Bad weekend all around!

Sunday Jim was helping haul some wheelchairs and training supplies into the church where the training will take place this week.    In Africa very few sidewalk, stairways or any surface as far as that goes, are even.  We have to be  careful and watch where we are walking all the time.    Anyway, Jim had his hands full and he stepped on an uneven surface and down he went.  He hurt his knees and broke his arm - just above the wrist.

He got a cast on today.  Dr. Hill went with him last evening to get it x-rayed.  Luckily the little hospital had an X-ray that worked.  He had to go back this morning to get the cast put on as no one was there that could do it.  Dr. Hill isn't allowed to do any procedures here.  The break didn't need adjusting and will heal just fine.

Some already know this but this past Friday we were in a vehicle (Jim was not driving) and as we pulled out into a roadway (it did seem safe) but a motorcycle that was going extremely fast came around a bend in the road and crashed into the side/front of us.  The cyclist was killed instantly.  If he wasn't already dead they would have likely finished him off the way they picked him up and moved him off the road!  Yikes!!   A crowd gathered but everyone stayed peaceful and assured us that it was not our faults.  We were with the Gov't people for that District and they saw it all and I am sure that helped.   The Honorable District head arranged for his vehicle to give us a ride back to Kumasi and our hotel (we were 1 1/2 hrs. out).  We then rented a vehicle to drive back to Accra on Saturday.  Not a fun thing to be a part of but thankfully no one in the vehicle was hurt at all.  It could have been even worse than it was.

Today is a holiday so I have been cleaning house and doing laundry after our week away.  The couple who have been staying here with us for the past 5 or 6 weeks have now gone to their new assignment.  They were serving in Sierra Leone but got evacuated due to Ebola. 

The Ebola is not getting any better in Liberia and Sierra Leone.  It has not come to Ghana yet though so that is a blessing.  The mission does have an evacuation plan if it is needed.

September is a really busy month for us and then things should slow down a bit. 

Love to all,  Elder and Sister Bullock (Jim and Nancy)

Our Projects

Hi,

I thought I would give you a run down of the projects we have submitted and are working on.  John Buah, our supervisor, has been encouraging us to spend the budget so between us and Elder and Sister Panter we have done that.  We still have a few projects to be submitted but we have identified them and have costs for them.  We have a budget of $550,000 for Area Initiatives for the West Africa Area.  Because the couples were new in Sierra Leone and Liberia they were working on open projects that were left by the preceding couples and didn't write up new ones.  That gave us a lot of budget to use here.   There is also budget for major initiatives like water, vision, wheelchairs, immunization and Neonatal resuscitation (help babies breathe).  Those projects can be pretty pricey (our current water project (32 wells/boreholes/rehabs) is worth about $250,000.  We are in the process of developing 3 more water projects for 2014 but they will each be approx. 15 wells each. 

Jim has a project that he developed.  Several months ago the Minister of Institutional Care wanted to talk to us.  He told us that they have new ambulances and have trained EMTs that keep the people alive, but when they get the people to the hospitals, they have no proper Emergency care and so too many die.  Jim talked to our people in SLC and they agreed this could be a good project and to go ahead and write up an Area Initiative to have a doctor visit and assess.  So Dr. Archibald, from Idaho, arrived Saturday.  Jim was with him yesterday and today as they visited some key people and hospitals.  Tomorrow he will fly to Kumasi with an assistant to the Director of Institutional Care and visit a big hospital there.  Thursday we will drive them to Winneba to do the same.  Dr. Archibald will decide if there is a project to be developed where the Church could bring doctors and do some training to help improve things.  Dr. Archibald and SLC were quite excited about this so we will see where it goes.

I didn't get this email finished so here it is Sunday already.  Dr. Archibald left last night.  He had a good week here, except for the day he spent in his hotel room sick.  He thinks there will be a good project here.  Dr. Kaba, in Accra, will put together a team and Dr. Archibald will put together a team and they will work together and try to do some training.  The idea will be to train a team here and that they will then train others and carry it forward.   

Some projects were are still writing up (waiting for some final information) are:

1) Drilling a borehole at a school in Kumasi (850 students) so they don't have to miss school when the go searching for water.

2) Furnish supplies to repair some ceilings in a Ward at a hospital in Cape Coast.  Also we want to repair 9 sinks/counters that were poorly made and are falling apart.  Whoever built the hospital used poor materials and due to the humidity here the cabinets have fallen apart.  I wrote this project up this past week and it has been submitted to the Area Presidency for approval.

3) There are some cholera problems here and we were approached about helping with materials (wheelbarrows, shovels, garbage bins, and such) for a cleanup.  John thinks we should do this one.  Since I started this email we have received two more requests for help with cholera and ebola. 

