Saturday's Congo Update: Lots of Photos!

Here's a cool Facebook profile post from Elissa:

Elissa Janae is sitting in the internet caffe across from a very large spider (tarantula?) in Tandala. The C-section was unbelievable - God has given doctors so much knowledge! And the termites did not taste bad ... it is just the psychological thing.

I was hoping for a photo of the large spider but haven't found one yet! Great video of her eating termites, though, in yesterday's blog posting, though (scroll down).

Another Facebook profile update, this one from Cal:

Calvin Kierum Tandala, DRC, 5 a.m. Pacific Time, just posted new photos...life is good....tikala malamu

I guess we'll probably need to ask him what tikala malamu means ...

I do need to catch you up on some photos, though. Most of these have been posted throughout the week. Here goes:

		Elissa and Amanda teaching ESL classes.
		The Tandala team (including Cal, Amanda, and Elissa) prays together during "master planning," Day 1.
		Elissa and Jim Snyder pray as a part of the master planning service in Tandala.
		Cal poses with Nurse-Surgeon Bama. He says: "This is my first time to meet him. He is quite a character. He has served here over 50 years."
		A young woman whose baby was born 6-months premature demonstrates a technique called "kangaroo care," used to keep her baby warm.
		On the way to lunch, Cal and Darren met with the hospital engineer and two nurses who have a passion to minister to handicapped people.
		The group in Tandala at the end of the master planning session: "This was quite an awesome meeting and much was accomplished."
		Cal writes: "It was very fun to watch the team come up with a Mission Statement. It is in French as the ideas are a bit complicated for Lingala to handle."
		Here Cal attempts to carry a bucket of water on his head, African-style: there ...
		... and back.
		Cal poses with his nurse-dentist friend, Bofio. Says he: "He is a wonderful man of faith. We are giving out team t-shirts to various leaders. Everyone wants one."
		A river in the Congo, at the brief tropical dusk that occurs at the edge of day and night.
		You can see that this "Congolese lawn mower," or machete, is curved to make quick work of the grass.
		In the hospital's pediatric ward, Dr. Narcisse Naia Embeke is charting on a patient he saw together with Cal.
		Cal examines a little girl who has had bloating and swelling for about a year, "probably Cushing's Syndrome, for you medical types."
		The hospital is involved in a food program for the malnourished, under the auspices of the World Food Program.
		Dr. Narcisse is pictured with his wife, Yvette, who is an accountant for the hospital. Their son, Nybel, is 2 and plays on a toy drum the team gave him.
		The team sees a lot of women and girls carrying things on their head, but this one is only about 4-5 years old and the container is almost as big as she is.