Charity Work; What to do where there is no Doctor; Good Health Lesson 6

My beloved and well used book

I worked in outlying areas as a volunteer teenager. The ambulances were varied; a wheelbarrow for an elderly person, a donkey cart for a woman in childbirth. In one area, there was no hospital.

At the time, blessed as I had been to grow up in an area where there were a number of hospitals and clinics, it was a bit scary to realise that when someone could die, there was simply no hospital to turn to. 

In another outlying area, there was a hospital a few hours travel away.
Sometimes we would load an extremely ill person in the back of a family van, and bump over the potholed dirt roads - where there was a road in the midst of thorn trees and thick vegetation - hours and hours to get to a hospital.
On the journey we were stopped by a swollen stream; water roaring by, with no bridge. 
We eventually got over that, terrified the car would flood, only for the car to become stuck in deep sand, wheels spinning around and around. 
We pushed at the car with straining shoulders, while cries of agony and fear from the endangered sufferer came the back. 

And oh, the blessed relief to bring the sufferer into the warm welcoming light of the Hospital Casualty Department; welcomed by capable people with kindly and calm faces, white coats and quick action to save not one but two lives; the little one coming into the world saved by a miracle of dedication, knowledge and hard work. That is still a wonderful memory.

There are other memories over many years, though, not as happy. 
I have tramped through outlying areas and  been asked into in a hut or plastic liner home to find someone needing immediate attention; and there was no hospital in the area. 
There are times when the Charity worker is presented during the course of his or her voluntary work by this situation. 
The answer is to be prepared for it.

Tips to be prepared for health emergency;
1. As Charity worker, get a recognised qualification in health care prior to beginning your work. This will enable you to be properly equipped to give good care of a reputable standard
2. Update your qualification regularly, keeping up to date with all new developments 
3. Ensure that your qualification is recognised in the area in which you minister, and register your particulars and qualification with an appropriate group in the area
4. Ensure you have good resource books on field trip with you - often you will be out of range for mobile phones, there will be no telephones or telephone lines.
Sometimes there is flood, or drought, or conflict in the area. 
Electricity is not always available, and a computer is not usually available.
A good resource book or books can be most helpful in these situations

A great book which I have carried around with me for many years is
'Where There Is No Doctor
A Village Health Care Handbook for Africa'
by David Werner, with Carol Thuman, Jane Maxwell and Andrew Pearson
I purchased my book many years ago, and it has been a book I have carried everywhere with me, together with a few other treasured health resource books. 

At present there is a free book download of this wonderful book;  please find the link;
http://www.nicagazette.com/2011/07/free-ebook-download-doctor/
A donation can be made through a link on the above page to the publisher, Hesperian Foundation. 

According to the Editor of Health on the above webpage, this book is the most widely used health education book in tropical developing countries. The book is based on David Werner's experiences at his Project Piaxtla in western Mexico. It has sold over 1 million copies, and been translated into over 100 languages. 

The book covers all aspects of people's health ranging from diarrhoea to malaria and bone fractures and ringworm. 
The book explains to you what you can do yourself, and how to prevent, recognise and treat many common sicknesses. 
There is also a large section on giving first aid. It also shows you how to recognise problems you might be unable to cope with and need to refer to a health worker.

Watch the blog for further great health tips and books I have used as resource for years on my field trips - in later blog posts!

Good luck with your good work helping those most in need. May blessings be with you and yours.

*With grateful thanks to David Werner, Carol Thuman, Jane Maxwell, Andrew Pearson. Your book has helped save many lives

Cleanliness in the Home - preventing Disease and promoting Comfort; Good Health Lesson 5

Wherever we eat, cook, live and sleep - it is home. Keeping our home clean, tidy and insect free is good sense - a clean home prevents disease and promotes family comfort. I have lived in beautiful houses with bath, shower and indoor plumbing - I have slept on concrete floors on my overcoat and with my bag as a pillow on Charity field trips - I have experienced water flooding in my bedroom during an Indian monsoon rain, my overcoat having to be thrown because it grew a beard of grey mildew. I have slept in tiny rooms in squatter camps, with a bucket to wash from, and a communal outhouse. Wherever I have lived during my journeys has been my centre of happiness - my home. There is only one thing I ask - that it be clean.

