The containers have arrived on Jan 6 except one of the containers with construction materials is still in Cameroon. Supposedly it is on the way now and will be here by end of this week but we have heard that before. Apparrently someone took the payment and disappeared that was supposed to be for the truck fuel etc. It is difficult to do business when it seems almost everyone is corrupt. If your skin is white it means that you have unlimited money although they extort from blacks also.
Our container also arrived here Sun Jan 6 and was unloaded from the truck with some big equipment from the cotton company. The other containers were offloaded then also. The boxes etc. in our container were unloaded in Moundou the container lifted onto a truck by 80 men then the boxes thrown back into the container and then the truck driven here. It would cost another $1800 to get the crane to lift it onto the truck so lots of man power cheaper. So far we have not found much if any damage in spite of the way it was thrown in. Maybe we had the boxes packed pretty well. The glass jars we have not gotten to yet. We won’t unload most items until we have a house to put them in. We did unload our comfortable couch and chair and desk and a folding table and a few other boxes. A case of corn chips was so stale that they are not edible. So far the nuts and grain that was sealed in plastic buckets seem very fresh and ok. No worms. A few small items that had been opened and put in at the last minute such as oats, spice, etc were not good. It has been a year since it was packed. It gets extremely hot inside the container when it is sitting in the hot sun.
Construction is moving along. Our house has been framed outside walls and a roof on it. The maternity, surgery, and private wards have been framed and roofed. There is still a lot more to be done. We desperately need some plumbers and electricians . There is enough work to keep them busy for quite a while. All the construction is steel so no termites can eat it down. We need painters and general fix er uppers to refurbish some of the older buildings. Mission work is not just for preachers and medical people but for lots of others as well. There are some Maranatha volunteers coming in 3 days for 2 weeks to do some of things that need to be done.
Business is picking up for the hospital as well. The next 3 or 4 months are our busiest time of the year. People have more money now after harvest and travel is easier so they can get their elective surgeries done. We had 10 procedures today. One was hysterectomy for probable endometrial carcinoma. One was a mass that perhaps was an old walled off ectopic pregnancy or endometrial cyst. We had several hernias and hydroceles, lipoma, etc. It is certainly nice to have Danae and Olen back but it is only about 4 months until we will take our annual leave in May and June.
Our emails drbland@sbcblobal.net and dfbland@gmail.com
Love, Rollin and Dolores
Monday, January 14, 2013
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Jan 1, 2013 Danger?
Wow, it does not seem we have been here Bere, Chad, Africa for almost a year. We are still deficient in French but have weathered 2 months of being the only doctor here. Olen, Danae, Lyol, and Zane are back arriving here the end of last week. We are so glad. Hope to get an end of year letter done and sent soon.
This month is the crescendo of our big hospital construction project. People are starting to come in as volunteers to do various things of the project. Large amounts of concrete have been poured already for various buildings so that when the containers arrive with the rest of the materials hopefully by the end of this week at latest word. They are moving now but one truck had a break down on the “great roads” but supposedly they are moving again and maybe cross the border into Chad tonight or tomorrow. The last 25 miles to here would be expected to take at least 4 hours but there is really good highway with pavement the previous 70 miles. I don’t know what it is like coming up through Cameroon from the port at the coast.
New Years day is a big deal here with drums all night. We had a group serenade us at 0630 with drums, dancing, “singing” and “bonne annie” whereas Christmas was just another day.except no scheduled surgeries.
Contrary to what is said to be in the news, Chad IS NOT the same as Central African Republic. Americans are not being evacuated from Chad. In fact more are coming in. Yes there is an uprising in CAR with rebels heading toward the capital, Bangui but that is to the south of us. Besides even if there was something here in Chad, we are so isolated that probably no one could find us. No, we are not in any danger. But we do appreciate everyone’s prayers and concerns and emails.Our emails are drbland@sbcglobal.net and dfbland@gmail.com
Love, Rollin and Dolores
This month is the crescendo of our big hospital construction project. People are starting to come in as volunteers to do various things of the project. Large amounts of concrete have been poured already for various buildings so that when the containers arrive with the rest of the materials hopefully by the end of this week at latest word. They are moving now but one truck had a break down on the “great roads” but supposedly they are moving again and maybe cross the border into Chad tonight or tomorrow. The last 25 miles to here would be expected to take at least 4 hours but there is really good highway with pavement the previous 70 miles. I don’t know what it is like coming up through Cameroon from the port at the coast.
