La Sonya

Hey all. Just a little reminder to check out Liz's blog as well as James' they are both great. I will also be posting the link to Sara/Esthers blog as soon as I get it. Blessings.

I got my puppy! I am so excited. I can’t wait to train him (tips are welcome cause I have no idea how to train) and I can’t wait to cuddle with him and have him run to me and for him to just love me. First things first. I need to name him. Suggestions are welcome. I prefer a Bible name because that is always a good tool to start a story about God. But I am not limiting the choices to Bible names. I need to name him soon because he needs to learn his name. So hurry and submit the names. Here’s what I’ve thought of so far: Ranger, Goliath, David, Spunky and Sampson. (Although Sampson was my birds name and he died this week.) He is a bit feisty as he likes to try and play with the sheep we have, and he is light brown with white stockings on his front paws and white sock on his back paws. He’s about 3 months old and his ears and feet are still too big for him. He’s really scared of us right now and it will take some time for him to realize we are good and want to just love on him. He’s a g...

Have you ever been sick and it feels like you have been sick for days on end? Well that’s how I feel right now. I have contracted what already three others in my famil have had: a Tchadian bird flu. I got it officially on Tuesday and was quite miserable on Wednesday. I’ve had a fever and more sweat than a monkey on the sun. It would just run down my face. And it didn’t help that the last few days have been really extra hot, so I’ve been told because I was hot anyway. So I’ve felt like the last few weeks I’ve really not been much use to anyone except the tissue makers and the malaria pill makers. Since I went to the capital, whenever that was, I’ve been sick. First with malaria, again, then with this. While in all actuality it might only be 1 week it doesn’t matter because time to me is nothing. I am now on what I believe to be the homeward bound stretch. Only a runny nose now, unless I take one of the few sinus pills I brought with me that makes me really sleepy. At least I am really a...

I had a pet bird. His name was Sampson. I made a cage for him and everything. He was a brilliant bright red. He was one of the first things Liz and I saw on our way down from the capital almost two months ago. On our way down Liz said we have to get a picture of one of those. Louis caught him by hitting him with a homemade round marble and a slingshot. They were going to kill him and eat him but I was so excited by him that they gave him to me. I was very excited to have a pet, as there was no dog available for me yet. He lived quite happily I think, in his little upside-down basket turned bird house in the guava tree next to my hut. He ate millet, the round seeds in American bought bird seed. And he even had a few friends for awhile, Shadrack, Meshack, and Abendigo, till they tragically met there end. . . and were eaten by Swari, the littlest. Well one day as we were climbing the beautiful guava tree eating of it’s beautiful fruit, Louis told me that Sampson looked sick and wasn’t doi...

Here is the scoop on my communication abilities. I can email. I can snail mail, but I don’t get the mail but every 2 or 3 weeks. I can’t IM or anything like that. I might be able to get online, but it’s a bit expensive. I can talk on the phone! Here’s how you can call me! *net2phone.com Phone cards for .36 cents a min. *voipbuster.com This uses the internet to talk on the phone and its .13 cents a min *Skype This is the same as voipbusters. I would call you but it cost me about .75 cents a min to talk. So if you want to talk, email me the time and we can brush up on English! Remember there is a 6 or 7 hour time difference so that will need to be taken into account! My number is: 964-3799. There aren’t any area codes because there aren’t that many phones. And I am not sure on the country code, but you can look it up online. Hope this helps all of you who are just dying to talk to me :o)

1. On Monday I was talking to Solomon, the American house cook, and we were chatting about the food he was making and I was learning how to make it. As Hans (who speaks both Spanish and French fluently because he graduated with them as his major) was leaving he overheard me talking and Hans told me that my French is getting good! Praise God, I’ve been praying everyday that the Holy Spirit would bless me with the ability to communicate with French and He has! That evening even Clarice (oldest girl in famil) said something along the lines of either I am speaking well or that I am just speaking a lot of French that day. Praise God for the gift of languages. 2. Sarah (now Esther) Liz and I decided we needed to find a way to hang out because we don’t get to see each other very much at work now-a-days. So on the same Monday as above, they came over to my hut in the evening to watch a ‘classic’ African sunset. As we were sitting on my mat right by the compound entrance Ama came out and ask...

