Report from
Richard & Linda Benskin
with Joanna & Daniel
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Report from |
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February 26, 2001 |
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Address: P. O. Box 137Email: benskin@writeme.com URL: http://westover.org/worldover/yendi |
Sponsoring Congregation: Westover Hills Church of Christ |
Dear Friends,
The time since our last newsletter has been full. We passed the holidays pleasantly, though we did miss friends and family. Much of Linda's family came for a short visit in early January, and then took us on with them for a few days in Egypt - what a nice Christmas present! The pyramids, ancient artifacts, etc. were spectacular, but we enjoyed the cool weather, modern conveniences (including big grocery stores), and uninterrupted sleep almost as much. Of course, many things have been going on with the work in and around Yendi. We hope to share a few of these with you in this report.
Recently we cared for this little girl whose siblings pushed her into the path of a motor scooter. Her injuries were serious - bystanders thought she would die and urged the motorist (who happened to be one of the clinic workers) not to stop to render aid. Before that, we treated two toddlers in one week who had been pushed into fires by their older brothers. One had second-degree burns over close to 50% of his body. The following week we treated a boy whose feet were severely burned when he toddled through smoldering trash. Such accidents are so common here! Through our partnership with you, combining modern medicine with fervent prayers, these children all recovered. But, every week we see more such children. Often little children here are malnourished because they eat from a common bowl and the older stronger ones push the younger ones aside. Acts of cruelty directed towards the youngest and weakest members of the family are common here. What dynamics in a society make siblings so hateful? Why are the mothers so inattentive? Parents often yell threats at their sick children, and are very rough in handling them. Why? The parents are harsh because that is all they know. They are following the examples of their own parents, who were equally abused. The landscape around Yendi is so strikingly dry and lifeless now, but the emotional desert in the hearts of many people here is just as real. Children are very special to God - He was so angry at the people who hurt children as part of their false religion! Christ taught gentleness, and held little children on His lap. Surely this is a place where Christ's love and compassion need to become known! Please pray for children all over the world who are intentionally injured, both physically and emotionally, by families who have no clear vision of our loving Father God.
Brother Richard! Brother Richard!
Thus begins another episode of "Utility Emergencies." A worker digging a hole cut through the main pipe from the well... The water tank suppling the clinic and several houses develops a gradually spreading rupture... Several houses are without water because of a problem at the pump house... Smoke erupts from a plug. Here in Yendi, utilities, when they are available at all, function sporadically, making life ... interesting. The 180V - 310V fluctuations (it is supposed to be 240V) in our electricity not only make the lights dim & buzz, they are also hard on motors and appliances. Voltage stabilizers go only so far. Good quality materials are rarely available. Skilled tradesmen can earn more and prefer living in the southern cities, so few stay long around Yendi. Add to this the demanding environment, and leaks and various other failures are ongoing and inevitable. In the town of Yendi, the municipal water is only turned on for a few hours every 6 days, and the schedule is often changed without warning. Imagine how that impacts the residents of this dusty town! We are blessed to have well-based water systems with safe tap water, automatic electric pumps (Daniel lost his job as water pump boy), and several tanks on towers throughout our neighborhood so that the frequent power outages don't interrupt our water supply. Dan McVey, whose house is plagued with leaks, recently hired a plumber from Tamale to put his pipes out in the open, rather than inside the walls, to facilitate repairs! Richard implemented several more design changes and upgrades to the water system this dry season, making it more reliable. This included replacing the ruptured tank with this larger new one from Kumasi.
There is more good news regarding the utilities. Telephone poles were recently planted all the way to the house! It is even possible that by the time you read this we will have a telephone line. This should save us time and greatly simplify communication. We have even been promised Tamale lines which should be more reliable than the notoriously bad Yendi phones we have been using at the communication centers in town. It will be great to be able to do both phone calls and especially email from our house.
The two largest tribes of the Yendi area, the Dagombas and the Konkombas, had a tribal conflict about 9 years ago in which about 10,000 were killed. The Konkombas, who "lost" the conflict, fled the town of Yendi. They still do not live in the town, although they do come to trade. Distrust and prejudice are still strong in many members of both tribes. We often see Konkombas at our clinic who fear going under the care of the Dagomba staff of the Yendi Hospital. Southerners cite this tension as a major reason for the lack of development in Yendi - all the charity organizations left during the conflict. A few of these may soon return. We feel comparatively safe, being seen as "neutral" because of our good relations with the Dagomba leaders and care given to all at the clinic. Even so, when we hired a Konkomba woman as an interpreter for our clinic, it was under the condition that she must commute each day from a nearby Konkomba village, because YaNaa (king of the Dagombas) determined that it is not safe for her (or for us) to have her live in Yendi.
