Humanitarian Work in South Africa

Last week we received several projects in the Africa Southeast Area Office for what we call Area Initiatives. Bruce and I review the projects submitted by 7 couples who are responsible for Humanitarian work in the following countries, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, DRC Congo, Kinshasha, Lubumbashi, Burundi, Gabon, and Ethiopia.  My job is to review all the projects the couples submit and present them to our Area Welfare Manager for approval. Bruce has the rather challenging job of handling all the financial aspects of their projects. Every day we respond to 60-70 emails from our couples as well as from the Short Term Specialist from Salt Lake City who come to South Africa to do Major Initiatives. You can read about Major Initiatives here. We also meet with our Welfare Manager several times a day to discuss projects or questions or concerns from the couples.

We are fortunate to share an office with the Humanitarian Couple who cover South Africa, the Kirschbaums. It has been fun to watch them get excited about Humanitarian Work. We met the Kirschbaums when we were in training in Provo Utah and we all came to South Africa at the same time. This is their first Humanitarian Mission. They have been busy with Wheelchair Projects, Orphanages, Garden Projects and they recently finished a project with a Center for Children with Special Needs. This week when they returned from a visit, Elder Kirschbaum told me that they went to a place called " Door of Hope." When he explained why it was called that, it haunted me for days. The building has a wall that surrounds it. There is a hole built into the wall where people can anonymously leave unwanted babies. Their website says, "In greater Johannesburg alone, at least three babies are abandoned every day."

Some days Humanitarian work is incredibly painful. We are reminded daily how blessed our lives have been.  Humanitarian work takes you to places you never dreamed existed. There were days when we were serving in Ukraine that I thought "I just can't bear to see another abandoned child." It broke my heart. As a Humanitarian volunteer you are exposed to the daily suffering of women and children, the elderly, the handicapped and the forgotten.  The positive side to it is, that you know that in some small way you are making a difference. Many times while serving in Ukraine, I felt like it wasn't the "things" we provided, but the love that we shared. Sometimes people just need to know that they are not forgotten.

This mission in South Africa is different than when we were in Ukraine. We are not out in the field meeting with organizations, however, every day we review the projects the couples submit to the Area Office. We don't walk the streets of Uganda, Ethiopia or Kenya like the couples, but we do get a small taste of what they are experiencing when they submit their projects.

Last week I received several request. One request was for school desks. The couple described the crowded classrooms where the children were sitting on the floor on small pieces of bricks.  We had another request to build latrines in several schools and teach hygiene to the teachers and students.  We received a request to purchase school uniforms, computers, and a refrigerator for an Orphanage with 8 different homes for abandoned and abused children and children with Aids. There are so many orphans in South Africa. The Aids epidemic has left many children without parents. In some cases very young children are raising their siblings.  We had a project submitted last week to help a clinic that treats a skin disease called jiggers. This proposal had photos of children with the skin peeling off their hands and feet. The children suffer from all kinds of diseases from drinking contaminated water, or walking barefoot in contaminated soil.

This week left me filled with gratitude. I am so grateful for my family, for my home, and my health. I am grateful to be a member of this church and to be given this opportunity to come to South Africa. I am grateful for all the amazing couples we work with who live in much more challenging conditions then we do here in Johannesburg. I am touched by their dedication and love for the people of South Africa and for their willingness to leave the comforts of home and their family.

Missing Orange Farm

Since Bruce wasn't feeling well last week I went to church with another couple who meet in a different branch. Today he was so still not feeling well. So we will not be going to Orange Farm tomorrow either. If I were home I would just drive myself to church however, our branch is 45 minutes away and sadly, it is not safe for me to be on the roads alone. Johannesburg has a very high crime rate and it is just not advised to be alone in the car. The criminals target women alone in cars and they do what is referred to as "smash and grabs". They will walk up to your car while you are stopped at a light and smash your window and grab your purse, your phone, or your jewelry. It happens to men too. We met a man, a local, who told us he was stopped in traffic once and someone smashed his window and put a gun to his head and robbed him and hit him in the head with the gun. It is hard to get use to not being able to just go where I want to go. Last Saturday a group of us women went to a dance performance at one of the church buildings at night. I was the designated driver. I am always careful when I approach stop signs to make sure there is no one standing around. I told the ladies, "be prepared if anyone approaches my car I will run the red light." So I guess I won't be driving myself to Orange Farm tomorrow.

 

Update on Bruce

This is pretty much where Bruce has spent the last two weeks.

