Bon Fete, Painting, Kittens, Luke's Birthday

Grandpa & Grandma with Luke and Sarah at
Mandji Church in the recently completed Sunday School room.










Monday, August 17 - Independence Day in Gabon
Most employees at Bongolo Hospital had new ensembles made for the fete and resulting parade which took place at a new site in Lebamba (an open field where the grass had been recently cut by machete according to Luke. He said he could tell because the blades of grass were uneven and the grass was higher than if it had been cut by a mower.) At this site stands a yet-to-be revealed statue of the late President Bongo.

The parade was scheduled to begin at 9 AM. We (Keir, Joanna, Luke, Sarah, Dave & Diann)arrived at 11 AM (note a pattern here regarding the time?). Soon Dr. Keir was escorted to his seat with other local dignitaries in the reviewing stand. The Lebamaba residents about 2,000 strong had gathered already into groups from their different nations and businesses. Each group member was decked out in colorful matching African attire. The village chiefs were dressed in matching khaki outfits and were seated to the right of the reviewing stand. The Prefeit (town supervisor not from Lebamba but appointed by the Gabonese government) arrived at 12:15; the recorded national anthem was played over the loud speaker and after a few technical difficulties, the Gabon flag was raised on the new 20 foot tall 4X4 flag pole. The Prefeit then walked the distance circumference of the crowd and shook the hand of Diann & Marley (those were the only two people with which he shook hands).

The parade started after thirty minutes of speeches and the re-aligning of the parade participants - most of whom had waited in the hot (85 degrees) sun since before 9 AM. Bongolo Hospital was represented by almost 40 people and were a hit with the "emergency" skit they performed in front of the reviewing stand.

One of the highlights of the parade was the appearance of about a dozen pieces of construction equipment, tractors and heavy trucks many of which were loaded with some Covec road construction crew in them.

The Prefeit circled the crowed again and Dave, Keir and Dr. Dave shook his hand this time as well as many other parade goers. The Prefeit is an evangelical Christian.

We left the parade grounds about 2:30 PM. Bon fete, indeed! We had a great time being a part of the celebration with the Bongolo Hospital contingent.

Tuesday, August 18
Dave, Erich, Michele, Danny & Adoule finished up the painting project except for a few touch ups that must be done by Master Painter Dave. The house looks great! But most importantly, Joanna is pleased and happy with the new color scheme.

Dave & Luke worked on Luke's Struxx Dinosaur which has 625 pieces. A great team project for two engineering minds! Diann sewed PAACS patches on the new resident's lab coat and on a few of Keir's coats too (PAACS - Pan African Academy of Christian Surgeons - the residency program at Bongolo at which Keir is Program Director - http://www.bongolohospital.org/ and click on PAACS).

Paul, the maintenance supervisor, was burning four trees in the back of the Quadplex. We were invited over and arrived with graham crackers, marshmallows and chocolate. Meladee joined us. The S'Mores were tasty!

We have been getting around on the station in a station-supplied golf cart. It has been fun. Diann thinks she's driving a go-cart!

Wednesday, August 19
A trip to Lebamba found Diann, Joanna, Luke, Sarah, Meladee and Marley in Ose, the tailor's shop, to pick up a few souvenirs and at a few of the local umbrella shops for groceries (found Irish potatoes from Cameroon again and fresh garlic). But the treat was to be able to visit Afoussa's home. She greeted us warmly in her tiny two room home that she shares with her husband. The living room, kitchen and dining room area was about 14 X 18 feet. She ha an dorm sized refrigerator and a two burner gas stove and cable television for which they pay more per month than they do for rent. We looked at photo albums and through these visited her homeland of Benin and met her family. As we prepared to leave, she told Diann through Joanna, our interpreter, that she could have any photo of her that she wanted. Diann was honored and chose one of Afoussa and her husband Yousouff.

Stopped by the newest Lebamba artisan, Lambert, to pick up an order of carvings and paintings and for the second time he did not have the promised items ready. We were able to purchase some articles but not what we ordered :(

As we neared the hospital station, right in the middle of the road, was a tiny kitten. Joanna stopped the car and heard the kitty calling loudly. She immediately calls Amanda to see if they want another cat in their home. Amanda after checking with Tim said she'd pass. When Joanna loses sight of the kitty, she gets out of the car and the kitten is under her car- meowing even louder. The kitten comes to Joanna's feet and is picked up. Joanna hears an echo and lo! and behold! there are two kittens. The other on the opposite side of the road. A Bongolo nurse comes by walking home from work and tells Joanna that the cats have there since yesterday and they don't belong to anyone. Joanna scoops us both kittens and hands them to Luke and Sarah in a pair of scrubs pants. We stop by Eric & Wendy's home and ask them (with no warning) if they'd like to adopt TWO newborn kittens. Eric & Wendy have been having snake, rat and cockroach problems and Joanna thought these kittens in a few weeks would be great hunters. We left E&W holding the kittens in the scrubs and said goodnight. Checked on the kitties today and took along an eye dropper. The kittens were thrilled with the milk they were able to get through it. E&W are deciding on names!

Karen prepared a lovely dinner for all six of us. It was great fun to see her African artifacts that she has collected over her many years in this country. Had to make it an early night with her as Keir and the rest of the missionaries had a staff meeting.

Thursday, August 20
Luke's 7th Birthday! My how time flies! It seems like yesterday that we drove to Cleveland to Fairview Hospital to meet our less-than-nine-hours old first grandchild! He is an inquisitive, bright, sensitive, helpful and fun boy with an eye for organization. We are blessed!

Opened some of Luke's presents just before lunch and the rest after his special birthday requested dinner of "loaded baked potatoes" complete with bacon, cheese, onions, mushrooms (Dave put Frank's hot sauce on his) plus we had the specially requested baby peas, cranberry sauce plus frozen peanut butter and chocolate dessert.

Sarah won her first ever Wii bowling game with Grandpa coming in second, Grandma third and the birthday boy who is Wii ProBowler coming in third for the first time.

Notes: There is a knock on the Thelander door at least 5 times a day which results in changes to their daily plan. The Thelander phone rings at least 8 times every day and who know how many emails they get each. Keir gets at least 2 requests for tech support almost every day. Joanna gets a call about an upcoming visitor at least once or twice a day. Their Vonage connection to the states is of variable quality but we are grateful nonetheless for the connection). The hospital is expanding with a new x-ray lab, new administrative offices, new toilets for the family of patients plus new outdoor kitchens for the families.

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If you would like to see a few photos of our time here, email us after August 30th. Uploading a photo for this site takes a LONG time here with the slow internet connection.,