Day with the Talibe Boys

The day after Thanksgiving, I had the privilege of helping out with a medical clinic that targeted the local talibe boys here in Dakar. Volunteer medical staff from the Bartimee Hospital in Thies came to the capital to help with the clinic held at the Beacon of Hope, a missionary guest compound. UWM missionaries, Tad & Jane Hampton, head up this ministry which focuses on taking care of the 100+ "talibe boys" that are a part of 4 or 5 nearby Islamic daaras (communal homes made up of 25-30 boys). Talibe boys can range in age from 5 to 16 yrs old. They are sent from their homes by their parents to study the Koran under the supervision of marabouts (Islamic teachers) in these daaras. More often than not, they actually spend more time on the streets of Dakar begging for money for their marabouts, instead of studying the Koran. If you'd like to read more about who these Talibe boys are, World Vision has a good site at the following link: http://www.worldvision.ca/ContentArchives/content-stories/Pages/questions-and-answers-talibes-of-senegal.aspx

On this particular day, the boys came to the BOH to shower, undergo a medical checkup, receive medication or special medical attention (if needed), receive vaccinations, eat a nutritious meal, and just hang out & play some games. To put it simply, they came to be the children that they are and receive some good tender-loving care for a change. Below are some pics of the boys at each of the stations that were set up for them to go through this day...

weigh in...

the pharmacy...

special care for injuries or infections, etc...

vaccinations...

(Clearly not their favorite station. And, unfortunately, for some it was the first time they ever received a shot & some really DID NOT like it! We tried to make it better by promising them a lollipop afterwards. :-)

I was in charge of stamping their medical cards, giving them a scoop of lotion, as well as, the promised lollipop after their shots...

since they got showers here (not an every day occurrance), the lotion is for their skin, which dries out quickly because of how dry it is here...

then, time to fill their bellies (also not an every day occurrance, sadly)...

and time to just play & do things that kids should do...

Incoming!!!

If you've ever talked with me on Skype, or plan to in the future, there is a good chance that our conversation has been & will continue to be interrupted by the loud noise of an airplane landing at the nearby Dakar airport. I found out pretty quickly my first night here in Dakar that the airplanes fly VERY close to the house as they approach the landing strip. I've been wanting to take a video of this so that you all can see just how close these planes are to my house. Unfortunately, my little digital camera doesn't have the capability to capture the VERY LOUD sound these planes make as they pass overhead, but if you want to Skype sometime, I'm sure you'll find out....

Some of My Favorite Things

In the spirit of Thanksgiving this week, I'm thanking God for each one of these...

Justin

Leah

Madox

(w/ a soft pretzel stuffed in his mouth!)

Mikayla

and.... Grace (of course!)

I miss them all so much!

Pictures from my trip to Europe... finally!

Last month Sheri & I spent two weeks in Europe. Our first day of travel on our way to Geneva we had an 11 hour layover in Lisbon, Portugal. Amazingly, I actually have friends in Portugal, so we got to see them and didn't have to spend all day in the airport, which was a huge blessing! I met Steve & Julie at my language acquisition training in Colorado this past May. They are in Portugal doing their language training to learn Portuguese before they move on to another part of Africa themselves. Anyway, it was truly a picture of God's Sovereignty & Providence because they were able to meet us at the airport and then took us downtown so we could actually experience & see some of Lisbon. So cool!

After our long layover, we were on our way to spending the 1st week in France. We had a blast driving around the eastern part of France that lies right along the border of Switzerland. A missionary couple who lives in a quaint town there invited us to come for a week and visit this beautiful part of the world. Sheri & I had such a great time exploring on our own, driving along Lake Geneva, and just simply relishing the fact that we got to see France in the fall - it was beautiful!

The 2nd week we spent in a small town at the top of the Alps in Switzerland to attend CrossWorld's All Europe Conference. Now I know you're probably wondering why we were attending the All Europe Conference since Senegal is very obviously NOT in Europe. Well, since we have yet to coordinate an All Africa Conference, we were blessed to be invited to share in this conference... and who would deny this opportunity... especially since it was in Switzerland! The mountains were absolutely breath-taking and there was many a time that I found myself walking around just completely amazed at the fact that I was in Switzerland! It was also so great to be able to meet so many wonderful people who have such big hearts to serve God. They were all so inspiring and truly encouraging... especially for me, since I'm just starting out. What a gift & a blessing!! Hope you enjoy my pictures.

Make a Smilebox photobook

No Running Water

I just wanted to post some pictures to give you an idea of what we had to do those couple of days when our water reserve decided to temporarily cease replenishing itself with fresh water...

First, we were filling these 10 liter jugs and carrying them up 3 flights of stairs to the roof to fill the tank over and over again...

then, Sheri, being the bright girl she is, figured out a way so that we didn't have to keep going all the way down there to fill up the water jugs

and then back up these stairs to the roof

...introducing Mighty Woman!...

Needless to say, you can imagine how delighted we both were when we saw the water tank full of water once again after 5 days!

Canadian Thanksgiving, Senegalese Style

So my roommate, Sheri, is Canadian... and this past Monday (Oct. 12th) was Canada's Thanksgiving Day... so in honor of the holiday, she made a special meal... yumm, doesn't it look good?

So sorry, but no, this is not a turkey... we had to settle for a small chicken instead. At least it was already dead & plucked featherless! We were both very thankful for that! And, our utmost thanks to allrecipes.com! Sheri gets great recipes from this website, including the one for this meal. The veggies were absolutely delicious, but none of the million or so reviews that this recipe had told us just how "tough" (literally) a Senegalese chicken is to eat! We sure had to work for our dinner that night... at least for the chicken! Well, to Sheri & all my other Canadian friends out there... Hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving!

The Journey Continues... or better yet, it is Just Beginning...

Sept 17, 2009

Make a Smilebox slideshow

He Reigns!

This is a video of the dance I was a part of at my church on Sept 13th... what a special experience it was to dance for Jesus on the same day I was officially commissioned to serve Him in Senegal!




song is "He Reigns" by the Newsboys

My Commissioning & Send Off

Make a Smilebox photobook

Senegal Intro...

Senegal slideshow

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Chinese Rose Garden

If you don't learn anything about Portland, OR... you must learn that Portland is known as the City of Roses... and nothing shows that better than the Chinese Rose Garden. Here are some of my favorite pics from the day we spent there....

Parlez-vous français?

This is my attempt to learn some French before I leave for Senegal...or at least get some vocabulary words in my head now. I'll sort thru it all later, I suppose.

Spending the Afternoon with Mikayla

This past Monday, Mikayla came to visit and spend the afternoon with my mom and I. She just turned 1 and is still working up the courage to begin walking on her own. It won't be long now...