The Talbott Family in Africa

Lincoln and Graham debating the merits of various shoes for soccer and rugby

Donna, Lincoln and Graham headed off to Kenya on December 31. They had an uneventful flight and landed in Nairobi the next day. They will all attend Rift Valley Academy in Kenya. Donna will continue her senoir year. Lincoln and Graham will transfer from public school in Kansas, Lincoln for his seventh term at RVA and Graham for his first experience at boarding school.

Mom and Dad will continue on in the US for a short time. They are still discussing who will milk the cows in the boys absence. Other duties will include speaking engagements, administrative work, and more packing.

Greetings from Lichinga, Mozambique,

We are less than 48 hours from departing Mozambique if we can get out. Sunday, Mozambique Airlines was not flying because they were out of fuel. We have sent Donna and Lincoln emergency phone number contacts in case we are not able to meet them in Johannesburg, South Africa. One learns to always have a plan B and C around here.

Lincoln and his teammates in one of the last rugby games of the season.

Meanwhile back in Kenya, Lincoln and Donna are finishing up at RVA, Lincoln his second and Donna her third year. Lincoln has found rugby to be his sport of choice. So far he has managed to make it through the games with only minor damage.

Ida cooking

On Sunday July 3, we had about 100 people over for lunch. At 5 am some of the ladies from church showed up with some big pots. They started the fires and put the beans on. We had one goat, one 25 kg bag of rice, ten cabbages, and a bag of beans. It is very important in Mozambique to despedir which can last for several weeks if one properly says good bye to every acquaintance. We decided to do it all at once and it seems like the idea went over quite well.

Marrupa has been our home for the last eight years. A lot of people like to call us tio, tia, pae or mae (uncle, aunt, dad, or mom). We really don’t like to claim all those children since it comes with lots of obligations. But we do realize the blessing we have had to work so closely with many of our Mozambican colleagues.

We are completely moved out of our house. It has the empty echo sound now of a dwelling but it is not a home. Our plan is to be in the US until the end of the year. Lincoln and Graham will go to school in Kansas and Donna will return to Rift Valley Academy in Kenya the end of August.

Corinne making her last speech in Marrupa

Bob saying good bye to Jacqualina

The last dance by the youth (about one hour)

The overwhelming majority of the people in our area are subsistence farmers.  A good harvest like anywhere in the world depends on good rains and other good farming practices. The majority of farmers will farm a small plot for two to four years and then move on. Many of the farms are susceptible to erosion. In order to demonstrate other farming alternatives we have been trying to improve an abandoned small farm that was susceptible to erosion. After several years of planting a variety of legumes, making terraces and adding cow manure on some areas we have gained a good foothold. The plants on the living terraces are well established and we did not have any breaks in terraces during the heaviest of the rains. After several years of planting soybeans and other legumes we are seeing an overall improvement in soil texture and fertility. This year we continued to experiment with alternative ways of planting corn and had a pretty good crop. We are looking for people to come to Mozambique be an ambassador for Christ through agricultural work.

Donna and Lincoln came home from school the end of March for a four-week break. The day of their return the family soccer tradition was continued; Lincoln and Bob against Graham and Donna. Donna’s endurance was an unknown factor since we had not seen her at full strength for some time. I am happy to report she started strong and finished strong. Only the older player was seen to suffer from the effects of the game. 

We have had a good break. Donna likes to keep busy. She baked bread, cookies and other assorted items. She also made up the missed work in her government class. She wrote a paper comparing the political systems of Russia, France, China and Kenya. She was disappointed in her grades last term since she did not manage to maintain an A average and had to settle with some B’s. What was a major tribulation in our lives (parents) in her mind still seems like a small inconvenience. We told her we are more than happy with a couple of B’s.

 Greetings from Kijabe,

Corinne and I are now in Kijabe, Kenya (next to RVA).  Not sure if all of you have heard the entire story so I will give a brief summary. On Mon. the 17^th Donna entered the RVA health center with flu like symptoms along with numerous other kids. She was not getting better and was tested for malaria on Fri. the 22. She had a heavy infection of malaria and was immediately started on IV quinine. Sat. afternoon she began to go down hill and lapsed into a disease induced coma later Saturday. Another medication was administered at 11 pm on Sat. She continued to deteriorate until Sunday morning about 3 am. The disease progression stopped at this time and she has been fighting back to regain some of the major losses in hemoglobin, platelets etc.  

We had received positive reports back in Marrupa on Saturday morning and were very surprised to hear of the sudden deterioration in her status Sat. afternoon. We made a very sudden decision at 5 pm Sat. to head for Nairobi and left at 6pm. We arrived at Kijabe hospital 27 hours later extremely stressed and tired.

