Pushing Progress . . .

Tomorrow Diane and I will be on the move bright and early! We need your prayers as we travel unexpectedly to Kathmandu as Diane got word that her mother fractured 8 vertebrae on her back and is in a brace in a rehab unit in Texas. She did not fall- apparently this is a spontaneous fracture.... but she is in a lot of pain and Diane feels she should get home and assist with her care. Can't say I blame her... it has been great to have her here supporting and encouraging. She has been a great help to Sundari in the bakery and has taught several newbies to crochet! She has also played endless games of Scrabble with our landlords teeenage boys and outfitted several needy with new clothes, shoes and bookbags!
We have a flight from Dhangadi to K-du at 2:20 on Yeti airlines tomorrow( a glorified tin can of an airplane!) and have booked our own transport down the 4-5 hours to the airport. It is a good thing as we heard there is a bhundh ( block) so hopefully they (those that block the road) will allow 2 white older females on their way to an emergency" in America to get past any obstacles they may have put in our path. Trusting in God Almighty and His mighty angels to get us through. Of course it has to be an adventure and can't just be a ho hum journey... there has to be some great story in all this!
Speaking of obstacles... met a few more on the building project! The wood never came on time... our workman have sat and twiddled their proverbial thumbs waiting for it to arrive. The wood man came yesterday and informed me he had delivered it and he wanted his last 500 NRS. I believed him and paid him. 30 min later our contractor met me and complained the wood still wasn't delivered! I hit the roof! I just paid the dirty liar! We tried to hunt the woodman down. We finally caught up with him 7 hours later when he showed up to our site.. still without the prepaid rented wood beams!
3 of us gave him a piece of our minds and let him know in no uncertain terms that he better show up with the wood by morning or else his business in this community was over!
The wood arrived this morning but it will now take the workman 3 days to prepare the ceiling to pour the concrete roof! And then 22 days for it to set up! Then we can lay the electric and plumbing and plaster the walls and then paint and think about moving the girls in! Oh and of course we can't forget digging the septic!
I plan to extend my ticket home another 3 weeks in hopes I can really get these girls in their new place.
I am thrilled the Lord has brought me Thirtha Pant(soon to be jobless!), the hospital maintanance man, to be our plumbing and electrical contractor! He is very knowledgable and experienced and I can't think of a Nepali more qualified to do the job. We spent several hours these last 2 days discussing how to make this all handicap accessable and user friendly for them considering heights and placements of everything from lightbulbs to toilets and sinks. He could, if needed, even transfer them from their current location to the new house when all is done as he has a working knowledge of how to dismantle their metal beds and empty and refill their water beds. He is a believer and willing to do the tranferring pro bono and the contract work for a very reasonable wage! Praise God!
We had another visit to the prison on Thursday! We had 41 men and 5 women all wanting to learn to crochet at the same time with the 9 hooks and 4 balls of yarn I brought! I was expecting a prison fight to break out! Actually they were all very well behaved and didn't kill themseves or us with their metal knitting needles! The guards did decide they would remove all sharp objects from them at the end of the day however!
I sang them all a local Shoo Shoo geet ( Dotiyali song) and got a standing ovation from them all which involved alot of hooting and hollering. Then Diane and I sang them " She'll be coming round the Mountain" and eased into some Nepali Xian songs! We all had a really fun time all the while teaching/ learning crocheting!
2 of the 5 women prayed to accept Christ including the 17 year old girl that is in cause her brother in law raped her, got her pregnant, fled to India and several months later she had a miscarriage bleeding for several days. She is accused of killing her child so is in jail for 35 days to 3 months awaiting her trial! What a justice system! Huh!
One man claimed he has been healed since our last visit and another man says he is much better! SO we are encouraged with the "jailbird ministry!" The man who accepted Christ last week still wants a Hindi Bible so I will try to find him one in K-du this week! God is alive and well in Dadeldhura even in the strangest of places...like jail!
The handover for the hospital is due this week. The place is a ghosttown. Even the businesses here along Team Road are dead! So many vendours are crying as their livelihood appears finished along with the hospital. The staff are all in fear they will not get their final paychecks or pensions. 2 staff are still in prison and HDCS has done nothing to get them out. All the administrative staff have fled in the night at variopus points and the head hancho of HDCS called and asked a church elder who was let go from the hospital staff 5 years ago to please please handle the handover! What a joke! Today we learned the CDO ( Chief District Officer) also left in the night last night! He was a friend of the local hospital administrator... hummm what a disaster! They all need your prayers! Most staff have had their last few paychecks cut without being informed.... just shorted 5000 or 6000 on their checks and they discover it when they get to the bank and try to cash it!. The bakery tab the top brass ran up, hasn't been paid or the tab for the pharmacy meds for our paraplegics nor their monthly allowances for food and necessities... Guess I will have to make a visit to the HDQrts in K-du and see how I can advocate for the girls at least!
I hear a woman crying in the street below... I feel powerless. Can't tell in the dark where it is really coming from! Sounds like on Team Road right below me!
Well better get some sleep... it is likely going to be a long day tomorrow.
Tomorrow and Monday are both supposed to be Bhundhs according to the paper. Tuesday I hope to take Diane to Pokara for 2 days and then get her on a flight home maybe Friday. I will then return on the AC bus ... another 25 -30 hours??? so hope to be back here by Saturday or Sunday. The community all agree the building project will progress faster if I am here to push it along!
Pushing for progress!
Dawn Didi