Sorry for the delayed update - some of our best and worst moments in Burundi

Hello family/friends/fellow supporters,

Firstly I would like to apologise for the delay of this latest blog. The reason for this is partly being super busy and then nasty sickness. As I write this I am currently recovering from a bad bought of malaria. My close friend Grace who is here from Uganda who has had malaria approx. 20 times also got malaria at the same time as me. She says this is the most sick she has ever felt, which I have to say has been a comfort to me. We think we were bitten at the same time maybe even by the same mosquito, which is rubbish. After some rest, IVs and continuing oral medications we appear to be on the mends. I never thought I would be able to find a positive in being so unwell.....but I can truly say Andy has been the most patient, wonderful husband I could have prayed for. He has stayed by my side as I'm up in the night almost every hour and despite his apparent exhaustion and not feeling 100% himself he continues to bless me with his time, hugs and kind words, which really did get me through the worst days. I think going through such an illness with each other it has made us appreciate and love one another more. I am grateful for this because a good friend out here reminded us that you should praise God in the good and bad times of your life. Thank you to those of you who knew I was ill and have been praying me through it, it has been a huge comfort to both of us!

Anyhoo, enough about illness lets get on to the good! St. Thomas' Church Mission Group, Fair Oak - the church where I grew up came to visit Burundi! Wow, what a week! Having them here in Burundi was so uplifting for Andy and I - it felt like a little taster of friends and family from home. Every member of the group was so well chosen by God - everyone's characters were well suited to the work in Burundi. The main time we spent with them was in Gitega, where they made such a huge contribution to the work at Shammah Health Center. Some of the girls decorated the incubator that Andy has made for the clinic as well as the table it will rest on - they are stunning (but you can see that from the pictures!).

Things being ascetically pleasing as well as functional is rare in Burundi and will yet again set Shammah apart from other Health Center's in the area. Then the boys and rest of the girls helped Andy construct a huge water tower for the malnutrition project that will help to irrigate the land. It is immense! (See below). They also did an outreach session with 18's - 30's and then younger children in Gitega through a local church. The community received them very well!

During this week we also shared a very sad event with the St. Toms Team. We had a woman enter the clinic with a bundled sheet. I was afraid to open the sheet, but when I did I discovered the most premature baby I have ever cared for. This little person was no bigger than my hand and the miracle of it was he was over 1 week old having been born at approx.

28 weeks gestation. His colour was grey and his breathing shallow, but he was fighting, so we made the decision to fight with him. Andy and I worked on this little one for most of the afternoon. His breathing improved and his heart rate although slow became stronger, so we prepared to transfer him to Kibuye Hospital where he could receive around the clock care. However, despite our best efforts he was just too exhausted and as we started the engine on the ambulance he stopped breathing. Despite efforts to revive him.....he had gone peacefully to be with Jesus. The saddest bit about this story is that this was his mother, Alysse's sixth pregnancy with no surviving children. That is so hard for any woman, but if you read our previous blog regarding Cedric you will understand that for a Burundian woman it's like she has lost her identity as a woman. I held Alysse as she wept and Andy and I sat with her when she went to the road side by the clinic and prayed for her - we prayed healing over her womb and that she would know she is deeply loved. Often in Burundian Culture the father is not involved in such affairs, but Andy noticed he was hiding in the nearby woodland so he went over to comfort him with words and a manly handshake. This was a special moment and I am sure not at all what the man expected. The name given to this baby after he had died for his footprint and handprint picture....was Shukuru, the meaning of this is 'thankful', which I thought was very appropriate. 

I questioned initially how could God let another child fall away from this woman and because he had survived 10 days on his own, would he have made it if she brought him sooner. 

However, I believe God knows better than us and in this case he was merciful, because as we prepared Shukuru we noticed upon looking closer he had an extra digit on each hand, no bottom and ambiguous genitalia, so was very disabled and may have gone on to be in more pain further down the line. Plus it meant his mother had 10 undisturbed days of him not being in a box, just him and her. Therefore for this beautiful baby we wrote in Kirundi around his name and prints - 'fearfully and wonderfully made'. I would ask you to pray for Alysse and for Cedric's mother Lawrence - for continued healing both physically and emotionally.

Okay.....back to a positive note - one of our highlights with St. Toms was going to see the Batwa (Pygmies) supported by Harvest for Christ in Myramvya. Wow - what a humbling people these guys were to meet! The Group was split into two and each went to meet one village and take part in the Devotion sessions happening. The Batwa are not as you imagine, they are only slightly smaller than the average Burundian. However, they usually live in tiny grass huts, but due to the work Harvest for Christ are doing all of the Batwa we met are now living in small, modest brick buildings, which was great to see! The bible study was great and I even had a small child perch on my lap and fall asleep :) We got to pray for the people present and met the oldest Burundian Person I think we will ever meet - he was 97 years old!!!

(That's over twice the average life expectancy here). After meeting the people we saw the school project, clinic and conference centre nearby. The amazing thing is this provision is bridging a gap between the Batwa and the rest of society. The sad thing is until very recently Batwa were always marginalised, to visit the Batwa meant you would be outcast. If a member of the Batwa was queuing at a clinic people would just ignore them, so they kept getting pushed to the back and no schools would except Batwa children. This is largely due to isolation but also any labour done by a member of the Batwa would earn much less than an average Burundian worker, so affording to send a child to school was not an option. At the Harvest School the first 40% of new pupil intake is allocated to the Batwa, all costs paid for with free porridge every morning, the other 60% are from the general Burundian community and everyone is treated the same teaching future generations the importance of integration! We had an awesome time and plan to return soon to take some clothes, toys, shoes and Bibles donated, largely by St. Toms to the two villages visited. I would like to say one last thing - Onesphore the lead of Harvest for Christ has an outstanding vision for the Country and all for the glory of God. The man heading up the Muramvya Region - Donatien could not have been more welcoming if he tried! What a great work God is doing through these two guys and many others!

Last week we had our 'practice run' at running Shammah Health Center with Zenon (Doctor) in Josh and Nadine's absence, as they were in Rwanda for a conference week to benefit the malnutrition project. We hope and think it went well and enjoyed tackling new challenges as they arose. Please pray that we do Josh and Nadine.....and more importantly God proud whilst they are in Canada.

Okay I am aware I can write for England, so before I go Andy and I would like to personally thank Cheryl Chainey (Bournemouth Hospital - A+E) and Howard Furr-Barton (Med-Tec Supplies) for helping to collect masses of supplies to benefit the work we will be doing with LINA Medical Health Services in Nairobi - you guys are great! 

Also thank you again to St. Toms for inspiring us with your energy and for making it possible for us to visit Grace's family in Uganda for two weeks when we have our staff holiday. It has meant we can stop in to encourage Jassy's brother (Patrick) and sister (Shila) who are currently living there, prior to our time in Nairobi!

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God Bless and thank you for spurring us on!

Love Hannah (and Andy) xxx

P.s: Please could you pray for continued wisdom in our journey and that we really embrace our last 8 weeks in Burundi........and of course for mine and Andy's good health from here on as it's been quite constant with amoebas, bacterial stomach infections, flu and malaria. Thank you so much! We really value your prayers!