With rain pending, it was not sure that the party would occur but with hopeful hearts a crew of 20 women started cooking at 4 AM. They fried 10 chickens and 16 kilos of fish. They prepared beautiful salads. And they prepared riz gras, an African rice dish made with tomato sauce and fresh vegetables.
Food Preparations--
At 7 AM, a crew of 8 men installed two huge tents and set-up 80 chairs. The whole courtyard had been swept clean. The clinic was spotless and the school classrooms were cleaned and set-up as dining halls.
At 10 AM, members from the Rotary Club in Ouaga arrived, and invited officials from Yako arrived. Friends and work associates from Yako came and all of our children and local workers were here to join in the celebration.
Several speeches were given; one by the president of the Rotary Club Crystal, one by our local director of Social Action, and by the local representatives from the Haut Commisaire and from the mayor's office.
Madame
The Rotary Club held a symbolic presentation of the gifts by passing some medical products through a chain of people with the end of the chain being one of our nurses, Josephine.
After a prayer of dedication of the clinic and the Rotary gift, we took a tour of the clinic showing the Rotary members and the Yako officials the new lab equipment, the new motos, and the stacks and stacks of medicine now available to the community.
The ceremony ended with a delicious meal prepared and served by women from the community and by our baby care-takers.
Saying 'thank you' does not begin to express all that is in my heart for what the Lord has done for us. In French to express this we say 'grande merci' or a huge thank you! And, even that only begins to adequately express our deep sentiments.
Once again, thank you to the Rotary Club! This gift enables us to expand our ministry to the orphans and vulnerable children in this region and allows us to start going out into neighboring villages looking for and treating sick children.
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