We Now Have Internet Access! (12-31-12)

We traveled to Kibuye for Christmas with our friends Randy and Alice Matthewson, who in their retirement serve as volunteer missionaries to the Congo for six or more months per year. (Randy is an engineer, and oversees a lot of construction projects.) Alice had recently purchased a modem for internet access, which she reported worked well on the HAU campus, and surprisingly, also at Kibuye in Burundi and Nundu in the Congo (both located in remote areas).

On our return to Bujumbura after Christmas, we stopped en route back to campus and I purchased two modems from LEO, the major internet provider here, for our own use and for other visiting faculty.

I paid $30 for each modem which, on a holiday promotion, also includes 7 days of unlimited internet access. Thereafter, one adds time/units using the same scratch cards used by all LEO cell phones here. These are (comparatively) very low cost: I do not expect to use more than $10 worth over the next three weeks.

We have used such modems previously, before HAU acquired internet access (which, as reported in an earlier blog, is no longer functional). Around here, they are lovingly referred to by the ex-pats as “gizmos.” The current one is made in China: it is very simple to install, and works VERY well.

My plan is for these two modems to be passed along to other visiting faculty. Five visitors are arriving this week, to teach in the January interterm; others will follow in February and March, etc.

The modem (“gizmo”) is an excellent solution to the problem of internet access because it allows for access from anywhere on campus 24/7. I am very pleased with this solution!

It’s Been Cooler Lately (12-31-12)

We have been enjoying cooler weather of late. No snow, mind you! But the daytime temperatures have been in the low (rather than high) 80s, and in the mid to high 70s at night. Comparatively pleasant!
We are grateful for this cooler weather.

Climbing Jacob’s Ladder (12-31-12)

I am recovering very well from my hip replacement surgery on October 11. At that time, my surgeon told me I would need “two months” for the short-term recovery. So (exercising some degree of faith) we scheduled our departure for Hope Africa University December 11 (exactly two months later!).

I did bring my cane and used it en route traveling through the airports. But I have not used it at all since we arrived in Burundi.

There are many stairs to climb here (and no elevators!). We live in a third-floor guest apartment. (Note: in French, it is called the “second floor,” that is, the second floor above the “ground floor.”) To reach our apartment requires climbing 40 steps (and 40 more to get back to ground level!).

And there are many more stairs to climb here! Darlene is teaching in lab and lecture rooms located on the third floor of the main classroom building. That is a climb of 56 stairs up, and for the descent 56 down.

On Friday, counting the steps both up and down, I did 800+ stairs…in style, “foot over foot”…and suffered no ill effects. So I am very pleased with my progress. I expect, per the usual schedule for recovery, that by the time we return home January 17, I should be fairly “back to normal.”

Then, my next challenge—for the spring months, is to rebuild the muscle in my left leg. Presently, my left thigh is 2+ inches smaller in circumference than my right thigh! The calf is also smaller. I think the atrophy took place over time, as I “gimped and limped” around for a couple of years prior to surgery. My goal now is to recover the strength I lost in my left leg during that time and be back to “fully normal” by the end of May. (Some of my closet friends question “normal” as a realistic goal for me!)

Darlene Hard at Work! (12-31-12)

Following Christmas, Darlene began teaching one section of her course on December 27. (During the holidays, it is currently the only one in session at the University.) She has a total of 140 undergraduate Nursing students enrolled in her course on Physical Assessment and Diagnosis.

To manage this number of students, Darlene has divided the course into three sections (or “groups,” as they are called here) of 40-50 students each. Following the daily lectures, each group is then divided into two lab sessions. So Darlene is in class, 8:30 am – 4 pm daily, including Saturdays.

Presently, with the first group, Darlene has one assistant instructor, one of her (former) students who just completed his masters’ degree in the Nursing. Eric is an exceptional young man, a hard worker, fluent in French as well as English. So he is a BIG help. I am also serving as an assistant, managing the course Grade Sheet, etc.

