Dental team

We have a dental team here this week.

A group arrived from North Carolina on Sunday night. Two dentists, two hygienists and 4 others came to our clinic.

This is always an anticipated event for a few reasons.

Alleviating dental pain is a tangible benefit that the people receive. True, much good is done in controlling diabetes and hypertension and cholesterol - but most people don't feel better when these conditions are treated, and sometimes they feel worse. Taking out a painful tooth, however, is a completely different story.

In addition, there are charges that come with this dental work. This is less than what the patients would have to pay at surrounding offices but still enough to bring the clinic some income to help with operating costs.

Finally, having a team come for a week adds a new dynamic and increased vitality to clinic life.

Pray for the short-term care that this team offers and the long term fruit that results.

School

I think I may have mentioned before that the outreach here is multi-faceted.

In addition to the clinic, there are several educational institutions that have been teaching the youth here. On-line info can be found here.

If anyone is looking for a ministry to give to, the Presbyterian Day School (PDS) would be one. Teacher salaries have been at least a month behind since I have arrived.

You can see some attached photos above. You will see a couple of pictures of school bus that goes through Patchacan to take children to PDS, and then PDS itself. There are then three of Cornerstone High School (CHS).

Of note, many of the cinder blocks that compose the second story of CHS were carried up the stairs by me in 2004!

LoC IV - Boys

How does Charity keep four boys occupied in Belize? With a lot of ingenuity.

At home, she does a good job of using everyday items for fun crafts for the kids. They are fun to make, almost as fun to play with and not hard on the budget.

This has been taken to a whole new level for a few reasons. We could not bring so much stuff with us. Stores are hard to get to, as well as not being very well stocked. Finally, we are trying not to appear too much like the American doctor family - this should be obvious in light of the recent housing photo.

Anyway, attached are a bunch of photos displaying things they have made and what they do throughout the day while I am at work.

You will see pictures of military strategy being employed around Jenga blocks, guns and swords made out of duct tape, a riding horse from a paper bag and castles from old oatmeal containers.

They do a lot of reading, and one favorite book is displayed.

School continues on here at the dining table.

They listen to several different things on the computer including several from Focus on the Family (Singing Bible, Adventures in Odyssey Bible Eyewitness and Chronicles of Narnia), a creation science series titled Jonathan Park and have even watched some borrowed Murder She Wrote episodes.

Our kids and the neighborhood kids like playing with cars on a town-like mat (thanks Chris).

And then they sleep!

Housing II

I had an interesting conversation with an 11 year old (Jose), who plays with my boys here.

He talked about the thin (only he pronounced it "tin") children in Africa - the ones who were starving and you could see their ribs, just like the neighborhood dogs and cows.

Anyway, this was interesting to me for a couple of reasons.

First, I didn't think it diminished the contrast in living conditions between here and home for the O'Neill's.

Second, poverty can be relative thing. Despite the lack of many material things here, there are definitely worse places in the world. I think Jose already has an idea that people like the O'Neill's have many material blessings that he doesn't have. But he also knows he has far more than others in the world.

It is good to be thankful.

Hair cuts

Turns out, they have bowls here too!

Housing

I thought this might be a good time to give you an overview of some of the homes in the Patchacan area.

As a rule, the homes are at best very modest - but often dilapidated.

Running water is a relatively new thing - within the last three years.

Most properties contain at least one thatched building. These serve as either a leisure structure, cooking area or primary living accommodations.

Now, one might be able to find some similar structures in areas of North America. They may not even be too uncommon on Keel Mountain or New Hope.

I suppose the major difference might be that there is no comparable Hampton Cove or even areas like West Huntsville.

In the pictures, you will notice our home as a comparison. Also, there are several simple Mennonite homes - they look luxurious in comparison to the village homes.

Finally, it must be noted that these homes are just possessions, and provide no commentary on the character of the people, their values and especially whether or not they are content.

Church

As already mentioned, the clinic is an outreach of the local presbyterian churches. It is their desire to see patients health care needs met, while hoping that these patients and their families would come to believe in Christ.

The surrounding villages contain presbyterian churches, many planted years ago, but some are just being established.

Sunday, Grattan and I visited a mission church in Caledonia - about a 30 minute drive. We enjoyed sweet fellowship, songs of praise and studying the Holy Spirits work in salvation.

I would like to see more mission churches and that were each bigger, as a result of the work here. Nonetheless, I am thankful for the growth thus far.

The mission church in Caledonia is small, but it is tangible fruit from the medical clinic and evidence of God working in this part of the world.