New Years day is a big deal here with drums all night. We had a group serenade us at 0630 with drums, dancing, “singing” and “bonne annie” whereas Christmas was just another day.except no scheduled surgeries.
Contrary to what is said to be in the news, Chad IS NOT the same as Central African Republic. Americans are not being evacuated from Chad. In fact more are coming in. Yes there is an uprising in CAR with rebels heading toward the capital, Bangui but that is to the south of us. Besides even if there was something here in Chad, we are so isolated that probably no one could find us. No, we are not in any danger. But we do appreciate everyone’s prayers and concerns and emails.Our emails are drbland@sbcglobal.net and dfbland@gmail.com
Love, Rollin and Dolores
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Dec 22 Remembering past
I was listening to some Christmas music here at the house this Sabbath afternoon and played the Messiah done by the London Philharmonic Orchestra and choral. In my mind’s eye I was back in the community chorale in Grove, Oklahoma doing our Christmas program that we did each Christmas for several years. I especially remember one with our leader, Jim Boles. He was very patient with me as he gave me the tenor solo at least one year even though Mr. Wilhelm had a better tenor voice I think. I had problems counting or staying with the right timing with the orchestra, but Jim helped me with that and I made it through. I enjoyed the chorale each year made up of members from several different churches. We had to begin practice in September to be ready for the December program that was usually in the Methodist church. Nancy Lundgren had such a beautiful soprano voice and she also led the chorale a few times after Jim passed away with heart problems.
There were many very beautiful voices and wonderful people in that group. The chorale did not perform the past few years. It seems everyone was too busy especially leadership. Not everyone has the capability to conduct a music group. Back home in America there is lots of music and decorations everywhere but here in Chad there are none. The weather is cool (it might get down to 60 at night) so definitely no snow although this is the coolest time of the year. The people don’t have money to waste on things that are only glitter. They are more concerned with survival and where is the next meal going to come from and will the little child die from malaria or parasites. Almost half of children die before age 5. In the western world esp America we spend so much money for things that really don’t matter very much. Here children make their own toys from whatever they can find although most don’t have much of anything but helping to care for siblings or working in the fields as soon as they are old enough at all.
There was a first here last night. One of the student missionaries helped with Tammy Parker put together a Christmas program for the church school which they never had before. There are almost 300 in the school. Dolores spent lots of time making costumes for the program. The program was held outdoors and many of the community were there. Maybe some of them will get a little glimpse of the Christmas story and the Saviour that came to save us from our sins. There are so many in the world that know almost nothing of the good news of salvation and the Saviour.
Many of you will spend time together with families this holiday season. Our family met together except we were here in Chad and they were together in Oklahoma. Danae, Olen, Lyol, and Zane will be back here in a few days so we are looking forward to that.
We hear that the containers that you have been praying for will be coming in a few days. We hope that is a fact. It would really be Christmas if our container and the containers for the hospital construction arrive here this coming week. Our container was packed 1 year ago. We have lived out of our suitcases and what we could get here so maybe we didn’t need as much as we thought. There are a few things in it that is supposed to help with hospital stuff. There are some books and music and different kinds of food and a kerosene refrigerator and some other things for the house that is supposed to be built for us eventually.
May each of you remember this season what is REALLY important. We are certainly looking forward to the return of our Jesus when all this poverty and suffering will be no more.
Love, Rollin and Dolores
Our emails are drbland@sbcglobal.net and dfbland@gmail.com The internet here is very intermittent and slow.
There were many very beautiful voices and wonderful people in that group. The chorale did not perform the past few years. It seems everyone was too busy especially leadership. Not everyone has the capability to conduct a music group. Back home in America there is lots of music and decorations everywhere but here in Chad there are none. The weather is cool (it might get down to 60 at night) so definitely no snow although this is the coolest time of the year. The people don’t have money to waste on things that are only glitter. They are more concerned with survival and where is the next meal going to come from and will the little child die from malaria or parasites. Almost half of children die before age 5. In the western world esp America we spend so much money for things that really don’t matter very much. Here children make their own toys from whatever they can find although most don’t have much of anything but helping to care for siblings or working in the fields as soon as they are old enough at all.
There was a first here last night. One of the student missionaries helped with Tammy Parker put together a Christmas program for the church school which they never had before. There are almost 300 in the school. Dolores spent lots of time making costumes for the program. The program was held outdoors and many of the community were there. Maybe some of them will get a little glimpse of the Christmas story and the Saviour that came to save us from our sins. There are so many in the world that know almost nothing of the good news of salvation and the Saviour.
