Good days continue
So, today is Friday - church day! It was again a blessed day - with a pentecostal pastor from New York giving the sermon. The message from the Word was good - even if I didn't appreciate the presentation....
Happy Birthday to Paul Chapman (the 9th) and Candi (2nd) - didn't forget - just forgot to write. :)
So, we spoke at the Campus Crusade meeting last night - went very well! Holly led devotions at work yesterday morning and did a great job - my turn is tomorrow. We are going to teach them a few English songs - so I'll be sure to catch on video what they learn. :)
Yesterday was a long, hot, trying day. We had to work with a "problem" client - a woman who doesn't want to pay back her loan. She only has one cow - her other died - and this cow is the sole source of income for an entire family. She developed a bad case of mastitis 20 days ago - and they didn't bother to inform Lawrence. She has dropped production of milk from 6L per day to 1.5L per day. It takes at least 4L of milk per day to pay for the cost of food per cow. The affected quarter is hard as a brick and has burst open to drain the infection. She has an 11 month old calf and is not bred back. The calf is healthy but is very small. They will be without sufficient milk for at least 1 year - and they can't pay for treatment. After much debate - I THINK we convinced them that the only feasible option for them is to sell them both and buy a new cow. But it took some talking....
We visited about 5 farms yesterday - we traveled only to the other side of Dhaka, but it took 2 hours to return. Cab broke down - and there is more traffic in Dhaka than in L.A. I would guess. :) Very hot - the cabs are BLACK - inside and out. Brilliant in a country that averages 90 degrees don't you think? The goverment picked the colors of the cabs. Says alot about this government.....
At one of the farms, I took off my 'orna' or scarf in order to palpate a cow. As soon as I did, the farmer started yelling very loudly! I was so shocked i threw it back on! I thought he was yelling at me! "INDECENT WOMAN! PUT YOUR SCARF BACK ON!" Turns out, he was telling the children to move back and give me room. :) You can remove your orna for palpating cows - but this is just about the only occasion that you can. :) Good to know.
The children here SWARM around us - most have never seen a white person before. They want to be sooooo close to us - touching us - looking. Sometimes if I take a step, I step on someone's toes! I got a little clostraphobic (sp?) today and said "ok" quite loud to indicate that i was ready to move on Soon, I had a whole gaggle of kids walking in front of and behind me yelling 'Ooooo Kkkkk' and laughing very loudly. New word. :)
Dr. B - we actually saw 3 rabbits the other day! They were albino and very small. They had only had them 1 month - they were pets. It does get VERY hot and humid here - but there is lots of shade. I am impressed with how cool it is inside of buildings One man mentioned to me that he would be scared of plague if we brought rabbits in - killed lots of people in India. Don't know if that is a problem here - they do have rats.....
Need one more favor. I need a recipe for a teat dip. (Mark, maybe you can help with this.) All of their mastitis is envrionmental that we can tell> they currently don"t post dip> they don"t have access to iodine(!) but they do have potassium permanganate, q. ammonia, and just tonight we saw in someone's house a disinfectant with 5% chlorhexidine. (sorry for the weird punctuation - this keyboard is possessed!) I also need the width and length dimensions for free stalls. These cows stand tied all day on uneven bricks. The barn is always sloped correctly and sand is abundant here! If we could construct basic free stalls we could fill the front end with sand providing better cow comfort as well as decreasing the incidence of mastitis (which is a huge problem!)
How much is a basic (BASIC) microscope - one that could be used for fecals? (Jenny's - do some research for me! Thanks!) We would love to teach Lawrence how to read fecals at the Government vet offices and then provide him with a microscope for his own use. It's the only way to know if thier dewormers are effective.
Ok, my fingers are very tired. Soon!
Happy Birthday to Paul Chapman (the 9th) and Candi (2nd) - didn't forget - just forgot to write. :)
So, we spoke at the Campus Crusade meeting last night - went very well! Holly led devotions at work yesterday morning and did a great job - my turn is tomorrow. We are going to teach them a few English songs - so I'll be sure to catch on video what they learn. :)
Yesterday was a long, hot, trying day. We had to work with a "problem" client - a woman who doesn't want to pay back her loan. She only has one cow - her other died - and this cow is the sole source of income for an entire family. She developed a bad case of mastitis 20 days ago - and they didn't bother to inform Lawrence. She has dropped production of milk from 6L per day to 1.5L per day. It takes at least 4L of milk per day to pay for the cost of food per cow. The affected quarter is hard as a brick and has burst open to drain the infection. She has an 11 month old calf and is not bred back. The calf is healthy but is very small. They will be without sufficient milk for at least 1 year - and they can't pay for treatment. After much debate - I THINK we convinced them that the only feasible option for them is to sell them both and buy a new cow. But it took some talking....
We visited about 5 farms yesterday - we traveled only to the other side of Dhaka, but it took 2 hours to return. Cab broke down - and there is more traffic in Dhaka than in L.A. I would guess. :) Very hot - the cabs are BLACK - inside and out. Brilliant in a country that averages 90 degrees don't you think? The goverment picked the colors of the cabs. Says alot about this government.....
At one of the farms, I took off my 'orna' or scarf in order to palpate a cow. As soon as I did, the farmer started yelling very loudly! I was so shocked i threw it back on! I thought he was yelling at me! "INDECENT WOMAN! PUT YOUR SCARF BACK ON!" Turns out, he was telling the children to move back and give me room. :) You can remove your orna for palpating cows - but this is just about the only occasion that you can. :) Good to know.
The children here SWARM around us - most have never seen a white person before. They want to be sooooo close to us - touching us - looking. Sometimes if I take a step, I step on someone's toes! I got a little clostraphobic (sp?) today and said "ok" quite loud to indicate that i was ready to move on Soon, I had a whole gaggle of kids walking in front of and behind me yelling 'Ooooo Kkkkk' and laughing very loudly. New word. :)
Dr. B - we actually saw 3 rabbits the other day! They were albino and very small. They had only had them 1 month - they were pets. It does get VERY hot and humid here - but there is lots of shade. I am impressed with how cool it is inside of buildings One man mentioned to me that he would be scared of plague if we brought rabbits in - killed lots of people in India. Don't know if that is a problem here - they do have rats.....
Need one more favor. I need a recipe for a teat dip. (Mark, maybe you can help with this.) All of their mastitis is envrionmental that we can tell> they currently don"t post dip> they don"t have access to iodine(!) but they do have potassium permanganate, q. ammonia, and just tonight we saw in someone's house a disinfectant with 5% chlorhexidine. (sorry for the weird punctuation - this keyboard is possessed!) I also need the width and length dimensions for free stalls. These cows stand tied all day on uneven bricks. The barn is always sloped correctly and sand is abundant here! If we could construct basic free stalls we could fill the front end with sand providing better cow comfort as well as decreasing the incidence of mastitis (which is a huge problem!)
How much is a basic (BASIC) microscope - one that could be used for fecals? (Jenny's - do some research for me! Thanks!) We would love to teach Lawrence how to read fecals at the Government vet offices and then provide him with a microscope for his own use. It's the only way to know if thier dewormers are effective.
Ok, my fingers are very tired. Soon!
posted by Leslie @ 9:31 AM
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