Water, Uniforms and Conferences!

28 Feb 09

Dear Friends and Family,

“If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.” Matthew 6: 25 – 26

I am sending you a link to the GBGM web-site and to an article about United Methodist Committee On Relief and what they are doing in Kenya to help with the starvation we are facing. It also gives an Advance Special Number you can use to help them feed Kenyan’s.
Starvation in Kenya
(http://gbgm-umc.org/global_news/full_article.cfm?articleid=5317)

Yesterday evening Maua Methodist Hospital had water again. Living Waters had come to look at our water pump to see if it could be fixed or if we needed a new one. The verdict: we needed a new one. Through some amazing and miraculous ways, the hospital actually had money to pay for the pump and Living Waters returned on Thursday evening and installed the new pump Friday.

Most of last week the hospital staff were able, using very conservative methods, to have enough water to keep toilets fairly clean and mop the floors at least every 24 hours and in emergencies. We learned the sacredness and value of water once again. I remain in awe of most of the people in our area who have to carry water to their homes, often from long distances. Water flowing through a tap that is always available for our use, hot and cold, is a gift beyond belief for so much of the world.

Our AIDS Orphan’s program pays for two new uniforms for our 1750 children every two years. (Can you imagine your children or grandchildren wearing the same uniform for two years?????) This past Friday Bill was present when the grandmother’s and children from the Maua area came to pick up their uniforms. They had already been measured and made and were in bags with the children’s names on them.

Grandma’s, guardians and Aids Orphan’s waiting for uniform distribution 3 thankful orphan’s with their new uniforms

Bill shared that some of the children that came were wearing their old uniforms which were essentially rags. The joy and excitement of the children was contagious and everyone seemed to be ‘happy dancing’.

An Orphan in her uniform Two happy girls with new uniforms

This process will be repeated numerous times in the next few weeks as approximately 700 children will receive new uniforms. There is much work, coordination and time put into this joyful occasion. Some of the Giving Hope teens, who are tailors, were given the opportunity to make some of the uniforms. What a win-win situation for everyone.

I usually do not send you an email every Saturday. However, we are going to be away for the next two weekends. The first of February I received an email from the Director of Graduate Studies, Dr. Amy Toone, at Patty Hanks Shelton School of Nursing, a consortium of HSU, ACU, McMurry University in Abilene, TX. Every two years there is an International Missionary Nurse Symposium held at a training Center in Limuru, Kenya. It allows USA nurses to take 40 hours of nursing education courses for their re-licensure, to have labs that allow for hands on training, and to meet missionaries from around Africa and the Middle East. I had attended the symposium in 2001 with Barbara Dickinson and Birgit Ziegler from Maua Methodist Hospital and had felt it was such an incredible experience.

I did not know anyone was still supporting and presenting the symposium. Well, Dr. Toone had received a copy of my email regarding our Alternative Rite of Passage week in Maua (what we are praying will replace female genital mutilation) and emailed me asking if I would do that presentation at the symposium. I was thrilled to know there was a symposium and have the chance to participate and present. I even wrote and asked if they would allow me to present on Quality Management in Mission Hospitals. Thus I have the great privilege of doing two presentations.

The symposium is from 8am on Sunday 8 March until Saturday after lunch on 14 March. Limuru is west of Nairobi so we will be traveling with Barbara Dickinson and Jane Gray, two nurses working at Maua Methodist Hospital, on Saturday and returning on Sunday a week later. Barbara and Jane are British but are delighted to have this chance for learning. Bill is driving us and staying in Nairobi and taking some time off.

Thank you for your many emails, prayers and loving kindness. We are so grateful.

In His grip,

Jerri & Bill Savuto
savuto@maf.or.ke
Maua Methodist Hospital
Box 63, Maua 60600
Igembe, Kenya

“The crisis of our diminishing water resources is just as severe (if less obviously immediate) as any wartime crisis we have ever faced. Our survival is just as much at stake as it was at the time of Pearl Harbor, or the Argonne, or Gettysburg, or Saratoga”. Jim Wright, U.S. Representative