Gift with a sting in the tail

We were sorting cartons of food in a shipment from the USA this week when this scorpion appeared. Apparently the yellow fat tailed scorpion has the venom to kill up to five people! (but death is uncommon) It probably crept in after the container had been opened.

Life is easy sometimes

A surgeon is currently staying who can cover Dave at week-ends. Since it was Helen’s birthday we decided, along with two other British doctors who work in the clinic to take a taxi for 1½ hours to ‘Kent beach’, and board a motor canoe to cross over to the 7 mile tropical paradise island, known as Banana, because of its shape. We spent a night (full moon) there in a small resort, swam, wandered through the jungle full of birds, and through little villages hundreds of years old, and enjoyed lobsters (for the first time) straight out of the sea at £6 a plate!

Anna was nearly hit by a falling mango during breakfast, so she took the hint and ate it! The previous afternoon while she was reading in a hammock a big black snake fell out of a palm tree beside her! (True)

“Fire! Fire! Pour on water! Pour on water!”

The home (two rooms) of Jeremiah, one of our drivers burned, along with six others this week. He is a widower with two young children, and is a member of our church. The good news was that the Aberdeen Fire station with 5 five trucks was located less than 50 yards away (just across the road from the hospital). The bad news was that none of them had any water! A fire truck had to come from the other side of Freetown.

Actually there is good news that he has been offered free land to re-build on. Bad news is that this may cost about £1,000.

Local government

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Helen's pain is improving, and this afternoon she managed to clamber through a warren of rocky alleyways to reach the local chief’s house. It is two tiny rooms, part of a complex of rooms where the extended family also lives. He makes a living as a cook in the International Court. A year ago he was elected by 500 votes to be chief for life for this area of several thousand people. Every Sunday afternoon he hears disputes in the veranda shown, with a policeman in attendance. In a month’s time we are to be invited to attend (and contribute handsomely to!) his coronation ceremony, after which he expects to be paid for his work.

Before we left we raised three issues of public concern with him:
1. Huge pile of garbage just below the children’s home where the street school is
2. Lack of a street standpipe for the many scores of children who draw water daily from a leaking pipe in a back yard
3. Increasingly loud, and sleep-preventing weekly all night prayer meetings broadcast by 3 members of a nearby church

As he walked us back to our house he raised the topics with about 20 people we met, and came to an agreement on each of them. On each issue he also appointed someone to take some action on the matter. It was fascinating to watch African consensus government, not democracy taking place.

Pain

At this swimming pool just a week ago Helen slipped on some wet stairs and winded herself very badly and hasn’t been free of pain since. She did it once before when her Mum had to come and look after the family for two weeks.

Thankfully no bones were broken and she is steadily improving. She came to work each day this week, but spent several hours asleep on a mattress. Pray for a complete recovery.