Bruma Seca

African Wind

Bruma Seca, is the Kriole word for the dry hot dusty wind from the African Sahara.  It was blowing hard this afternoon, creating a mist of dust.  This is what the sky looked like, you couldn’t even see much of the sea.....

Christmas Packages

There are Christmas packages arriving for our missionaries!  God Bless their parents and families!!  Elder Biven will take these to Assomada today when he goes with Paolo to work on one of the chicken coops and then to meet with President Torres, the district president and one of our favorite people.

The packages are from Brazil, Ecuador, Portugal, and the USA.  The one in the middle from the USA has $132 in postage on it.  There is also a box of German cookies that the Garretts brought, we are sending it to a district meeting this morning.  I can’t say enough in appreciation of the parents of these strong young people.

Blessings

A few weeks ago I felt to check on one of our elders who had complained about a "blood blister" on his foot three days previous.  Upon arrival at the apartment I found the Elder nursing a quarter-sized, infected, sore on the bottom his foot.  It was beginning to have red streaks upward on his leg, which is a dangerous sign.  

We immediately took him to the hospital.  After waiting two hours we watched as four unconscious people were carried from vehicles into the care area.  Even as we prayed for them, we knew it would be a much longer time before we would get help, so we went to the private clinic the missionaries often use.  It was now late in the day, and we waited another hour before the doctor saw us.  We were perhaps the last people in the clinic now.  When we entered the room the doctor glanced at the Elder's foot and spoke briefly with him.  I could see he knew how bad it was and that treatment was not going to be easy.   I prayed with all my heart that he would be willing to help.  He sighed and then looked and me and said "I know you.  I met you at the grand opening of Nós Saude clinic" (one of our recent projects, the health clinic on Achada Grande).   He then turned back to the Elder and told him he would work on his foot.  It was truly urgent that the abcess be drained, and the doctor agreed to do it because he knew me from our humanitarian work.  

And so the doctor stayed late.  We were sent to the little surgical room in the clinic.  The doctor treated me like an honored guest in the operating room, and allowed me to sit next to him as he worked. It was a challenging procedure.  When he opened the abscess he found multiple layers of infection.  The Elder was amazing.  There was no pain medicine to begin with--and clearly it was so very painful--I whispered to the doctor "do you have any morphine??"   Eventually he stopped and had the nurse start an IV with a little pain medication.  A great relief!  Maybe the LDS Charities project we had done, building a health clinic in a poor section of the city, elevated the importance of helping our missionaries to this good man.  The Elder is now recovered.  The angels are watching over these young people!  I am grateful to be a witness.

Visitors From the North

Kayleigh Visits

Last weekend we had a visit from our daughter Kayleigh who lives in Copenhagen.  What a treat it was, to share our missionary area with her.















We went to Cidade Velha, the “old city” and walked up to the old church from the 1600’s.  We love the sweet little church which has been restored through efforts by local people.  As in the great cathedrals of Europe there is a burial slab in the floor—there is just one here— and the historical character is Sergeant Major João.  Not a king or a prince, but a sergeant major.  We feel honor for this historic character who was buried underneath the floor of the church in Cidade Velha long ago.

The restored chapel is now used sometimes for events, perhaps to include weddings, though weddings are not common here.  A marriage license is expensive and few actually marry.  This has been something that has drawn people to the LDS church, the belief that it is important to raise children in a home with a mother and a father who are committed and married to one another.  This view, surprisingly, has drawn men to the church, because it gives them a solid place in the home, something that they might not otherwise have here.  Property ownership records---as we understand from those involved in registering property---ownership records are 80-90 percent female.  Homes are owned and run by women in Cape Verde in many cases.

Toward the end of Kayleigh’s visit we stopped by the old lighthouse which is closed for renovations this month.  We walked out on the point, and Kayleigh took this photo of the port of Praia at night.  We enjoyed her visit so much, and felt stronger and more committed to serving well when she left.

Garrett's Visit

A week later a couple associated with LDS Family Services in Europe, the Garretts, currently from North Carolina, came for meetings.  We enjoyed a good visit with them, in English!  Going for gelato and talking about familiar things as we showed them Praia was very enjoyable.

Veteran's Day

Since Saturday, November 11 was Veterans Day, we stopped at a memorial to a US soldier from Cape Verde, located in Achada Grande.  We had seen this plaque in the plaza and planned to come on Veterans Day to honor Sgt. Alberto D. Montrond.  Sgt. Montrond  served in the 528th Special Forces, 7th Group.  He was killed in Afghanistan on February 13, 2006. We left flowers and a thank you note on his plaque.

The Year Starts to Wind Down

The budget year for welfare services/humanitarian work is ending and we have one more project we are submitting for approval to complete the use of our budgeted humanitarian funds this year.  We have identified a community leader who is strengthening the neighborhood, and children, and the families of children, by organizing a youth basketball program.  Elder Biven and I and a translator met with Bila this week, and we followed him to one of his clinics, in Ponta D’Agua.  We met the youth he had worked with for nine years there, many of them now coaching other youth and teaching them about work and life within the framework of learning and practicing basketball.  It was so inspiring to see these young people who had confidence, and joy.  We hope to be able to work with Bila on a similar project in Sao Filipe.