The sick and infirm did not diminish with the time constraints during the start of the Literacy course for Nadia. I was still weak from being sick with malaria however and felt my body reacting to the sights I needed to treat… One guy arrived with a very swollen eye… the reason? He went to a local guy who gave him antibiotic powder – the type that you are suppose to mix with water and inject into a person. Despite the eye’s condition rapidly deteriorating and his pain so much that he couldn’t sleep or eat, he continue put this powder into his eye. By the time he came here, I was not sure how he could stand the pain! His eye is looking much better now and hopefully he will not lose his sight in that eye. 
After a very full week, I found my body shaking inside and out yesterday morning, after spending hours cleaning and binding the wounds of this dear old lady. She came quite a distance, being at ropes end with her skull and other parts of her body covered in pussy scabs from scabies (sores developing from a small mite borrowing into the skin). Her condition was aggravated by pure neglect as we often see with old people in this culture. It took a stack of gauze, a bottle of ointment and many, many surgical gloves to wash, clean, treat and cover her wounds. ! I will have to follow the treatment up in a few day’s time. She has scabies even under her fingernails and I had to cut her nails, disinfecting and treating these wounds as well. I think she finally understands now that she the scratching is only making things worse!
On to some more lively news! The kids had another week of school holiday so that their teacher could do the Literacy! 🙂 They thoroughly enjoyed it! In this photo Heidi is playing “Mata” with her group of friends. They are playing some game or another most days, with Heidi coming back caked with dirt and hair wet with sweat… so much fun! :). We are thankful that our little girl is still able to enjoy her Mwinika friends. She is now 12, often an awkward age for most expat girls a African culture where many local girls are married with children by age 14 or 15.
The boys usually play soccer, “cowboys and crooks”, sword fighting or some other boy game with their Mwinika friends. Here they are entertaining two younger friends by building towers with wooden blocks….
… and then (of course!) laughing with delight when their toy helicopter destroys it again! (On the previous picture, Waldo is chewing on a piece of sugar cane – the best candy ever!)