So the meds I took for malaria 3 weeks ago weren’t strong enough or the mosquitoes are crazy bad this year. Could be both. I started feeling funny again when I was in the capital. I thought it might be something but waited to see. Then I thought it might be because I ate too many guavas’ one day, and then I figured I’d better get tested. And guess what! .05% paludisma. Yup, got the ole bug again. This time I’m on quianane, James says that should get’er done. I just hate the stuff, it makes your ears ring, head light and I still feel sick. (I would like to apologise to Christine because I didn’t believe it was this weird. But it is.) I need to eat right before I take it or it will make me sick so I get to snack in the evenings and mornings. But never fear, as I write this I have been taking it for almost 5 days and I feel great, just a little ringing. The malaria is almost gone and I don’t feel bad—anymore. Malaria just makes me really tired and my stomach gross, hot/cold flashes (like ...

Okay, I really don’t know what to think right now. But I know that my heart is happy. Why? You say. Well because I know I am being prayed for and I KNOW without a shadow of a doubt that God hears those prayers. After I shared with you my low day, God woke me up at my early time, 4:40am and we had some time together. He is soo good to me. Thank you for lifting me up to Him in prayer. Don’t stop!! I also pray for you so that it’s a big circle of prayer. (I feel like Paul must have when he was writing the churches back home :o) Something else really exciting is I had a slow week this week, and had sort of come to a stand still with my projects that I was working on. So I hung out a lot with the boys in peds and played tic-tac-toe with them (I taught them) and I also played Uno with them (which Hans and I taught them). It turned out to be good too that I didn’t work much on the projects because two of the boys were discharged from the hospital at the end of the week and those extra games w...

Hmmmm, I think that I have been given a gift from God!! He planted a guava tree right next to my hut. I mean RIGHT next to my hut. I could if I wanted wake up in the morning take a few steps and eat a big juicy fatty guava. I have fallen in love with those things. We don’t have them in the states or at least not in Texas and WOWZERS they are good. If you ever get the chance you should stop by my hut and my famil will load you up with some. In fact my famil just this morning (Saturday) harvested a whole bunch and we gave them to all our surrounding neighbors. I have taken some here to the American house so they can eat some too. I love the seasons, sure here we don’t have spring, summer, winter and fall but we have guava, banana, mango and lime. Lucky me.

James—American, doctor of hospital Sarah—Danish, wife of doctor and nurse Lilly—Australian, short term missionary, all purpose painter, cooker, organizer. . . you get the idea Paul—Australian, husband of Lilly, short term missionary, mechanic Liz—American, SM from Southern, nurse Sonya—American, SM from Southern, social worker Hans—American, SM from Walla-Walla, French speaker, English teacher Sarah (soon to have a nickname)—American, SM from PUC, nurse Who's who in the famil. Swari--3 years old, youngest boy Gungadin--7 years old, boy Twi--10 years old, girl Clarice--12 years old, girl Louis--14 years old, boy Mature--father, works in lab in the hospital Ama--mother, sells things in the market

So I wrote that last blog a few days ago, I just haven’t had time to post it till now. Funny how things work, because I now feel very capable of expressing my down points to you. And today is definitely one of those down days. I feel awful, I am being attacked by the devil. I haven’t been able to get up the last few days to spend time with God in the morning. I’ve barely been able to get up and pray for the people on my list. Then I am mad at myself because of that, and then it seems that everything else can get me down! I realize how often my thoughts are not positive and how dependent on God I am, which takes me all the way back to the beginning of my problems, not being able to get up in the morning. Sigh. A low day. Tomorrow will be different, right? Thank God that He gives us a new day everyday and we can start afresh! Please pray for me. I hate low days!! Sure, who doesn’t? But I know I’ll be okay because my God doesn’t abandon me. (see I told you I was an optimist, even when I a...

