Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Yesterday, Tuesday, November 9th was our first total overview and complete walk through of the hospital and the electrical system.  WOW!!

The Doctors and staff here work so hard to try to provide basic care with so little.  It's like doing surgery with one hand tied behind your back.  They cannot do any surgery requiring general anesthesia.  They have no ability to provide high volume oxygen and in order to get safe tanks with the proper medical grade of oxygen they are required to get them from England. 

They do not have any ventilators to assist breathing of infants and newborns.  Dr. Karen Asher said, with tears in her eyes, “I have had to stand by and watch babies die do to lack of basic medical equipment and electrical supply.”  I have asked her to please give me a letter describing her needs.  I am not a Dr. and I want to accurately describe her situation.

This is a very big week here as they are having their 50th year celebration.  We were not able to bring the survey team that really needs to be here but, with God’s help we will do what we can to get enough information to develop an accurate survey proposal.  

They have four generators sitting in the generator house and only one is functional at this time. 
It is only a small 30kw unit not large enough to meet their total needs.  When they need water from the well they disconnect the power to the current buildings in order to run the well pump.

They have no manuals or any information on the generators.  I will try to gather all the information I can to properly discuss their needs when I return.  Some things are out of their control due to a war that devastated the area and nearly destroyed everything.  Most of the national staff, prior to the war, never returned and may not even be alive.

What is in their control is so hampered by lack of funds that priorities are made to buy medicine rather then oil for necessary maintenance of the generators.  As a result everything continues to deteriorate.  They do, however, have an accurate account of how many hours and how much fuel it takes to run the generator, but there is NO record of when the oil was last changed.

They have had surgical medical teams decline to come due to the lack of necessary power and equipment.  Kamkawie Hospital has a great need for surgical help.  They once had 15 people scheduled for surgery, but do to the lack of surgical teams, 14 of these individuals died.  Stories like this are heart breaking and go on and on. 

They have a small basic solar system to provide lights ONLY for night time care of patients.  There is a great need for this lighting to be drastically increased.  This looks like a perfect location for a “new” concept for I-TEC – Solartainer!  A 20 foot shipping container with solar equipment completely outfitted in the I-TEC warehouse in Montoursville, PA and transported to this remote location.

God has brought us here for His purposes, now we must rise to the calling He has given us! 
Galatians  6:10 says  “As we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers."

Thank you for your prayers for wisdom, and endurance.

Serving Together,    Tom & Linda   (for the I-TEC team) 

Trip from Beirut to Sierra Leone - WOW!

We arrived in Freetown, Sierra Leone late Sunday night after about 20 hours of travel.  We left the airport in a broken down Dodge mini van that required the person sitting next to the passenger sliding door to hold onto it for about 20 minutes as we went maybe 2 miles. A high clearance Hummer would have been far more appropriate, or a Subaru.  Same thing…….

We arrived at a shore line and immediately put on life vests before walking about 100 ft out onto a walkway into the ocean. We then stepped onto a floating dock that was rolling and pitching with every wave that came to shore (like walking on a 20 ft water bed with no baffles). Of course I’m trying to get pictures in the dark to record this new experience and also hold on to Linda who is obviously not having a good time at this point. We made it and she still loves me…   After 20+ hours of travel, trying to board a bobbing boat in the dark was not exactly what we expected.  But that’s why you pray so God will enable us to handle the unexpected.  

This is the first country that required a 45 minute boat taxi taking us from the airport to the capital city.  The boat held about 25 people and with life preservers already on there was no need for a safety briefing.  Off into the darkness we went in hopes that the lights worked better on boats then they did on land.

The length of time on the sea depended on the number of times they had to pull up the motor and make some adjustments of some kind. But we did arrive and after about 10 minutes of confusion as to who was getting off and who was staying on, we finally heard someone call “TOM” from out of the darkness.  The boat was just about to pull off, so WE  were really glad to hear that voice.

