Installment 33

Installment 33
And so it began, much like every day in the tropics. Sun quietly sneaking across the horizon, birds singing, the smell of bacon and eggs cooking and the coffee, hot and ready…..the gentle hum not far from my room, beginning to grow…..Then I became aware that the gentle humming was the kids beginning to awake and the bacon, eggs and coffee……I wish!!… So, like every day at Instep, the hum started to crescendo into a cacophony of unabated shrieks, screams, laughter and some crying….just like usual….and that was just me anticipating the great horde awakening. Imagine what the kids sound like…. Arising, I realized that I have come to grips with the old guy in my bathroom. Every morning he glares at me from the mirror and insinuates that someday I might look a lot like him….when I’m older, of course. With a fine hearty breakfast….not in me, but somewhere in my memory, I headed out for the storehouse where Fundi and his workers come and get their morning instructions and tools…..and pray together. Takes me somewhere around an hour to get in sync with the Fundi and the day’s schedule, and then I am free to sneak around the property avoiding the kids…..well almost anyway. For the last almost week, Carla has had the audacity to leave me alone with Jeff and has been luxuriating at the hospital with Dorca….who is doing better and will probably come home on Wed….we should talk about Dorcas some more… But J is learning,,,or maybe getting to know me well enough that he can only take so much ‘Babu’, and makes some lame excuse about the kids needing food and medicine. So, by about 9 or 10, he is in his old nemesis Toyota and heading for supplies and stuff that 100+ people need at the compound…..or so he says. Like I said, though, he does leave me the keys and a clipboard.
A couple of days ago, Sarah (3 yrs old, and the one that was dropped 20’ down an outdoor toilet at birth) became a bit lethargic and so Jeff and I took her to the Dr. Nothing serious…just malaria, which could be serious if not treated. I still amazes me how it’s crazy around here, but it all stops when one kid is sick….reminds me of Jesus talking about going after the one lost sheep. Anyway, you’d think that with all the snotlockers running around, it would be easy to miss one with problems…..doesn’t seen to happen though…..somehow this place stays intent on caring for the kids. There doesn’t seem to be enough time to take care of all the logistical stuff here, but there is always time to care for the kids…..you should come and see.
We are slowly getting materials on site…God being kind in holding the rains to a minimum. Once the dam breaks and the rains come in earnest….love that term…the ground will saturate within a couple of days and we won’t be able to get the trucks in…mostly because loaded, they won’t float. I am getting pretty confident that fundi will have both building out of the ground…well, not ‘out’ of the ground, but up to ground level with the slabs poured…or ‘cast’, as they say, so the work can continue even around the rains. If you have time, add us to your prayer list … two things,,,materials to get on site, and $$$’s to finish the dorm….looks like we might be getting # 94 this week……oh yeah, and pray for J & C…I can’t imagine that they can run this place without me….and I am scheduled to leave on the 12^th……who will fill my shoes….I keep the kids busy playing hide and seek….