Letter 6

Well, we have left Kibuye. Six weeks really went by fast. We are now officially on our way home. We
arrived in Bujumbura this evening, and will spend the day here tomorrow before beginning our return
voyage on Wednesday.
Bentley is slowly recovering from a bout of malaria. Towards the end of the trip he started refusing his
prophylaxis...chewing it up and spitting it out. Saturday night and Sunday he was pretty sick, but luckily I
had spent most of the previous three weeks looking at kids with malaria so I recognized the symptoms.
He's getting better now though.
It was hard to leave the hospital today. I've really enjoyed my time there. I will miss the people I got to
know. It will be interesting going back to hospitals in the states.
Adrienne here. As most of you saw on my facebook, we saw a terrible accident on our descent today- a
car had driven off the road and was stopped about 500 feet down the cliff- crazy. There really aren't many
cars up country- so I can assume it was a taxi or government vehicle. Before heading up to Kibuye I had
been told the roads are really great- well, if you mean well paved, yes, they're great. If you mean lots and
lots of curves with steep falls- then we're talking scary- although fear aside- it is unbelievable to come
down the hills- the views are spectacular and Fidele is a wonderful driver.
Bujumbura is quite different than the quiet village of Kibuye. Lots of people, lots of cars. Benefits: we now
have internet access, and there are more English speakers since we are staying at the Hope Africa
University campus. This evening we went to dinner with Wayne and Barb Vibbert (missionaries and
teachers at HAU), Wayne and Darlene McCown, and the Axelson's (spell?) from Spring Arbor, MI. The
Axelson's treated us to an amazing meal at the top of a hill overlooking the city of Bujumbura. The food
was fabulous. Even a ritzy European restaurant will serve you a 2 course meal for under $10/person.
We plan to do some shopping tomorrow and Wednesday we hope to go to Lake Tanganyika. The Viberts
have assumed responsibility for driving us around!!
We have wireless email now so feel free to write whenever. Also, to our parents- we no longer are
accessible by that phone number- so just email from now on. :)
Love,
David, Adrienne Bentley, and Clayton
Adrienne