We came back from that summer at SIL - eleven weeks of master's credit - and we felt ready for a change. But glad for what we had accomplished. And it was time to get you girls into school. At SIL that summer, someone had worked with you in reading, Cheryl, and you were all set to go into second grade and you, Debbi, into first. We always went to Simpson Church in Nyack and you had good friends there and at school - and fitted well into American culture.
Dad, of course, went on tour - that first tour was thirteen weeks! LONG..... Then he was home over the holidays and in January back on tour again. Larry and Grace Wright and Tim were also on furlough and lived across from us. So when Timmy was born, and our husbands were gone, as soon as word came from Uncle Jim and Aunt Donna about the birth, we headed together in our car to Maine to see my little sister's new baby! That was a long trip but well worth it, and we spent the weekend with them in their little home in Maine. Later on Timmy and our John would become close friends...but that is for another chapter.
Remember the Mission Time Bank?? Ah yes, we had to make up that time we missed in Burkina and took to study, and so that meant leaving the US in February. We decided to go by freighter. Two weeks at sea, great cabins, all meals provided, and we could take a huge amount of baggage with us as part of our fare! This was just what we wanted! And it was the term we took back all the furniture for our home in Santidougou - and later in Bobo.
When we got to the ship in a Brooklyn port, we found that there was nothing but a rope, crosswise ladder to climb on to get on the ship. mIt swayed a bit! Dad had no trouble and he carried Elin, neither did Cheryl; I didn't like it but made it OK. And then there was Debbi....no way was she going to climb up those swaying rope stairs - they were scary! Finally a big burly ship hand picked her up and tucked her under his arm and climbed quickly up to the ship where he deposited her on the desk! Once aboard she was fine!
These freighters to West Africa were always a real vacation. We were on board for two weeks, stopping at various ports in the Islands and West Africa. The food was good, our staterooms were top notch, there was a little parlor with library books and games available. We ate with the officiers and it was white linen tableclothes and china as well as good meals. We took plenty of games and toys for you girls and all had a great trip!
The schooling for you two older girls could have been a problem. No way were we going back to Mamou! The Baptists had started a school in Bouaké, Ivory Coast, and so we wrote asking if you could have a place in first and second grade. This meant finding dorm space also. There was only a Baptist dorm at that time, and the Parelius's kindly crowded you into bedrooms with other girls. We spent a couple of days getting you settled. Dorm life was simple at that time, and so was the food. I remember one time we went for supper and Uncle Bob and Aunt Mary Kaye were there too. Supper was hot rice, with milk and sugar, and the kids were all excited because they even put out raisins for you to eat! Later on the food improved immensely. And we always appreciated the gracious way the Baptist folks accepted you girls and made a special place for you in the middle of a school year.
And so we were back to the boarding school syndrome - I never did get used to that and shed many tears as I missed you. But you all got a good education, and made special friends, with whom you interact even today. And Dad and I continued on, with Elin, to Bobo and back to Santidougou and settled in again in our village.
I had just started my pregnancy with John, and when it was time for me to see a doctor, I went to a very nice French doctor in Bobo. My lovely sage femme from your birth had moved to Ouagadougou and a French lady had replaced her. No way I would have anything to do with that lady - I had seen how cruel she was to some of the women from the village I had taken to the hospital. I liked the French doctor, but there was a rule in the hospital - he could see me every month during my pregnancy, but when it came time to deliver, that was the midwife's job at the hospital. So I asked him if he would come to our house in Bobo and deliver the baby there. To which he readily agreed! So I was checked by him every month, and when it was time for me to deliver, we moved into the guest house Bobo.
As always, the mission assigned a nurse for my "confinement" and this time it was Marg Rogers, who was head midwife at Sanuekui dispensary in Mali. She was qualified and had delivered dozens of babies, so it was nice to have her with us. We had moved in to Bobo to await your birth, John, and it was a Sunday evening. We had had company there in the guest house for the evening meal, and we stacked the dishes for Yusufu to clean up the next morning. During the night I began labor! The kitchen in that house was in the middle with a large bedroom on each side. One side we lived in and the other side we had prepared for our baby's birth. Dad quickly washed up all the dishes so there would not be a mess for the doctor to walk into!
I was in labor the rest of the night and on into the next day. Dad called the doctor who came to the guest house and he suggested that Marg Rogers deliver my baby since she had had so much experience! He stayed too and of course Dad was there. And a little after noon, you were finally born - a big baby, more than nine pounds! I got cleaned up and got into a comfortable bed to rest, admiring my brand new baby - a son this time! The village would be elated!! And Elin was taking her noon rest while you were born, and was she ever happy to find her brother actually born when she wakened, and she could hold you.
News of your birth got around and the very next day a big group of women from the church came to see our new son! You were so little and so brand new, and I can still remember the struggle inside I had as the women passed you from one to the other, right around the circle! But I decided right then that God could take care of you and protect you, and this was the only way to conform to the culture - so I did! Of course, they all prayed beautiful prayers over you and I was so blessed!
We had planned on staying in Bobo for a few days before we took you to Santidougou. I knew the Santidougou villagers would not all be cleaned up when they came to greet our son, and wanted to protect you a little while longer from contact with germs! But in the Bobo yard, there was a French lady staying in a guest room with her huge dog. The dog was called Zénithe, and he was always escaping her and running around the compound. She would be right after him, screaming loudly, "Zénith! (Zat-neet) After two days of that we decided Santidougou looked pretty good - germs or no germs! -and we returned to our own home.
Our first son, John (or Zan, as the people called you). The whole village had to parade through the house to get a good look at you - the old women and the old men and the younger people too! Our reputation had been saved - we finally had produced a son!
You made our life interesting, John, as you grew up....but we will save that story for tomorrow. You became a legend in our village!
And so Keeping up with John will be my next post!
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