I am writing on behalf of our mission team in Burkina Faso, as I received the following text from Eddie Hambrick today: "Wireless down for third day in a row. Please put entry on blog as to why we are not making entries."
Since their last post on Monday, the team has been busy.
On Monday and Tuesday, the team worked in Yagmar village just outside of the capital city of Ouagadougou. On Wednesday and Thursday, the team worked in the distant village of Zabre, which although only about 135 km (80 miles) away, takes about three hours travel time each way, unless you have two flat tires at two different times (like the team did yesterday) and then it takes a lot longer.
Since I am not there, I do not know all the details of the days, but I do know that with that much medical talent and love available the team has been able to do a great deal for the people of Burkina Faso.
I can tell you that the team has had some interesting days (and nights) which are all in some way part of the unique experience of travelling to the third poorest country in the world.
Upon arrival they discovered that the MasterCard system was down across the entire country, and thus they were unable to access a great portion of the funds they needed for the trip. This, in turn led to the "suspicious" use of another bankcard and a hold being placed on that card. Many calls back and forth in America later, several large currency exchanges, and three or four trips and calls to Western Union, the team is fully funded and doing well.
As with all things Africa, one has to remember the motto "TIA-This is Africa" and be ready for the unexpected, and to do what the Lord has in store. After a few modifications of duty, everyone is serving well in their capacity, and is making a difference.
And then, some ne'er-do-wells decided that the luggage of some of the team members would make an exciting souvenir from America, and took them. Nothing irreplaceable was lost, no one was hurt, and the thieves at least had the common courtesy to deposit the victim's passports in the alley so that the gendarmes could easily retrieve and return them to their rightful owners.
To top it all off, one of the team members came down with a little "food poisoning" (no amoebas, no parasites, no malaria), got dehydrated and spent the night in the French clinic, and the next day under the careful supervision of one of the team physicians, and we can now report a full recovery.
Tomorrow, the team is off again to work in the fields of the Lord providing medical care for those in need. Given all that is happened, I expect that they will see a miracle in some form or fashion then.
Saturday will be an R&R day, with some animal watching and shopping. Soon, we hope, they will be able to blog for themselves again.
And just in case you were wondering whether this trip is like the moon landing to conspiracy theorists, I am including a picture of them in a local eatery.
Till the next report,
Fr. Ed Monk
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