Uniquely resourceful!

Something that has always struck me about African's is their incredible resourcefulness. I have seen some amazing examples of this during my time in Nigeria - Using a rock as a hammer to put up a mosquito net, turning plastic garden chairs into wheelchairs, breaking flip-flops in half to support some parts under the bonnet of a car, turning an abandoned overturned lorry into a shop! We have a lot to learn from our African brothers and sisters! I often wonder how we would cope in the West if we didn't have all the resources that are so freely available to us.

We caught this car on camera on our journey back from Kagoro on Sunday. Apparently this is what to do when your rear window is about to fall out! - just stick it with some tape! This isn't something you see everyday!  

I am learning to write!

This was Chidi in school today. Look at him go!

Chidi has Cerebral Palsy and is confined to a wheelchair. He doesn't have much control over his muscles, though he is improving! He is very bright and one of the most determined children I know.

Uncle Jim just recently began teaching him how to write by using his mouth. Today I read him a children's story about a very young Pirate who entered "The Pirate games". In the first game, he came 5th, in the next he came 4th, in the next he came 3rd, until finally he came 1st! He kept going and never gave up, just like Chidi tries and tries and keeps improving with every word he writes. This was a story he could really relate to, and he loved it! The book has a selection of stories about the Pirate, so he wanted to hear more and more of the stories. We asked Chidi to select 3 words from one of the stories, that he would like to write, plus his name. Chidi wasn't satisfied with 3 words and kept asking to write more! In this picture he is practising each letter of the word 'cat'.

This boy is amazing! He is an inspiration and just one example of the precious children that I have the privilege of working with each day.

"For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope, and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

When I started uploading photos of Chidi to Facebook, I was thinking about this verse. God has a plan for each one of us. He has a plan for you and me and he also has a plan for Chidi and his family, and for all other children and families affected by a disability. Everybody is amazed at Chidi's progress and the fact that he is writing! He doesn't have much control over his muscles, but he is able to use his mouth to control a pen. God had a purpose in that.

Let me end this post with some verses from Psalm 139:

Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!

Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.

15You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,

as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.

16You saw me before I was born.

Every day of my life was recorded in your book.

Every moment was laid out

before a single day had passed.