As most have been doing this week, our staff has watched the news and video footage of the devastation in Haiti. Checking Facebook and email to hear from SIFAT graduates and friends is the only way to communicate. Below is what we have been to find out so far. We will update as we receive word from others.

Roger Eason, who attended the May 2009 field study, was missing. You may have seen his story featured in the Birmingham News. He made it to the Dominican Republic and is okay.

William Hatcher, a friend of SIFAT and Practicum instructor, arrived in Haiti for a mission trip the day before the earthquake hit. His wife received a brief email from the US Embassy saying that he was okay. Please continue to pray for him and the other men on the mission team with him from Meridian, Miss.

Gabi, a 2009 Practicum graduate, is in Haiti with her parents, who are missionaries there. They live inland from the capital, but are still very much involved with what is happening. You can follow their blog for updates www.haffdetails.blogspot.com as they help with rescue/recovery efforts in Port-au-Prince and refugees to their community.

Joas, a 2006 Practicum graduate, emailed us that he and his family are okay. They were not directly hit by the earthquake, but everyone in his church has someone they know that is unaccounted for. He mentioned that he had to use someone’s private internet, as it is hard to find internet cafes.

UPDATE:

Lionel and Leon, 2007 graduates, are both in the United States. They are fine, but waiting to hear from their families. Lionel said he received word that everyone was okay, but wanted to be able to speak to his mom.

Mercideau and Samuel, 2009 graduates, survived. Mercideau was in the Port-au-prince area, but Samuel was further away. We aren’t sure about the status of their homes, but they and their families are alive.

Our current intern in Ixiamas, Bolivia, is 2008 Practicum graduate Becky Forrest. During Practicum, Becky shared her experience on our blog. Now that she is in an intern in Bolivia, she will post updates as our interns in 2008 did. Becky served on short-term mission trips in 2007 and 2008 in Ixiamas.

Leaving the Internado and the kids was very difficult because many will return after their summer vacation, but some will not. I don’t know if I will ever see them again. I am thankful for having the opportunity to get to know each of them and pray that their time at the Internado will have a positive effect on their lives.

The last month has been very busy. The kids all had projects to work on for school, and we were trying to finish up our classes in English and computers. I gave a final exam in English with 100 questions. Almost all of them passed and received a certificate for completing the course. In computer classes, their final assignment was to write a letter to the interns that were at the Internado this past July. It was interesting to watch them select various colors and fonts to make the letters more fun. They learned a lot about using Word writing these letters. We could really use a few more laptop computers for classes next year if anyone is planning to upgrade to a new one this Christmas please consider donating your old one that is still in good condition to the Internado. You can contact me by email if interested.  Blforrest2008@gmail.com.

We had a big celebration the night before we left. One of the pigs was slaughtered, and our cook Mercedes prepared a wonderful meal of roasted pork, potatoes, yucca and plantains all cooked in our big wood-fired oven that we use to bake bread.

Today (Dec. 6 – Sunday) is Election Day in Bolivia, and the entire city of LaPaz is shut down. It is very strange to not hear horns blaring from my hotel room, but a good quiet day for reflection. I was thinking of the biggest message God has sent me during this year living in Bolivia. I have definitely learned to trust Him more for ever part of my life. When we are living in our comfortable houses and communities we really are not aware of how much we really have in common with peoples living on the other side of the world – or in my case the other side of equator. One of the first things that really impressed me was that everyone here calls each other Hermana/o when greeting one another. That is Spanish for brother or sister. We really are all brothers and sisters in Christ regardless of where we live, and that is the biggest message I have received. We may speak different languages and live different life styles. There are cultural differences also, but we want the same basic things in life. We all have the connection of being sons of God. Galatians 3:26 “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus” tells us we are all one big family regardless of where we live. When you become involved in mission work this really comes into reality.

I thank everyone for the prayers and support you have given me over the past year and hope you have enjoyed reading about my adventures on the blog. I look forward to coming back and making new brothers and sisters next year at the Internado. My posts will return in February when I return to Ixiamas for another year. Please keep the staff and kids in your prayers during our break as we make plans for the New Year.