Our new driver with a good vehicle (too tired to know what it was) found the guest house we were supposed to stay at and after a bucket shower we settled in for a much needed night’s sleep.

We were told twice before going to bed that breakfast would be served at 7 a.m.  I asked again for Linda’s sake hoping for a little wiggle room but no, it was 7 a.m.  So down the steps we went at 6:55 a.m. only to find the two men who checked us in sound asleep on the entry sofas. (Welcome to Africa !!!)  Well, as we were reminded again, African time is about 1 hour later then actually stated.  We called our missionary contact last night and let her know we were “in country.”  She said we would be picked up Monday at about 11 a.m.  She told the driver 10 a.m. so she said to expect the driver to be there by at least 11 a.m.  That should have been enough to get us thinking “Africa,” but again we were really tired. .

We are now waiting to be picked up and it is after 11 a.m.  We have about a 6 hour plus drive so we are anxious to get started.  We hope to stop on the way to survey a mission that asked us at the last minute if we can see about the possibility of helping them as they also have NO power. 

Please continue to pray for God’s leading, protection, and most of all, that we will be his vessels to use as He pleases. There is nothing that can happen to us that He does not allow so that His purpose will be fulfilled. 

It has been raining with lots of thunder and lightning.   From what I saw of the roads last night, this should be a very interesting day.

Quick update: It is now Tuesday, November 9, 2010.

We did finally get picked up at 1 p.m. and left Freetown at 3:30 p.m.  That meant a 7+ hour road trip with 4 hours on dirt and mud water holes. 

(Insert by Paul Kinley:  According to a phone call with Tom on Monday, Nov. 8th  I understood him to describe this part of their journey something like this:  The pictures below show us stopped alongside the road with a flat tire.  Transporting drinks and other supplies for the hospital caused the vehicle to be weighed down and thus possibly contributing to causing the flat tire.  They used the aid of a clay pot to hold the vehicle up, while they changed the tire. Nearby kids flocked to the scene to see what happened.  Finally, with the tire fixed, we were on our way again. 

Thank you for your prayers.  It was a trip I will remember for a long time.  We did have one flat tire and I will try to send a picture but internet is VERY slow here and it may not be possible.

We have finished the first day of survey and I am trying to process it all right now.  I will try to send a shorter update tomorrow. There is an incredible need here that I hope I can properly share with you and everyone with whom we will come in contact.

Thanks again for your prayers.

Tom and Linda

Leaving Beirut

Dear Friends,

Just a quick note at 4am.  We are leaving Lebanon, today, Sunday Nov. 7th.
Thanks for your prayers.  Please don't stop. 

We fly to London then down to Sierra Leone arriving around 8pm Sunday night.

Hope to be back on line in a couple of days.

Lots of friends made here and looking forward to returning next Oct - Nov.  

Serving Together,

Tom and Linda

Friday, November 5th Update

Friday, Nov.5

Today was a real treat as we were able to go for a ride about an hour North of Beirut to a town called Byblos.  It is supposed to be the oldest continually occupied city in the world.  It contained ruins that date back "5,000" years.  I'll let the pro's argue that one but it was the first time I have seen ruins from that far back and it really was interesting. Just reading of how many known empire's had fallen over that period on this ground was amazing.
 

While traveling, we had another good history lesson on the various "issues" surrounding this area.  It really is complicated but it's comforting to know that our great God is totally in control no matter what man thinks or does.

Tomorrow we finish the design of the new system and begin to put together a material list.  Please pray that I don't miss anything important. They told us today of one child that was taken to the hospital for electrical burns from the chain link fence that had become energized and another adult that was badly burned and hospitalized just cutting a phone line that had somehow become energized.  We are truly here for a purpose.

We will leave for the airport at 4am Sunday morning heading back to London and then down to Sierra Leone.  Thanks for following us in prayer and hopefully we will be back on line next week sometime. 

