Tison

Tison (pronounced Tee-sone) is seven years old and is so full of life and is always smiling. He runs and plays with his friends. He is a kid who will grab your heart very fast. He is normal in every way except is he badly burned over a big part of his body. He was standing a few feet away from his father who was holding a container of kerosene when it exploded in flames. His life changed in a moment. This little boy who has the beautiful smile was now fighting for his life. He has an unstoppable spirit and I know it was that tenacity that kept him fighting for his life.

About four months ago his father brought Tison to our medical base and has not been back. I know he felt like he could not do anything for him. He is from an island around 200 miles away and it was not an easy trip.

Tison is now well adjusted to life on our base. He could be found just about anywhere. He is surrounded by his buddies (I call them the "Three Amigos") and they are always doing something fun and exciting. They could be playing soccer or just playing hide-and-seek. He is always where the excitement is or maybe where he is there is excitement.

He was called the "Monkey Boy" by the villagers because the burn on his legs have limited how far the skin on his legs would stretch. He does look like a monkey when he runs. He does not let that stop him in the least.

He would see me walking down one of the paths on our base and yell in his strong voice--Hello Carl. Then he would grab hold of my hand and we would walk together until he found something better to do. He would see me sitting and then climb up on my lap. I think he knew he would get a hug and maybe a small candy. He was very busy but he was never mean or malicious.

I do not know what will happen to Tison. He needs some help with his burn wounds. He is badly burned on his right arm, right hand, legs, chest, face and ears. I feel Tison is tough enough to handle several surgeries if he could get help. He is also remarkably realistic and mature as he considers his condition. This seven year old boy prayed this prayer, “Lord, I want to be normal like the other children but if it is Your will for me to be like this I will accept it”. Someday he might he like the other children--by God's grace.

Coffee Time

It is time to see if after fours years of growth we can start harvesting coffee from our base in Northeast Indonesia. Jim and Cindy Aldrich set out to get some of those precious beans. It was not as easy as it would been and believe me every cup of coffee I drink now I savor it. It is a tremendous amount of work when you consider the experimentation to get the beans off the husks and the drying process. Jim studied about the process of harvesting coffee. Cindy picked a bunch of beans and our Indonesian staff in charge of the coffee also worked hard to get those beans processed.

Jim tried a wet process by soaking the beans for a day. Then the following day he used a screen and and forced the beans through the screen. The hot equatorial sun was perfect for drying the beans. Cindy and Jim had several interested helpers. Three of the helpers were burn victims--two of them had badly deformed hands due to their burns. They did their best to help sort the good beans from the pulp. There also was an old Indonesian woman who did not need any instructions--it seemed she might have done this before. These helpers and a couple others worked hours sorting and getting the husks off.

The dried beans were brought to the U.S. for roasting. They had to be sorted again and the best beans selected. Jim knows there are devices to do all this but what he wanted is to get the best beans he could to the U.S. and see if it is a good quality coffee. Will it be worth processing the coffee--we will find out in the next couple weeks. I do know that the cost of each cup of coffee will be over $ 100. It took hours and hours and many hands to get what is now ready for roasting. If it is good coffee we will call it copiriska which means "coffee of kings".

15 Seconds

Who would think 15 seconds would make the difference between making a flight or spending the day organizing new flights. We knew it would be close but when our flight from Alaska was delayed 40 minutes we had only 20 minutes to get to our international flight to Tokyo. We landed and just ran from the North Satellite with three train rides and a run up the escalator in the South Satellite. I was out of breath when I reached the top of the escalator and tried to locate the gate for our flight. Thankfully it was the closest gate. I walked around the corner as I heard my seat announced. The airlines agent was giving my seat to someone who was on standby. I told her that was my seat and she was just about to swipe his ticket and give him my seat. She said--"Just a minute. I can give you the seat." I told her I had three others traveling with me. She told me, "Unless they are there they will not be able to make this flight." I was not going to split my team up and I knew one of my team members had recently had knee surgery and she could not run up the escalator like I did--but they were coming. I asked her to give them a minute. She said the door is closing. At that moment the rest of my team appeared. We got a lot of grace and boarded the flight. When I reached the plane doorway the steward said something interesting to me. He said, " I do not know what your story is but this never happens." I do not know what he meant I was just thankful to be on the flight now we wondered if our luggage made it.

Later we landed in Bangkok early in the morning. It was an adventure and another miracle to make our flight to Jakarta. It was two weeks later that this Bangkok Airport was in total chaos when anti-government protesters took over the airport and the roads in and out. I support we were blessed it could have been a lot worse. International travel is crazy sometimes.

Tired but Blessed

It was a long trip back from remote East Indonesia but an awesome experience. The team went via Tokyo--Bangkok--Jakarta--Manado. The return trip was Manado--Jakarta--Seoul--Tokyo. We heard about the problems in Bangkok and were thankful we did not return to Bangkok on our return trip. The Bangkok Airport was closed and we would have been stranded somewhere in Asia.

We accomplished everything we planned as a team. The LAN system is in place and the clinic and ward are now connected. The best part of the trip was to meet the people. I will write more about Tison the seven year old burn victim and his friends. I called them the "three amigos". The 21 bed ward was open and just packed. I will share a couple stories about what the ward means to the area.

I am blessed to know everything is moving forward and the compassion shown to the poor and injured is changing things for the good. Remember even though the economy is challenged hunger and sickness continue without change. The people in the remote region of East Indonesia do not know about a world economic crisis. They just know they have the same struggles to live and survive.

Long Flight

37 hours from home to Manado (Indonesia). I have made this trip over 20 times in the last seven years. I can't say I am used to the long hours of travel. I arrive at the airport at 5 a.m. and then the journey begins. I will be joined by a team that is traveling with me. We are excited about going but I remember how long the trip really is. The international flights have movies and seem to be more aware of the sleep we passengers need. Thankfully I can sleep well on a plane. We plan to install a computer network at our clinic in northeast Indonesia.

I will be in touch when I can find an Internet connection. It has already snowed here but we will soon be in the sweltering heat of the tropics. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.

Cards

It just amazes me how some people catch a vision of our work. Katherine and her husband have been to Indonesia and helped in the medical work. Katherine's husband is a medical doctor from New Zealand. Katherine is a talented photographer and took some amazing photos of daily life in Halmahera. She has selected eight photos and put them on cards. She is giving them as a promotion of the medical work of IFC. We are offering them for $ 10 for eight cards plus $ 2 for shipping. If you would like to have sets of these cards please contact us and we will be happy to send them to you. Just mail a request and check to our P.O. Box or go to our web-site and use your credit card.

Network Time

Cat 5e cable, crimping tools, switches, plugs and much more--these are the parts we need to build a computer network at our clinic in Halmahera. This will greatly increase our ability to keep records of all of the patients that come to the clinic. Last year there were over 10,000 who came to our clinic for help. The intake form was done hard copy. That is a lot of records and sometimes difficult to find needed information. This network will increase the effectiveness of our care. We plan to link the clinic to the new Ward (21 bed in-patient facility). Our team will be installing this network in the month of November. We have a good computer tech on staff.