Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Savandah's accident

Yesterday I went to visit my friend Magreth and her family here in Vila.  She called me a week or so ago and let me know that her daughter, Savandah (Sava, who is 11 or so) had been hit by a bus here in town a few months ago.  Amazingly, despite some very serious breaks, she has now had casts taken off both her legs and is actually walking.  Having seen her injuries, I was amazed that she could walk.  I took pictures but please note these are fairly graphic so take caution with children.

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Magreth showed me the site of the accident and others have told me that they remember it being in the newspapers at the time. The driver of the bus hit her and 2 other boys from behind and while they were actually on the sidewalk, walking to school in the morning. The case hasn't yet gone to court (this happened in October and there are back-ups) and apparently the man is still driving. When the incident happened, he hit Sava first and she was actually under the bus while the two boys she was with were hit but not run over. Some people who were nearby and who saw the incident came over to hurt the driver (retribution can be a bit scary oftentimes) so he ran away. It is unknown what had his attention that led to him going up on the sidewalk and hitting the kids. Those who saw what happened actually tipped the bus over to get Sava out from under it. The two young boys who were hit sustained cuts and bruises but nothing serious.

There is a doctor in Vila now who is able to do skin grafts and who seemingly very competently set her bones again and did the surgery on her foot. Please pray with me for her continued healing and for God to use this tragedy in her life to draw the family to Himself.

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Around the language group

Houghton, Jesiah, and our friend Casey took a trip on the 4-wheeler around the island to check in with village leaders regarding the Bible translation work and also to give Casey a chance to see it all.  Gretch and I haven't made it around yet, but I'm sure will soon.
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