This Friday it will be two weeks since Bruce first started feeling sick. He went to the hospital against his will for a Chest X-ray and blood work. (can't really protest when your wife is a Nurse and a doctor lives right down the hall.) Dr. Barton even offered to drive him to the hospital and then he sat with us while all the test were run. The doctor said there were no infiltrations in his lungs and his white blood cell count was slightly elevated but they didn't put him on antibiotics just cough medicine. Then after 4 or 5 days of coughing his lungs were sounding much worse so we went to see a doctor. It was kind of interesting. We went to see Dr. Milne who is the brother of one of the men we work with in our office. We were sitting in the waiting room and out came the doctor to escort us into the room that was both his office and his exam room. He sat at the desk and asked lots of questions then took Bruce over to the exam table and took his vital signs, temperature, blood pressure, and  pulse. Dr. Milne was a one man show. No receptionist, no medical tech, and no nurse. It was pretty cool. So he decided to put Bruce on an antibiotic and a new cough medicine. For the last two days it has appeared he is on the mend. Today he ventured out and went across the street to the mall to make an appointment at the nail salon for a pedicure. He did report that he was quite out of breath by the time he returned to our apartment. Dr. Milne said this flu has probably hit Bruce so hard because he has been exposed to different bugs here that his body hasn't built an immunity to.
 I am keeping my fingers crossed that I am not next.

Children

we went to a dance performance the other night and I found this little darling crawling around on the floor. When she saw me with my camera she came right over to me. I just kept snapping photos and showing her the pictures. She loved seeing herself in my camera.

These little ones are some of the Primary children in our branch. I have been attending primary lately and these sweet little girls wait for me to sit and then they come and sit right next to me. They laugh at me when I try to say their names. Most of them speak Zulu until they are about 4 or 5 and their names are very hard to pronounce.  So we don't really communicate with words very well, but we still have fun. The little one with curly hair on top of her head has an English name which is Faith, but her Zulu name sounds something like Bongewe. She pronounces it for me, then I say what I think she is saying and she laughs and says it again, but it sounds just like what I think I am saying. So we do a few rounds of that then I give up. Two weeks ago I was asked to teach a group of about 15 children while the teachers were in training.  These children are so amazing. We put our chairs in a big circle outside and then I taught a short lesson and had music time. The children ranged in age from 4-10 years old and even the 4 year olds sat quietly and answered the questions when I called on them. Then we had music time and the older boys stood in the front and sang songs to the younger ones. I couldn't believe how well they know the primary songs and how great they sang without any musical instruments.

 I am loving Sundays and can't wait to see my little friends

Gratitude

Bruce has been sick all week. When he finally left the house, it was to walk across the street to go have some blood work done. As we slowly made our way through the mall, for the first time in 35 years, I saw my husband vulnerable. Bruce has always been very healthy. He rarely gets sick. Watching him spend the last week in bed, struggling to just sit up long enough to eat some lunch, I reflected on how grateful I am that we have both been blessed with healthy bodies. How grateful I am to have had so many opportunities to enjoy life with Bruce by my side. Life is so incredibly fragile. My father died of cancer at age 50. I watched as cancer robbed  him of his independence. In just a few months my father went from being a man who was up before the sun, washing his car, mowing the lawn, and cleaning the house before most of us were even out of bed, to not even being able to lift a glass to his mouth. I was young when my father died. That was over 31 years ago. Since then, I have learned many lessons about life, both in my professional life as a nurse and in my private life.  I have watched loved ones age, I have seen patients riddled with cancer struggling just to breathe, I have sat by the bedside and held the hand of loved ones, as well as patients, as they have taken their last breath. What I have come to understand is, just how fragile our health is. We are subject to illness, disease and trauma that can rob us of even the simple joy of going for a walk in the sunshine. I remember the day before my father died he asked me to take him outside so that he could sit in the sun. That last request has burned an indelible imprint on my heart. Many a day when I find myself sitting in my favorite spot at Laguna Beach and I feel the warm sun on my face I reflect on that last request of my fathers. As Bruce and I took that short walk through the mall and I watched as he painfully took each step, I thanked my Heavenly Father for this wonderful companion, and for all the walks we've taken, all the sunsets we've watched, all the places we've traveled. I am grateful that this is merely a virus and that Bruce will recover. I am grateful for this past week and that once again Heavenly Father has reminded me of all that I have to be grateful for. We see these reminders everyday in Africa, but that is for another post.

Somebody is NOT feeling well

 

BRUCE RARELY GETS SICK BUT WHEN HE DOES HE IS WIPED OUT.

 

There has been a bug going around our office and it finally hit our house.

It started with a sore throat, and sneezing last Friday

 and for the last 4 days Bruce has been home in bed, or snoozing on the couch.

NO NYQUIL TO BE FOUND SO THIS WILL HAVE TO DO!