Hermana Rebecca

Gerald and Sue Paulk are currently in Uganda on a mission trip sponsored by Four Corners, a ministry with whom SIFAT has partnered many times. SIFAT executive director Tom Corson and international team coordinator Peggy Walker are also on this trip. While in Africa, they are serving with William Nsubuga and his son Sean at Agape Total Childcare Center. William, a SIFAT graduate, started an orphanage in Lugazi for children whose parents died because of HIV/AIDS.

Day 2:

This day began with thunder claps, and then it started, again…rain. The Four Corners’ gang, along with Tom Corson and Peggy Walker from SIFAT picked us up at the Colline Hotel, and we headed for the Orphanage. When we arrived, the crowd was enormous, as word travels quickly when free medical care and medicines are available. In fact, one lady had traveled from Kenya, at least 50 miles away, to be treated. We were without electricity for the first hour, so we made that “tough love” decision to see only 150 on Thursday. We saw and treated, or maybe even just consoled, everything from a man with a club foot to a mother who brought in her child with Down Syndrome (about which she apparently knew nothing). At day’s end, many were still lined up for treatment, but had to be turned away. I doubt any of us will ever fathom how well off we really are, amidst our griping about only manna in the “wilderness”.

While Sue and the gang were finishing up with clinic patients, William and Gerald took Tom and Peggy on a tour of the newly acquired (still not fully paid for) property near Mukono and then traveled to the “annointed” garden for a brief tour.  Tom and Peggy were, rightfully, impressed with both. The facilities on the new property were designed to house a school, but midway through construction, the owner developed other interests. When construction is completed, some 50 orphans can have a new home and facilities to attend school on site.

God is doing some amazing things through this Ministry.

Day 3:

We again were awakened this morning by the sounds of (noisy) African birds. Breakfast today included unsweetened mango juice; sounds healthy, looks good, but not so great. After breakfast, we enjoyed the private gardens here at the Colline Hotel. The gardens are quite large with several areas for outdoor events, but within 50 yards of this quiet and expansive area is the main road from Kampala to Jinja, which resembles the African version of the Massachusetts Turnpike, lined with hundreds of makeshift businesses, most of which offer cell phone and internet cards.

William picked us up at the Colline, and the three of us headed to Jinja, Uganda’s second largest city and the location of the source of the River Nile. It is really an incredible site seeing the slow moving waters of Lake Victoria turn into the rapids of the River Nile. Actually, technically the Victoria Nile, where several river sources and the headwaters of the White Nile combine to form the River. Then, along about Sudan, the White Nile merges with the Blue Nile to form the Great River Nile, which flows through Egypt and finds its way in the Mediterranean Sea. If you dropped a floating object in the Lake where we were situated, three months later, it would end up in the Mediterranean Sea. We then toured downtown Jinga, which, well, you just have to see the photographs. In many areas, it was bumper to bumper vehicles, motorcycles, people and vendors (most of whom were selling fresh fruits and vegetables).

On the way back to Mukono, we continued to be amazed more accidents (actually fatalities) do not occur on this main road: no yellow lines, no road signs of ANY kind, no stop signs for intersecting roads, no traffic lights, only one out of every 100 motorcycle drivers wears a helmet, etc. People in Uganda are so soft-spoken and in no hurry until they get behind the wheel of a car/van or on a motorcycle. When we stopped at a pharmacy to get Sue some medicine for the cold she was developing, two motorcycles collided head on. We just wondered, just possibly, if a contributing factor was that one of the motorcycles had no light on and it was dark! Incredibly and thankfully, no one was injured.

Long, but beautiful day. Despite the congestion and sheer numbers of human bodies concentrated in such small areas along the main road, you can gaze upward and see lush rolling hills covered in seas of green: sugar cane, tea and coffee plantations and rain forests. Churchill appropriately labeled Uganda the “pearl of Africa”.