Although Peru does not have an overwhelming number of cases of the swine flu, they are definitely taking precautions to ensure it does not progress. All schools, nation-wide, were closed for the last two weeks of July. The National Education Board decided that they would extend that to continue through the first week of August. Later in the month, the high school was closed for another week. Peru has been proactive in teaching the community how to keep from spreading germs and sent a team to the orphanage to instruct the children and staff in how to remain healthy.
Isabel didn’t realize she had a heart condition when she and her younger sister arrived at the orphanage last fall. At the age of ten, she had never been to a doctor for a thorough physical. In May, a volunteer medical group came for an afternoon to do check-ups on all of our children. One of the doctors examining Isabel listened to her heart and heard something abnormal. With the doctor’s suggestion, we began a series a medical exams in Trujillo and then sent Isabel to Lima to be examined by experts. They diagnosed Isabel with Ebstein’s Anomaly. Thankfully Isabel is at Hogar de Esperanza and, under our care, will be able to receive the treatment she needs. We ask for your prayers as the doctors study her case and decide what kind of treatment to pursue.
We have been updating the water situation of the Hatfields and the McCoys for the past two years. With the help of many people from the town of Absulon Vasquz, located on top of a hill next to the foothills of the Andes Mountains, we installed a new water system. Several months after the installation, we had a split in the community of those who lived at the bottom of the hill and those that lived at the top. The ones living on the lower part (McCoys) had a great deal of water pressure and received most of the water, while those who lived above (Hatfields) received very little. These two groups could not work out the problem, so the McCoys cut the water to the Hatfields and declared that the water system was theirs. The Hatfields asked me to help them out. I came up with a way of using the old system to give them water using, but I had to do it in the night so the other group would not see the new installation. In the middle of the night I went to the upper area and tried to install a separate water system. I was almost finished with installing the system when a mob raced up the hill throwing rocks. I took off in my truck and the mob uninstalled the water system for the Hatfields.
The Hatfields had lost hope of getting water to their homes, when about three months ago a lady noticed that the national government was going to do road repairs on the Pan American Highway. Her husband was laboring in the asparagus fields during the day, but was willing to work in the evening repairing the Pan American Highway. This woman planned for her husband to secretly install the separate water pipe for the Hatfields while he was working in the evening on the highway. It took him many nights to install the water pipe across the Pan American, but finally it was accomplished. This month we finished hooking up the new system for the Hatfields and the people now have water to their houses. What a great blessing to see how God worked it all out.
Dave
