A phone call from the security guards at 8pm alerted us to the fact that one of the shipping container had arrived from Lima.
David Brady and I drove out to the hospital to check on the situation. The semi-trailer carrying the container had driven in by the back road because the current road works on the front road have made a 30 cm deep ditch in front of the entrance, making it impossible for a vehicle to enter that way. The problem is that the unloading dock is located at the front of the hospital.
What follows is a feverish rush to find an alternative solution to the problem of unloading. Gerhard Wieland and Dr Engelhard arrive to help and we drag some long planks and stakes over the ditch, with the hope that they will hold the 13 ton weight of the truck. The night is cold and it begins to drizzle. The darkness is not helping the urgent work at all.
Finally, all is in place and the truck makes a run at the provisional bridge. Pieces of wood go flying in all directions, but alas, the truck has succeeded in passing the ditch and is finally in place at the unloading dock. Just as we are contemplating going home to bed for the night and beginning the unloading in the morning, reinforcements arrive in the form of Michael Mörl and Stefan Höfer, who had just returned from Germany.
Dr. Engelhard suggests we just get to unloading the container then and there, so Michael Mörl finds a large construction light and two more volunteers arrive on the scene. Fortunately the rain has stopped so from 10-11pm there begins a continuous run between the container and the hospital as everything is unloaded.
In the container we find a solar power plant from the “Juwi” company, respirators from the “Drager” company, 100 pieces of furniture from Switzerland and many more boxes filled with donations for different hospital departments.
Finally the job is done and everyone piles into David Brady’s pick-up truck to go home. Alas, there is no rest yet for the tired workers when the truck runs into a ditch at the bottom of the road and despite their best efforts, the wheels only dig themselves deeper into the muddy ditch. A call to Michael Mörl brings him to the rescue in the hospital’s Unimog and finally everyone is safely delivered to their homes.
Even so, throughout the night there are people walking up and down the entrance road – they are participants in a one night prayer vigil. Alone and in small groups they take turns in asking God’s blessing on the work here. Among the prayers lifted up are those of thanksgiving for the safe arrival of the container. Have you taken time to thank God today for His many blessings? KDJ
