"After investigating options for a building, we have concluded that building our own facility is the best option. In April we were granted a piece of land! Dr. Petrie spent a lot of time trying to obtain all the necessary "red stamps" to insure that we have all the right permissions from the right authorities.

"Well, I am back from yet another visit to Bekadoka and still alive and kicking. We left early in the morning (sun just coming up). Three days and a half dozen plates of rice (garnished with a sardine or unknown meat product) later, we came back home.

"On the way to Bekadoka we made a stop in the provincial capital of Besalampy. Our first visit was with the regional health director, who was glad for our project and gave his approval. Then we went to see the “premier” of the province. He was very accepting of us and our mission and after giving his approval, he proceeded to radio Bekadoka—yes Bekadoka now has a radio—to inform them that he was supportive of us and that they needed to finish the runway project which is still not quite completed.

"After our brief visit socializing with the political elite, we carried on to Bekadoka. In the midst of this trip, we vaccinated close to one hundred children. Dr. Petrie spent our last night there at the bedside of a young man in the middle of a bad case of malaria—extreme fever, sweating till everything is soaked, and shaking uncontrollably—but by the time we left the medicine had kicked in and the fever broke. We surveyed some areas of land that would be possible sites for the medical clinic, the most favorable being near a natural spring in a ravine that could be easily dammed to provide a good water reservoir.

"It was a very promising visit. We are nearing our goal of having complete government authorization. One side note on this trip was that we were able to take a quad (four-wheeled motorcycle) with us to Bekadoka and I used it to explore the surrounding area—studying the feasibility of access to water and a route for hauling the five tons of cement we are going to have to haul into Bekadoka from the airstrip to build the clinic.

"The airstrip is on the top of a plateau surrounded by ravines and riverbeds and the village of Bekadoka sits on another plateau about two kilometers away. I couldn’t take the quad down the normal footpath to the village as it was too steep and rutted so I had to find another way down the plateau and up the other side. It was quite the ride, with grass up over my head, which conveniently hides termite mounds the size of small children.

"Just when things looked smooth and I picked up speed I would be launched into the air from hitting a termite mound at thirty kilometers per hour. The ride down the bank and back up the other side would be comparable to riding a bull in a rodeo I think. Only I've never seen trees you have to dodge placed in the middle of the rodeo arena. Needless to say it was good fun!

"Once we have one more stamp of approval we will have a full working copy of the project, including work contracts for all personnel involved. We have a doctor, but we have not discussed final contract details with him and we also need to find two qualified nurses to work in the clinic. Eric is going to France for two months to organize a year’s supply of medicines for the clinic. During that time Dr. Petrie will be interviewing nurses for the clinic and finishing up the paperwork for the final approval. When Eric returns at the end of August we will finalize the work contracts. Then we should be able to get the final authorization and begin building the clinic in the Fall.

"We need prayer to see the project completed. There is no doubt that this place is filled with great need – and the only way I can see that these needs will ever be met is with the love of Christ and us doing our part to bring it to them."

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