Dierden Tribe: August 2009

29^th July

Agroasie comments, prayers, praise & questions

Gee's family

The kids, Cc and I had a nice time bowling last week with Gee and his family. We introduced Gee to our favorite Chinese noodle shop. Gee is a sportsman and competitive. I enjoyed the bowling time. We also got to know Noy a bit more.

Gee has begun to clean his yard up and clean around their home. I think this is good for his relationships and for the reputation of Agroasie workers. We want to send a positive and healthy message to our neighborhood.

Gee has two more chairs in his home now. He now enjoys sitting at the table to chat and study. It seems to be a 'step up' for him to have a nice table and 4 chairs. Funny, we think it's nice to sit with the local people on the floor. I don't want to deter Gee from sitting at the table, if that's what he wants. But I'm quite happy on the floor, but Gee doesn't seem happy any more with his new table and chairs. Is this called 'development'…mmm?

Gee's neighbor- Mr Ferang

A little bit more about the story and background of Mr Ferang and how he lost his leg. Mr Ferang was a day laborer for a logging company in the 'special' zone. He was standing on top of a truck when the truck almost rolled over. To save himself he jumped off and as he landed a rock crushed his ankle. A bone protruded from his ankle. Ferang was taken to the district hospital but the treatment didn't get all the dirt out of his injury. A few days later Ferang's leg was 'septic'. He was sent to a large city hospital. After 6 further operations and now his entire lower leg amputated, the infection was cleaned. However, during one the 6 operations, Mr Ferang was administered high doses of 'Kanamycine'. In high doses this drug can be toxic to the audio section of the brain. Mr Ferang said 'I was lying on the bed and they were putting drugs into my arm and then I couldn't hear anything at all, and that's the way it has been until now'.

The company Ferang worked for paid for some of his medical costs. He was just a 'day' laborer (not covered by the company) and he can't read or write the Lao language. In order to cover the extra cost, Mr Ferang sold their only piece of land. His family is now landless.

Ferang has been living in the 'COPE' center now for 3 weeks. COPE stands for Cooperative Orthotic and Prosthetic Enterprise. They provide prosthetics and mobility devices for those people who require them, free of charge if they cannot afford to pay for them. It will take up to a month before Ferang is fitted with a new leg and has the confidence to walk.

We also managed to get his hearing tested to see just how deaf the overdose left Mr Ferang. He was tested to be 'profoundly deaf'. We prayed and hoped that he'd have enough hearing to amplify with a hearing aid. But his is not the case, his deafness is almost complete. His hearing cannot be amplified. So now there is just a 'miracle'. Which we know God can do.

Pray that Mr Ferang won't loose hope about his double disability and his ability to live a meaningful life. He cried with me the day the doctor broke the news about his acute hearing impairment.

Pray that we'll get an opportunity to share the love we have in our hearts for Mr Ferang, his wife, mother and two children.

Questions, prayers and Praise

1. China to 'flood' the Mekong Aug 1^st no… flooding yet! (PTL)

2. Mulberries. Ian still looking into this with Mulberries with Carma Mr 'Nulium'.

3. Muddy Road into Khok Peng 2. Gee will put the drain pipe in to make a bridge and order the stone to repair the damage down to the community road into the village.

4. Kabuta Tractor gets back to work the land…we need understand the local customs and traditions, but the land needs to be worked.

5. Ian to meet the Lao tobacco guy to discuss about tobacco dust as an 'organic' insecticide.

6. Ian to meet people from SNV to discuss growing 'bamboo' crops

7. Gee is looking into how to bring the Teak Saplings cut down during the clean up into town. I'd like to use the saplings to make some swings. The issue is, do we need documents for none valuable wood?

8. We will begin to understand the 'banana market' and how to get good prices for our organic products.

9. We will be able to train trustworthy staff. Pray for Mr Silek. Currently he doesn't seem to be trustworthy.