Part trois (3)

Wednesday: Leanne’s Birthday. Meredith had made some cinnamon bread! And had a bunch of presents sitting on the breakfast table. Leanne got sung to that morning as she opened presents, a few of which came from home, Christie, Angie, and Dad.
It was great to be with her for her birthday. Not saying which one!! (Thank you Dad!!) That morning we all went to work at a traveling health clinic that the church sponsors. Leanne told me that I was going to take blood pressure measurements. I was all ready to use the stethoscope and everything, but luckily for the patients it was an automated commercial cuff!! Saw about 30 patients in a make shift clinic setting where the head of the village let us set up in a central meeting building. Here I met Mama Jeanine for the second time. She had been one of Leanne’s students, but was really the person in charge of the health clinic. I met a few others with the clinic and another “character”, Joseph. (See a picture of the best buds in "Dad's trip (first two days)") Leanne was introducing me as “papa” so when I reached to shake Joseph’s hand he just grabbed mine and gave me a big hug. [by the way Dad - they said to say "bonjour" yesterday] From that point on he and I were cutting up quite a bit even though I couldn’t understand a word of his French. Later I found him in Leanne’s English class, and at about every event that I went to!
Tim had dropped us off at the clinic and came back later to pick us up to go back to the house for lunch. Later that afternoon we went to the “orphanage” to work with the kids for a couple of hours. Leanne had brought plenty of paper and crayons so most of them did some amazing drawings. (This was the first time we had done this and I was amazed at how engrossed they were, but they really don't get to color much - if at all, so they loved it!) Josh went with some of the older boys and played soccer in the front yard.
Leanne had chosen (I think with a little help from me) to go to the Lebanese restaurant in town for her birthday dinner. After dinner we all went back to Steve and Elise Straw’s place for birthday cake, that Meredith had made late the previous night. Steve is the missionary pilot awaiting a newly refurbished plane to carry patients to and from the Bongolo hospital. It costs about $120 to get cataracts taken off both eyes at Bongolo hospital, but in Libreville, the capital of the country, it costs about $1500 per eye.