I see fire... fire and smoke.
Everything has changed so many times that we have put off sending this out.
On Thursday or Friday morning, 30-40 kilometers to the east of us, a “Maimai” (rebel) group started attacking outlying villages in retribution for a rebel leader who was killed by the main local tribal group we work with. I’m sure we will hear many different stories before it’s all done. By Friday night, we could see the fires and smoke of homes on the distant hills.
Things calmed down Saturday and Sunday, and people, including the UN, believed that the rebels had been pushed over 50km away and were retreating.
However, Monday morning, we woke up to distant gunshots and saw smoke from a village 10 km away... then from another... and from another. Still about a two hour plus walk away. We got so many different stories that Miles went to get a better look, as close as he safety could, and to talk to those fleeing. Three villages to the east of us were burned, but there was only one known casualty.
Late Monday afternoon, Miles and Bella went to greet the UN helicopter that arrived and they met the new Pakistani UN Major who will now be in charge of the UN troops in our area. He promptly fell in love with Bella. On Miles’ way home, he saw fires in a village about one hour’s walk to the north. So, we decided to head out immediately to the UN base with the girls. Miles went back to get our bags and a few more things from our house (like toilet paper and sleeping bags and even more diapers). All that to say, our family is currently safe and well cared for (Pakistani food and hospitality is amazing)!
There is a constant stream of people from the villages that are being attacked coming into the “center” area of Minembwe, where the UN base is, as well as a constant flow of people returning to the villages that were burned or the surrounding villages.
Tuesday morning, villages to the south were burned, followed by villages to the west. The most recent news is the village of one of our closest friends has been burned; he and his family have lost their homes. In our village (Kaziba) a few homes were lost on the outskirts. Please pray for our close friend Namajana’s home which is also on the edge of the village.
It’s very strange that there has been almost no loss of life (maybe one person and a couple injured). This time it seems the rebels are just interested in burning and running. We are told there are two rebel groups from two tribes and they are burning the houses of innocent people of the opposite tribe in retaliation of each other. We were told tonight that one of the groups has been chased to the north and another is being pushed back in the south. Between the two groups, the destruction has completely encircled our area.
We are waiting to hear if and when we can get out of Minembwe on the UN helicopter, but if not, there are usually airplane flights out on Thursdays and Saturdays. We hope to get down the mountain for a short while until it is safe for the girls to return.
Quick personal update. We have our workshop’s foundation done and are 230 bricks short of the needed 3000! If things had been calm we would have started building it today. After the shop is done and we have a place to store things, Lord willing we will start on our house.
I wish we had happier news to send. Please continue praying for the families of Minembwe.
With Love,
Emilee, Miles, Bella, Sophia, and Aimee
Got… hand sanitizer?
Back in October, working with the Perinatal Rescue Network (PRN), two midwives led trainings here in Minembwe focused on immediate post-birth care for newborns and the mothers (read about that here). The lasting impact of these trainings have already been lifesaving. Due to transportation issues, some of the supplies (including infant respirator equipment) that the midwives had brought remained “down-mountain” until three months later when everything finally arrived and we were able to deliver these items to the local hospital and university.
Along with one of the hospital’s doctors, Miles and I (Emilee), were able to bring these promised supplies and equipment to five different clinics around the region.
We also provided those clinic workers/midwives with a short refresher on the basics of the Helping Babies Breathe course using a training doll and other equipment provided by the midwives.
Our hope is to put on annual trainings with midwives from PRN, as well as develop an on-going refresher course to be used between the annual trainings.
I have been able to put this training and my other medical trainings to use at our local hospital as well. I’ve assisted with births and have experienced the struggle of having to make due with a lack of basic medical supplies. There are very few disposable medical gloves available so doctors and nurses conserve their gloves by not replacing them frequently. The alternative option is to not use gloves at all but there is no running water for them to wash their hands; this is in part because the hospital’s water pump is broken. Miles has evaluated this situation and said it would take approximately $600 (plus transportation) to fix the pump.
In the meantime, I carry my own gloves and hand sanitizer. Yes, hand sanitizer. With no running water, once I had to use the hand sanitizer to clean a suction bulb that I had just used during a cesarean birth fifteen minutes earlier. I cannot emphasize enough how critical clean, running water is in a hospital setting. One day, we’d like to see a better water system and proper solar power at the hospital and at the remote clinics as well.