Tomatoes! and .......more malaria.

Last week I received some updated pictures from Thandie. I was so excited! Because I am me, I expected to see pictures of children, primarily Savannah-Hope and maybe pictures of the new babies (Henry's son Samuel or Rodney's son James Douglas). I am so grateful that I did receive some updated pictures of Savannah-Hope. But because Thandie is Thandie I also got some picture of vegetables! She is such a farm girl at heart.

TOMATOES!!!

At first I thought they were mangos. I know you are thinking I should know the difference between a mango and a tomato, but I don't care for either....so I didn't pay much attention at first. You may also notice that they appear green, but they are really red tomatoes. Why were they picked when they were green? Good question! I was wondering the same thing. The rains have been so heavy and devastating this year that the tomatoes had to be picked when they were "mature" but before they were "ripe". If the staff would have waited any longer the rains would have destroyed the whole crop. The tomatoes will ripen in the baskets and taste just as good as if they were picked when they were red. These tomatoes were from the seeds donated by Miss Clara and Miss Joanne. Thandie and the Good Samaritan Family sends a special thank you to these two women! Thandie loves to grow vegetables and is so proud of these tomatoes. She wanted me to be sure to let you know that this picture just shows a small portion of the tomatoes, there are many many more.

Honk! Honk! More Malaria!

Thandie has been sending me text messages on my cell phone alerting me of new cases of Malaria at Good Samaritan. My phone literally honks and then seconds later I see names of new children suffering from this painful and life threatening illness. While there are no names I want to see pop up, there are six names I dread to see. The three children suffering from AIDS (Rufina, Ida and Simion) and the three infants on campus (Savannah-Hope, Heath and James Douglas). Today one of those names popped up.....Ida. Ida just recovered from a bout of malaria on Jan 15th. Please take time today to lift Ida and also Josofina up in prayer today. Ida has malaria 1 plus and Josofina has malaria 2 plus. I am so thankful that Ida didn't contract malaria 4 plus, but with her weakened and barely functioning immune system, no malaria is good. Please ask God to heal these precious girls and reduce their pain and suffering.

....Josofina..................Ida...........

Please also take time to Praise the Lord for the following malaria related blessings:

1. Charles, Evance, Mary, Alinafe K. and Cathreen have fully recovered. Owen is also doing better and may be back in school tomorrow.


2. God has provided us with Staff that have recognized the symptoms of malaria and have acted quickly to obtain treatment for our children. Typically you only have 5 days to receive the anti-malaria medication before malaria takes your life.


3. God has provided us with transportation to take our children to the clinic and hospitals for lab work and treatment. Thousands die each year in Malawi because they had no way to get to a clinic or doctor to obtain the anti-malaria medication.


4. God has provided the anti-malaria medication for each one of our children. And each child has responded quickly and completely. Thousands die each year in Malawi because they can't afford the treatment or are turned away from the government hospitals due to shortages of anti-malaria medication. Many others are given fake or enaffective medication.