January 25, 2011

January 25, 2011
Tuesday. Still no power, water – the whole group bussed to Njombe for breakfast, then we spent the day doing the last health education and health assessments in a very hot, crowded and noisy classroom at Njombe school.  We all were tired - its been an amazing time, and there's so much to ponder and digest.  We've seen more hardship here than any of the other places we've been. 

House with gravesite.

Young crippled woman crawls and protects her hands with flip-flops.

--One of the Njombe WEH kids has captured everyone's heart.  He is 15, post-polio, dirt poor, very bright and positive.  Two years ago the students helped him with a physical examination and new crutches. Now he's a lot taller and his crutches needed adjustments.  The bolts had rusted tight, so a student and Joe went with him to a welding shop to loosen it and adjust the height correctly. 
-- Isabel was there today and surprised me with her good English-speaking ability – she’s been keeping a secret! I’ll stay in touch with her and Kassafro, and do what I can.


 --Back to the Luxor Hotel for a shower!, cold beer on the porch with David and Joe – and then Njoke arrived with our driver, Npho!  Today marks the end of our journey with Linfield, and the beginning of our 4-week tour of Cameroon. We’ll leave early tomorrow morning to start our month long tour of Cameroon.