Many of you will spend time together with families this holiday season. Our family met together except we were here in Chad and they were together in Oklahoma. Danae, Olen, Lyol, and Zane will be back here in a few days so we are looking forward to that.
We hear that the containers that you have been praying for will be coming in a few days. We hope that is a fact. It would really be Christmas if our container and the containers for the hospital construction arrive here this coming week. Our container was packed 1 year ago. We have lived out of our suitcases and what we could get here so maybe we didn’t need as much as we thought. There are a few things in it that is supposed to help with hospital stuff. There are some books and music and different kinds of food and a kerosene refrigerator and some other things for the house that is supposed to be built for us eventually.
May each of you remember this season what is REALLY important. We are certainly looking forward to the return of our Jesus when all this poverty and suffering will be no more.
Love, Rollin and Dolores
Our emails are drbland@sbcglobal.net and dfbland@gmail.com The internet here is very intermittent and slow.
Friday, December 14, 2012
Death Angel stays close Dec 13
When a patient dies one always wonders what could have been done different to avert death. One died this am that was one day post-op prostatectomy that was uneventful and he was doing well at 0700 then at 0730 he suddenly got short of breath and died unexpectedly. Possibly a pulmonary embolus (blood clot to the lung) and I am still not sure what we could have done differently. We don’t have anticoagulants here other than aspirin but he was a low risk for problems. The other one was a large abcess and infection of jaw and neck and possibly the mediastinum. We had drained a large amount of purulence from the neck but she was not improving much then died this pm. I don’t know if a trach would have benefited or not but it is difficult to get good nursing for a tracheostomy. We have little children that die almost upon arrival from malaria fairly frequently.
We have had 4 ruptured uteruses recently but so far all have survived. But the death angel was really close esp for one of them that was having gasping or agonal respiration as we were beginning her c-section but with lots of IV fluids and blood and getting her bleeding stopped and emergency hysterectomy. She is doing well today. Not sure but we think all the ruptured uteri had been given IM oxytocin (medicine give to have the uterus clamp down to prevent bleeding) before they were referred here. One of the ruptured uteri even had a live baby. Miracles still happen. Another c-section for prolonged labor, dead baby, now has had some sloughing of her vagina and urethra. Not sure how much repair she might require later. We had also a severely necrotic (mostly dead) prolapsed uterus that was very very large. We had amputated it basically and it did not involve the bladder however the infection apparently ascended up the stump and inside the abdomen. We had to open her abdomen a few days ago and there was much purulence in the abdomen but no perforation of bowel so she was irrigated out and drained and so far the death angel is holding back.
Recently a liver abcess ruptured and patient was very ill and painful. The laparotomy for acute abdomen was done and the abcess was found and drains placed and now patient is doing ok and the death angel holding back.
We have 3 “in house” now with cancer of the bladder that could not have anything done. Today there was a 6 month boy with a huge mass in the upper abdomen (filled most of abdomen) growing rapidly past 3 months mass that is. Probably a large cancer. Parents decided against surgery which might not have helped anyway so the death angel will have that one soon.
Here in Chad almost half of children die before age 5 mostly from malaria, malnutrition, and parasites. So the death angel visits most families fairly frequently. Malaria especially can be very deadly.
We are all in good health except I recently had a “cold” but am recovered. Dolores is working long hours making costumes for a bunch of school children for their Christmas program which is next week.
We covet your prayers and emails.
Our emails are: drbland@sbcglobal.net and dfbland@gmail.com Our internet is operative only occasionally but we eventually get the emails. Unable to get on Facebook or Linkedin.
Love Rollin and Dolores
We have had 4 ruptured uteruses recently but so far all have survived. But the death angel was really close esp for one of them that was having gasping or agonal respiration as we were beginning her c-section but with lots of IV fluids and blood and getting her bleeding stopped and emergency hysterectomy. She is doing well today. Not sure but we think all the ruptured uteri had been given IM oxytocin (medicine give to have the uterus clamp down to prevent bleeding) before they were referred here. One of the ruptured uteri even had a live baby. Miracles still happen. Another c-section for prolonged labor, dead baby, now has had some sloughing of her vagina and urethra. Not sure how much repair she might require later. We had also a severely necrotic (mostly dead) prolapsed uterus that was very very large. We had amputated it basically and it did not involve the bladder however the infection apparently ascended up the stump and inside the abdomen. We had to open her abdomen a few days ago and there was much purulence in the abdomen but no perforation of bowel so she was irrigated out and drained and so far the death angel is holding back.
