November News

I can't believe it's November already! Where did the time go?

Now it's time to start thinking about turkey and pumpkin pie and Christmas decorations, music and fun with family and friends.

We are staying home this season. My Roberto starts radiation for prostate cancer on the 15th. At first I freaked out because that is what happens when you hear your husband has cancer. Fears race through your mind and you wonder what you would do if he doesn't "make it." Your emotions leap onto a roller coaster and go from contemplative to gripping fear--from "I know he's going to be okay" to wanting to crawl under the covers and stay there.

A family friend who has been through prostate cancer wrote: "It's such an odd thing to hear from your doctor, that you have cancer, and I know it's also incredibly difficult for family members. No one is quite sure what to expect."

Once we visited with the oncologist and went over the tests and treatment options it was easier. I studied Robert as he calmly stated he would take radiation treatments. I wondered what he was really feeling. He said, "I know I'm going to be okay. Let's get this taken care of."

Okay. So I now I know he's going to be okay too. I know that Robert is in God's hands and that is the best place to be.

Will I still waver? Will I still stare at him and try to burn the image of his face into my mind? Will I grip his hand in the middle of the night and pray that God will let him stay? Will my imagination go where it doesn't belong?

Probably. But this I know is true--God is in control. I know that God has a plan and I have confidence that Robert's work on this earth is not finished.

I also know that none of us is promised a tomorrow so we will enjoy the gift of today. We will cherish the moments and trust God for our tomorrows.

So at first I will sit in the waiting room each day while Robert has his treatment and then when we make it through the first week I will know that it's not that scary and we will settle into the routine of --Roberto goes to radiation each day--then he will stop at the gym and work out-- and what was so foreign will become the norm.

Safe Birth Project in Uganda

My friends have joined Hope 4 Women International and will be traveling to Uganda next month to train medical professionals in the safe birth project. This project will help prevent infant mortality as well as save the lives of mothers.

We are so proud of what they are doing. Please look at their blog and encourage them along the way. http://www.safebirthproject.blogspot.com/

Here's What Jeanette is doing to Help with the Gardens

You too can help with Seeds 4 Hope. email rachel@h4wi.org

Demonstration Gardens in Uganda

Robert started demonstration gardens with three teams in Uganda. The purpose of the gardens are to demonstrate planting, growing and harvesting procedures. From there others will be trained and helped to become successful gardeners--thus being empowered to feed their families and to make money selling their crops.

Co-op/Demonstration Gardens Name

Unique Eden Co-op

The names of the three Gardens are:

1) River Valley

2) Compost

3) Jungle Yum Yum

A variety of seeds were tried in the three different locations. Hot beds, composting and many different crops were grown:

1) Egg Plants

2) Watermelon

3) Cucumbers

4) Varieties of squash

5) Varieties of steak tomatoes

6) Green peppers

7) Green beans

8) Green onions

9) Pumpkin

10) Okra

11) Jalapenos

12) Variety of herbs

13) Variety of flowers

The garden overseer took many notes on how things were planted, growing, etc.

Plans for 2010 & 2011

1) Soybeans will be added to the other crops in September.

2) The plan is to sell crops to restaurants—the Rock Classic is already interested.

3) Grow sweet onions in a low sulfur area

4) Introducing “onion rings” as a road-side business

5) Introduce more herb gardens

6) Holistic Studies

7) Experimental cooking with herbs and other plants—this is now being done with okra and pumpkin leaves

8) Learning different uses of wild yams and papaya for holistic health

Purchased for $250

1) Seeds

2) Sprayer

3) Protective gear

4) Gum boots (3 pair)

5) Wheel barrow

6) Hiring weeders

7) Garden rakes (2)

Needs

1) Oxen & Plow =$1000

2) Chicken raising

3) Motor Bike for transport of vegetables to market & business use=$2000-2500

4) More variety of seeds

There are also young girls in the villages around the gardens--thus generating "dress a girl at the garden" which is a part of Dress a Girl Around the World

Rita's Story

Rita was married and living in Kenya where she had six children. One night while the children and Rita were sleeping her husband talked with men who wanted a head for sacrificing to the demons. There is a belief that if you sacrifice a head to the demons you will get riches.

