| |
Sharon's Turn
to write
How difficult can it be to hand out
mosquito nets?
Malaria kills one million children each year in sub-Saharan
Africa. It is spread by mosquitoes which only bite at night.
Sleeping under a net has always been recommended as a good means of
protection. Recently there has been intensive research leading to
the development of more robust nets which are also treated with
insecticide. These kills mosquitoes which land on the net; a
'belt-and-braces' approach! The insecticide remains effective even
if the net is washed - up to about 20 times. These nets therefore
offer vastly superior protection to the older variety. Despite all
these advantages very few people here own any net. This may be
because of poverty, ignorance of the benefits, or because of the
all-pervasive fatalistic attitude. Whatever the reasons, many people
suffer needlessly.
I remember how the idea of widespread distribution of mosquito nets
first came to mind. It was in April 2007 while the team from the
Portadown church was with us, and one of our executive members came
to meet them despite being very unwell with malaria. I had already
given him malaria tablets to treat a previous episode, and there he
was, sick again. "Surely we could do more to help him," I thought.
"And if we are going to help him, why not help others also?"
I was further encouraged to pursue the idea when a visitor came to
church the following Sunday. He worked at the provincial health
department as co-ordinator of the malaria control program for Tete
province. He was positive about my ideas and seemed to think the
government could help me to source bed nets at a reasonable price. I
naively imagined the project would be done and dusted within a few
short weeks. Unfortunately the excitement I felt at that time was
premature. That man turned out to be extremely busy, often out of
town and impossible to track down. When I finally met him in his
office in September he told me that the nets they distribute are
designated for specific projects, and even if I paid for them it
would not be right for them to be taken and used for another
project. It was an understandable response ... I just wished he had
told me that in the beginning! He did, however, say that I should
come back to him once I had sourced the nets, and he would give me a
letter of authorisation to distribute them in the community.
By this time the rains were only two months away. With the onset of
the rainy season malaria becomes an even greater threat, and I had
wanted to get the nets out into the community before this happened.
That was not to be. There followed a tedious couple of months
exploring and rejecting various possible sources of mosquito nets,
until finally a friend gave me the telephone number of the man who
co-ordinates the malaria program in Mozambique for UNICEF. That man
gave me the details of three companies who sell nets commercially.
Thanks to the wonders of electronic communication I soon had quotes
from all three companies. Finally, on 23 January, I collected 1000
nets from Tete airport. I had no idea what 1000 nets would look
like. At times I wondered if we need to hire a lorry to transport
them, so I was quite relieved that it only needed 2 trips to collect
them all in the car.
Having locked up the nets in our guest room, I wrote to the man at
the provincial health department asking for the promised letter of
authorisation to distribute them. The following day I received a
text message on the phone to say he could not authorise the project,
that instead I must approach the director of the provincial health
department. At that point I became most disheartened. The health
director is currently tied up both with coordinating the response to
the floods in a distant part of the province and the control of a
cholera outbreak here in the city. Even if she were favourable, a
request for permission to distribute 1000 bed nets, coming from
someone she did not know was not likely to be given top priority. I
had visions of the bed nets rotting in our guest flat.
That night we prayed through the issue at our church prayer meeting,
and the following day God showed his hand. In recent months we have
been privileged to find a friend in government circles. She is
called Rufina, and is the local chief in Capirizanje, the rural area
where we have several of our churches. She is a wonderful
God-fearing woman with a passion to help her people. For some weeks
I had been trying and failing to meet with her, but the day after we
prayed she came to our house. I outlined my plans for the mosquito
nets and my fears of the whole project floundering on the rocks of
bureaucracy. She promised to talk to the district health chiefs.
Within 24 hours I had permission to proceed! What a mighty God we
serve! If all continues to go to plan we hope to have the nets
distributed by the middle of March. We have missed the height of
this season but since the nets are so durable they will still be
saving lives five years from now.
How lovely are the feet of those who bring good news!
We have both had the joy of bringing good news. Gregory is just back
from a weekend seminar in Zimbabwe where he gave intensive teaching
on how to preach. Because of the disastrous economic situation in
the country many church leaders have felt the need to move away,
thus depriving the church of valuable spiritual feeding at a time of
critical need. Gregory was privileged to be able to bring hope into
this rather glum situation. He was also greatly encouraged to meet
with many old friends who have not left, but are shining for the
Lord during these dark days.
