Angolan vs. American Women's Retreat

We both (American and Angolan women) look forward to the event with excitment! We both plan on meeting God in a new way. We both spend the weekend together, bunking, eating, laughing and singing. I think, though, they enjoying singing more.

 This was my experience. I asked what I should bring, and they just said to bring my Bible and a notebook. I decided to bring some changes of clothes too though, and soap and toothpast. I only paid $20 for the weekend, for food and lodging.

                        Food                                                                                             Lodging

You will notice the right picture is a huge tent with lots of sleeping mats and cushions. A stark difference from the fancey hotel experiences I've had at ladies retreats in the U.S. But I really did enjoy myself except for the caffein headache that I experienced durring our manditory morning fast, ha.

The thing I enjoyed the most, and will enjoy even more, in the future, when I know some of the Umbundu worship songs, is that they sing for everything. We awoke at 5 am and I heard the women singing out in front of the church. Then we sing to enter the church, then we sing to worship in the church, then we sing to exit the church. Then we sing as we walk to the dining tent, they love to march and sing. And I liked it too.



Let the training begin!

You may congradulate me, I passed my final board exam and am now fully board certified as of June 2012. It feels great, it is essentially the final test after 12 years of higher education. I feel blessed to be able to call myself the only American Board Certified Opthalmologist in Angola. This step was important as it paves the way for me to become a fully qualified trainer/educator for Angolan doctors to learn the art of cataract surgery.

 On that note, I, and my Boa Vista team are preparing to start training our first Angolan cataract surgeon. We feel highly optimistic about this opportunity and can sense God's leading in this direction. Through a cooperative agreement with an Ophthalmology Residency Program in Paraguay (South America) we are so happy to have received Dr. Manuel (Peruvuin), a 3rd year resident. He has agreed to come for 3 months to help take the surgical load off of my shoulders while we have a surgical student.
Dr Mavitidi is the Angolan doctor who will arrive on August 10th for the start of the cataract training. He will be here for 6 months. I am praying that God will bless this opportunity. The need for cataract surgeons here in Angola is massive. Imagine this: Angola has a rate of blindness that is 10x higher than the USA, however, the rate of cataract surgery in the USA is 65x higher than Angola's. I simply can not put a dent in this level of cataract blindness by myself. However, by multiplication of cataract surgeons we can make a difference!!

 Congential cataracts

This boy is blind from cataracts. He needed a surgery when he was a baby, but didn't get it. I operated on both of his eyes with good surgical technical results, but his brain and eyes never learned to communicate well, so his vision is still limited. I will still continue to try to rehabilitate his vision.

 Fun with corneal perforations (and medical jargon)

This 23-year-old male was seen by the most well equipped clinic in the country. He was treated for allergic conjunctivitis and sent away, he returned to them with this peripheral cornea perforation of at least 2 weeks duration. He was promptly referred to Boa Vista.  I think he actually had a bad scleral/corneal inflammatory condition. I treated him with a gram of azithromycin, topical antibiotics and ointments for two days along with oral steroids. This picture is the appearance after medical treatment.

After thinking about surgical options to restore integrity of his eyeball, I decided to do a peripheral patch graft with my supply of glycerol preserved corneas ( thank you Global Sight Network).

Here is the first operative day #1 appearance. I could not get all of the old fibrotic iris tissue out of the wound/angle, so the iris is still peaked (after doing many of these old perfs, I know why in the USA we do this surgeries in the first 24 hrs). However, the chamber is nicely reformed, his vision has improved from counting fingers to 6/18. I did a partial conj flap to cover the peripheral portion of the graft. I'm highly optimistic about his chances to retain good vision.

The same story here for another 20 something male. The only difference is the location of the perforation. Here we have a pericentral ulcer. I treated him  much the same as the previous case. Here is the before and after photos.



 

Thanks for reading,

John

Blind Association Video

This blind Association consists of 80 people that receive food every week. Two to three kilos of corn flour and three pieces of bread. As we continue to find donations we hope to add the 83 people that are waiting to get on the list, and Lord willing, I would love to give them something with nutrients.

