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| The Gospel of Mark, in Braille |
Show Me A Video...
This week we had a bunch of
storytellers here with us. Real, true-to-life storytellers. We have
had the ABWE StoryTellers Media student training team here to work
with several of the Togolese people who have stories to tell.
Stories of victories and defeats, lives changed and differences being
made.
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This little guy was watching us as much as
we were watching him |
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This lady handed over her 15 day old baby
to one of the girls in the group. |
There were three very accomplished and
talented photo-journalists (a fancy name for a storyteller) who gave
field lessons and in-class training to the American students who then
interviewed and followed their Togolese subject person around for a
few days. They were then going to edit the footage and do all of the
producing of a short video back at home in the US. These videos will
then be used by the missionaries to tell their supporting churches
what they are doing here in Togo. I love this. Just another tool to
let people know that there are good things happening here.
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| Unloading the photojournalists into the village of Kpotame |
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It was like the circus came to town, with all of the white people
hanging around! |
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Getting ready to join the kid's club in one of the local missionary's
courtyards. |
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| Jeff, the fearless leader of thire group! |
I was able to take the group to the
little nearby village of Kpotame (pronounced Poe-tah-may, unless you
are Keenan...) to let them run loose around the village taking
pictures. I also was able to go with them - with Kofi our driver –
to the Blind Centre in Kpalime. I think I was there mostly in a
shepherding role, keeping the photographers from wandering off in
search of more interesting things to shoot pictures of. I must have
done my job because we came home with the same number we left with!
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A lady crushing nuts in the village, under the
watchful eye of a chick. |
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| An outdoor kitchen in the village. Even the dirt is swept clean. |
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| Laundry day |
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This is the village soccer field. It has dirt, ruts, a bit of grass
and bamboo nets. |
This week it was cool to be in
the Camera Club – although to be completely honest I did lust after some of the gear these
guys and girls were hauling around! I know, it's not the gear that
makes a good photograph, blah, blah, blah... Well, you know sometimes it is.
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Hannah, an ABWE missionary to Africa and member
of the StoryTeller team, demonstrating good technique on
how to take pictures using a tripod. |
Vision 20/20 Expansion and Renovation Program
E X P A N S I O N !!
Yep, the hospital is going to grow! After much prayer and extensive planning, there was a proposal given a couple of weeks ago and the expansion
plan was given the green light to proceed. The hospital will grow
from approximately 15,000 sq ft to somewhere around 40,000 sq ft.
This will be huge, and done in five separate phases. As funds are
raised for the first phase there will be a lot of infrastructure work
being done to support the larger facility. Once that work is
completed and funds are raised for the next phase, work can begin on
the next, and so on. The goal that there is no debt created by the
project. It's a big undertaking, but we've got a pretty big God.
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More space and better use of the existing space will mean
more efficient patient care. |
We are excited by the possibilities
this expansion program will provide. Better, more efficient health
care to more people, an on-site surgeon training program through
PAACS (Pan-African Association of Christian Surgeons), more
intentional exposure to the Gospel, and hopefully lives saved and
changed! It will be fun to watch what is going to happen here in
southern Togo because of this project.
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There will be five newer, more modern OR's in the
renovated and expanded facility. |
If you are feeling generous and would
like to donate to the building fund, feel free to contact the ABWE
office. The girls there would be pleased to help guide you through
the steps and options. You can start by looking here:
ABWE
Canada
More details of the phases of
construction and proposed time lines will become available in the
near future.
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And the opportunity to improve some 35+ year old equipment
would be great! |
Bad For Your Insides
Here is a Public Service
Announcement...
Please do not ingest herbicides or
pesticides. They are designed to kill living things; things we don't
like. If you put them in your body it is very likely that bad things
will result. Like getting sick, really sick, dying – or worse!
The hospital has seen a few cases of
people, young and old, drinking liquid “-icides” and coming in
very ill, unconscious or dead. A couple have been treated and gone
back home, but most die from these concoctions. Some cases have been
intentional suicide (another “-icide” that isn't good for you, by
the way) but there have been others of accidental consumption... a
couple being young children. Those cases involving the kids who
don't know any better, those are the nasty ones.
So, label your garden sprays if you put
them in a different container. Keep them out of the reach of
children. If you are feeling like ending your life because things
are going really badly, please talk to someone about it. You aren't going through
this alone and there are people that can help.
Northern Adventures
We are packing up and heading upcountry
– to Mango, in the northern savanna of Togo. It's a different
climate and terrain and even a different culture up there. We are looking forward to seeing new
scenery, visiting with friends and making new ones, as well as seeing
and possibly working in the Hospital Of Hope, our sister hospital.
There is going to be lots to share about a long journey like that, so
I think that's best saved for another whole post.
From The Cutting Room Floor
LOVE your blog posts! I don't know who the gifted photograper and writer is,but...WELL DONE!
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