I have had the enormous privilege of teaching God's Word to women
with no church background. Our friend Joanna, whose story we wrote
back in June, has opened her home for women's Bible studies. She is
such a dynamic woman and is very well known in her neighbourhood.
Each week she goes door-to-door reminding her neighbours of the
program. I do a talk on basic health issues each time, and a Bible
talk which is usually a story of a woman who encountered Jesus.
There are typically between 10 and 20 women, most of whom do not go
to church. They are hearing the wonderful news of Jesus for the
first time.
To widows and orphans living in Capirizanje we also hope to be good
news. Thanks to the efforts of those in N. Ireland who abseiled down
Scrabo Tower on 13 October, we have some funds for HIV/AIDS work.
Knowing the money was on its way, I asked Rufina how she would help
widows and orphans if the resources were made available to her. She
immediately responded that she would like to run an income
generating project with a revolving fund which could be used to help
these vulnerable people. This week sees the launch of this project
which we anticipate will bring new hope to the hopeless in the name
of Jesus.
How exciting is it to serve God overseas?
Why not come and find out? There is a team coming to work alongside
us for two weeks in June and there are still spaces. If you would
like to meet the people, see the places, and know first-hand the
joys and pains that fill our newsletters, this could be your
opportunity.In closing, we would like to mention
the floods. Many of you have contacted us asking if we have been
affected, and we are grateful for your concern. In fact Tete city
has not been affected. The flooding is much further downriver in an
area that is inaccessible from here. We do not see ourselves having
any specific role in the flood relief efforts. The outbreak of
cholera is a much more immediate threat in the city and in some of
the surrounding villages.
Thank you once again for standing with
us in the journey of faith.
Grace to you
Sharon and Gregory Kane
Elim International Missions
|
|
| |
Prayer Requests |
|
| |
- Thank God for Rufina! Pray
that she stands firm in her faith and integrity and
continues to bring blessing to her people.
- Pray that the mosquito
nets will get out into the villages without further
delays, that they will be used and will save lives
- Thank God that Pastor
Cafuliza has found a suitable plot of land on which the
Matundo church can put up a building
- Thank God for the women
hearing the good news at Joanna's house, also in Matundo.
Pray that many of them will decide to follow Jesus and
will join the church there
- Thank God for Gregory's
safe travel to and from Zimbabwe and for a very
productive time there. Pray for a God-given solution in
that land
- Continue to pray for Mel
Price. Sometimes the rains make it impossible for her to
reach her destination and her group has to be cancelled.
Pray that she will cope with such frustrations and
maintain a sense of humour
- Thank God that we had a
truly lovely holiday in Malawi over the new year, and
returned refreshed and ready to embrace the challenges
of the new year
- The rainy season is at its
height. This is when travel is most dangerous and
diseases are at their peak. Pray for our health and
safety.
- Pray for the government
officials and international aid agencies battling to
co-ordinate the response to the floods and the cholera
outbreak.
|
|
| |
Sharon's Joke of
the Month |
|
| |
* Bump Start *
About five years ago, the battery in my
beat-up VW Beetle
had died because I left the lights on overnight. I was in a
hurry to get to work on time, so I ran into the house to get
my wife to give me a hand in starting the car.
I told her to get into our second
car, a prehistoric
oversized gas guzzler, and use it to push my car fast enough
to start it. I pointed out to her that because the VW had an
automatic transmission, it needed to be pushed at least 30
MPH for it to start. She said fine, hopped into her car, and
drove off.
I sat there fuming, wondering what
she could be doing. A
minute passed by, and when I saw her in the rear view mirror
coming at me at about 40 MPH, I realized that I should have
been a bit more clear with my directions!
|
|
| |
Gregory's Quote of
the Month |
|
| |
*
Roald Dahl on Living Overseas
*
"It would seem that when the British live for years in a foul and
sweaty climate among foreign people
they maintain their sanity by allowing themselves to go slightly
dotty."
From Dahl's autobiography, 'Going Solo', referring to the final
years of the British Empire |
|
|
