Feet on the Ground in Togo

In October I asked family and friends to contribute to a grant project I initiated for the small community in Togo where I live and serve. I was amazed beyond belief that in four days we reached our goal--Thank you, Thank you, Thank you everyone--and I am so excited to say that as of last week that project has officially been completed! The project's goal was to repair the well and running water at the local clinic in hopes of motivating more women to give birth there as well as increase the clinic's hygiene and sanitation levels. The project took seven weeks from start to finish and included deconstructing the old tower, building a new water tower, emptying and cleaning the current well and replacing all of the plumbing and faucets in the clinic. All of the materials were bought in country and the labor came from technicians in the community. I have created a  pdf document  which shows the project's seven-week progression. This new water tower brings running water to t...

Piercing shrieks came without pause from the small, wiry little guy rocking on the hard, white tile table. This was the rhythm and frequency of sheer, agonizing and raw pain, and I had never heard nor seen pain like this before. The shaking, rocking, screaming mass was an innocent, young boy who was getting stitched up without anesthesia. The boy, Matthieu, had fallen off his bike the night before and scraped his knee. Fearful of getting in trouble, he did not tell his father about the ping-pong ball sized gash. When his father discovered the deep wound the next morning, he immediately brought Matthieu to the clinic for care, but the hours that had passed were unforgiving. The skin around the wound had already relaxed and curled back, which made for stitches that would need to be forced and pulled in directions that almost didn’t seem natural. The clinic could not offer Matthieu relief through anesthetic or pain medication because the clinic just did not have any. The clinic I wo...