It is a challenge to keep clean when the funds are tight, we are living in a camp or as a refugee. However it makes good sense; if we don't keep our home clean, we can contract disease, which can cause us illness, discomfort, pain, sometimes disability and sometimes death. So tips to prevent disease and keep cleanliness in the Home are invaluable.

Some basic Tips;
1. Do not let pigs or chickens come into the house or places where the children usually play
2. Do not let dogs lick children or climb up on their beds. Disease can be spread by dogs through fleas and ticks on them as well as by licking. Keep your dog clean by ensuring their fur is washed, and that they are properly dried after a bath. Leaving a dog undried after a bath - especially in a cold climate - can cause illness to the beloved pet. Be careful to use the correct product to wash your dog
3. Examine your family regularly for lice, whether head lice or body lice. Also, check that your children have not contracted worms which can show up in their bowel movements. It is best not to let your children use sand pits or outside areas as a toilet. Train them to use an outhouse or indoor toilet, and to wash their hands both before and after using the toilet
4. Do not spit on the floor or streets, as spit can spread disease. When you cough or sneeze, cover your mouth with your hand or a soft piece of paper. Throw away the tissue into a waste bin/ refuse bin. 
Wash your hands with soap and water, and dry them well after sneezing in them
5. If children or animals have a bowel movement near the house or in the house, clean it up at once with water and soap or a disinfectant
6. Examine the beds for bed bugs. If the mattresses have bed bugs, they will need to be cleaned and treated
7. Hang or spread blankets and sheets often in the sun. If you have bedbugs, wash the sheets and blankets, hang in the sun and iron well on the same day you clean and treat your mattresses
8. Examine your family for any sign of skin disease such as scabies and send them for treatment if any signs are present
9. Clean your house often. Sweep and wash the floors, walls and beneath the furniture. Fill in any cracks and holes in the floor or walls where scorpions, bedbugs, cockroaches or lice can hide
10. Don't let flies into the house or in the kitchen. They spread disease. Do not let them settle on food. Keep food covered and, if you are blessed to have a refrigerator or cold closet pantry, keep food well sealed there
11. Don't allow mosquitoes in the home. They spread malaria. Use mosquito nets at night if you are in a high mosquito area. Use insect repellant. Don't leave standing pools of water near your home - mosquitoes can breed there
12. If you have a flea infestation in the house, disinfect the house
13. If you have a termite problem in the foundations of your home, treat your home to rid yourself of the pest

Keep your home clean, and your home will be your refuge and protect the good health of both you and your family.

Keeping water supplies clean - Build an outhouse; Good Health Lesson 4

There are areas where no plumbing, sanitation or toilets are available such as in some rural areas, refugee camps or squatter camps. If human waste is not properly disposed of, unpleasant disease can result. If you are in one of these areas, why not do as community members of an outlying district where I did volunteer work did - build outhouses. 

Wooden houses (the old fashioned pit latrines) were built in the countryside, with buckets underneath the wooden seat which could be easily removed regularly, cleaned and disinfected. Remember not to built your outhouse near a river, well or water supply. 

Also be careful - if you built an outhouse higher than a water supply and very near to it, any human waste not disposed of carefully can seep into the ground and filter through rainwater down the embankment into the drinking water supply. So build at least 50 feet away from a water supply, and not on a higher level than the water supply.

Stuart Michael M gives excellent advice on how to build an outhouse. Please find the link;
http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Build-an-Outhouse-Yourself&id=4280816

Becky Lower gives directions on building the box structure, cutting sheets of plywood and the measurements needed, building a seat box, screens, ventilation and vent pipe. Please find the link;
http://www.ehow.com/how_6917762_construct-outhouse.html

Please remember that any time you use equipment such as a saw, hammer, nails or other equipment, there is a great risk of hurting yourself or others. Ask around and either get an expert to make the outhouse for you, or supervise your making of the facility. Your personal health and safety is always a priority.

