On the road to Somasso

"I ne ce" (pronounced In nee chay)=  hello in Bambara

Hello from Somasso!  Today we travelled from Koutiala to Somasso, a village northeast of Koutiala.  It almost feels as if you are traveling back to the days of Jesus when you see the mud dwellings of these remote villages.  Animals roam free, things move at a very slow pace, and people spend time caring for each other in a way that is refreshing.  These are all so foreign to the way that we (meaning I) spend our days.  The other morning we started our daily prayer time at the hospital with a look at 1 Timothy 6:6-8 which reads: "But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and we can take nothing out of it.  But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that."  I was listening to this message from a Malian worker at the hospital who lives in conditions not much better than those seen in these villages and what I realized is that no matter what your standing in this world, you will never be satisfied unless your contentment is grounded in the goodness of Christ.  

This morning started with a short talk to the nursing staff at Koutiala about the basics of the pediatric cancers that are common in Mali.  We then packed up the car for our 1.5 hour trip to Somasso.

 The courtyard of the Somasso clinic... built around the shade of a large tree.

 Life in and around Somasso....

 Reverse baby bjorn!

 School kids excited to see Tubabu (white people)

 Protection from the animals.

 A time to mend... the hot season is the time to make your mud brick and ready your house for the rains of August and September.

 A small oasis garden that requires constant water and tending in this hot/dry climate.

 Play time.

 "fast food" on the road to Somasso

 Patrick dwarfed by the baobab

 Collecting newborn samples and teaching the nurses.

 Our gift for the road from the Somasso team was several bags of roasted peanuts, which were amazing!

 Public transportation...

 The team asked us to bring them back a copy of this picture... I hope to be able to do that one day

 An old church near Samosso

 I know that we have all complained that the delivery room was not nice enough at the birth of one of our children.  What do you think about this?  This woman is nearing time to deliver on this tile slab.

 This would be my worst nightmare... the guinea worm!  This is the one that you have to pull out very slowly so that it does't break off in your foot.  We are trying to get one out of Patrick right now.

 Local kids glad that we have arrived