Recently a liver abcess ruptured and patient was very ill and painful. The laparotomy for acute abdomen was done and the abcess was found and drains placed and now patient is doing ok and the death angel holding back.
We have 3 “in house” now with cancer of the bladder that could not have anything done. Today there was a 6 month boy with a huge mass in the upper abdomen (filled most of abdomen) growing rapidly past 3 months mass that is. Probably a large cancer. Parents decided against surgery which might not have helped anyway so the death angel will have that one soon.
Here in Chad almost half of children die before age 5 mostly from malaria, malnutrition, and parasites. So the death angel visits most families fairly frequently. Malaria especially can be very deadly.
We are all in good health except I recently had a “cold” but am recovered. Dolores is working long hours making costumes for a bunch of school children for their Christmas program which is next week.
We covet your prayers and emails.
Our emails are: drbland@sbcglobal.net and dfbland@gmail.com Our internet is operative only occasionally but we eventually get the emails. Unable to get on Facebook or Linkedin.
Love Rollin and Dolores
Monday, December 3, 2012
Thankful Dec 2
It is a time of thanksgiving at least for the American holiday. All the expatriates had Thanksgiving meal together which was very nice. We are thankful for good health although I did have malaria last week but I am ok now. I began my quinine early so as not to miss any days work. Dolores had a “cold” and sore throat. How do you get that with 65 to 90 temperature weather and dry? As everyone in America gears up for the “holiday season” we don’t have a Thanksgiving holiday here but it is Chad Independence Day on Nov 28. Christmas is not much of a holiday here either. We will try to make it a little festive with some decorations around the house of Danae’s. We often think about how thankful we were born in USA rather than here. People here often have very little to look forward to but a short hard life with many episodes of malaria and parasites and loss of perhaps half of their children. I am thankful that I was not born a Chadian in some remote village with no knowledge of the outside world or of Jesus. Especially I am glad that I was not born a female in Chad as many of them are not given opportunity to be educated and have to look forward to just having babies and being a wife of some man that may beat her up every so often if she does not please him just right. Be thankful for your rights and privileges in America even though they are being eroded.
The French doctor that was supposed to be here for a week did not come but we now have a very nice German neurosurgeon that has come here for 3 weeks to experience “mission medicine”. Actually he has spent time in Rwanda about the time of the genocide, also spent time in New Guinea and 3 years in Australia. He speaks good English but not much French. His wife left him 2 years ago.
I have been busy with hospital rounds and surgeries. I have done about 120 procedures since Oct 26. I did two SIGN nails or intramedulary rods on open fracture tibia last week. One of them has no x-rays yet. The other had one preop before arriving here a few days after the accident. We had another bladder stone and another mastectomy recently.
We have had no internet service most of the time the past two weeks but are thankful when we can get on for a few minutes and perhaps send email or read one of yours. Even when it works it is very very slow. We appreciate your notes when they come through like a breath of fresh air with your news bits.
Love, Rollin and Dolores
Our emails: drbland@sbcglobal.net and dfbland@gmail.com
The French doctor that was supposed to be here for a week did not come but we now have a very nice German neurosurgeon that has come here for 3 weeks to experience “mission medicine”. Actually he has spent time in Rwanda about the time of the genocide, also spent time in New Guinea and 3 years in Australia. He speaks good English but not much French. His wife left him 2 years ago.
I have been busy with hospital rounds and surgeries. I have done about 120 procedures since Oct 26. I did two SIGN nails or intramedulary rods on open fracture tibia last week. One of them has no x-rays yet. The other had one preop before arriving here a few days after the accident. We had another bladder stone and another mastectomy recently.
We have had no internet service most of the time the past two weeks but are thankful when we can get on for a few minutes and perhaps send email or read one of yours. Even when it works it is very very slow. We appreciate your notes when they come through like a breath of fresh air with your news bits.
Love, Rollin and Dolores
Our emails: drbland@sbcglobal.net and dfbland@gmail.com
Muder??? Dec. 2
Last week we had two ruptured uteri with dead babies. Both had been given large doses of oxytocin (medicine to make uterus contract) IM by someone in a village clinic before arriving here. The first one was her 9th pregnancy so it would have been easy to have missed the diagnosis but the uterus just didn’t feel right. When we opened her abdomen there was lots of blood and baby and placenta through the ruptured uterus in the abdomen. The bladder also had a large tear in it way down by the cervix. We repaired the bladder hopefully not getting the ureter. The urine cleared and she is doing ok now. The second one was similar but no bladder involvement but the uterus was split open vertically. We tied the tubes of the first one but the husband would not let us do the second one as it was only her 3rd pregnancy with one living child.
