Home

We got back to Austin on Wednesday arriving around 11:00 A.M. We got to eat lunch with Jonathan and Debra and then Debra chaffeured me around town - picking up some things, going to the grocery store, etc.

I came home sick - secondary infection related to my allergies. AIr quality in the southern part of Africa is not great right now because for reasons I have not fully been able to define there is a lot of burning going on. They burn the tall elephant grass - sometimes they burn it in strips along the road to protect their land from a fire from someone's cigarette, perhaps they burn it to get their fields ready for planting when the rainy season starts, perhaps they burn the tall grass for security so no one (or wild animals) can sneak up to their house, and sometimes it is an unplanned fire from a careless cigarette. I heard many "reasons" but not just one that fits all what we saw. I also spent time around precious toddlers - many of whom had runny noses. I've been blessed - my allergy meds have kept me very healthy the last several years - so I have not needed antibiotics recently.

Update on the sick babies: When we left Livingstone, our driver was headed to another town where the babies had been in the hospital. They were much better and were going to be transported back to Namwianga! Praise God that they got well enough to return "home."