Rita's husband offered to sell her head to the men. One of the sons pretending to be asleep heard the whole plan and when they had gone he woke his mother and told her that her husband had just sold her head.

She gathered the children and escaped through the bush. She met a kind man who gave her enough money to come to Tororo, Uganda. She is living in a small hut with her six children but they are all safe. She is trying to support her children by selling charcoal.

Once Rita is sponsored she will receive help with her business, will take business classes, reading and writing and simple math classes and mission character for running an ethical business.

For $36 a month and a one year commitment you can help Rita realize a life of dignity and self sufficiency. For more information contact Lisa@h4wi.org

Medical Problems at the Tororo Public Hospital

Our team visited the public hospital where conditions are shocking. As we went from bed to bed praying for the sick and trying to bring smiles to faces without hope.

We stopped next to a woman who needed prayer and when we asked why she was in the hospital she showed us a large tumor on the heel of her foot. We asked what they were doing for her and she replied: “Nothing. I don’t have money for treatment so they just leave me here to die.”

When we left the hospital my husband showed me a picture of a baby whose picture I wouldn’t dare put on here. His little head was severely infected and much of his head didn’t appear to have skin on it. Robert was told there was nothing to be done for the baby as his mother had no money for treatment.

I asked our Ugandan friend who escorted us to the hospital if he could find out more information on those two. The next day he returned to the hospital and the woman was no longer there. He talked to the mother of the baby and told her some people wanted to help her son but he would need to go to another hospital—she agreed and was so grateful.

Our friend, Eric then went in search of the woman in her village. He found her under a tree with a mosquito net hanging from the tree and a rag wrapped around her tumor to protect it from the flies and mosquitoes.

Her story?

When the tumor appeared her husband left her for another woman, taking their two children with him. He would not allow her to see her children and the house he left her in collapsed, leaving her homeless and alone. She was forced to go to her in-laws who are extremely poor but allowed her to stay with them. I was told, “It is an abomination to have to live with your father-in-law because most of these homes are one-room huts and you have to undress in front of him because there is no room for privacy.”

She told Eric that she was lying in the hospital and decided, “Why don’t I go back to my village and let me die there.”

Eric told her that someone wanted to help her get treatment. He told me: “She was in such sorrow and pain but when I told her about the treatment she smiled and she now has hope.”

We gave Eric money for a taxi so she could get to another hospital where she will be treated. The tumor was leaking and smelly so the driver refused to take her. Eric searched for a “special hire” who for more money agreed to take her.

She is now in the new hospital where they are caring for her and will do a biopsy before deciding what to do with her.

The baby? They did surgery on him immediately and declared it successful!! We are looking forward to receiving an update on him.

If you feel moved to help us with these expenses, please send a check to Hope 4 Women,

P.O Box 74010, Phoenix, AZ 85087. Or call our office to use your credit card 623-979-5516. If we collect more than we need we have others waiting in line for treatment.

God bless you.

For more information contact Rachel@h4wi.org

Party With the Women of Rose’s Village

Rose, as you may recall is one of the women Hope 4 Women International helped recently. She had a very large tumor on her neck that was threatening to cut off her air and cause her to suffocate if surgery was not performed. Generous supporters on Face Book and other friends pitched in and raised enough money for Hope 4 Women to pay for Rose’s surgery.

A widow with eight children, Rose had no money and would have died without intervention. Her surgery was successful and now she is able to attend to her children.

Our Hope 4 Kids International team arrived in Rose’s village to honor her with a Hope 4 Women tea/spa. She invited other women—women who had ridiculed her when she walked around with a large growth on her neck. These same women who mocked Rose were invited to an afternoon of pampering by our team.

We honored Rose first and the one man on our team washed her feet, applied nail polish and lipstick and gifted her with a beautiful scarf. Our team sang as we did the same for 29 other women who gathered in the circle. Rose was overwhelmed with joy and when the opportunity to accept Christ was presented Rose was among the ten women who raised her hand. When the pastor prayed with the women Rose said, “I want to kneel” and knelt in the dirt to accept Jesus as her savior.

It was a beautiful afternoon of rejoicing ending with presenting the women with basins, beans and garden hoes.

Once the women were taken care of we called for the girls and dressed them in our famous pillowcase dresses from dress a girl around the world. You can see photos on the dress a girl website http://www.dressagirlaroundtheworld.com