Our trip thus far has been a mixture of exciting experiences and moving stories, but at the end of day six, the primary task we came to accomplish has begun to loom over us. This morning marked our second full day in Karanda and with it came the reminder that we had fifty custom window screens to build in seven days.
Yesterday, we spent the morning taking a tour of the hospital and the afternoon treating the lumber to be used for the screen frames. By the end of the day, we had one screen constructed, but that model had problems. Because each window is covered by metal bars, the wooden frames don't fit snuggly against them, leaving gaps on the sides that allow misquitoes to come in. To further complicate the situation, the building foundation has settled and no two window openings are exactly the same size. Furthermore, no two sides of a window are identical. This means a lot of work for us as we hand-build each unit to fit its respective opening.
This morning was discouraging as we built 10 of these screen frames, only to find out that there was a flaw in the design. Every frame had to be disassembled and rebuilt to fit a specific window opening using a handheld belt sander and a chisle to make adjustments. Chance and I have comiserated about attempting to accomplish a complicated and difficult task without all the tools to do it efficiently.
Just when we began questioning whether we could complete this project before leaving next week, help arrived in the form of a Shona carpenter who works at the hospital.. He is a very nice man and has a good reputation in the community for being competent and reliable. He also personally owns many of the tools we desperately need to get this done. He happens to be on holiday (vacation in Zimbabwean culture) for the next month and has the time to help us. He spent all afternoon with us and we are now back on track. We have the frames for 7 of the largest screens basically done and they will go up in the morning. We have also developed a modifiable design model that is consistently working. We worked until we ran out of light.
The other good news is that we have been blessed with two full days of power. Usually, power in the city shuts off between 2pm and 8:30pm every day. This means no power saw or belt sander, both of which are important parts of this project. It also means no fans during some of the hottest hours of the day as well. We will count each full day of power as a blessing as we work toward getting this project done.
In the same complex as us and the Birkys lives a young, American missionary teacher who has been here for a while. She is elated at the idea of getting screens on her windows because the sweltering heat keeps her up at night and the longer we are here, the more we are realizing the impact these screens will have on the missionary families serving here. The difficulties we are facing installing these screens illustrate why they've been without them for so many years. These are offsized windows and no standard screen will fit.
Tonight, Chance and I had the opportunity to visit with a new Christian named Banderson. He is a Shona nurse who was trained at the Karanda Mission Hospital nursing school. He was raised about 30 kilometers (just over 20 miles) from here and his father was killed in the midst of political conflict when he was four years old. He was raised by his uncle. He gave his life to Christ about a month ago. Banderson, Dr. Birky, Chance and I all had the opportunity to share our stories with each other. It was nice to spend time with someone so hungry for the Lord in the midst of so much struggle.
It also brought things into perspective. While I am frustrated due to lack of proper tools or the complexity of this project, I am reminded that God is not as concerned with what we accomplish while we are here as He is with the state of our hearts as we go through the process. I am reminded of a lesson Kaila taught me.
More important than the gift that is given is the heart of the giver.
God may not care what we accomplish here at all. He only asks that we trust Him and the plan He has for us. If it is in His plan for these people to have malaria screens, He will work out the details. In the meantime, we will tackle each day, one at a time.
Benjamin
No comments:
Post a Comment