Like wind in ripe grain: World Health Organization

Showing posts with label World Health Organization. Show all posts

May 30, 2013

Not a word about the Sears catalog

For the sake of the Gospel, St. Paul was beaten, imprisoned, and often near death. “Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.” (2 Corinthians 11:25-27).

In that light, a shortage of toilet paper may not seem like that big a deal. In fact, we regularly buy supplies in bulk, so we have not been hard hit by this problem as yet. Nor am I trying to be flippant about it; rather, I am reminding myself that the Lord was with the Apostle Paul through much worse.

For Venezuelans in general, however, the situation is more serious than it might sound. For a number of years, Venezuelans have had to deal not only with 30 percent inflation, but also flat-out shortages of basic foodstuffs like flour, margarine, cooking oil, sugar, eggs and milk. We have seen for ourselves the empty supermarket shelves, but at least we can afford to shop in supermarkets. The very poor perhaps can obtain these items through government welfare programs, but that means being willing and able to get up and present yourself at the designated distribution center at 3 or 4 a.m. That's no joke if you are a single parent with small children.

Recently the shortages have broadened to include personal hygiene supplies such as toiler paper, soap and toothpaste. At the same time, sanitary measures have become more important than ever with a renewed outbreak of H1N1 influenza in Venezuela. Seventeen people have died and approximately 250 more have been infected, Reuters reported this week.

Also known as “swine flu”, the 2009 pandemic, which began in the state of Veracruz, Mexico, and soon spread throughout Mexico, North America, and parts of South America, was one of the worst flu outbreaks in history. It ultimately killed 18,500 people, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The last outbreak in Venezuela was in 2011, with about 100 cases reported. Preventative measures to stop the spread of the disease include frequent washing of hands with warm, thoroughly cleaning surfaces that many people might touch, and using tissue paper to cover the mouth and nose while sneezing.

Ir certainly is heartwarming to hear how Christians in the United States and around the world respond to natural disasters like tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, or large-scale crop failures with donations to help those affected. One might wish, however, that more people would understand that in many parts of the world, poverty, homelessness, malnutrition and disease are chronic, long-term problems that have become so commonplace that they do not generate international headlines. Often people are in need not because of some inexplicable “act of God”, but rather because of the predictable consequences of human folly, perhaps their own. That, however, does not negate the biblical mandate to share the material blessings with which we have been blessed with those less fortunate (Proverbs 25:21; Isaiah 58:6-7, 10; Matthew 25:35-36).

Here in La Caramuca, people not only bear the brunt of national and international events, but also are trapped in a cycle of poverty and despair because of family instability, marital infidelity, domestic violence, drug and alcohol abuse and false beliefs that do not satisfy their spiritual hunger. The first priority of our mission is to bring them the good news of Jesus Christ, that in Him one might have a right relationship with God who loves us all and does not desire that anyone be locked in misery and despair.

We also try to demonstrate that one may trust God to provide all things by sharing what we have been given. On our property we have many fruit trees that Luz Maria planted herself back in the 1990s. These produce more than we can consume ourselves: oranges, bananas, avocados, mangos and grapefruit. We also have planted squash and cassava, a tuber similar to the potato which thrives in tropical regions. The abundance of these plants we share with the surrounding community.

Our preschool is supposed to provide two nutritionally balanced meals per day for the children with funds provided by a state program. However, the number of children has grown faster than the program's annual budget, so most months the funds run short. Luz Maria and I have made up the difference. We have worked with others in collecting and distributing clothing and other supplies for needy families.

We have been able to do these things by God's grace and with donations from individual and congregations in the United States. We are grateful to those who have enabled us to do the Lord's work and we pray that more might understand the necessity as Venezuela face political and economic difficulties.

One of our orange trees.