If you wish to use concrete, we have made concrete many times in many outlying areas. The same principle applies; ask someone who is an expert in making concrete to help you. There is a definite knack. And be careful to keep little children and pets away from the drying concrete. 

I used to sit with a book and read next to my drying concrete until it had safely hardened with no possibility of being written in or hurting anyone while hardening. Good luck with your outhouse!

*With thanks to Stuart Michael M and Becky Lower for their invaluable information

Good Shepherd Church Seminary; The Early Christians

For those studying for the priesthood, please find the link to 
Eberhard Arnold's e-book, 
The Early Christians in Their Own Words*
for resource reading and study.

Arnold's book is a source book of original writings, including texts by 
Tertullian, Hermas, Ignatius, Justin, Polycarp, Irenaeus, Origen and Clement of Alexandria.
Our grateful thanks to Eberhard Arnold for his gracious permission to share a link to this e-book as in the Preface and conditions for use of the e-book. 

data.plough.com/ebooks/EarlyChristians.pdf

*Copyright 2011 by The Plough Publishing House. Used with permission
*Photograph taken by Catherine Nicolette. With thanks to the artist for this wonderful representation

Heartrending poverty at Coronation Park Camp

It was a winter's day in South Africa recently, and I was visiting a camp at Coronation Park. Kindly faces welcomed me to their makeshift homes. Currently two hundred and sixty people are living in this camp. In one area, a plastic home which collapsed on the homeowners in a storm, was still lying forlornly on the ground. Luckily the family were not severely injured, and other members of the camp hastened to bring them in, wet and shivering, into their homes to assist them. The mark of hospitality and kindness of those living in poverty towards each other in the camp is inspiring.

DEDICATED VOLUNTEERS
Mark van der Walt from the Marike de Klerk Children Fund works in the camp. I was privileged to visit the camp recently and witnessed the dedicated work Mark does there. Mr and Mrs Nielsen facilitate the camp, and assist many people from all walks of life who have fallen on hard times. Mrs. Nielsen was welcoming, and it was wonderful to see her caring attitude towards all the camp members. Children were well supervised and delighted to see me, and their smiles lit the day.

POVERTY EVERYWHERE

There is much poverty in the camp. Plastic liners form tents. There are some small makeshift houses or caravans, windows taped together with brown tape to attempt to keep out the rain and cold. Residents continue the struggle to stay clean by washing clothing as often as possible. One shack had a fire burning outside to try to warm water for a wash, in the bitterly cold winter weather.

DIGNITY OF THE CAMP RESIDENTS

There are so many needs in the camp. Children are being schooled, and need uniforms, food and assistance with school fees. Needs include electricity, not available at present. Food, adequate shelter and assistance for plumbing for water are other needs. The camp members explained to me that a great need in the camp is  for electricity. The small generator is used only in extreme need because the camp residents often do not have the funds to run it. It was heartrending to see the dignity of the camp residents, and how hard they work to try to keep the camp clean and tidy with such little resources. A gentleman shuffled painfully to the door to courteously greet me, a stranger, to his shack. His mobility is severely compromised, and other members of the camp help him to get around on a wheelchair.

Mark does all he can to ease the lives of the desperately poor who struggle to live from day to day in the camp. At Easter he delivered Easter eggs to the children at the camp, who were thrilled to receive this treat. Mark also provides transport for the ill and children needing surgical and medical interventions to the doctors, hospitals and clinics. He has dedicatedly transported a family and infant back and forth to the hospital, enabling the little one to receive the care he so urgently needed.

STOLEN BAKKIE

The sad news is that one of the volunteer workers recently had his bakkie car stolen while fundraising for the worthy work at the camp. He was financially unable to replace it. Due to the theft he regretfully is no longer able to carry out his work of mercy, which was a tragic turn of events.