4) E/S Panter are doing a couple of projects in Jamestown (a very poor area by the ocean) to support street children.  There is a group there that have a small library and activities for children there.  They are doing a good work so we will support them with some books and and a strong canopy for some little nursery children.

5) Panters are writing up a project to supply materials to build two structures for schools out in a couple of Villages that desperately need it.  If there is enough money we will also buy some school supplies to help them at 4 schools. 

6) John Buah has also requested that a project be done to supply some Atmit (food supplement full of nutrition and vitamins)  to children in Benin (a country nearby). 

7) Solar Panels are being ordered for a Clinic out in the rural area where electricity is very unreliable and babies are delivered in the dark or by candle light.

 

Open Projects -  (Approved projects that we currently are working on.) 

• Kofi Annan Vocational Training Institute Hygiene/Water - Accra, Ghana, Ghana (WE13GHA015)   THIS IS A WATER SYSTEM FOR A SCHOOL.
  
• Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital - Cape Coast, Ghana (WE13GHA016)  THIS IS OUR 'BIG' PROJECT THAT IS ALMOST COMPLETE.  WE REPAIRED THE HOSPITAL WATER SYSTEM, REPAIRED THE LAUNDRY EQUIPMENT, TORE UP AND REDID SOME CEMENT WORK AT THE WOMEN'S QUARTERS, AND BOUGHT SOME EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES.  WE ALSO BOUGHT PAINT AND THE MEMBERS ARE PAINTING THE WOMEN'S QUARTERS IN AND OUT.
  
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• Cote d'Ivoire Literacy-Moroni Actions Humanitaries - Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire (WE14CIV001)  THIS IS A REALLY GOOD GROUP, RUN BY MEMBERS (AS THE NAME WOULD INDICATE) WHO ARE TEACHING ADULTS TO READ AND WRITE AND DO SOME SIMPLE MATH.  WE ARE HELPING THEM WITH A BIT OF EQUIPMENT AND SOME BOOKS FOR THE STUDENTS. 
  
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• La Voie de l'esperance Clinic - Medical Equipment - Soubre, Cote d'Ivoire (WE14CIV002)  THIS IS A SMALL CLINIC THAT WILL BE RECEIVING TWO PIECES OF EQUPMENT FOR THEIR LAB.  WE ARE EXCITED TO BE ABLE TO HELP A COUPLE OF PLACES IN IVORY COAST AS WE HAVE NOT DONE PROJECTS THERE BEFORE.
  
• Tree Planting/All Africa Service Day - Abomosu/Asamankse Districts, Ghana (WE14GHA008)  WE BOUGHT 3000 TREE SEEDLINGS AND MEMBERS PLANTED THEM.  DEFORESTATION IS AN ISSUE HERE JUST LIKE EVERYWHERE ELSE.
  
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• Mt. Olives Hospital - Medical Equipment - Techiman, Ghana (WE14GHA011)   THIS HOSPITAL WILL RECEIVE ONE PIECE OF LAB EQUIPMENT.  WE WERE REALLY IMPRESSED WITH WHAT THEY ARE DOING.
  
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• Adeiso Presbyterian SHS Mechanized Borehole - Adeiso, Eastern Region, Ghana (WE14GHA012)  THIS IS AN IMPRESSIVE HIGH SCHOOL WHERE THE PTA IS DOING A GREAT JOB.  WE WILL GIVE THEM A BOREHOLE WITH A WATER SYSTEM TO PUMP WATER THROUGHOUT THE SCHOOL GROUNDS SO IT WILL BE ACCESSIBLE TO THE STUDENTS AND STAFF IN SEVERAL DIFFERENT PLACES.  THEY WILL ALWAYS HAVE WATER NOW. 
  