Darlene’s plan was to begin the first group early and get in two weeks of classes before the beginning of the regular January interterm on January 7. On that date, she will launch the second and third groups. She will have additional assistance for these two groups. A Nurse Practitioner friend, Carol Vitolins, is arriving January 3, and another of Darlene’s former students will be returning after the holidays. Violette is an exceptional young lady, well connected on campus (which is important here), and a hard worker; she will be particularly helpful in the lab sessions.

I am doing everything I can to off-load Darlene, caring for the household duties, meal preparation, etc. But I do ask your prayers for her: she is caring a very heavy load.

Christmas in Burundi (12-25-12)

We shared a Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve with four other couples from the US (“ex-pats,” we are called here) and four children ages 5-13. Three of the eight adults present were medical doctors and three of them (including Darlene) were nurses. The dinner was hosted by Dr. Frank and Carol Ogden on the campus of Hope Hospital of Kibuye, the “up-country” hospital of Hope Africa University (HAU).

Today, on Christmas Day, Darlene and I accompanied Frank and Carol Ogden to a country church, where Carol (an ordained minister in the Free Methodist Church) was preaching at a special Christmas service. The service lasted 3.5 hours (it included eight choirs!), followed by a meal prepared especially for us visitors. Mid-way through the service, a torrential rainstorm broke out. The pounding on the tin roof almost drowned out the service for 30 or more minutes. It then subsided for the sermon itself.

We had come in to this church off the paved road from Kibuye on a dirt track which wound into the mountains ca. .25 miles. We knew, because of the heavy rainfall, that we might not make it out. The road was very bad. When we got stuck in the mud, ca. 12 children and three men helped pull us out. I was riding upfront, and helped Dr. Frank negotiate a pathway through the mud and holes and up the steep hillsides. When we reached the paved road, we all gave praise to God.

Back at Kibuye, the ex-pats (including Darlene and I) shared gifts. They all were very simple, but people were thrilled with the smallest gifts. In the evening, we joined with the medical students on site and went caroling through the hospital wards.

So this has been a distinctive Christmas for us. Not only because it is sunny and warm rather than cold and white, but also because we have observed absolutely no signs of commercialism. We have not seen a single Christmas light or decoration, or any extraordinary expenditure on the part of anyone. In that respect, it seems like any other day…except for the focus on worship, in celebration of Jesus’ birth. Isn’t that what Christmas is/should be all about?

What a Special Graduation! (12-23-12)

On Saturday December 21, we participated in the Commencement ceremonies marking the end of the 2012 academic year at Hope Africa University.

It was a special day both for us and the University.

At this Commencement, Hope Africa University graduated a total of 489 students including its first graduate degrees to 23 masters and 15 doctoral students!

• M.A. in Theology: 9 students

• M.S. in Nursing: 7 students

• M.Ed. (Education): 7 students

• M.D. (Medicine): 15 students

Darlene was the primary faculty behind all seven graduate degrees in Nursing, having served as the thesis advisor and first reader on all seven theses. I had advised all of the graduate Theological students on their theses, and served as first reader and jurist for three of them. We are very proud of “our” students!

Wayne was privileged to serve as the Commencement speaker. His address was titled, “Where is the Hope?” Hope has been the topic of considerable research in the past 15 years. Wayne summarized the results of this research and integrated it with a biblical theology of hope, applying both to the realities of this present world. As graduates of Hope Africa University, he challenged the students to serve as “agents of hope” to the hopeless in central Africa.

Not only are we proud of our students (undergraduate as well as graduate!), we are pleased to be part of the continuing development of Hope Africa University.

An Internet Connection Would Be Nice! (12/19/12)

We have been here one week. I have only been able to secure an internet connection twice. The first time, the electric power went off, shutting down the entire computer network, after one hour of access. On the second occasion, the wi-fi was painfully slow. It took ca. 3 minutes to call up and send a one-line email Reply!

Presently, I am sitting next to the IT staff responsible for the internet connection. He graciously gave me one of the two cable connections he has on his desk. After I got to my email and sent one Reply, the internet connection went down; the connection now reads Local Only. So I am biding my time, composing emails and this blog off-line, to paste into email once (if) I get internet access again this afternoon.

I see my IT seatmate working to restore the internet connection! In the past 30 minutes, several other persons have come in trying to help. I pray for them.