 

 

July 4th

There is something really special about living in another Country on Independence Day.
It makes you realize that July 4th is not just a time to have barbeques and watch fireworks.
When you wake up on July 4th in a Country far from home you reflect on the blessings of being a United States Citizen. I am so grateful that we are blessed to practice religion freely. I am grateful that we have the freedom to speak up for what we believe in. I am so grateful for the men and women who are willing to put on a uniform and leave their friends and family to fight for our freedoms.

This year we were invited to join some of the other Senior couples at the Shupe's apartment  in honor of the 4th of July. We sang patriotic songs,  played games and answered questions about our countries history. There were no fireworks this year but it was a very special evening. As the night ended we sang, The Star Spangled Banner, and we prayed for the Shupe's son who was deploying with a special forces team the following week on a secret mission. We left their home filled with gratitude for this sweet couple who couldn't let this special day go by without celebrating and honoring those who have served and continue to serve so that we can live in the land of the free.

Saying Good-bye

A few weeks ago Kevin and Roweena Palmer flew from Salt Lake City to Johannesburg to be by the side of their missionary son, Matthew who was in a Johannesburg Hospital in critical condition.  Matthew was serving a mission in Madagascar, a very poor island country in South Africa, when he began experiencing severe headaches.  He was transported to Johannesburg, and it was determined that he had intercranial bleeding from a vessel in his brain.  After a few days in the hospital, fluid started to build up, so a shunt was placed to drain the fluid and relieve the pressure.  While coming out of the anesthesia, Matthew had a major bleed in his brain and was put on a ventilator.  Slowly, he made progress, and by the time his parents arrived,  he was able to respond to their questions by squeezing their hands. 

The Area doctor, Dr. Barton and his wife, Connie, who are Senior Missionaries from the US work right across the hall from us in the Area Office and they had been keeping us informed of Matthews progress. All the Senior Missionaries in the Area Office and the Temple had been praying for Matthew, as I am sure were the missionaries in Madagascar and probably all over South Africa.

When the Palmers arrived, the Senior Missionary Couples literally wrapped Kevin and Roweena in their arms and carried them through what was the most devastating thing a parent can go through. They were given an apartment in Duke's Court, where twenty plus Senior Missionary Couples live. Connie Barton arranged to have the Palmers invited to dinner by one of the couples every night they were in Johannesburg. Dr. Barton and Connie, were by the Palmers side night and day. 

We first, met Kevin and Roweena when we had them to our apartment for dinner. We spent an hour or so together as they proudly shared with us what a very talented young man Matthew was. When we took them back to the hospital after dinner I suggested they take Matthew's music and play it for him. (Matthew had recorded several CD's  of his own music before he left for his mission). When The Palmers returned from their visit they were happy to report that Matthew had squeezed their hands really hard when they had asked him if he liked listening to the music. The next day when we saw Kevin and Roweena they reported that they didn't see much change in Matthew. Two days later they were informed that Matthew was not showing signs of brain activity. We had been expecting to have dinner with the Palmers and the Lee's that night, however, we received a call from the Barton's informing us that the Palmer's were going to be calling their children at home to tell them Matthew would have to be taken off  life support.

There was a heavy cloud hanging over Duke's court and the Area Office that next week. We all knew the pain the Palmers must be in. I don't think there was one of us who didn't think about how devastated we would be if it had been our son. Our hearts hurt for Kevin and Roweena and their family at home. We watched as they made very difficult decisions those last few days before they boarded the plane for the US leaving Matthew's body behind.
 
This was one of those tragedies that you find yourself wondering, "How could God let this happen?" Matthew was a wonderful young man who had his whole life ahead of him. He had devoted 2 years of his life to serve his Heavenly Father and to bring others unto Christ.

I know that bad things do happen to good people. I don't believe God "let's things happen." I think there are times he doesn't intervene.  There are tragedies in our lives every day. I don't believe that God "causes" the bad things to happen. I know that God loves each and everyone of us. We are his children. He weeps when we weep. What I witnessed those 10 days that Kevin and Roweena were here, was evidence of God's love for them. I witnessed miracle after miracle that occurred that week. 

Kevin and Roweena took a flight from Salt Lake City expecting to be by their son's bedside while he recovered and a week later they were making decisions about donating their sons organs. The Palmers were far from home, in a strange country when they sat by Matthew's hospital bed and said their final good-byes. I marveled at the strength of Kevin and Roweena as they faced those last few days in Johannesburg. I know without a doubt that they were blessed. I know that Heavenly Father had orchestrated every detail of their lives that week. I know that our lives will be changed for having witnessed the miracles that occurred in the lives of a grieving mother and father that week.

The Lee's the Kinghorn's and the Palmers

  





To read an article about Matthew click on the link below

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=30549144