I've heard that each city within our provence has their own blind association (totaling 450 blind), so in the near future, I plan on getting out and meeting each of the leaders of the other associations and find out their conditions. 

I plan on searching for help buying more canes and raising money to take care of the least of these. 

On another note, I'd like to pass on a testamony from Rita, the widow who's house we are trying to help build.

So the other day she was looking for a ride home, taxi busses or motorcycles are her usual way home. On this particular day, the motorcyclist wanted a dollar and she was trying to talk him down to eighty cents. She said a foreigner was near-by and told Rita she would give her a ride to where she needed to go. So Rita went with her. Later that day she saw a child sleeping in the dirt, where others were trying to walk, and Rita asked what he was doing, all he said was that he was hungry. So she took him and found him a humble meal for a dollar.

Rita said, that God gave her a free ride home so that she would have the dollar to buy this child a meal.

What a beautiful moment! I'm reminded of the passage in Luke 21: 1-4

 "While Jesus was in the Temple, he watched the rich people dropping their gifts in the collection box. Then a poor widow came by and dropped in two small coins. I tell you the truth, Jesus said, "this poor widow has given more than all the rest of them. For they have given a tiny part of thier surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given eveything she has."

From Angola With Love,
Lori

Stories of Survival

Lori and I have been in Angola nearly 10 months now. People have started opening up to us and sharing some of the painful stories about the brutal civil war. How humbling it is to hear their experiences. I'll share just a few of them.

Justinho lives in a city within the Benguela province called Ganda. During the war opposition forces accused him of being a spy. To ensure that he could not hurt there cause in any way and to send a message to others, the soldiers cut off his hands. Now, 20 years later, he was blind in both eyes from cataracts until we restored his vision. I was so happy for him that we were able to help in this small way.

One of my surgical nurses was living in his home in Caluquembe when opposition forces began advancing on the city. Word spread that this man was a ranking official in the ruling party. The opposition forces began looking to kill him. So he fled for the woods, where he lived for two years. Two years away from his family, moving about as a fugitive, never spending more than a few days in any location. During this time he had  help from his brother-in-law. Somehow they successfully reported his death, so that he could be free under a new identity. With a new name and a new beard, he was able to live in the house with this brother in law safely.

Another nurse at Boa Vista was working at the Caluquembe Mission hospital during the height of the war. This church based mission hospital had an unfortunate location and was held by opposition forces. When the government forces moved in to seize the province the hospital was viewed as sympathizers to the opposition and was bombed on a regular basis. During the bombings this nurse would always go to this one particular hole in the ground for shelter. He did this for several weeks as the bombings continued. One day as a raid started, he decided to help a patient who was struggleing to get to the shelter. By the time they both finally got to the shelter they found that it had been hit directly and everybody in the shelter had died. 

These kinds of personal stories of heroism and tradgedy are common. I feel humbled that as we get to know people, they open up and share their painful memories. War is terrible, the more direct contact I have with survivors the more I know of it's cost. 

Thanks for reading,

John

Eye glasses video

I'm not sure what Justinho was happier about the new reading glasses, or the plastic box to keep his stuff out of the rain. But all the same, we want to thank everyone who participated in gathering glasses for us. What a huge blessing. And for that matter, if you are still waiting to send them to us, just send me and e-mail and we will get that organized. Anyway, here are some photos of others who received glasses.

