Greetings everyone,

At this busy time of year this was the best way I could pass this letter on to you. It gives an update of one situation (of many, I'm sure) in the Nutrition Unit (CNT) which Kristen is administering in Guinea, West Africa. Some of you who have been to Kissidougou are aware of the problems in providing help -- transportation limitations, cultural differences, lack of means for the families, etc. For the rest of you it gives a bit of perspective on a Third World country. We are working to have pictures of our visit posted on the Our Saviour, K.C. web site - OurSaviourKC.org. Les & I have been to the CNT now and know this little child. As we all celebrate the birth of our Lord, the baby Jesus, in a week, let us be mindful of the many children on this earth who are struggling, and place them in our hearts and prayers.

We wish you all a blessed Christmas and a New Year renewed to work even harder for His Kingdom.

Lyn & Les Schmaltz

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Story of a CNT Patient

I would like to tell you about a little boy my parents saw when they visited this October.(He is the child chowing down on porridge while sitting on my lap shown on the videothey made. I hope many of you can see this sometime.) Saa Vieux is a cute little boy whose unusual name means (Saa = firstborn, Vieux = old, perhaps named after a grandparent). He is around 5 years old but looks a bit younger, and was a malnourished child in the Nutrition Unit (CNT) for nearly two months, recovering from his illness under the loving care of staff members like Madame Philamene (who gives the children the high calorie milk every 3-4 hours), Dr. Andre, and nurse-aides Monique/Albert/Fanta. The children are given milk every 3-4 hours to slowly bring them back to health. I shared my birthday cake in mid September with the CNT and he was too new and ill in the milk treatment phase.


When my parents came in October he was nearly ready to go home and my dad filmed him as a "shining example" to USA children of good eating efforts with his porridge. Indeed he did go home when I was in Conakry taking my parents back to the airport, purchasing more medicines for this nutrition unit, and getting books and supplies for some ongoing medical teaching. I was thankful to God for his improvement but I kind of missed his smiling face when I 'd come to say hi to the kids and families during work with the CNT staff. Saa Vieux did come to visit at the CNT just at the end of the Ramadan celebration when there is a huge feast and a day off for all in the country but I was not there. Just before I left on a trip I prayed he might be well and searched out info on him from my CNT staff friends- who said he was smiling, looked good but somehow I did not feel I had enough to tell you.



While away I kept thinking of and praying for him. This little guy really touched me; though I pray for all our families in CNT he has a special place in my heart. I do know he has had a hard family life- abandoned at less than 10 months by his mom and then his father died when he was about a year old (the CNT calls this orphan of paternal origin). His two aunts, but especially Aunt Delphine, took him in. He lives with his extended paternal family, in all 23 persons with over 8 other kids less than 12 years old. Delphine is an adult even at age 14 and works fulltime in a sewing shop but brings special interest and care for Saa Vieux in little ways when she is with him. It was she who spent the majority of the time after work in the CNT for the 2 months he was there. Other patients' moms' and Marie, a maternity patient, helped care for Saa in the day and gave him his milk. God is good in providing willing caregivers for his loved children even outside of expected family roles.

My arrival back to Kissidougou this week-after a vacation period visiting a doctor friend in Italy and attending a tropical medicine course in Belgium- was a bit rushed with a few urgent things waiting for me to deal with, so it was my second day in town when I finally made it to the CNT and was surprised to see Saa Vieux there. They told me he was about to be discharged after severe malaria care! Wow, maybe that was why God put him in my prayers so often in Italy and Belgium. And then I continued to hear his story... God really did take care of him and He used our loving CNT workers who followed up on Saa several times after his discharge, walking the several kilometers to his house finding him a week before my return lying on a dirt covered bench, filthy and burning up with fever a temp of over 104. Delpine was at work and the family virtually refused to hospitalize him saying there were many other kids and needs in the house - they could not give up a family member to take him or care for him and especially not pay for him to be in the hospital. But finally reluctantly they accepted that Mme Philamene herself take him to the CNT- where he received a blood transfusion that day for severe anemia and quinine IV treatment. Less than a week later I saw him a bit subdued but ready to go home. He smiled at me since words are difficult -- him speaking Kissi and I only speaking English or French. I cuddled him, as I often did,-- this five year old that looks three. I was told he cried when he had to leave "his CNT family" to go home. My heart breaks sometimes when I think of these little ones who live so marginally and trust our loving God to make a way for them.


Dr. Kristen Schmaltz
Medical Missionary for Guinea, West Africa

As always, I thank my church supporters in Kansas, Texas, and New Jersey, as well as contributing individuals and LCMS-World Relief and World Missions.


Footnote: Needed work is being done at this Nutrition Center. But you see how difficult it is to improve overall family life so that the children have a good home to return to. Pray for the lives of all in Guinea, West Africa.