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• OSU Homowo Festival - Accra, Ghana (WE14GHA015)  THIS WAS A PROJECT WE JUST DID TO BUILD RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE OSU TRADITIONAL COUNCIL WHO OWN THE LAND THAT THE TEMPLE AND AREA OFFICE AND STAKE HOUSE ARE BUILT ON.  THEY HAVE A YEARLY FESTIVAL AND BOUGHT WATER AND JUICE FOR A COUPLE OF THEIR ACTIVITIES.
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• Ghana 2013 Wheelchairs and Training - Accra, Ghana (WE20130578)
• Ghana Vision 2014 - Accra, Ghana (WE20140088)  THE WHEELCHAIRS ARE HERE NOW AND CLEARED THROUGH CUSTOMS.  THE WHEELCHAIR TRAINING WILL TAKE PLACE IN ABOUT 3 WEEKS.  E/S FINDLAY, FROM KELOWNA, ARE THE WHEEL CHAIR SPECIALISTS AND WILL COME AND OVERSEE THE TRAINING OF HOW TO FIT THE CHAIRS TO EACH INDIVIDUAL.  THE GHANA HEALTH SERVICES DISTRIBUTES AND FITS THE CHAIRS AND REPORTS BACK TO US.
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• Family Egg Production - Oda and Abomosu, Ghana - Oda, Ghana (WE20140150)  THIS IS A GREAT PROJECT.  10 FAMILIES ARE BUILDING THEIR COOPS AND ABOUT THE FIRST PART OF OCTOBER WILL RECEIVE 50 LAYING HENS.  THEY ALSO WILL GO TO THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA AGRICULTURAL SCHOOL FOR 4 DAYS AND LEARN HOW TO CARE FOR THEIR CHICKENS.   THIS IS A PROJECT FOR MEMBERS AND IS TO BE PRIESTHOOD DRIVEN.  WE THINK WE HAVE SOME GOOD PEOPLE DRIVING IT AND SURE HOPE IT IS A SUCCESS AS OTHERS ARE WATCHING TO SEE IF IT WORKS OR NOT.  THE FAMILIES CHOSEN ARE ONES WHO HAVE RECEIVED FAST OFFERING HELP AND WE HOPE THIS WILL HELP THEM TO BECOME MORE SELF-RELIANT.

That is a bit of a run-down. There are other projects as well.  I am going to write a separate email about our project with Bernice.

More to come.  Love, The Bullocks

Evacuation of missionaries

The missionaries are all being taken out of Sierra Leone and Liberia due to the Ebola virus.   There are about 257 in total I think.  Many will be brought to Accra and will stay in temple housing and the Stake centre on the temple grounds.  They will be reassigned, most likely to their home countries. 

Our two humanitarian couples from those countries will come here from the sounds of it and will try to complete their projects from here and also help out with some in Ghana.  

We hope they all arrive as planned.  The Church is chartering planes and last night they didn't get to leave the airport in Liberia because Ghana said they couldn't land here.  It sounds like they are sending some on a Commercial airline tonight.  The charter flight is suppose to leave Sierra Leone tonight and come here.  We are hoping it happens without any problems.  

There is no Ebola in Ghana so we are fine.  Hopefully it gets under control before it gets this far. 

Hope all is well with everyone.

Love, Nancy

Dr. Baah's Vision Clinic handover

LDS Charities has helped with this clinic a couple of times now.  Dr. Baah is a good man, doing a lot of good for the people in Ghana.  He is very grateful for our assistance and had a big party for the hand-over ceremony and fed everyone that came as well.   He had newspaper people there as well as TV stations.  It was great publicity for the Church, which is good as it helps to make people aware of us.

He presented we ladies with a dress made from Kente cloth (they took our measurements on Monday and had the dresses ready for Wednesday morning).  The men received a traditional top (don't know the official name for it).  That was very nice of him to do that.  We don't usually get such gifts and it does feel a little weird.  We were presented with our dresses and told to go change and had to come back and make a grand entrance.  I was a little worried about it but they did a good job and the dresses fit and looked nice.

Rubber tree plantations

Here some pictures of them collecting sap from the rubber trees.  It was really quite interesting to see. 

Also pictures of of high density housing in Abidjan along the river.

We came across a Scout meeting at one of our Chapels and I just had to get a picture of them.

Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire)

We spent almost a week in Cote d'Ivoire.  Almost everyone speaks French there so it was great that Jim has as much French as he does.  He struggled and his brain worked overtime, but he managed pretty well.  It certainly did help a lot. 

We traveled with our vision specialist from SLC.  First thing on our arrival,  a driver had been arranged for us, and we were driven to visit a small clinic.  They essentially have nothing but Bro. Hunsaker feels like we can help them.  His opinion is 'if we build it, they will come'.  So he will write up a project and give them a couple of items for their Optometry room.  They do have an optometrist and he had very meager supplies to work with.

The next day we headed to Soubre, place about 6 hours away.  Some said 4, some said 7, but it took us 6 hours.  We rented a vehicle and when you rent vehicles in Ivory Coast that includes a driver.  I guess too many vehicles got sold, instead of returned!   He was a good driver and did a good job of missing most of the many potholes.  It was a rough ride though.   We went directly to another very small hospital/clinic.  They had requested some medical equipment.  They virtually had nothing to speak off (6 beds with mattresses and some IV stands).  We will help them out with a few things.  Our Area Initiatives must be less than $25,000.  We even added a couple of stethoscopes and thermometers to the list as they only had one. 