Serving Together,

Tom & Linda

Thursday, November 4th by Tom Garber

Beirut Nov 4^th

The survey is now about done and it is clear that I-TEC could really make a difference here and improve the electrical safety for these kids in a major way. Lord willing, we will return with a team sometime in the future if all continues here as it is right now.  Only God knows for sure what will happen, but the sense here, is that something is going to change very soon and not for the good.   

Today was a material exploration day.  It involved almost 4 hours of narrow streets, heavy traffic and what can best be described as controlled madness.  Everyone counts on the other person being just as aggressive as they are and only the person with the loudest horn the least amount of eye contact and basically the most ambition gets to go where he wants to go undamaged. Well, almost undamaged. We were only hit one time with a person who passed a parking spot and then decided to back into it with us on his bumper.  A quick look for damage, a few adjectives, (not sure if that holds true in Arabic or not),

a short display of hand and arm motions and back in line with traffic again.  There are many traffic signals here, but they seem to only be suggestions as no one ever stops when it turns red. 

Well all in all, it was a good day as we were able to find a good quality electrical supply house and we now have a contact that we can email with a material list.  He gave me two CD’s with all the material listed in Arabic along with pictures.  Anyone want to interpret?  

Linda had a much quieter day as she again worked in the school helping the boys with there English reading and getting to know the kids.  There are mostly boys here and they are all boys when it comes to being active.  It’s good they have a large play ground with lots of basketball and activity areas.  One down side is that everything is concrete. We are on a hill, as are most of the residents of Beirut, and when you look out, all you see is 6 to 15 story buildings, one against another. 

Maybe it’s just that most of our projects are in rural bush environments as this seems so extremely different. The need is very real and tonight the director is going to take Linda and I on a drive to show us where many of these kids come from.  I’m sure it will not be a very uplifting evening.  The outer covering of materialism is just as fake here as it is in the US.

It’s time to go, so check back tomorrow.  If the internet is on……..

Serving Together,

Tom and Linda

Hello from Lebanon,

Hello from Lebanon!

I learned more about this country between the airport and the Kids Alive

Orphanage, (one hour drive) then I ever knew before.  To my shame I guess, but as

you know, you can't believe half of what you hear on the news.

For instance, when I asked about getting to Israel, I was told that you

can not get there from here. And he meant it.  He said there isn't even the

word Israel in the computer at the travel agent's office.

We traveled through Beirut and he pointed out the Palestine settlements

where you can walk freely and where you don't even think about

walking.  Not exactly like NY City but in a way the same.  You just have

to be alert and wise.

It is a city of MANY different cultures from one end of the spectrum to

the other.  (extremely rich to extremely poor.)  When I was in Afghanistan
in 2003, it appeared that all in that country were the same – poor.  Afghanistan was nothing like this at all.

This scenario also causes problems with raising funds to take care of the children

as many people consider Lebanon wealthy and so the extremely poor

and refugees go uncared for.

We are doing well. I took a complete tour of the facility today. I hope to

visit a couple of electrical supply houses tomorrow to see what is

available in country to avoid shipping as I'm sure it would be extremely

difficult.

Linda visited the school today and helped a few kids with their English

reading skills. These kids are from everywhere - Sudan, Ivory Coast and a

dozen other countries.  It really gets complicated when you hear the

stories of how the kids arrived here and what lies ahead for them as they become of

age. (17)  It is a difficult to situation.

Thanks for your prayers and I will send updates as I am able.  Email is not as

dependable here as I thought it would be.

Thank you for praying,

Tom & Linda Garber

Chat with Tom by Skype and Satellite Phone

Yesterday, Wed. 11-3-10, Tom had a fairly good internet connection and we dialoged by text via Skype very, similar to instant messenger.  Today, Nov. 4th, he called me on the I-TEC Satellite phone.  He said the electrical survey for Kid's Alive is going well.  Tom is trying very hard to send information for the blogsite / website but is finding it difficult due to a poor internet connection. He was able to send a few photos of the children, those we are ultimately trying to serve.  At this point, I am reminded of the book of James chapter 1 verse 27 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress..."