Apparrently some of the “midwives” have been told by some Chadian doctors that it is ok to give IM oxytocin. Danae was recently in a conference about OB care before she went on annual leave and there was discussion about this practice. She tried to point out the dangers of this practice but apparrently they get away with it part of the time but here were two dead babies and could have been dead mothers because of this practice. We might call this murder or manslaughter if we did this at home. What does it take to get better medical practice going? How many die that we never hear about that ruptured and bled out and died before arriving here? We don’t know. Meaningful statistics are nonexistent here as they don’t put down true numbers at all and some of the people doing them are not able to do basic math.
I have had at least 14 C-sections and 4 vacuum extractions since Danae left on annual leave Oct 25. We also have had 3 molar pregnancies and a vaginal hysterectomy and abdominal hysterectomy during that time and have a very large tumor prolapsed uterus for tomorrow and a mass about 7 months size that maybe is a large ovarian cyst.
Life is interesting for OB-Gyn. Continue to pray for our patients.
Love, Rollin and Dolores
Our emails: drbland@sbcglobal.net and dfbland@gmail.com
Apparrently some of the “midwives” have been told by some Chadian doctors that it is ok to give IM oxytocin. Danae was recently in a conference about OB care before she went on annual leave and there was discussion about this practice. She tried to point out the dangers of this practice but apparrently they get away with it part of the time but here were two dead babies and could have been dead mothers because of this practice. We might call this murder or manslaughter if we did this at home. What does it take to get better medical practice going? How many die that we never hear about that ruptured and bled out and died before arriving here? We don’t know. Meaningful statistics are nonexistent here as they don’t put down true numbers at all and some of the people doing them are not able to do basic math.
I have had at least 14 C-sections and 4 vacuum extractions since Danae left on annual leave Oct 25. We also have had 3 molar pregnancies and a vaginal hysterectomy and abdominal hysterectomy during that time and have a very large tumor prolapsed uterus for tomorrow and a mass about 7 months size that maybe is a large ovarian cyst.
Life is interesting for OB-Gyn. Continue to pray for our patients.
Love, Rollin and Dolores
Our emails: drbland@sbcglobal.net and dfbland@gmail.com
Friday, November 16, 2012
Nov 13, 2012
The proverbial three score and ten that the Bible talks about has been reached today. I’m still in good health and have been busy here in Chad, Africa and plan to be here for the next 5 years. I used to think 70 was old but your prospective changes with time and it definitely is not old. I can still do most of what I could do 40 years ago although I need to be doing more physical exercise to keep in better shape. Sometimes one thinks about what they have accomplished in life. Of course I hope there is still lots of life remaining. It is easy to get on the treadmill of life doing the daily work and chores and not taking enough time to “smell the roses” and enjoy your friends and family. One may someday wish they had spent more time with someone; but very unlikely to wish that one had worked later a few more times. The amount of money one has is not as important as the relationships with our family and friends and especially our relationship with our Lord.
The people here in Chad cultivate relationships a lot better than Americans even though they have almost no hard assets. They always take time to greet and find out how the other person is doing. The extended family system perhaps can prevent one from getting ahead but they have plenty of relationships. Almost everyone is very poor so all are the same. Are we fullfulling the Great Commission that Jesus gave us to tell everyone the good news of salvation that He has provided for us if we will accept and do what He tells us? Do we show our love in our relationships?
The past two nights I have watched the stars in the middle of the night and could see the familiar Orion, the Pliadeas, Artaurus and the Milky Way that appear straight over head here but would be in the southern sky at home. We don’t have the light pollution here that is in the USA.
