All Our Ducks In A Row

This week we spent time getting "all our ducks in a row".   The training for the people who will do the vision screening began on Monday.  Hopefully the screening in the schools will begin the end of the next week.  There are many supplies that need to be provided to the teams that will be doing the testing. We have been to the printers to get supplies, forms, and T-shirts printed. We spent an entire afternoon with Elders Compton and Quinn (our language experts) looking for wooden dowels to use for pointers. There are no Home Depots or Lowes here and finding dowels was easier said than done. Every place we went the answer was the same. "NO". Finally a bookstore said that they had a carpenter that they thought might be able to make them. YES! They will be ready on Monday. We are very much aware that the Lord is mindful of the details of our lives. We just need to pray, ask, have faith and the Lord will provide a way.
   

Monday we went to Zagreb to sign contracts with the Croatian Red Cross for wheelchairs which we will be bringing in.  While we were there it started to snow (hard).  We are so ready for spring.

 

We went to Kalesija on Wednesday to visit with the local Red Cross about a potential phase two of a water project which we are already doing with them.  We also talked to them about another project that would be providing tomato and pepper plants.  LDS Charities had donated two greenhouses to them.  In the past they have provided tomato and pepper plants to a local senior center, soup kitchen, and orphanage.   We will provide the plants and fertilizer which the local agricultural school will plant and help grow.

 

Tuesday was missionary transfer day.  We lost Elder Merl to Sarajevo.  He will do a great job there.  We now have a new elder.  Elder Lewis Sheridan from Ogden, Utah.  He arrived in Croatia on Tuesday. Brand new from the MTC.  He will turn 19 on April 20th so he is one of the first of the new younger missionaries.

 

 

Today being Easter we had a special dinner for the elders.  We had Chicken Cordon Bleu, Apple and Pear Salad, Honey Soy Carrots, and Broccoli.  Plus some Chick Cupcakes for dessert.  It was nice to be together this Easter Sunday.  The elders are also appreciative of everything we do for them.  It makes it fun to do something extra for them.

 

 

 

 

We miss the grandchildren today, but we have talked to some of them so Grandma will survive.  We want to wish a Happy Easter and will close with this message.

 

http://www.lds.org/bible-videos/videos/he-is-risen?lang=eng

 

 

 

Seed Distribution

Early Monday morning we went with the Red Cross of Tuzla to a town called Zvinice which is about 30 minutes south of Tuzla.  Back in October/November we were able to submit and get approval to distribute seeds to needy familiies who lost all their crops last summer due to the drought.  Normally these people would have seeds from the previous year's harvest to plant the following year.  Since it did not rain for three months last summer they lost all their crops.  We were able to provide potato seed, onion sets, vegetable seeds, fertilizer and fruit trees to more than 120 families.  We met at the feed store in Zvinice where various Red Cross offices  also gathered and picked up supplies to go back to their municipality and distribute the seeds. The people who lived in Zvinice just came to the store to pick up their seeds.  One lady had walked over 7 kilometers to get hers.  We were able to give her a ride back home as there was no way she was going to be able to get everything there.  She lives with her husband and two children.  While she was getting the seed her husband was home turning the soil by hand to prepare the ground for planting.  On Tuesday it was truly a humbling experience to be able to take seeds to a few of recipients.

People waiting for the distribution to begin   

    

    

Checking out the load

Loading it up

 

 Local distribution

 

Making sure everyone gets everything 

 

 25 kg of potato seed

 

A happy receiver

 

Garden is ready to plant

 

Delighted with his seeds

 

Another happy customer

 

Father & Son 

This lady lives alone, her husband died 5 years ago

 

 Very Thankful

 

Each must sign for their seed

 

On Thursday we went to Zone conference in Sarajevo where we learned that we will lose Elder Merl to Sarajevo this transfer.  Another group of new missionaries will arrive on Tuesday. We will be getting another new elder then. 

 

The elders finished this round of English classes. We always give them certificates stating that they have completed the five week course.

 

  

   

 

 

 

We try to use Saturday for our "P" day, but with everything that has been going on it usually does not happen.  Thus ends the week.  We continue to do all the necessary things for our vision screening project.  Hopefully the screening will begin the first week of April.  Tomorrow looks like a trip to Zagreb - unfortunately it is snowing there and they are forecasting snow for here as well.  But we need to go to Croatia to sign a contract with the local Red Cross so that they will be able to get a container of wheelchairs. Hopefully the snow will not stick to the ground.  There is so much travel involved in our mission, but we are thankful to have a car and the ability to travel wherever we need to.   

A Little of This and A Little of That

This week we did a little of this and a little of that.

Tuesday we met with the Public Health Institute to sign a Memorandum of Understanding.  Their role will be to compile all the information after the vision screenings are completed. 

Wednesday we met with a local printer to see about getting the eye charts printed.  All the supplies needed to do the screenings are very simple.  We will need at least 75 sets, as there are 25 schools and we want to be able to have enough teams in each school to be able to get the screening done before school lets out. 