Apr 5, 2011

Remember those for whom Christ died

Last month the news of natural disaster in Japan captured the world's attention. Of course, we have heard of the events that continue to unfold in Japan, but here in La Caramuca there was tragedy on a more personal level. A 17-year-old boy who lived just down the block from our mission was murdered in the wee hours of a Sunday morning after attending a street party. Sad to say, he was never involved in any of the activities of our mission, but the family was known to all and his death had quite an impact on the community, although I doubt that his death made international headlines. We remembered his family in prayer that same Sunday.

Ruth Rivero de Kempff, 1957-2011

Also this past month, many longtime members of the Lutheran Church of Venezuela remembered in prayer the family of Ruth Kempff, who died March 23, 2011, after a painful struggle with cancer. She was born Ruth Rivero in Venezuela, August 5, 1957. She married Mark Kempff, a former missionary to Venezuela and now a member of the faculty of the Center for Hispanic Studies at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, on July 30, 1978. Their surviving children include Raquel and Rebeca. There was also a son, Juan Marcos, who died shortly after his birth in 1982. Ruth also is survived by her older sister, Ramona, who is married to Rudy Blank, another former missionary to Venezuela and also a member of the Center for Hispanic Studies faculty.

Whether it is death and destruction on a grand scale, or the death of a friend or relative, we may take consolation in the fact that God cares for all of us and no life is insignificant to Him. "God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). In the person of Jesus Christ, God Himself entered a world full of suffering and death, and suffered all, even death, that no matter how brief our time here might be, or how much we might be afflicted, in baptismal grace there is always the promise of eternal joy with Him. We recall this especially during this season of Lent and also that since no one is guaranteed a certain number of years on earth, we should live in anticipation of being called home to the Lord at any time. If we seek first the kingdom of God, than we may look back without regrets and forward with joy.

Cholera and swine flu, too

We would ask you to pray for the health of everyone in Venezuela.

In February I became ill and was confined to bed for a couple of days after receiving an antibiotic from our doctor. I could tell from the questions that he asked that the doctor was trying to find out whether he had a case of cholera on his hands. Fortunately, it probably was just food poisoning.

Image via Wikipedia

In fact, there was a brief outbreak of cholera in February. Venezuelan Minister of Health Eugenia Sader said that around 300 cases were treated before the disease was declared under control. The cholera apparently was brought to Venezuela by Venezuelans who attended a wedding in the Dominican Republic.

The Dominican Republic has recorded 238 cases of cholera since November. The disease came from neighbouring Haiti, where an epidemic has killed almost 4,000 people. Almost 200,000 Haitians have been infected since the epidemic broke out in October, but aid agencies say the rate of infection has slowed. For Haiti and the Dominican Republic, which share the island of Hispaniola, it is the first cholera outbreak in more than a century.

But no sooner had the cholera crisis passed than swine flu took center stage. Venezuelan health officials on March 28 said that 415 people have been diagnosed with "swine flu" (H1N1 influenza) in 19 of the country's 24 states. Two people have died from swine flu since an initial spate of cases were confirmed on March 17. George Jenkins of the World Health Organization attributed the sudden rise in flu cases to an unusually cold and rainy summer.

Oct 8, 2009

On a clear day, you can see Pico Bolivar

Children with the Andes in the background

The Andes Mountains are part of our horizon. Usually they appear as mysterious shadows looming behind a heavy bank of clouds and mist. But when conditions are just right, you may distinctly see Pico Bolivar, the tallest mountain in Venezuela, from a spot on our bluff overlooking the river.

It was that clear Monday morning, October 5, when our new teacher, Yosaira Moreno, arrived. So after the singing of the national anthem and the opening prayer, the children were marched out (in single file) to the spot where they might see Pico Bolivar. Unfortunately, the clouds had again obscured Pico Bolivar, but they were able to see the outlines of some of the other peaks.

Then, for Wednesday's Bible lesson, I read Genesis 1:1 and asked the children what they thought of their view of the mountains. One confused little girl had thought we were going to meet Simon Bolivar (1783-1830), leader of Venezuela's War of Independence, therefore she was disappointed. But the rest were duly impressed by what they had seen of the mountains.