I celebrated today by getting up at 2:00 am for an OB to remove a dead baby's head that was stuck. The baby had come breech. Then at 5:00 am we had a C-section for a CPD (failure to progress), but a nice living baby. Then after all the rounds, I did a hernioraphy, then excision of a very large bunch of masses from the perineum and perirectal area. I think they were huge lymphogranulomata vererum (sp?) which weighed almost a pound. Tonight about 11:00 pm we had another shoulder presentation OB which required a C-section and the baby is living. We had another imperforate anus yesterday. The end of the rectum was about an inch up inside the newborn baby. We opened the anus (where it should be) and probed and finally found the rectum and brought it down and opened it and sutured it to the anus opening. We recently had a colon-colic intussisseption with transverse colon going inside the spleenic flexure down almost to sigmoid and had been that way a few days. Had to resect the spleenic flexure and part of the descending colon and then reanastamose the colon. He has done well post op. Also last week we had a very large fibroid uterus that weighed over 5 lbs. We have done over 65 procedures since Olen and Danae left on annual leave Oct 28 so have been busy.
We still don’t have the containers with construction materials, so continue to pray for them to be released. It has been promised that they will be freed this week. We will see. This has had a big ripple effect in that various groups have had to change their schedules or cancel. Our container is still sitting in Moundou but possibly can come here next week.
We are to have a French doctor Nov 18 – 29. He has been here before but not while we were here. We are to have a neurosurgeon here from Germany Nov 27 – Dec 18. He wants to experience mission medicine and heard that Bere Adventist Hospital in Chad is the place to do that. So we will have some help part of the time that Olen and Danae are on annual leave.
It is not supposed to rain in November but we had about ½ inch Nov 6 but the hot sun is drying things rapidly. Any garden has to be watered in this sandy soil. I don’t think it has been over 95 yet but has been about 90 in the house.
We hear that Lyol and Zane want “to go home” and “why are we here” and they have been told they are on vacation in America. Of course we miss them also.
We love each one of you but have to respond via email as it is almost impossible to get facebook to download on our very slow and intermittent internet.
Love, Rollin and Dolores
Emails: drbland@sbclobal.net and dfbland@gmail.com
The people here in Chad cultivate relationships a lot better than Americans even though they have almost no hard assets. They always take time to greet and find out how the other person is doing. The extended family system perhaps can prevent one from getting ahead but they have plenty of relationships. Almost everyone is very poor so all are the same. Are we fullfulling the Great Commission that Jesus gave us to tell everyone the good news of salvation that He has provided for us if we will accept and do what He tells us? Do we show our love in our relationships?
The past two nights I have watched the stars in the middle of the night and could see the familiar Orion, the Pliadeas, Artaurus and the Milky Way that appear straight over head here but would be in the southern sky at home. We don’t have the light pollution here that is in the USA.
I celebrated today by getting up at 2:00 am for an OB to remove a dead baby's head that was stuck. The baby had come breech. Then at 5:00 am we had a C-section for a CPD (failure to progress), but a nice living baby. Then after all the rounds, I did a hernioraphy, then excision of a very large bunch of masses from the perineum and perirectal area. I think they were huge lymphogranulomata vererum (sp?) which weighed almost a pound. Tonight about 11:00 pm we had another shoulder presentation OB which required a C-section and the baby is living. We had another imperforate anus yesterday. The end of the rectum was about an inch up inside the newborn baby. We opened the anus (where it should be) and probed and finally found the rectum and brought it down and opened it and sutured it to the anus opening. We recently had a colon-colic intussisseption with transverse colon going inside the spleenic flexure down almost to sigmoid and had been that way a few days. Had to resect the spleenic flexure and part of the descending colon and then reanastamose the colon. He has done well post op. Also last week we had a very large fibroid uterus that weighed over 5 lbs. We have done over 65 procedures since Olen and Danae left on annual leave Oct 28 so have been busy.
We still don’t have the containers with construction materials, so continue to pray for them to be released. It has been promised that they will be freed this week. We will see. This has had a big ripple effect in that various groups have had to change their schedules or cancel. Our container is still sitting in Moundou but possibly can come here next week.
We are to have a French doctor Nov 18 – 29. He has been here before but not while we were here. We are to have a neurosurgeon here from Germany Nov 27 – Dec 18. He wants to experience mission medicine and heard that Bere Adventist Hospital in Chad is the place to do that. So we will have some help part of the time that Olen and Danae are on annual leave.
It is not supposed to rain in November but we had about ½ inch Nov 6 but the hot sun is drying things rapidly. Any garden has to be watered in this sandy soil. I don’t think it has been over 95 yet but has been about 90 in the house.
We hear that Lyol and Zane want “to go home” and “why are we here” and they have been told they are on vacation in America. Of course we miss them also.
We love each one of you but have to respond via email as it is almost impossible to get facebook to download on our very slow and intermittent internet.
Love, Rollin and Dolores
Emails: drbland@sbclobal.net and dfbland@gmail.com
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