Visit with Bedouin family

The highlight of Wednesday and probably our entire trip was an evening with a Bedouin family. We were privileged to be invited into their home and met the entire family consisting of three generations including a new born baby girl.

The father was treated for TB at Annoor a few years ago. Susan has established a strong relationship with the family which enabled her to introduce us to them. They served us coffee, Pepsi, dinner of chicken, rice, potatoes,vegetables, and tea. Even though I did not understand anything that was said, it was obvious that they are a strong, happy family unit. Susan talked with them during our entire visit (about two hours). They laughed, asked questions to us through Susan and Hans, and I took pictures. The tent was dark as it was after sunset but the pictures inside the tent show more detail than I was able to see when I was there.

This picture was taken early in our visit while there was still some daylight. The women in blue is Maria, Barry's assistant from Brazil. She is fluent in Arabic, and the family was happy to that she was able to come along.

The dental clinic was extremely busy on Wednesday. As this was the last day in that location, Barry's list of patients was a long one. He did a lot of work mostly restorations and extractions. We have some interesting stories. Remind us to tell you about the first patient after lunch.

Today (Wednesday) the clinic will move to another village.

Village kids, Jan. 10

On Monday, the dental clinic returned to the same village. The photo was taken by xxxx who usually works in a neighboring country. He was in Jordan for a few days waiting for a visa renewal.

Xxxx was a huge help. He spent the entire day keeping the local boys busy which meant that they were not constantly knocking on the side of the van. They checked out the goats and sheep, played soccer and took pictures.

Barry was very busy. We ended shortly after 5:00 instead of finishing around 4:00 when it's still daylight.

We are going back to the same village today, and have a very long list of patients scheduled.

Tourist weekend

On Saturday and Sunday the clinic was closed so we used the time to see some -- and there are a lot of them -- of the sites in Jordan. On Sunday, Susan Startzell (Worship Cemter missionary based in Anoor Sanatorium) took us to Mt Nebo and Bethany beyond the Jordan where John the Baptist ministered and Jese was baptized. We put our hands in the Jordan River and watched a group in Israel holding a worship service on that side of the river.

On our way to Mt Nebo, we saw the Dead Sea and Bedouins living in totally isolated areas on the mountain. We saw camels, too, and herds of sheep. The photo is us with Susan on Mt Nebo with Israel in the background.

Saturday was spent in Jaresh, a site of immense Roman ruins--football field after football field sized. (Barry can tell you the size better than I can.). Columns everywhere, temples, amphitheaters, paved streets and a magnificent arch. We were there due to the kindness of Ken, an incredibly talented retired engineer who is at Anoor for six months maintaining the equipment. What a blessing to meet him!!

Friday -- busy day

We got an early start in the dental clinic on Friday and, by the end of the day,Barry had treated 23 patients. Most of these had restorations and there were a few extractions. At the end of the day he did two pulpotomies on a 9 year old girl. As we were putting everything away and tying down all the equipment ( to prepare for moving the clinic) her mother brought us a treat. She brought coffee which was served in small cups. It was really good but very different from our coffee. Very strong with a spice that I could not identify. She also brought about 10 small snacks. These had something in the middle that we were told was meat, with a bread type layer wrapped around the meat layer, with a crispy fried outer layer. Really good!!

The two gentlemen in the picture had helped in controlling the boys who surrounded the van. The one on the left had dental problems that were so severe that Barry could not help him due to lack of the needed equipment.

As I type this, it is Saturday morning. We have today and tomorrow off, so we are going to Jerash today with some people from the hospital. Tomorrow Susan is taking us to Mt Nebo and the surrounding sites.

Outside the dental clinic

It is now early Friday morning. Thursday was a busy day as the dental clinic moved to location about 30 minutes outside of Mafraq traveling west towards the border with Iraq.

Barry took the picture during our lunch break. The mobile dental clinic was the center of attention, especially for the local boys. Barry saw 10 patients doing 13 restorations and two extractions. We got a late start in seeing patients due to the time to relocate.

We are in the desert although there is no sand. Lots of dirt, rocks, power lines, buildings and some Bedouin tents. The land is very flat and reminds us of west Texas except there is no tumbleweed.

We came back to our cottage last evening and are going back out to the clinic this morning after morning devotions (in Arabic) in the hospital lab. Remind me to tell you about our prayer meeting last night in Aileen's house, Todd who is the IT guy and travels with the dental clinic to provide support, pizza at Mafraq Pizza shop.

Wednesday in Jordan

The boy and girl were Barry's first two patients this morning. The girl is about five years old and had obvious decay in her upper front central teeth. Fortunately, these were primary teeth,due to fall out within the year. But the permanent teeth were being pushed out to the side by the baby teeth, so Barry extracted the baby teeth.

The boy needed three restorations. Barry also did one root canal on one of the workers here, other restorations and some cleanings.

The Anoor Sanatorium where we are working is full of amazing people. Today we met Emir from Egypt, Hans from Belgium and Mark from Switzerland. Mark learned English when he was in Australia.

One of the physicians is Jordanian and did a pediatric residency in the US. His English is excellent, of course. He mentioned that the patients sometimes do not realize he is Jordanian and compliment him on his ability to speak Arabic, which is his native language.

These people are all Christians who are here to work in this hospital which is known throughout the Middle East as the place to come for chest diseases and TB treatment. The patients are nearly all Muslim but know that they are coming to a Christian hospital.

Tomorrow the dental van moves to the desert. Thanks for your prayers which are sustaining us.

Photo from Tuesday

Barry with Maria, his dental asst from Brazil, in the clinic.