Everything we need for the screenings 

Friday we visited with Lotosice (the sheltered workshop).  We are working on a project to provide tables, chairs, and shelves to a kindergarten in a small village called Sapna.  We are hoping that Lotosice can make the necessary items at their workshop.  We helped them get some of their equipment in one of our previous projects so we felt that it would be nice to give them the business.

   Classroom to be used for kindergarten

 It started to snow Friday afternoon and Saturday we woke up to snow.  Hopefully this weather will not last very long.  

March Snow

 

Today Sunday we didn't have a very good turnout to church :(  We only had 1 person besides the missionaries.  Susan gave a lesson on Family History and that got us started on reading little snippets of information online about our ancestors.  The new Family Search website looks like it will be a good resource and we look forward to digging through all papers after we get home and learning more about our ancestors.

Vision Screening Part 2

We began our Monday by meeting with the Red Cross and the Minister of Public Health to get a understanding of the roles each of them will play in our vision screening project.  After our meeting with them we returned to the office of the Minister of Education and Science to sign a Memorandum of Understanding and have a press conference. 

 

 

 

After the press conference we met with all five of the organizations we will be working with for a luncheon meeting where we showed them a power point presentation describing what each organization's part will be. 

 



We feel that all involved were very supportive and excited about the project.   We learned that there has been no vision screening for the children since the war (1992).  The screening will be for all the children in the schools in Tuzla (9,000) as well as the younger children will be screened when they come to the out patient clinic for their immunizations.  Statistics have shown that approximately 5% of all the children screened will have a vision problem.  We hope to have all the screening in the schools completed by the end of May.  If just one child can be helped to avoid blindness or visual impairment, all the work will be worth it.

Tuesday we drove to Zagreb, Croatia, to drop the Ferguson off at a hotel near the airport so that they could catch a flight early the next morning.  We then turned around and came home.  This drive round trip takes about 9 hours and we have to cross two borders going and two coming back. 

Since we did not get enough driving in on Tuesday we drove to Banja Luka on Wednesday where we met with director of the Red Cross in Banja Luka and discussed the approval of the purchase of a commercial potato peeler for their soup kitchen.  The old one is over 40 years old and breaks down frequently and disrupts the 450 meals they serve each day. 

  
While we were in Banja Luka we also met with the Rehabilitation Hospital to get additional information which we needed to submit a wheelchair project for them.  We arrived back home in the  afternoon.  This was a short trip (6 hours of driving). 

Friday was International Ladies Day and they do it big here in Bosnia.  There were little stands set up all up and down the sidewalks with flowers and plants for sale.  One of our English students described it as a "Flower Frenzy".  It was somewhat like Mother's Day at home. 

The weather has started to change.  We have experienced temperatures in the 50's and 60's this last week.  We are excited for the warm weather. We have been busy and can feel the Lord guiding us in the work which we are engaged.   

   

Vision Screening Project

Monday we drove the Leonard's to Sarajevo to catch their plane back to Frankfurt.  Tuesday we went the other direction to Croatia to pick up the Ferguson's at the Zagreb Airport.  Wednesday we had meetings in Tuzla with the: 

Director of the Primary Care Out Patient Center
Head of Primary Care Out Patient Center for Preschool children
Minister of the Cantonal Ministry of Education
Director of Ophthalmology Department of the University Klinical Center and one of his doctors that specializes in children.

In these meetings we discussed a vision screening project which we have planned for the children in the city of Tuzla. 

Through screening both preschool and school age children we hope to identify and refer children with vision problems to eye care professionals.   Through early screening both amblyopia (lazy eye) and strabismus (crossed eyes) can be identified and corrected.  If these challenges are not identified and corrected, children can lose their sight.  This really hits home for us as one of our grandchildren has amblyopia and we are thankful that the problem was caught in time.  All preschool and school age children will be screened either at the Out Patient Center or at their school.  Statistics show that at least 5% of all children screened will have a vision problem. 

We still need to meet with the Red Cross and the director of the Institute for Public Health. That will all be happening on Monday. 

It has been wonderful to have the Ferguson's with us.  Gary and Ike have worked together in the Welfare Department of the Church for more than 30 years.  We have enjoyed having another adult member couple to talk and to do things with.  We do not have much contact with the other senior couples in our mission, so we relish the opportunity to have visitors to work with. 

We are so thankful for the opportunity to be in Tuzla and be a part of this pilot project.  If this project goes well, it may be used throughout Bosnia and other parts of the world.  We feel that we have been led to meet specific people to help make this project happen. 

At the UKC Vision Clinic

Ike talking with Doctors

 

Equipment that is over 40 years old

 

Gary, Susan, Gloria, and Ike

 

Never posted a picture of our new elders who came earlier this month.  But here they are . . .

 

 Compton and Quinn

 

 

This week our grandson, Thomas had his 1st birthday.  Can't believe this last year has gone so fast.  We hope to be able to celebrate #2 with him. 

 

 

 

We are thankful for the opportunity we have to be involved in this humanitarian work.

 

"And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.  Mosiah 2:17.