It was heart wrenching to see our Donna in a comatose state. We received complete reports of the situation and I will relay a few points. She is still in a deep coma. She has made some small positive steps back towards normal since her low point on Sunday morning. Her platelets and hemoglobin are up and her liver function is normal.  Today we accompanied her to Nairobi for a CT scan and the results did not indicate any serious brain issues that needed surgical attention. She did respond to pain this afternoon.

Thank you very much for all your prayers and encouraging words through this very difficult time. Please pray for wisdom as we are still faced with daily decisions on treatment strategy. We are in constant contact with Dr. Steve Letchford the supervising physician about all these decisions. We are also in need of good rest.

 Bob and Corinne

Tuesday January 25, 2011, 6:20 pm

Greetings from Kijabe,

Donna is still in a coma but made a definite step forward today. She had good movement in her arms and legs. She has been upgraded from a 7 to an 8 on the consciousness scale. ( 15 being fully alert). Corinne also claims that she opened her eyes momentarily later today around 5 pm and recognized her. We are very encouraged to see her progress. We are starting to wind down from our heightened alert levels and are now ready for a good rest.

Bob and Corinne

Wednesday, January 26, 2011, 11:00 am Kenyan time

Greetings from Kenya,

Donna taking antimalarials two hours after waking up

We are now sitting in a hospital room somewhat dazed after the events of the last three days. This morning at 7 am Lincoln and Corinne arrived at ICU to find Donna with her eyes open. She recognized Lincoln and Corinne and responded with nods or shakes of her head to questions. She had started to wake up around midnight after being in a coma for 78 hours.

Meanwhile I was back at the guest house and received a phone call from an unidentified caller that said “Donna is awake”. I hurried to ICU to join Donna, Lincoln and Corinne. We were all amazed to be watching her responses and see her slight smile and smirk to some of the questions. We were joined by Karen, her dorm mother and one of the nurses, Jaqui to witness this answer to prayer.

Donna and Blanche

The ICU nurse Blanche who was with her at her lowest point early Sunday morning came

Karen, Bob, Donna, Dr. Letchford and Corinne

in and cried with her and said, “Thank you Jesus”

  

  

 

 

Did you get the name of that bull?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday, January  27, 2011, 11:20 am

 Greetings from Kenya,

 

Donna looks better today and is sitting up at this point. She has taken several steps with assistance but is still somewhat unstable

Donna is discharged from the hospital Thursday afternoon

on her feet. She did manage to take a shower. She is taking major steps forward from being totally out of it a short time ago. As soon as the doctor is convinced her system is working properly she will be discharged from the hospital.

There is a much lighter atmosphere around here today. We have had a lot of fun telling jokes and celebrating with the doctors, nurses and friends.

I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the Lord has done.  Psalms 118:17

Bob and Corinne

Every term Donna and Lincoln have a three or four day mid term break when they have to leave the dorms. Normally they go to one of their two guardians either in Nairobi or in Kijabe. This year we decided we would spend some time with them in Kenya over mid term. Flying to Nairobi from Mozambique is quite easy once one gets to the airport. Getting to the airport is what takes the time. The first 100 miles was in better condition this year, it only took 4 1/2 hours. The overall trip was easier  taking a total of 9 hours.

Once in Kenya, we headed north into camel country. Corinne and Donna rode a camel and Graham and Lincoln ran a half marathon in the vast northern bush country. After the first runners had been in for awhile we began to wonder where the boys might be. We drove the course with the ranch owner looking for them, passing a herd of Zebras and the water hole where buffalo and elephants frequent. I began to wonder how they would navigate some of the twists and turns of the course. If they got lost would they stay put, stay in the shade, build a fire? I wasn’t sure. I started to think about a search strategy. So I was relieved when we finally encountered them at about 12 miles of the 13.1 mile course.  They did a great job navigating and persevering, returning to our camp for a much needed rest.

Our visit confirmed our sense about Donna and Lincoln going to school at RVA. They have adapted very well. They are blessed to have this educational opportunity in their lives. We are also thankful for the exceptional health the family has enjoyed in the last year.

I recently came home from a trip from Cuamba to find four men in our living room. They had arrived that afternoon and were making a trip around the Niassa Province. They were a group of pastors from the Igreja Evangelica Assembleia de Deus (Evangelical Assembly of God Church) making their annual visit to one of the northern regions. They choose a different province each year and then spend about ten days fasting and praying and visiting the churches in that province. We really enjoyed having them stay with us and getting to know them. I had a long talk with Pastor Vitor and Pastor Nuru about their vision for the Niassa province. They hope to have a church planted in each district of the province in the next few years.