For those of you who don’t know me as well as others, or for those of you who have simply forgotten. I am an optimist by nature. I try to look for the positive in most all situations. It’s easier for me to write about all the optimistic situations. By glancing through my blogs one might forget that I am in the mission field and that it is rough here, in all honesty, at times. I do struggle with the thoughts of, “what am I doing here? What is my general job here? Can I make a difference because I am not a nurse? AGHGHG, will I ever learn French?” It is just hard for me to think about it to much or for me to write about it to much. I will try my best to keep things looking “real” for you. But please note that I am what I am, and that’s an optimist.

This morning my Mere forgot to put salt in the rice. I tried a bite before she told us. It wasn’t bad, as far as over all taste goes. Burnt food tastes worse. But it was bland. It was boring. I compared it to the rice we ate the day before and it wasn’t anywhere near as good. As she added the salt it brought to mind a verse from the Bible where Jesus calls us the salt of the earth. He called me the salt of the earth. Could it be that God put me here to keep the world from being bland? God made me, me to bring joy and excitement to the world on behalf of Him? I hope so.

While in N’Djamena I read the book that inspired the movie “End of the Spear” an amazing movie and book called Through the Gates of Splendor, it should be the next thing you read or movie you watch. The Author is Jim Elliot’s wife, Elisabeth Elliot, and she has put the story together quite well. I wanted to share a few of the quotes that I really thought deep and poignant to life. “I dare not stay at home while the Quichuas [a tribe in Ecuador] perish. What if the well-filled church in the homeland needs stirring? They have the Scriptures, Moses, and their prophets, and a whole lot more. Their condemnation is written on their bank books and in the dust on their Bible covers” pg 19 “Every now and then I ask for something –a little thing, perhaps, and something answers. Maybe it’s only me, but something answers, and makes the request sound so funny that I laugh at myself and feel that He is smiling with me.” Pg 18 The one that tops them all is: “Wherever you are, be all there. Live t...

* Went to the HUGE market and bought food to eat—duh. Including two beautiful pineapples for liz * Went to a very long but good meeting on Sunday * Went to a REALLY nice hotel on Monday to meet with someone of good connections at ADRA (HR man) * Saw Parliament from across the street. * Went to the big mosque but couldn’t really go in because I was a woman, so I sat and waited while Hans went in. * Sat in a van with lots of people! * Ate tasty food * Ate my first chicken leg off of the bone. Kinda gross if you think about the fact you are eating a tendon and stuff you study about in A&P but it was tasty * Sat for very long periods of time * Took a moto from Kelo to Beré, which took about 2 plus hours because of all the water where at one point we had to get off the bikes and walk through very high water, my skirt was pulled up really high. In fact it was higher than any pair of shorts I normally wear! * I peed behind a giant termite home, very...

2 proposals for marriage 2 snakes (1 in my roof, and 1 in the garden area the one in my roof was a brilliant shade of green. If any of you reading this are a snake friend and know what kind that was do let me know, until then I would like to think that it was a deadly poisonous snake that could have killed me in an instant :0 ) 2 trips to the river

Last Friday I sat down and very excitedly wrote and a blog update about me going to N’Djamena. Then I got up to return to the hospital to finish working. On my way there I ran into Sarah and she asked where Hans was and suggested that I go talk with James and André (the hospital Admin). I went and talked with them and SHOCKER plans changed! Really what’s new, I should have known :o) I had thought that I was going to get my way paid for to go the capital but it turns out the hospital can’t afford to pay so I was going to have to pay for myself and it also turns out that we weren’t going to be needed to pick up the Danish girl because she couldn’t make it either and we weren’t going to be needed to stay the whole week or go in general if we didn’t want to. A little flustered and confused I went to tell Hans the news. I still wanted to go to the meeting and I felt that the whole trip would be useful, but I wasn’t sure because I was really low on money for the month and wasn’t sure how it ...

I don't know how to explain how I feel. Every evening after sun down and after we have all eaten I go and sit with the kids and mom on the mat and we just . . . this is how I don't know how to explain, but it is just the most amazing feeling in the world. We just sit/lay together and exist. I know is sounds funny but that's what we do. Sometimes I just lay there and look up at all the millions of stars and smile, I can't believe I get to be here with these amazing people. Usually every night Comga, whom I have nicknamed Gungadin :o) is usually on one side and Twia is on the other side of me. Sometimes we squish each other, other times we talk. There are times when we just lay there and they play with my 'long' hair. Never anything overly spectacular, just always overly amazing. I thought about this last night and how much I love that time we share. I wondered how I was going to explain it to you and I couldn't think of how to do it. I love being able to feel...