 We stayed in a hotel that maybe could be classed as 1/2 star -- but that was the best they had there.  We ordered pizza from the menu at the hotel and got it after about 2 hours of waiting.  Sigh!  That's Africa!   We left early for our 6 hour ride back to Abidjan.   We did stop at one point and take pictures of a grove of Rubber trees, where they were collecting the sap from the trees into little pails.    We also stopped to look at a water well and while there Sis. Hunsaker and I saw a lady with a basket of fabric so we checked it out and each bought a piece or two.  It was a good deal.  Plus the fellows we were with who took us to see the clinics bought us each a piece as a gift.  Hmmm.....     they must really want these projects approved.  ;)

We arrived back in Abidjan and stayed in a beautiful hotel there.  Nice!   At 5 pm we met with 6 stake presidents and the Area Authority Seventy at a Stake Centre and did some training on the 'member food and small animal production' initiative.  There are 6 stakes in Abidjan and 2 missions in Cote d'Ivoire.  The training went well even with the language barrier.  Some knew English and could help translate back and forth but again, Jim did pretty good.

Sunday we attended a Sacrament Meeting in an open pavilion-type structure.  It was great.  The weather right now is quite pleasant -- not too hot, but not cold.

Dr. & Sis. Hunsaker left after Church to fly back to Accra and then connect to their SLC flight.   We stayed in Abidjan to look at another project request to help a Literacy group that are teaching adults, that have never learned, to read and write.  We were impressed with what they are doing and will write up the project and give them some books, exercise books and supplies. 

We also met with an assistant to a  Government official about the needs in Cote d'Ivoire that they are focusing on.  He wasn't a lot of help and next time we need to arrange with at least a month's notice to meet the right person.  O well.

We met again with the fellows from the Clinics and had a nice chat with them.  They brought us more gifts; an African outfit for Jim (pants and matching shirt) and brought me a dress that I like.  I need to lose 10 lbs. though to wear it.  O yeah, and Jim's outfit comes with a little hat too!  hehe

The Mission President for the newly formed 2nd mission there came and picked us up at the Hotel and took us to the mission office.  We had a satellite phone for him and Jim helped him get it set up and make his call to SLC.  Each mission has a satellite phone for emergency purposes and Jim is in charge of making sure they all make their test calls to SLC twice a year.  They report to Jim when the call has been successfully made.

We headed back to Accra on Wednesday and have been busy catching up at the office and starting to write up the projects.  Nothing has been done in Cote d'Ivoire so we hope to be able to help them out there.  We don't have a humanitarian couple there.   

It is a beautiful country.  It is rainy season so everything was green and lush.  Thick forests/jungles.  They have rubber tree plantations and cocoa plantations.  Lots of gardens and maize growing right now.  The people are wonderful, just like everywhere else here. 

I am sending some photos of the countryside, potholes, bigger potholes, and biggest potholes.  Hehe!    But, just to show that there are some good roads I included a photo of a freeway in Cote d'Ivoire that runs from Abidjan up to the border of Burkina Faso.  It was great and we got to drive on it for a couple of hours as we traveled to Soubre.  The other four hours were not so nice.

Ivory Coast

Just a quick note.  We leave tomorrow for Ivory Coast (usually called Cote D'viore, here).   We are going with the vision specialists to looks at a couple of places requesting help and then Jim and I stay a  few days longer to looks at some other projects requests.  We don't have a humanitarian couple there so we are it!

We have been super busy lately and one of these days I will post some pictures and do some writing.   Today we had a great hand-over ceremony where we gave some eye exam equipment to an Eye clinic.  Dr. Baah owns the clinic and he certainly knows how to throw a party.  He had drummers, dancers and of course, lots of speeches.   It was great.  He even presented three of us women involved an African dress made from Kente cloth and then men all got an African top that is worn by the men here for special occasions.

After that ceremony we visited another Eye Clinic that serves many many people and will most likely do our next Vision project for them.  Elder & Sister Hunsaker will write that up and do is from home (Utah) and then come when the equipment is delivered early next year and do the training on it.  It is called a major initiative.

Wheelchairs arrive here next week - a container of them (about 350 or so).  The short term specialists will come in Sept. and do the training that is associated with fitting them to the people etc.   We partner with Ghana Health and they will distribute them and report back to us.   

The weather has been pleasantly cooler lately.  It is rainy season.  We are really enjoy the milder temperatures but still run our AC most of the time.  It is just nice to not be hit with a blast of hot air every time you step outside.

We would love to hear from you!!   We are doing well and staying healthy.

Love to all,  Bullocks