Reminding them that God made the mountains, the clouds and everything else in heaven and earth, I told them we can learn something about God in the beauties of nature. But God has revealed more about Himself in the Bible, His inspired Word, especially the story of Jesus, who suffered and died for sins and rose again on the third day. We sang some songs and Luz Maria took the children on a nature walk around the property. After that, they did some crafts based on the lesson.

We now have two preschool teachers assigned to our preschool by the state agency which provides the funds for the hot meal program and the teachers' salaries. The program ran short of funds for the meals last semester, but so far we are receiving the money for this semester.

The teachers are assigned to us because we do not have the funds to pay teachers ourselves. Yosaira and Nailu are not Lutherans, but have no problems with the religious component of our curriculum, for which myself and Luz Maria are responsible. Ideally we would have a Lutheran school staffed by Lutheran teachers, but all of the Lutheran schools in Venezuela face the difficulty of finding people with all of the desired qualifications -- and the commitment to serve.

Don't call it swine flu

I first heard the phrase "swine flu" when I was a college student. Early in 1976, 13 soldiers at Fort Dix, Georgia, became ill from a new type of flu virus and one of them died. Although the disease never spread beyond Fort Dix, the new virus (dubbed "swine flu") was believed to be a new form of the flu virus that caused a deadly global pandemic in 1918-1919. A $137 million national immunization program was approved by Congress and implemented in record time.

It was supposed to be a two-stage immunization. You were to get one shot which I received, then a booster shot. However, due to shortages of the vaccine, the fact the disease never really spread and that side-effects of the vaccine caused more deaths than the flu itself (25 nationwide vs. 1 soldier at Fort Dix), the program was suspended before I was able to get the booster shot.

So was I counted among the 24 percent of the U.S. population that, according to official sources, was immunized against the 1970s edition of the swine flu? I am not sure, although I would like to think so. It's sort of like Reformed views of baptism. Maybe you received the Holy Spirit through water and the Word, or maybe you didn't. Or perhaps simply making the decision to stay healthy (or accept Christ) was enough. Or maybe the only way to be really sure is if I can demonstrate the power to miraculously heal others.

At any rate, a new strain of the virus appeared in March 2009 and this time it seems the threat is more serious. According to the World Health Organization, as of September 27, worldwide there have been more than 340,000 laboratory-confirmed cases of this flu and over 4,100 deathsresulting from it.

The Centers for Disease Control and American Farm Bureau Federation would rather you not call it "swine flu," since there's not really much evidence that the virus is spread by handling pigs or pork products, but rather by the more technical name of "influenza A, subtype H1N1", or "A (H1N1) flu). Likewise in Venezuela, the disease is not referred to in official publications as "la gripe porcina" but rather "la influenza A (H1N1)".

So it was with the pamphlets that we handed out to the parents (or guardians) of our preschool children on Monday, Oct. 5. The pamphlets outlined the flu's symptoms and preventative measures.

Venezuela recorded its first case of the 2009 A (H1N1) flu on May 28. As of Oct. 3, Venezuela's Ministry of Health has confirmed 1,659 cases and 87 deaths resulting from the disease.

After the arrival of A (H1N1) flu in Venezuela, according to the Caracas-based Latin American Herald Tribune:

Vaccination centers were set up in parts of the country, with Zulia state in western Venezuela concentrating its facilities on the border with Colombia. An official said that the authorities had sufficient vaccine for 300,000 people, but it turned out this was vaccine for the conventional human form of influenza.

Meanwhile, the government says it has started registering people arriving on flights from the U.S., Mexico and Colombia, where cases of swine flu have been confirmed. Health workers and airport personnel at Caracas’s Maiquetia International Airport are asking passengers to fill out a form listing any flu symptoms.