First day of surgery

Today was a rewarding day, three children were given a new chance at life. In this culture, someone with Cleft Palate is regarded as; a) demon possesed, b) a family curse, or c) too much of a drain on the family so they are put to death at birth. So those that survive have survived because there was enough value placed on them by their family to face all of the scorn and ostracising and keep the child. Today, the Mercy Ship team performed three surgeries, two on small children and one 14 year old, repairing very bad cases of Cleft palate, and giving them a brand new life. This is so exciting! Yesterday was the first day that these surgery candidates were told they could come and 61 people showed up. Well, 61 potential patients showed up, but they all brought family with them so it was a large group of people. It is very difficult to describe the scene. There were tumors, growths, cleft plates, double tongues, facial deformities and some so bad they kept covered with cloths all patiently waiting and hoping, just hoping that these people could heal them and give them a chance a life again. Most of them will be operated on here over the next 4 weeks, with more scheduled to come later. Some of the worst cases will be sent to the Mercy Ship which will soon be in Sierra Leone. While we (our family) can't directly impact peoples lives in this way, or evangelize as effectively in this culture, we are able to help make these things possible so others that can are able to.

We thought that things would finally settle down when the election results were over and a president was named. However, you may have noticed in the news that it has not settled down. Since Tuesday, over a dozen people have been killed and hundreds injured in street violence and rioting from those dissatisfied with the election results. The government has now imposed what is basically martial law in all the towns, which prevents more than a few people being in a group at once, and total curfew from 7:00 PM until 7:00 AM. The only ones that are allowed on the street during curfew is the military. We've just hunkered down here at the Clinic and wouldn't even know anything was going on. The village of N'zao where we are at was all happy with the election results, so we are in a relatively peaceful area. Even so it wouldn't be wise for us to go to market in the local town of N'zerekore. The airport is shut down now, so we're still counting on the same angels that have always watched over us to continue since they don't seem to need airports.