The land where his dilapidated temporary house was erected
proved impossible for brick making. Being a creative thinker, Pastor Yoram
asked a nearby neighbor if he could chop down the termite mounds covering his
plot. A welcome service, the neighbor agreed.
Pastor Yoram used that clay from those termite mounds to
make bricks and build his house. Proud of his accomplishment, he wanted the
muzungu to sleep in that house at least once before departing. We all shifted
to the beautiful mountainside where the unfinished house rested almost four
kilometers from the church. Four kilometers may not seem like much but when you
hand carry two 20 liter containers of water uphill and downhill to provide for
the family every day…you might change your mind.
The first muzungu to visit the entire clan, so says Pastor
Yoram’s 80+ year old father, we were gifted with Julia who quickly became the
responsibility of Pastor Gerald given that he was already keeping Frank the
rooster. Pastor Yoram’s wife had a badly infected finger – probably from using
an unclean knife (see the water issue noted above) and so I left all the
medicine that remained for getting the last of the glob out of my leg. I told
Pastor Yoram that he would most certainly need to take her to a doctor as the
infection seemed to me to be bad enough to quickly lead to infection of the
blood and finger amputation and all those other nasty possibilities. He
received the news graciously and I suspect he wondered how exactly he would
manage to get her the needed medical treatment.