Our Bolivian Journey

Cell Phone Woes

2011-04-24T13:44:00.003-06:00

A couple of weeks ago I was in Santa Cruz attending two ladies in the hospital. Jake and I communicate by cell phone at night. One night I dial and receive the message that the number is incorrect. What? I have dialled that number all the time and it works. But no more. We have had trouble with the phone in the country but this was something different. For awhile I could phone Jake but he could not place calls to anyone. Then, finally, I could not call him.

This week the same thing happened to his cell phone that he uses in town. I could call him but he couldn’t call me – and there was credit on the phone. So what is wrong? Today Jake goes to the main office in Santa Cruz. They tell us that our ‘country’ phone was not used and did not have credit so was cut off. And, they no longer provide ‘new’ service to phones that do not have chips. However, ‘chip’ phones do not have good enough reception to be used in the country. Therefore, no more phone in the country!

And what about the other one. Oh, it is not a ‘standard’ phone so it cannot be registered – although it was already registered once before. So, now we are without phones. If we buy a new one, will it be ‘standard’?

So, off to the other office of the same company. “Oh, sure, we can register that! You moved your chip from one phone to the other and the phone and the chip must match. No, it’s not a standard phone but it is a very good one.” And off Jakes goes with a cell phone that actually works!

Still no luck on the other ‘country’ phone but we will keep working on it.

A Day of Faith Part 1

2011-04-18T09:39:00.007-06:00

The weather was hot, sunny and dry and all the plans were coming together. The meat, the rings, the dress, the suit were ordered. It just needed to be picked up. There was no hurry. It was Thursday and the wedding was on Saturday. It would be a momentous weekend in the lives of Carlos and Roberta. They would both be baptised in the morning and they would be married in the afternoon. Thursday afternoon Roberta headed into town with Marg to do the final preparations and pick everything up, except the meat. Rice was loaded into the truck, along with a cooler for ice and a container for diesel. Plans were to drop the rice so that it could be processed. It would be ready the next morning. For Marg, picking up and paying for the wedding rings was the main purpose for the trip. Being ‘padrinos’ of the rings meant that she and Jake paid for the wedding rings of their friends. The two hour trip went as smoothly as possible of the rough road to Yapacani. About fourteen kilometres from the town the truck started to lose power. Shifting into a lower gear seemed to help but the truck continued to lose power. The engine stopped but started easily again. Another half and kilometre and it lost power again. And again. And again. Soon the distance travelled was narrowly down to a few hundred feet. But each time the truck started again. Fourteen kilometres. Start, stop, start, stop, start, stop. Finally Yapacani was in site and the first stop was the garage. The young man took the truck for a drive and diagnosed an electrical problem. The wires were burnt, he said, but the electrician was not available. He would be back later. Would we damage the truck by driving it? No. So, by chugging across town the rice was brought to the plant. With that done, Marg thought she would go to her house and rest for an hour until the electrician came back. “But what about the rings? “ asked Roberta. With all the anxiety about the truck, Marg had forgotten the rings! Thankfully, they were at the jewellery store. They waited until the inscriptions were written and Roberta entrusted the most important rings to Marg to guard until Saturday. Things were still going smoothly and although Marg was anxious about the truck, she was already planning ways to get back to Patujusal if the truck was not working. Arrangements were made to meet the electrician at the shop but upon arrival it was evident that he was not there. His wife informed Marg that her husband was drunk and that there was no way that he would be back that day. Now what! Another phone call and off to another garage that would be able to diagnose the problem, but not at six o’clock in the evening. Come back at nine in the morning and if the problem was electrical, it would be finished. The problem was not electrical. A new diagnosis was the diesel pump. This diagnosis made more sense so off to another garage that did fuel pumps. Yes, it was a fuel pump problem. It wasn’t serious. But after replacing the fuel pump there still was no diesel coming to the engine. The time was passing and Marg was getting more anxious. She was supposed to take the wedding dress and the suit back and the truck was going to be used as the wedding vehicle. Pastor Juan was coming from Santa Cruz and he had room for one more person in his car. Marg could go with him and take along the dress and the suit. Then Pastor Freddy could pick up the truck in the afternoon and drive to Patujusal in the morning. It sounded like a good plan but she hoped it would not need to be implemented. If was becoming more and more obvious that the truck had more problems than the fuel pump. The two mechanics crawled under and hit the gas tank. They determined that there was no diesel. Impossible. It was full. They added five liters. Nothing. Ten liters. Nothing. Another couple of liters and the diesel spilled out on the ground. It was full. But there was no diesel going to the motor. Taking an air hose, they blew air from the tank to the engine but nothing happened. When they blew it the opposite way the diesel spewed out of the tank. There was no diagnosis but they determined that the tank would need to be removed, the diesel drained out, and hopefully they would find the problem. Come back at three in the afternoon. The backup plan needed to be implemented. Pastor Juan came into town with his car loaded with his family’s supplies for the weekend in the country. There was barely room for one more. The dress and the suit would be left behind to come the next day. Conversation was flowing and Marg was telling them about one of the men who had been baptised the previous weekend. “Oh, no,” wailed Rosie. “I forgot the tunics for the baptisms.” No problem. Freddy lived just around the corner and we would borrow some from him. They stopped in front of Freddy’s house but when they started the car again, there was a strong odor. And this time it was the odor of something burning. Pastor Juan, who is also a mechanic, soon realized that the fan was broken. There was no way that we would be taking his car to Patujusal. Plans were quickly disintegrating. It was no longer a problem of Marg getting to Patujusal on time. There was now five more people stranded and they had to be in Patujusal for the church anniversary that evening. The bus had already left. It was 3 o’clock. Maybe the truck was ready. The car was dropped off at the electrical garage. Marg and Juan, neither small people, hopped on a moto taxi and went to check out the truck. Juan was sure that he could work something out to get the truck to work using a bucket and a hose. Instead of the diesel being pumped into the engine it would gravity flow. It sounded Bolivian but it just might work. However, when they arrived at the garage the mechanics had just finished with the truck and it was ready to go. The copper tube that goes into the gas tank and through which the gas is siphoned had rattled apart on the rough road. Instead of looking like a tube, it resembled threads. If everything worked well now, they should still make it to Patujusal by 5:30. Everything was loaded into the truck and arrangements were made to pick up the dress and the suit. It was 3:30. Finally, at 4:10 the dress and the suit arrived. Now it would be after 6 before they arrived and the service was to start at 7. It would be close. Down the road Marg drove, probably faster than was good for the little truck. Within a few miles, Rosie was saying that God knew that their car would have never, never made it down the rough road. It would have fallen apart. She was right! That statement was made by all the members of the family numerous times during the drive. Ironically, the local bus was sitting on the side of the road also. It would not make it to Patujusal on time either. Everything went swimmingly until 15 de Agosto and the construction zone. Thankfully it was dry and there were no problems. The anniversary service took place in the evening and everything seemed to be back on schedule. Although the truck with all the supplies had not arrived, no one was worried. It would get there. Another family from Cochabamba, friends of Pastor Juan and Rosie. Because there was not enough room in the inn, they pitched their tents on the lawn.