PS: After an hour waiting for the internet connection to be restored, I give up! I’ll try again another day.

It Feels Cold Here! (12/17/12)

Friday, December 14, was an unusually hot day.

Typically, daytime temps here run in the 80s (low to high 80s). On Friday, it was in the 90s; I am not sure how high the temp went, but it probably was in the high 90s. Even the Burundians considered it “hot”! The humidity was equally high, which led to a torrential and lengthy rain storm in the late afternoon.

On Saturday morning, it felt comparatively cool.

Darlene put on a sweater, and insisted I close the door and windows. She was still “cold.” I protested that it was not as hot as the day prior, but still quite warm. To support my claim, I checked the thermometer we have hanging in the hallway of our apartment: It read 76 degrees! Darlene responded: “It still feels cold to me!”

Waking Up in Burundi! (12-14-12)

Traveling to Hope Africa University we experience a six hour time difference, which “flips” half the day and half the night.

And so it was that at the end of our first day in Burundi this year, we found ourselves nodding off into deep sleep about 7 pm. After fighting off sleep for an hour, we finally gave in and went to bed. Both of us slept very soundly, for what we thought was a long time.

When we finally awakened, I checked my Smartphone for the time. It read 5:30. Since it starts getting light here at 6 a.m., we decided to get up and get an early start on the new day. Darlene took a shower, and we both got fully dressed. I opened the curtains to let in the morning light. For breakfast, we had bread and peanut butter sandwiches (sounds more like lunch, but that’s all we had at hand, not yet having been to the grocery store!). And Darlene made each of us a large mug of strong Burundi coffee.

Grateful for a good night’s sleep, we resumed our work of reading masters’ theses as we downed our sandwiches and sipped at the hot coffee. About 45 minutes later, I realized that it was still dark and there was not yet any birdsong. I looked at my wristwatch. It appeared to have stopped. So I asked Darlene to look at her watch. Both read 1:15 a.m.!

We decided not to drink the remainder of our coffee, but to continue working for a few hours. At 3:30 a.m. we went through our nighttime routine once again and returned to bed. Once settled in, we both had a hearty laugh at ourselves. Then we fell asleep again. We slept (not so deeply as before our mid-night break) until 6:30 a.m.… arising once again, this time to sunrise and birdsong.

En Route Back to Africa (December 12, 2012)

We are experienced travelers! This is the sixth consecutive year Darlene and I (Wayne) have traveled to Burundi in central Africa. Before arriving at our Rochester, NY airport on December 11, 2012 we had everything well-planned. We had even gone out to the airport a month earlier, to make special arrangements for my travel. (I had a hip replacement on October 11, 2012 and--although having been cleared for travel--was subject to certain restrictions and limitations.)

We checked in early, and went to our gate. Before long, it was announced that our United flight to Washington, D.C. was delayed by almost two hours (within 30 minutes, it was cancelled altogether). That meant we would miss our overnight connecting flight to Brussels, where we were scheduled the next morning for our day-long flight into Bujumbura, Burundi. (This flight is available only twice per week, on Wednesday and Sunday.)

We had to wait about 30 minutes for United to make rearrangements. We were transferred to Delta for an overnight flight to Brussels via JFK airport in NY. However, we faced two new challenges: (1) all of the special arrangements for my travel—aisle seating, and wheelchair assistance in the big airports—were void; (2) our inbound flight to Brussels was scheduled to arrive at 9:30 a.m. and our outbound flight at 10:30 a.m.

Darlene was worried sick that “we would not make it.” I tried to comfort her, by reminding (myself, as much as) her, “Dear, we have many people praying for us.” She responded, “I know. But where is God when we really need him?”

As it turned out, God was with us. Our flight into Brussels arrived 45 minutes early! We had plenty of time for the long walk—and I had no difficulty—through the airport to our next gate. So “we would make it,” but what about our luggage? That problem was solved when our outbound flight, from Brussels to Bujumbura, was delayed for 45 minutes! (It was announced that this delay was required “to load the last remaining luggage”—probably ours!)

All is well that ends well. God is good…all the time!