From Angola with Love,
Lori

Home is where the Heart is

Although I miss family and long to live closer to everyone, my heart resides in Angola. It is hard to really explain my feelings, but while I was visiting the U.S. for the past three weeks it felt like I was walking in a newly opened toy on Christmas morning; with yet a few more buildings and bridges to peel off the plastic. It seemed like I was in a dream, where everything was brand new. And the people were just as perfectly made up like Barbie and Ken dolls.
Then when we woke up the first morning back in Angola and got on the road for an 8 hour drive to our home, it was like relaxing into my favorite old pair of sweats' in which I feel the most comfortable. All the smells and traffic jams and people on the streets were surprisingly endearing. I was ensured, in my heart, that I am living exactly where the Lord would have us live. Thank you Lord for the conformation!
Thank you also, Lord, for the lesson in humility yesterday in our travels. For I had begun to believe that I was a good parent. Before yesterday, I had always had the good, quiet kids on the plane and it was getting to my ego. But with the blessing of a screaming one-year-old and a vomiting 6-year-old, I was quickly reminded that every other easy, comfortable trip before now was given to me by Your abundant grace. You helped me know what it's like to be the scum of the airplane that receives all the "over the shoulder" dirty looks. May I too show grace to others that don't seem as good as me, when I think I have it together. You, Lord, always know how to put life back into Your perspective. Thank You.
 And in our weakness, He is strong!
As I was growing quite weary of my screaming one-year-old and vomiting 6-year-old, so were the Angolan officials. They could take our chaotic family no more and showed us out the door, by-passing customs!!!! (we were afraid they would either take some of our luggage or charge us a whole lot to get it through) Thank You, Thank You God of the universe. Nothing is too difficult for You. Now 80 blind people will have a fancy new walking stick. And more than 200 people will be able to read again with their new glasses. And John's clinic will benefit from all the surgical materials in out luggage. We didn't know how we would get them through customs, but God did!
 My best friend, Mirjam, asked what it was like experiencing miracles. But just like the Israelites, I could easily forget or explain it away the very next day. Or  I could overlook it all together as  I angrily clean up vomit off the airport floor. Don't overlook the miracles in your own lives! Don't let life be so busy and selfish that you can't see the Lord moving. I know he is moving in the lives of all of you who pray. The Lord hears, and He acts.
I was afraid that our visit to the U.S. would make us want to return and not sign our new 2-year contract. But as much as we enjoyed climbing Mt. Olympus in Salt Lake City with its incomparable views, and as much as I love roaming through the isles and isles of the endless choices that Wal-Mart and Target have to offer; I am quite content with our unreliable electricity and the growling generator that covers us, and the constant need to pour water into the purifier, and the dear ladies who cry "peixe!" outside our house as they try to sell their dried, salted fish.
I am content with our one baby hill in Benguela, that the Angolans call a Mountain. I am content with the greatly reduced menu options that my kitchen has to offer, (I cannot speak for John on that one). But we are content and delighted to be here.
I don't know what the future has to offer us on a 10 year scheme, but as for now, me and my house will serve the Lord (Joshua 24:15), where ever that may be.

Congratulations James and Jamie Clements on your beautiful marrage, may the Lord be with you.

From Angola With Love,
Lori

Update on Rita's house

We are finally making some progress on Rita's house!!! Remember Rita? For Christmas many of you readers gave to help construct Rita's house.  Well here we are, she  now has walls! Here is a picture from before Chistmas. It has taken her 5 years to get this far.

  Here is a picture from before Chistmas. It has taken her 5 years to get this far.

Here is a picture of Rita and her oldest son, Tadeo, when we used your dollars to buy cements.

 (and Roman)

Here is Tadeo in from on the house now! The walls are all up and now they are putting some iron support on top.

In order to same money, Rita's construction crew are making the cement blocks instead of buying them. We got to see how this is done. In front is the mold and behind are the blocks while they are drying.

Picture of the constuction crew from inside the house.





Dude wanted to pose, another construction worker.

Rita and her kids are so excited about the house. Since I've written about her, and we has the wonderful responce, Rita lost her last living sibling, her sister, and has inherited her three children. Row Rita has 6. Pictured above are two of Rita's youngest and her sisters two oldest. And of course Roman. She also now has a four year old.

Nela, her four-year-old



These kids will finally begin school because Rita knows the importance of it. They are 10 and 8 years old and have never been to school. With the new house they will all have beds and comfortable living space. We saw yesterday that the government has started puting in power lines to the neighborhood, and they are also working on puting in water. Very exciting.

So now we have use all the money that was donated so I told Rita that the rest depended on Rita. It's good for her to use her own money too. As you can see there is quite a ways to go, so if you do want to help out and have not yet, it will be very appreciated!

Thanks again for reading, and allowing me to be a vessle, transporting your love and generocity to Rita.

With Love From Angola,

Lori