SUFFERING IN THE RECENT COLD

The residents have been suffering in the recent cold, and were affected by the snow which has uncharacteristically begun falling in parts of South Africa. Indeed, there was a snow blizzard on the roads as I was travelling after visiting the camp. This depth of winter has been very distressing to the camp residents and in particular to the small children.

NEEDS IN THE CAMP

The needs of those in the camp are for -

food; employment; soap; water; washing facilities and toiletries;

clothing; school clothing; sponsorship of school fees;

transport to hospitals, clinics, doctors.

Dental help, School books, Electricity, Petrol/diesel for the generator in the interim would be a marvellous donation. Window panes for broken panes are needed.

BEACON OF HOPE

The little church which stands as a beacon of hope where the residents gather to pray and ask God for assistance in their plight, has broken windows taped together. Plastic liner homes, makeshift tents and homes built of pieces of wood and rapidly deteriorating caravans do not hold out the bitter cold, especially for infants and children. Where does Lumiere start? The inspiration to me is, the same place as Mark and Mr and Mrs Nielsen do - by opening our hearts to the plight of these brothers and sisters of our global village.

HEARTRENDING REPORT

The last report I received from the camp is heartrending.

Severe weather conditions are being experienced. The lowest ever daytime temperatures have recently been recorded. Snow and heavy rainfalls, with night temperatures into minus 3 have made matters far worse regarding the plight of the camp and needy people. The Marike de Klerk Children Fund organisation have been placed in a crisis, and have had to scrape every penny together to provide relief. This has been the worst situation the organisation has faced since their foundation ten years back.

"Things are extremely tough at the moment. The pleas for help are flooding in and it has left us in a desperate situation," Mark writes.

A GLEAM OF LIGHT

One gleam of light has shone through all this suffering. A baby that Mark and his volunteers have been assisting over the last nine months has been operated on. Without the operation the little one would not have been able to walk properly; after medical and surgical care, he can look forward to a normal life - thanks to the dedication of Mark and his volunteers.

CAN YOU HELP?

Having seen at first hand what the needs are, my heart goes out to all suffering in Coronation Park in Krugersdorp. In the spirit of Lumiere, please could you help in any way possible?

CONTACT MARK VAN DER WALT

If Divine Providence has led you to read these words, and you feel it on your heart to help, please contact

Mr. Mark Van Der Walt at markvanderwalt@telkomsa.net

Donations can be made to the Marike de Klerk Children Fund. Mark can be contacted re the same. If you have donations of food, clothing, petrol or other assistance, please contact Mark or email lumierecharity@yahoo.co.uk

Home that collapsed during a storm

Camp place of worship

Lumiere remembers Neil Armstrong

On July 20 1969,  as a little girl of eight years old in far off Welkom in Free State, South Africa, I can tell you exactly what I was doing. I was in the Standard One class, and Sr. Bernadette had done a most thrilling thing; she had called off the class, smuggled in a radio, and we were all clandestinely listening to the most enthralling event. A man was landing on the moon. We sat in tight awed bunches in our polished, uncomfortable wooden desks; pigtailed and school-uniformed, listening to the report of the most wondrous happening of that time.

Little did I know that history was in the making. Sister had us all learning about space travel; daily we spoke of Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins. Further missions to the moon were closely tracked by us. We had large maps hand-drawn by ourselves over the class noticeboards, with coloured pieces of wool on tin tacks tracking the movements of the Apollo missions. Our local garages gave out Apollo stickers and pictures of our heroes every time we bought petrol. Dad was constantly besieged by ourselves to drive more. Why? So that we could use petrol faster, and have to get more, together with the next prized Apollo sticker. Dad sighed.

Sr. Bernadette told us we were living in times of history, and to thank God for the wonders we were seeing. And how right she was. We had learned that it was possible for us to do the impossible; to dream the great; to move beyond the boundaries our humanity had placed before us.

It was some time before the excitement died down. When I left Standard One and went to Standard Two, it was another great year with another great teacher. However, it was quite a culture shock leaving the classroom which was dedicated to Armstrong and the Apollo teams, the plaster moon with its rings which we had made and which had the unfortunate tendency to start melting somewhat during the blistering heat of the Welkom heatwaves, for a moon-free zone in Standard Two. I soon adjusted, and Apollo became a memory.

