Events and Appointments

By Tim

The time has been flying by, but we’ve managed to fit so much in. From route planning all the way down to Lesotho, visiting the mechanics at Foleys to see our partially-finished Land Rovers, to an all-day First Aid course in London, to the Living Hope fundraiser in Wimbledon – we’ve been very busy!

Last week we had a very productive meeting to flesh out the route we will take from Ethiopia to Lesotho. It was amazing to see that the rough route we had previously planned was nearly perfect, as most of the mission sites and organizations with which we will be visiting or working fell on the outlined route! It was like a simple exercise in “connecting the dots.” Now our prayer is that the routes themselves will be that simple to traverse when we are there during the rainy season! Wishful thinking.

One of the most exciting events thus far was to see our Land Rover for the first time. Partially finished after having returned from Zambia just last month, it still smelled of Africa – probably due to all the dirt and dust that covered it inside and out! Our trip will be the third time this Land Rover has been driven to Cape Town from London. But this time it’s getting some upgrades: external roll cage, bull bar on the front, chequer-plated side steps, and new suspension and six brand new BF Goodrich tires. After seeing what 20,000 miles of African roads do to the tire treads, I am grateful for the last item on that list! It is hard to believe that this Landy will look like new in just two weeks’ time, when we pick it up. But Foley’s can do it!

Last weekend (Sat), was our full-day First Aid Course in London hosted by St John Ambulance. So there we got our fill of CPR, ABCs (Airway, Breathing, Circulation), and wound dressing techniques, among other helpful tips. Our instructor, Winston (a Barbadian!), really made the experience worth it. We were in a class of about 12 people, yet he made sure our questions (that often diverted from the main course topics – like snake bites!) were answered. What a great guy. Thanks Winston!

That night we had our fundraiser for Living Hope at Cento bar in Wimbledon. A good time was had by all. We managed to get the DJ to play songs that were danceable! We had a decent turnout – about 30 people. Our hope is that it will be just the start in our aim to raise awareness for the Living Hope DAD (“Dollar A Day”) program (See the “You” section for more information). The amount raised that night was equivalent to one year’s worth of DAD support! Thank you again to all who came!