Because of the medical expedition being here this week, or Days for Girls sewing team took a little break from sewing feminine hygiene kits. Teningnini is our Enterprise leader. She showed me the 400 Beautiful kits the ladies have made since I was here last year! They are doing a wonderful job!
We are planning some big distrubutions in January when Judy Hut, Executive Director of the Ouelessebougou Alliance comes to town!
For the last several years, a team of doctors and technicians has traveled to Ouelessebougou to help with eye care. This year’s team included Tom Johnston, a dentist. He’s been here before and has grown to love his Malian friends. He had 20 extractions scheduled for each day here.
This is where the local dentist does his good work.
We enjoy reuniting with our translator friends each year!
This young man has been seen by the team the last 4 years. His old glasses allow him to see. This year he got new ones! Mike Clayton is the expedition leader. He is also our neighbor in Orem and he has been our faithful home teacher!
The anesthesiology room for those having cataract surgery:
Our son, Adam has come with this medical team twice. Because of that, he is now in medical school, hoping to be an eye surgeon someday.
The local eye doctors and their nurses work with our doctors. It’s a wonderful exchange.
People from the 25 villages we serve wait all year long for the eye expedition to arrive. The local teams pre-screen the villagers to find those who most need surgery or glasses. These good people wait in these long lines to be seen.
This dear little boy had a horrible infection in his jaw bone. He did not survive the surgery. We were all so very sad.
This medical team would have an incredible week in Ouelessebougou, celebrating Thanksgiving away from their families and loved ones, to be with people who needed them even more. They did 100 cataract surgeries and fit hundreds of people with glasses.
We talk about “Lighting the World.” Here are some who did just that this week.
We left this hotel this morning with our few things and a gift box for an Elder in the Abidjan West Mission and we walked through the back roads of town to the Alliance compound which is near the new hospital.
Here are some typical sights from this town we love:
Arriving at the Ouelessebougou Alliance compound (they call it the Utah Alliance here).
We were greeted by our very dear friends, Anounou and Teningnini. They are our Alliance staff in Ouelessebougou and we love them. We’ve been coming here to work with them for years.
The Alliance is adding on! This new wing in the compound is being built now.
There were 23 beds with nets set up for the doctors and the medical team.
The power in Ouelessebougou has been off, so Anounou has filled many buckets and barrels with water to get the team through the week if needed. This is the bathroom:
The pavers are another change in the compound since last year!
After having a granola bar for breakfast, we headed to the hospital to join the team. We only spent today here, returning on a public bus to Bamako late this afternoon. The medical team is staying until Saturday. What a gift they give each year to the people of this area!
We spent the night at the hotel in Ouelessebougou after visiting the Ouelessebougou Alliance compound with the team. We had a nice freeze dried spaghetti meal with an appetizer of chips and salsa. That sure tasted good! There were beds and mosquito nets for 23 at the compound. We and a few of the translators stayed at this lovely hotel.
There were just a few things we forgot to pack. Sheets. Pillowcases. Towels. Toilet paper. Soap. We did have a bed and a mosquito net, and complimentary flip flops for the shower that was over the toilet.
My tote bag is a reminder of our other life in another place.
The potty pot is what is used in place of toilet paper in traditional Malian bathrooms. I found some tissues in the bottom of my tote.
One think we did think to pack for tonight: Benadryl. And we had a bottle of water. We got a bit of sleep.
This afternoon after church we went with our expedition visitors in the bus to the airport to pick up the rest of their arriving group. These last 16 were held up for an extra day in Paris because of mechanical problems. They were happy to finally get their feet on Malian soil! They came with more than 60 totes of medical equipment, glasses and supplies for their week’s stay in Ouelessebougou. All put one tote arrived safely and we loaded everything into Ouesman’s bus for the 1 hour and 45 min drive south to Ouelessebougou.
Some of the team members are here for the first time, some have been here several times before. All are in for a wonderful treat with the good people here.
This week a medical expedition arrived from Utah, heading to Ouelessebougou to do eye surgeries and dental work. A few came a few days ago to help set things up. A few more arrived last night and the rest arrived this afternoon. We were joined by several of them at church today, which was a real treat! Elder Lewis and I have joined this group many times on their trips to Ouelessebougou. They do wonderful work here! Many of them are associated with the Utah Valley Eye Clinic and others are their friends.
Here are some of our members and friends attending today:
This evening we made a new friend, David Keddington from Dakar, Senegal. He and his family live there. He works for the state department doing lab/research work. He attends the branch there where our friends, Elder and Sister Thompson are serving. They told him to look us up when he had a week of work to do in Bamako. We had a great visit and a great meal together. The world is a small place in the church. It’s easy to make friends when we start with so much in common.
Along every road or street is a ditch, usually made of cement, but not always. This is where the waste water flows from the homes and shops and businesses. These ditches are usually 2 to 3 feet across and 3 to 4 feet deep.
These ditches are often covered by removable cement slabs or anything available. Since rented space is so dear, the vendors set up shops along just about every street, wherever they can find space. Often the goods are left out at night, but covered. People here are honest and don’t take what doesn’t belong to them.
With cemeteries on my mind, after Dad’s passing, I poked into this one today as we passed by. There was a Muslim service going on and I didn’t want to disturb them, so I only took these 2 photos. It’s a peaceful place, in spite of the heat and dust.
Our Cote d’Ivoire Abidjan East and Bamako, Mali Mission 