Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve written. I’m sure you understand with the holidays and such, though. But thanks so much for your ongoing prayers, even when I’m slow in communication!
Rachida’s surgery did go as scheduled on the 12th, and they said that it went well. Thanks for bathing it in prayers!
The doctor then ordered radiotherapy, saying it was “urgent.” However, the radiotherapy machine (sorry, I don’t know my cancer terms when I translate them back into English) in the neighboring country is broken, and there are none in My Country. So it’s basically not an option. Instead, they’re doing chemo again, and last time I talked to Awa, Rachida’s mom, she said that they were doing it for free. What a blessing at this time when they have so many other expenses! They are also planning on doing (or perhaps have done by now) a CT scan, which is the best they can do here to see if there is still cancer or not.
Thanks again for your prayers!
Thank you for the update. Have been praying for her.
Hello Susie,
I enjoy reading your blogs from time to time; you are sometimes mentioned in the Ethnos (Canada) weekly prayer bulletins which I receive. I worked for nearly 20 years in Burkina with SIL, based in Ouaga where I served in admin roles … finance, personnel admin, and project funding (mostly funding to train/equip Burkinabè so they could do Bible translation for their own languages). I don’t miss the harmattan dust, but I sure miss a lot of the rest of my experiences there, especially the people. I stay in touch with “my family”, a pastor and his wife and their children.
A number of years ago there was an Austrian linguist interested in the Vigué language, and a professor from Bobo tried to assist him with his research; however, I think personal issues kept them from making much progress. It is an answer to prayer that you have decided to work there. I don’t know what “karati” is either, because pineapples and strawberries don’t look anything at all like karité nuts; it will be interesting to learn eventually whether the word they are saying is actually the name of another fruit or plant, or whether it is an adjective like “sour” or something. While there are both pineapples and strawberries in city markets at the appropriate time of year, I doubt you would find them in a remote rural market.
My heart aches for Rachida and her Mom. The realities of caring for sick and handicapped children are not so easy to even imagine if you haven’t seen what that means in a context like where you are. I remember when a mother in the Buamu region put her 3-year-old daughter (who had a big, nasty growth on her jaw) on the “transporteur” and sent her to Ouaga. After the bus was gone, the Mom phoned a relative in the city and announced that the girl was on her way … “somebody go and meet the bus and take her to a doctor who can help her.” The girl is now about 14 years old, still lives with the relative that took her in, attends school, and sings in the youth choir at church. A visiting French medical team that specialized in nose/mouth/throat problems tried to remove the benign tumor from her jaw, and managed to take away most of it without destroying her teeth and jaw. She will make someone a fine wife one day, and I pray that her real father, or her guardian, will see that she ends up with a Christian husband.
I saw an earlier blog with a photo from a workshop at SIL in Ouaga … Zakaria was looking at a laptop. Thanks for including that. I happened to be staying in a guest house on the Centre when the coup happened in September 2015; I haven’t seen Zakaria since then.
God bless you and help you to thrive in spite of the heat and resistance to the gospel.
Marilyn
Thanks for the update Susie. That child is always in my heart.
Thank you for the update… prayers continue…
Praying chemo is the best option then! thank you for the update. My heart goes out to this child and her mom.