September 2004 Adventures

September has been an action packed month!  We’ve only slept at our home in Santaní for 8 nights, not consecutively.  We are very good at packing & unpacking!

During the first 4 days of September, Linda was in Asunción taking a class in English as a Foreign Language.  The class was taught by a fellow MSUMer, Paige Pushkin.  She taught EFL in Kazakhstan for 2 years before earning her Master’s Degree from Wheaton College. 

While Linda was in Asunción, Ed spent the time finishing the Agrimissions well and getting set up at the Guaraní Reservation.  Ed had some excitement, another hospital run.  While Ed was at the Reservation, a man came that had been stabbed in the chest twice.  Ed took him and his daughter to Santaní, but the hospital had no beds available or equipment to handle the emergency.  The hospital did clean the blood off the man, and inserted an IV drip.  Ed continued on to Asunción in our Land Cruiser, this time just like an ambulance, with IV drip bag hanging from the ceiling.  The man was admitted to a local hospital, operated on, and was released later the next week.  Here he is with the daughter that went to the hospital with him.

The second week we drilled the well at the Reservation.  The well drilled to 42 meters (138.6’).  We have so many good pictures from this project; we just don’t know where to begin.  Here are some (we added a new section to the web site with more pictures of the Reservation):

The third week in September we helped with a medical team from Belleville, Illinois.  This group has been coming to Paraguay for the past 6 years.  They were a joy to work with.  The highlight of the week was on Wednesday, September 15^th – Linda got to help deliver a baby boy!  The new Mom is only 20 years old, and this is her 4^th child.  All went well, and Santiago David (James David) was born at 12:58 AM. 

The team brought several types of medical personnel, including dentists.  We all benefited from the dentist being here.  Ed is having his teeth cleaned by Dr. Kim.

The last 2 weeks of September we were back at the Guaraní Reservation.  This area will have more extensive construction than our other projects.  Included will be facilities for the local school.  The school has 98 students, but only 6 desks – yes, we’ve ordered more.  They have never had running water, so the children have never used a modern toilet, or washed their hands with running water.  We’ll keep you posted as to the progress of this remote school.