As I write this, I am sitting in the SP-house in Tera. I’ve been in the bush all week, visiting two separate sites where SP manages supplementary feeding centers. This is a special visit this week, because we have begun to transition the activities of the feeding distribution over to the local health center. This means that now in Tera, the Nutrition supervisor now just oversees that the distribution is being done correctly by the Major and his team. We also bring in the food ration and make sure that it is being distributed and taken care of properly. Our goal is to have all nutrition sites transferred over by the end of the year. We want to be able to take a step back from doing treatment and focus more on prevention of malnutrition and childhood illness and disease. It is very exciting to see this finally coming together! I am so fortunate to have a team with stellar skills. Isaaka, the Nutrition supervisor for Tera/Ayorou region is incredible. He has years of training as a nurse and as a former Major for a health center in Tera. He is very assertive, confident in his work and basically is leading the integration process on his own. Alkamissa, our warehouse manager is also very talented. I really enjoy seeing the two of them work together. They are both such hard workers, very thorough in their work. And they take care of each other, like family. Africans seem to know how to do this well.
Ayorou (Monday afternoon, October 20-Tuesday afternoon, October 21st)
You know I saw a lady in Koutougou (village in Ayorou where we have a feeding center) who had triplets? And they were all in decent health. The mother was in labor just 6 hours and gave birth to the triplets while at home. Wow! The courage of these women is amazing to me. In addition, I saw two sets of twins at the same feeding center. I was talking to Isaaka about it, and he proceeded to tell me that his friend (a major) in Sanam (a village where SP used to work) one night in 2002, had 3 women deliver a set of triplets each…. In the same night!!! Can you imagine? Please tell me that should go in Guinness book of records. Three women…. Each woman giving birth the same night… each woman had a set of triplets! And all three sets survived! That is amazing.
Tera (Tuesday afternoon, October 21- Friday, October 24, 2008)
Today we did distribution in Wanzarbe. Normally the major would do this work, but he had a meeting and could not be present. I met two women who had each lost 7 babies, and now just had one child. Both of those children are entered into our feeding program b/c of malnutrition. One of the children is very malnourished. I cannot even begin to imagine what these women have been through. 7 child deaths, and now their only living child is suffering from malnutrition and ill health. Please pray for these women and their surviving children that they would live well and that the Lord would give them good health and safety from the cold season that will be here shortly.
Diffa
Last Friday our office submitted a proposal to OFDA to work in Diffa with the nomads living in that area. We want to drill wells, start-up water/sanitation projects, animal projects as well as a nutrition program using PD/Hearth approach. Please pray for this proposal, that the Lord would guide us, and if this is what He would want us to do, that we would trust him to take care of our funding needs.
NUTS Softball tournament
Well, if I haven’t already mentioned it, I go to the American Rec center just about every Ssaturday that I am in town. Some people (mostly men) from among the embassy and missionary community come together to play a couple games of softball each weekend. I started playing a few months back, and really enjoy it (must take after my mom 
.
There are two tournaments a year in which we go play the American embassy in Burkina Faso and they come once a year to play us in Niamey. Well two weekends ago was our turn to host the tournament. We played games Friday afternoon through Sunday afternoon. It was so much fun! I had a blast. Our team, “the Nomads”, didn’t win a single game but oh did we have so much fun. I had a couple good hits but nothing too exciting. Although as catcher, I did make quite the catch at home plate. This guy hit a grand slam out to the back of the field but at the last second, the pitcher through the ball right into my glove right before this guy crossed home. Yep. That moment was worthy to write home about. I knew I had done something good when I saw grown men on my team jumping up and down in the outfield, so excited (and I’m sure surprised out of their mind!). It’s not a moment I will easily forget, that’s for sure.
More later! Thank you for your love and prayers! I’m so blessed. The Lord is taking care of me, rest assured of that.
(no internet in Tera, so I actually typed it up last week and am back home now in Niamey)