I am going to the capital again! A nice place but a rotten way to travel all squished in a van. But by going I am going to be meeting with the Dir and former Dir of ADRA Tchad. I am going to be proposing some projects with a fellow SM, Hans and we will be meeting with them to find out what their plans are for Tchad and what they can do for us. I am really excited because this is what I have come here for. But please pray for me, I am really afraid, this is something I want so bad to work out that I am afraid if it doesn't I will be crushed/ back at the beginning. I pray that this opportunity is very successful and that we take complete advantage of the opportunities God has given us to network and plan for the development of His children here in Tchad! I won't be able to blog or write any of you for a week. I am leaving tomorrow and won't be back until next Friday night at the earliest, so that would make it Sat when I would write you again. That is if the roads are clear a...

Sep 6 is one month since I've: 2 xs passed out 2x given blood 2 feet, a word I taught my famil 2 sets of batteries for my lamp 2 white girls in Tchad have made babies cry 2 times I've gone on the 7+ hour drive to the capital in a small van/bus

I've donated twice now. When I say donate I mean I tried to donate. You see I have very small veins. The bags here that they have are gage 12 needles, which in people terms means HONKERS! Small vein + big needle equals pain and passing out. Yup twice now when I have given I have passed out. Never once in the billion times I gave at Southern did I pass out. So here is my proposal, because I am 0- that makes me a universal donor which means if there is an emergency surgery and they need blood fast I can give to save a life. But if they have those big FATTY needles I am useless because I can only get out about 1/3 of a bag, which is nothing at all. So if you are reading this and have access to normal sized blood bags with needles and think you could arrange for a donation of them I would love it, I would be able to have my own stash of bags with petit needles which I could use when needed. Please help me give my blood!!! Other wise I don't think I will be able to give again and I ...

Bonjour. I feel like I should have something to say, nothing really big but at least something. Guess I can just embrace this time I have free and go take a nap. But don’t fear all you devoted readers of my blog, I will write more. In fact I think I feel something witty coming. . . .stay tuned to after my nap :0) ..................................... Hey ya'll check out the other side of life here in Tchad--Nursing! Liz (my partner in crime) has a blog too, it is lizrandall.blogspot.com let her know you miss her too!

Missionaries log: 0440 God wakes me up to have worship, prayer and time with Him 0620 Get dressed and put together everything I want to take with me to the hospital 0645 Eat breakfast with Mature 0715 Arrive at the hospital late. Find a seat for worship that is in three languages. Nangere, French, and Arabic. 0830 Get all the meds together to give to TB patience and give them out. Take time to give meds and chat with them all in French. 1000 Meet with Liz in the American house to practice French on the Rosetta stone 1040 If it’s my day for email, email all the lovely people back home and write blog. (we have separate days because of computer battery and email min. on the phone are expensive.) 1200 Back at hospital working on projects, getting info compiling facts. 1305 Play with the kids in the peds ward. Checkers, color, talk, all sorts of stuff. 1400ish Head home to eat lunch. 1415 Eat lunch. Yummm 1500 Play with th...

There have been some questions asked as to what I actually do here, so I will tell you in a short blog. I am in charge of developing some programs here at the hospital. James has an idea to start a program for pregnant mothers and their new born children. The program would require them to come in for 4 or so prenatal visits and that they have the birth of their child here. They would be required to bring in the child every other month for a check up and vaccinations. If they kept all their appointments than everything would be free. The children would be vaccinated for parasites and malaria up until the age of 5. The program would need to be funded by donations and sponsorships. I’ll work on that part second. So right now I am working on writing a paper that proves we need this to help save the lives of the children. I am working on getting all the statistics for the hospital from last January till now. Along with questionnaires to expectant mothers and mothers whose childr...