Road to Rwanda----Peace has covid

 Last night at about 2:30 a.m. I woke from my dream with someone calling me, "Momma!"  Now and then I hear one of the children calling me like that, but generally it is only God reminding me to pray. I stayed in bed for about an hour waiting to go back to sleep.  When that did not happen, I got up and checked social media.  There were messages waiting for me on Facebook Messenger from Paul and Peace.  Both were letting me know that Peace has covid.  She says it is a mild case with just a stuffy nose and maybe some coughing that just started this morning.  She has been waiting in a nursing home since July for all the paperwork to be completed for the funding stream in Massachusetts for her to access services such as an apartment and support.  As said, she is in a nice friendly nusing home (but who wants to be in a nursing home, and the time has been LONG for her), so I know she will be well cared for,  but we still would appreciate your prayer...

Road to Rwanda----Hair Salons

 I just came home from my weekly hair appointment.  The price is $3 USD for a wash, set, dry, comb out.   It takes about 2 hours, and I sit and enjoy my Kindle while I wait.  I usually leave $5, which is a huge tip relatively, but  it seems so little, and the gentlemen appreciae it very much.  Because of the bad arthritis in my shoulders it is hard for me to get my arms above my head any more to wash my hair and I have no seemingly good options to set it, etc.  It is a relaxing time and a cheap way to sit still for a while and also be a slight part of the community.   The hair salon (which might be a euphemism) is just around the corner from our apartment. In some ways one might consider it a "hole in the wall".  It is one room with about 10 older chairs in it.  There is a corner of the room blocked off with a head level plywood wall around a sink to wash your hair. There is no hot water, so the water is heated over a propane b...

Road to Rwanda---Medical Procedure 2

 So, we had a phone call yesterday (Sunday) afternoon saying that Rick had an appointment for Monday at 10....but then a few hours later got a text saying that the doctor was called away for the week to an emergency situation. (What emergency situation lasts a week?) That they would call us next Sunday.  Although disappointing that Rick cannot see the doctor today,  he is much better. If he eats slowly with small bites he is able to keep food down.  He is still thin, but not going further downhill.   It is also a good thing that he is better, becasue I came down with the same flu last night.  It started a downhill spiral for him, but I am not very sick really.  Not that writhe-in-the-bed pain that Rick experienced.  He is feeling well enough that he went to school to cover my classes for me today.  It is a shame I am not there to welcome the students back after our 3 week break, but they can write a five paragraph essay for Rick on what ...

Road to Rwanda---Medical Procedures

   Rick had the "flu" on New Year's Eve.  He was in excruciating pain and if I could have figured out how to get to an ER, we would have gone.  He is over that, but it seems to have triggered his long standing problem with his esophagus.  It is restricted where it enters his stomach and he spontaneously vomits very often.   In discussions with   a pair of Physicians Assistants visiting our director,(God sent) it was decided we should go to Kigali and get a CT scan to rule out anything more serious.   At best medical anything is scary and complicated.   Try that in a country in which the procedures are foreign and often are not even available. We were trying to do the CT scan before school starts next Monday, but when we called 3 places Tuesday night all three CT machines were not working.   I had some hope that one of them would be fixed by Wednesday morning and after calling numerous times on Wednesday we were told that yes the machin...