May 20, 2007

Dear family and friends,

It has been a busy time at the Bwindi recently. We have been blessed by several visiting teams lately. Nevada City, Sierra Presbyterian sent a father/son, mother/daughter group to assist the Batwa pygmies in fine homebuilding. Although their visit was only for a few days a Batwa family is now ensconced in a new home and the group even had time left over for singing and dancing. Pastor Clif Gardner from Dallas and his son-in-law Greg also came for several days and assisted in a medical clinic at a remote Batwa settlement. Many lives were saved from their efforts. At another settlement, Clif used all his skills of persuasion, patience and compromise to settle ongoing disputes and problems. He reflected on several parables from the Bible to help the Batwa understand concepts such as forgiveness and compassion. A Rotary “Group Study Exchange” from San Diego traveling through East Africa braved the 10 hour journey from Kampala to assist the Batwa. They eagerly joined in a medical outreach to a distant settlement. We were greeted by much singing and dancing and then proceeded to treat well over 100 patients. Bwindi Hospital is expanding with the addition of eight beds for maternity care. This will provide pregnant mothers with the privacy that they desire and increase the size of our delivery room. One difficulty was in getting the 750 pound delivery table through the doorway. After removing all appendages it was finally able to squeeze through the small space, it was good practice for difficult deliveries. Recently I received a “care package” from a friend in Nevada City. I noticed that the granola was a bit stale and the photos of his kids dated. It turned out that the package had taken two and a half years in transit!! Please keep the cards and letter coming.

Blessings, Scott