Training, Planes and Automobiles

The University of Oklahoma nurses and public health workers flew into Santa Cruz on March 18 and flew out on the 24 and never stopped moving in between. We visited a total of 9 Ayore villages in less than a week. Most villages are minimum an hour's distance from each other and most are much farther.

The nurses split up into two teams in order to accomplish their goal, which was to train 2 Ayore from each community how to be village health workers. The 2-3 day training course taught the workers how to bandage cuts, treat burns, make hydration fluid, weigh a baby, check for fever, dental care, etc. It was amazing how much information was given over the course of the week. Most of the nurses were nursing students on Spring Break. The idea was that the village workers could prevent some of the common health problems within their community. Each health worker received a t-shirt and Emergency Kit at the end of the training.

While some nurses visited villages by car, others went by airplane. Our staff was nonstop busy with translating, food preparation, transportation, and much more.

I was in charge of preparing all of the meals, including sack lunches for about 20 of us to take out to the villages each day. Also, I translated the training courses for team members every day. Charles was mostly in charge of transportation and pitched in to fill in gaps as needed. It was tiring but rewarding. Teams are always encouraging as they shed new light on what we see every day and remind us that we are impacting the people we serve. Mostly they bring fresh perspective and ideas for us and for the villages.

Several days we stayed at Trans World Radio, a Radio Station with extra housing run by some fellow missionaries and friends. While there Charles and I took advantage and climbed the 350ft. radio tower. Here we are enjoying the view from the top!

Thank you Oklahoma and we pray that God would use this not only to impact your lives but ours as well as the Ayore.

May we continue to pray for the Ayore who have agreed to take on the extra responsibility in their communities.