It was years before I really understood what a wonderful time this had been, and what a great achievement had been made. The Psalmists and King David had spoken of the wonderful creation of the moon at night which lights our way. Jesus the Christ had stood and looked at the moon during his childhood, and His journeys as He preached the Word of Goodness and Light to us. I had looked at that very same moon, a free gift to everyone on earth. And now we had touched its sacred surface. I prayed blessings for all who had helped to achieve that dream. 

Years later I read a story which, in the context of my spiritual journey at the time, I found both touching and inspirational. Astronaut Aldrin took communion in the form of loaf and wine shortly after they landed, in gratitude and respect to the God Who made us. Aldrin poured the wine into the chalice, and in the one-sixth gravity of the moon, the wine slowly curled and gracefully came up the side of the cup. He then read the sacred writing from John, 'I am the vine, you are the branches. Whosoever abides in me will bring forth much fruit.' He ate the tiny consecrated Host of loaf-bread, and swallowed the consecrated Wine. 

This story has been an inspiration to me, and as minister I have recounted it to many people. To me, it is a celebration and signature of respect by these daring and talented men on behalf of us as humanity, to the God Who made us at the moment of great growth in our journey as humanity. These three took the time before disembarking and placing the first footprint on the surface of the moon, to turn their hearts in silent gratitude and respect to the God of All. I am sure I speak on behalf of all of us who sat breathlessly listening on that memorable day in 1969, to give our condolences to the family of the great Neil Armstrong and our thanks to them for the great act of service Armstrong did for our human family. A candle has been lit by Lumiere in remembrance of Armstrong, and for his family and friends.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1247118--neil-armstrong-first-man-on-the-moon-dead-at-82

http://www.snopes.com/glurge/communion.asp

*Photograph taken in the beautiful Free State by Catherine Nicolette. Please feel free to use copyright free for any worthy purpose
*Name of teacher has been changed

Will you help bring clean water to Rwanda?

Lumiere Charity has received an email from Alexa and Charity; Water. Their dynamic September Campaign to bring clean, safe drinking water to the people of Rwanda is in full swing. The video viewed by Lumiere shows the inspirational work done by the dedicated members of the Charity. Clean water continues to be needed in areas of Rwanda; water is needed in order to deliver safe medical and maternity care; to slake thirst; to maintain life; to keep cool and clean. So many children have to spend hours fetching water. When I worked during one holiday in my late teens as a charity worker in the depths of Africa, I learned to live as the people there were living. That meant using a candle; no electricity. Nailing a piece of cloth over the house window into the wall by means of tin tacks. A bucket with a measured amount of water was for a bath; and it was my task to go and bring water from the pump. I would lift my water drum, walk all the way to the local mission pump, and wait my turn to get the water. I loved the way the village people would congregate and chatter at the pump, the women in gaily patterned clothing, with their babies tied by small blankets to their backs, quiet and happy. The bees would buzz around the pump, coming to drink water in clusters from the water that had dropped into the small basin below the pump left there especially for them. The sun would beam down warmly, a little wind rustled through the thorn trees, and I was happy.

Eventually it would be my turn, and I would pump the water into the water drum, encouraged by the villagers who found my initial efforts to pump hilarious (it took a while to get the knack!) They would give me a hand. Then came the hard bit; the backbreaking carrying of the heavy water drum back to the mission. I would arrive back, shattered. It is hard work. And the drum cannot be dropped; water is too precious. Dropped water or a failed well is linked to survival; carrying water is a responsibility to the community. So, during that time, I learned deep respect for water. Now we have the chance to help our Rwandan brothers and sisters in our global family have the water they need; please click into the link and assist with the September campaign. In the spirit of Lumiere, let us link hands and help to bring water to those in need.

Please click into the link below;
http://charitywater.org/september

*Picture courtesy of Charitywater.org