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Life Goes On in Maua, and Ft. Worth's Friends of Maua Update!
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LIFE AFTER TEAMS IN MAUA!!!!

So What Happens When Teams Are Not Here?

The Central Texas Annual Conference's team, led by Dawne Phillips, and including Bishop Mike Lowry and his wife Jolynn, just headed out for safari and their return home.  The team did amazing things, but my camera was malfunctioning!  So check it all out on Stanley GItari's FB!  They were great and you should tell them that in Ft. Worth!!!

We had a friend email us the day after they left and ask if Sue and I were "going to be able to relax now?"

The answer is, um...well, er......NO!!!!!

Fact:  there is no "last" team!  We now have teams and medical students pretty much year 'round.  One of the things teams are discovering is that there are prime times to be here other than June, July and August.

September is an excellent month in terms of weather and animals on safari.  So are early October, January and early February.  If you don't mind a shower or two, May and December (right after Christmas) are also superb times to come and volunteer at the hospital and see some great animals to boot!

A few teams have discovered this fact, and medical students and medical volunteers have long known it.  So there really isn't a "Non- Team Season" at MMH.

There are always things going on here a Maua:

Outside my office window the Jacaranda is blooming.  In a week the roads at the hospital will be covered with purple flowers....it also means rain is coming shortly thereafter!

And behind the trees, St. Joseph's MCK blossoms as well...if you have not been over here for the last couple of years you may not recognize all the changes and improvements!

There is life in the blossoms, of course.  This spider is about the size of my hand, and the web is in the bougainvillea behind our home!  The web is proportional to the spider, and I noticed both birds and cats are avoiding that part of the hedge!

There is, of course, food still needing preparation for our patients.
Wood is the primary fuel source, and the new stoves (jikos) in the new kitchen use only half the amount of wood the old stoves used.

But every piece of wood costs!  So the kitchen staff cooks maize inside a special boiling bag, immersed in boiling beans!  Means one less stove fired up!

Tea, of course, continues to be served every morning at 10!  One might even call it a ritual!  A ritual of hospitality!!

But it is not just food and tea in the works!

We are refurbishing beds for a new semi-private ward - for which the demand in Maua is huge.  Because of our current lack of such a ward we are losing patients to other hospitals even though they are a long distance from us.  Our goal is to raise $10,000 USD and create 15-20 semi-private beds.  We can do it!!!

Not fancy, mind you, but very serviceable and comfortable with new mattresses.

And finishing touches are going into the housing for the new medical waste incinerator!  By October 2, the new incinerator will be installed, and by October 9 it will be in use!  Hallelujah!!!

We are also having issues with our motor pool - the background vehicles are non-functional - and we will soon be looking for new transport for teams plus new ambulances!  Until then, however, there is still servicing and washing to be done!  Pssst...want a great deal on an old Suzuki or Land Rover????

We are at the tail end of a dry season, and there is always dust to be swept and held down with a bit of water!

And that same dust does its worst on our equipment, so there is always a piece or two or twenty of equipment waiting in the queue for repair!

There are walkways to be built - this one behind the GItari's staff residence so that we will no longer be traipsing through their back yard.....

Supervision to be done....Moses, here, who is doing an excellent job of interim management of Z.O.E. Ministries....

And weekly worship in area churches is always a treat.  This is at St. Mark's MCK in Laare.  It is John Lautani's home church (our CAO) and here he is translating for me - English to ki'Meru, the local mother-tongue!

Of course, whenever I find time there is always paperwork...paperwork...paperwork!  Diplomas to sign - October 3 is graduation day for The School of Nursing.....


....checks to sign.....

...and new challenges to ponder and, sometimes, celebrate!
I ponder the oxygen plant, and, when I return in December, I will celebrate  the fact that we now have path to follow for a new plant!  It will save lives!!!

And I will ponder where to put new container clinics, like this one Christ UMC in College Station provided the good people of Ithata; way north of Mutuati!  Unloading it from the truck was a process indeed....just yanked off a few feet at a time and, finally, positioned by cables, stones and logs.  Whew!

First, it was backed up to the pad....perpendicular, of course!

Then a cable was attached from a tow truck to the container....

Then everyone said a prayer that the cable would hold....

The cable held, but the hydraulic hose to the winch blew!  The puddle kept the interest of the audience!

But persistence paid off, and the Clinic was finally off-loaded.  The cable yanked it about half-way off the truck, and then the truck just drove out from underneath it.....lots of breath-holding!


The process was completed when the cable was then used to turn the container clinic 90 degrees and align it with the pad.  I left before that happened, but photos of our grand opening two days later will come in the next newsletter (Sue has them, but is in the US).

So there is no down-time at MMH.  There is no "last team".  There is, however, always one more challenge, one more adventure, one more opportunity for service, one more ministry...all under the shadows of the ever vigilant Mt. Kenya!

We continue to thank you all for your prayers, participation and support!

FT. WORTH UPDATE!!!!

We will begin our meeting on October 23rd at Ft. Worth UMC at 11:00 AM, an hour later than earlier announced.  And we will begin, in true Kenyan fashion, with devotions!

To date we have somewhere around 40 people signed up, coming from all over the U.S.  We look forward to seeing you there!

If you have not RSVP'd please let us know if you are planning on attending!  It helps with room arrangements!

Blessings, and Safari n'jema......safe travels!

Jim and Sue


Rev. Sue Owen is an Individual Volunteer with the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries.  She is supported by the gifts of those who wish to support this ministry.  If you would like to help you may do so on-line through the General Board of Global Ministries.  Go to www.umcmission.org and follow the prompts for donating to Individual Volunteers, Advance Special # 982465.  Be sure to designate her by name on your donation. 
 
Jim is the C.E.O. of Maua Methodist Hospital, and you may help support his work through the same route as above…just go to Advance Special # 09613A.  Again, designate him by name on your gift.
 
Or, if you prefer, you may donate through your local United Methodist Church.
 
All funds given to The United Methodist Church’s Advance Special go directly to the designated project or individual – 100%!  Your support is appreciated!

 
 

Copyright © 2014 *SUJIMO*, All rights reserved.


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