So the saga continues. Today I found out from Ice that the kid, N, who propositioned R, was "fined" by the tribe of a girl because he r*ped her 35 times (!). His family has to pay her family 64 million rupiah. Everyone in that area helped them pay and so no one is happy with them because all the pigs in the kampung (cluster of houses) are gone! (they pay fines in pigs as there's usually more pigs than money around. 1pig=10 million rupiah) The fine hasn't yet been paid in full so that would explain one of the reasons why B is reluctant to let go his "position" with us (in spite of the fact that the "position" is in his head only). They need the money. Well, I'm not interested in helping pay those kinds of fines... Y came and talked to me today and he said that when B got home last night he was saying the opposite of what he'd said to Hugo. He told Y that he could work for us and it was okay. That's weird. Ice informed me that when people talk one way and then a few minutes later talk another way, it means that there's a shrimp behind the rock (ulterior motive). I told Y to be patient and that we'd try to work things out slowly. But I told him that we may be forced to find someone else because I don't want to have trouble with B. Poor guy, he just wants to work!
Yesterday Ibu N came home from the hospital. Not because she is ready to come home, but because the doctors are sick of her not listening to them and the people with her not doing what they are supposed to do and Ibu N has been crying to go home. She's still very very ill and thin and has a hard time keeping her medicine or food down. Please pray that she will recover!
Today R's sister V was in full labour. I had told them to call me if they needed me to bring them to the birthing clinic by car. They called at one point but it was obvious that it was still too early. After I brought Brynne to school (she starts at 12:00) I stopped by to see how V was doing. She was in a lot of pain and the contractions were 2 minutes apart. So I whipped up the hill to our house on my motorbike and retrieved the car and drove down to get her and many of her extended family who all wanted to go along. The birthing clinic is a very spartan affair where only complication-free births may occur. This birth was not meant to happen there. The midwives were of the opinion that V was already 10 months pregnant and that the baby was about 4kg, enormous by local standards here. In addition, the baby's heartrate was 180, much too high and V had a low grade fever. The batteries on their fetal heart rate monitor died so they were forced to listen using a hollow wooden tube that they jammed onto V's tummy... They managed to procure an enormous oxygen bottle so that V could get some oxygen. That helped a bit but the decision was already made that she should go to the hospital. R stepped in and made the decision that they would go to the Catholic hospital 25 minutes away. (Our son Marc was born there 7 years ago) Then there was the matter of getting her there. They felt that an ambulance was necessary so V's husband was sent out to find someone with an ambulance who could drive them (for real! no 911 here!). He found Seth, a beetle-nut chewing roughish guy who asked 120,000 rupiahs for the transport. We got the cash together and he was happy to put on his siren. V had to climb into the back of the ambulance, no stretcher, and lay on the vinyl bed provided. A number of her husband's female family members decided to join them along with a student midwife (a full house...). R ended up going on her motorbike, and Rode came home with me. They decided to do a c-section at the hospital and everything is fine with mother and baby girl! I hope I can go tomorrow to see them! Thank the Lord that it all worked out!