A few weeks ago, YaNaa was proved right. A Dagomba man was hunting in the nearby savanna. He was setting fire to the dry fields of grass, to better gain access to the small animals that hide there. This is a very common hunting practice here (a similar fire is pictured, though this one was set by Konkomba hunters). A nearby Konkomba village was preparing to harvest this field of grass for thatch, a substantial economic product of many of these villages. The Dagomba hunter was killed in the ensuing dispute over the grass. As soon as the news reached Yendi, some Dagombas seeking retribution began chasing some Konkombas who happened to be in Yendi. The Konkombas fled to YaNaa's palace, where they were granted "asylum." YaNaa was very firm that the attitude of "one of theirs for one of ours" was inappropriate, and that the matter should be turned over to the police. Witnesses and suspects alike were taken to Tamale (60 miles away) in a demonstration that Yendi at large should not become involved in the matter. After a few days things had calmed down enough to permit Konkombas to return to regular trading in Yendi. We greatly appreciate your prayers for peace in this region.
Joanna and Daniel have been involved in many activities, as well. They especially enjoyed the visit from Linda's family and the trip to Egypt, of course. Joanna and Tessa enjoyed attending a "Christmas Tea" at the home of Joanna's friends, Anna and Emma Leonard (the two girls to Joanna's left, below), in Tamale. We found this baby hedgehog on the road and gave it to some other missionary friends, who live in Kumasi. They have children the ages of ours, as well. Too bad none of these girls live near Yendi. Daniel has been wondering if it is possible to be addicted to a bicycle-we assured him it is not a problem. Recently, Daniel, Joanna, Tessa and Kyle (the Yendi missionary kids) have been playing chess and table tennis. The table tennis enthusiasm was so great Richard made the kids a full size ping-pong table of their own - great for school study breaks!
Meanwhile, all the older kids in the Yendi church have been busy with Leadership Training for Christ: International (LTCi). Figuring out what to do for the younger kids became a big problem when the second of the two Ghanaian women who were teaching them traveled South. For a while they sat in on our class, but, unlike the older kids, the only common language of the younger kids is Twi, not English; they were definitely bored. Joanna lamented that she is not able to help, because of the language barrier. Then, the older boys in our class learned about the LTCi Bible Class Teaching event. Since then, the younger kids have had several of the older boys, including Kyle McVey, all vying for an opportunity to teach their class! They have really done a good job, too.
Primary Health Care Workers' Program
The Primary Health Care Workers' Program has been without a regular coordinator since last summer. Linda "subbed" for the September, 2000 course. In late January she was given the responsibility of regularly coordinating the Primary Health Care Workers' education program. There was already a course scheduled for March here in Yendi, so she has been scrambling to get qualified students and teachers scheduled for the course. Fran & Jerry Thornton are still in the USA, and Rosita Hunt has returned to Australia, but others have been very generous in taking on extra lessons, and a visiting couple who helped start the PHCW program in Kumasi years ago (Bob & Beth Williams) is pitching in, so we believe the course will proceed as scheduled. The book we are using as a text is truly excellent for many applications, but was overwhelming to our students and encourages procedures that exceed the scope of practice of Primary Health Care Workers in Ghana. Macy Kelly, a nurse educator from California who has visited before, plans to come for a few months to help rework the textbook to be more appropriate for future classes. She has also agreed to teach some advanced classes and coordinate a PHCW course in Kumasi in May. It is a great blessing to have so many willing and talented folks available to help with this program.
Reaching Out to Yendi Town
Last year, Richard showed the Jesus film in Dagomba (primarily Muslim) villages on Thursday evenings. It was well received and helped open some of those villages. This year the video ministry is focusing more on Yendi town, partially in preparation for moving our church meeting place into town. Right now the building is located near our house on the outskirts of town, a very long walk from the main community of Yendi. We have had a downtown lot for some time, but are now gathering materials to put up a building. It was decided that we would start on common ground with the Muslims there by first showing films about Old Testament figures, and then work our way up to the Gospel. The crowds for films on Noah and Moses have been beyond our expectations - over a thousand tightly packed spectators attended the most recent episode. Although the people are of the Islamic faith, most have heard only references from the Koran to these Old Testament heroes. Coupled with the Bible distribution, we are succeeding in bringing God's Word before the masses, and even the Islamic leaders seem pleased. Pray that the showing of the Jesus film is also this well received.
The dry season is now giving way to what is called the hot season. There has been no precipitation since October. Afternoon temperatures are still typically in the hundred-and-teens, but the humidity is coming up and there is little nighttime cooling. We may soon get some sporadic rain, but the true rainy season is still months away. Impressive whirlwinds are common, picking up dust and debris and hurling it high into the sky and out of sight. It is easy to see Elijah being taken up in just such a whirlwind. Sorry fellow Texans, they put the "dust devils" I remember from west Texas to shame.
Many of the rivers are now a series of stagnant pools. The heat, dust and poor water supplies lead to many health problems, particularly respiratory difficulties, such as asthma, pneumonia, and sinus infections. Malaria and dehydration are also big problems. We are also seeing many patients with malnutrition in the villages. It is inconceivable to many of them that some foods have more nutritional value than others, so they tend to eat only starches. Traditionally, they eat only the fresh fruits and vegetables that are found near their villages, but at this time of year little is growing. Dry season gardening is quite difficult and the few fruits and vegetables that are available then are unpopular. It is difficult to convince them how much their health could improve if they would eat more fruits and vegetables year round.
In the Service of the King,
The Benskin Family
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