Beginning of day 5:

We packed up at the old missionary trip. A mother brought a young child to see Peter. She is a toddler, small enough to still carry. She has a birth defect, Her foot is twisted like Brown’s, but her hands are good and although her other foot is missing some toes, her leg still works. That is good. Peter took pictures of her and gathered information. She will be on the list of children for medical visa. It's amazing how kind and gentle Peter is with these chidren and their mothers. He carefully records the information in a notebook that he always keeps with him and takes pictures of the child. It is so obvious how much he loves children.

We had the pineapple for breakfast that was given to us as a gift. Later we also had rice. It is a really big deal that Mark and I are willing to eat rice from the bowl with the rest of the team. We all get a spoon and eat together. It didn’t seem like a big deal to me, I was glad to have a spoon. But it meant a lot to the people watching. I guess some white people have not even eaten the rice, let alone share the bowl.

So, we started off towards Gbarnga. We stopped to see the grave of a mother and wife of a pastor. She was in labor pain, but she died because there was no transportation to get her to the hospital in time. She died in the hammock that carried her and she was buried along the road. Her grave was well cared for as she must have been well loved.

We continued through Gbarnga, stopped to get some disel, and continued on. Mark has been reading 5 Dysfunctions of a Team out loud to Peter. Peter loves it and has already learned so much from it. He says this book probably won't make the trip back to the US and I think Mark has already conceded that he is right.