to find

This little plant closes it's leaves when touched

It takes about 3 seconds to close up.

This is the little puff ball flower on it

Crushed teak leaves give red dye, painted on Hudson's hand

The first waterfall!  Beautiful.

Just sitting there in the forest, waiting for us to enjoy it.

We were taken to two very nice secluded waterfalls, the second of which conveniently was an impromptu store showing off his artwork, too.  The artwork was all done with naturally-found dyes from plants or rocks.  It was nice enough to buy three little paintings from him.  The waterfalls were nice, too.  Hidden way back in these hills creation's beauty is still stunning.  It's too bad they were hidden away, they were so lovely.

 And here are some pictures of his studio, and of course the waterfalls that were there.

Another great looking waterfall in a lovely shaded area.

The painter's palette

Concentrating on his work, even if it just a quick painting of
a butterfly!  Leah was so pleased with it, however.

Luke giving the painting a try

Grandpa John smiling at the kids' antics

How many Canadians can you spot hiding in the jungle?

Off The Cutting Room Floor

And as has been the case for the last couple of posts, some extra pictures that were worth adding in with little or no description.

This lady passed me.  I said 'bonjour', like everyone
does.  The baby looked over at me with a start -
then began to scream like she'd seen a ghost, for real!
I may have been the first white person she'd seen.

"what you talkin' 'bout, Willis?"

Dead centre of the shot - the home-made power bar.
Wood.  Lamp cord.  Eight plugs.
Looks legit.

For Erin - the Galaxy store in Kpalime.

Another view of it.

A yellow-billed kite.  If you click and zoom in, you can see the bill.

The goalkeeper... winter gloves.

Heavy with mangoes.

This little guy curls up to protect himself...

then when it is safe, he uncurls...

and heads on his way.

A shot of the stars at night.  When I have more time (and long
pants and socks) I will do better.  I have itchy legs from the
bites.

Early morning hike up the mountain road behind the hospital rewarded
Nurse Jonathan and I will this view.  

The back road into Tsiko

Mensa is weighing Jude for his 6-month check-up
outside the maternity clinic.

First this frog was yellow

and then it was green.

Thanks for reading about our activities here in Togo.  If you want to drop us a line you can email us at penny.missions@gmail.com  

We're so thankful and happy to be able to serve here.  Hopital Baptiste Biblique is always looking for medical and maintenance staff.  If you'd like to come for a couple of weeks or a couple of years, send us a note.  We'll get you in touch with the right people.  Who knows - maybe you could be in our pictures one day!