Thursday, November 9, 2017

Nigerien Lumberjacks and Lumberjills


I was wondering why they are cutting down trees around the compound … so I asked.  Apparently, it is the same problem as we have at home.  Trees fall on power lines or houses during the windy season and make intermittent power outages even worse.  These logs are heavy (I tried to pick one up) so I am wondering if they will use them for carving.  Of course fuel for fires would also be something to expect, and perhaps the smaller branches that the woman was preparing would be good for that.





Hmm the network is down again. You may not be getting this for a while again.  Well at least the power didn’t go out when I did the caesarean for twins yesterday.  Oh, did I forget to mention that?  She was only 34 weeks but her blood pressure was hard to control, and the ultimate cure for pregnancy induced hypertension is to not be pregnant any more.  We gave the mom steroids so the babies lungs would mature and waited the 24 hours for that to take effect.  Then yesterday she had 2 baby boys by caesarean.  Both of them weight over 2 kilos – close to 5 lb.  Mom and babies are doing fine as you can see.
 










I did get out for a walk at lunch today and went in to town a short way.  The road can be very busy, but there is also foot traffic and donkey traffic, and an large number of two wheeled vehicles both motorized and human propelled.  The trucks can be very large and very fast, so it is important to watch your step.  The local construction materials are usually mud bricks and straw with some wood thrown in.  There are also corrugated metal roofs and some metal beams.  There are a lot of shops that will sell everything from cellular sim cards to Fanta to bicycle tires.  You can also buy cigarettes, but given the amount of dust in the air, why would anyone want to put more particles in to their lungs?












Psalm 121:1+2
I lift my eyes up to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

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