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