Everyone made it to the church -- a bit late but then we go by Bolivian time. It was a great time of celebration and thanksgiving.

A Day of Faith Part 2 The Baptism

2011-04-18T09:38:00.002-06:00

Saturday morning dawned. Carlos and Roberta’s farm was a hive of activity with the decorators putting up tables, chairs and decorating everything. Carlos’ sister and brother-in-law, along with some neighbours were cutting the meat. Roberta was helping them. Carlos was in the jungle cutting down motacu leaves to make a barrier around the ‘room’ that would be used for the reception. Only one problem. They were supposed to be at church for their baptism. It took some urging and some organization to get them to the church. Roberta, being shy, was also uncomfortable with all the attention of the day. The pressure was building and she needed help and encouragement. Although there was some help, more was needed to help with the cooking and the preparations. While Marg persuaded Carlos and Roberta that they had to come to the church, Jake and Dionicio went the school to get water. Pastor Juan was giving a message on baptism but the two who were to be baptised were not there! They finally arrived and it seemed like things were proceeding once again. Until the thunder started. Until it started to rain. There had been very little rain for the past four months and although everyone wanted rain, no one really wanted it on this day. But rain it did. Rain pelted down. Everything was soaked. The plan was to drive 11 kilometers to the river in La Pista for the baptism but it was raining. Instead the congregation settled for a visit in the church to wait it out. Ten minutes, and 10 centimeters of rain, later the sun was shining and everyone piled into the two remaining trucks and headed out. The school was less than ten minutes away but there was no rain there. Thankfully, Patricio and Marioly were there with their truck and the grossly overloaded trucks were relieved of some of their cargo. The drivers were assured that they could drive right down to the river but that was a Bolivian truth. Instead everyone parked about 100 meters away and the people walked down, only to quickly return to the vehicles as the rain poured from the skies. Only the very faithful stayed for the baptism ceremony. Roberta and Carlos were properly baptised – immersed and sprinkled at the same time.

A Day of Faith part 3 The Wedding

2011-04-18T09:35:00.011-06:00

The baptism was over. The rain had come and gone. Only the wedding remained. But what to do. Everything was now and muddy. It would be possible to hold the reception at the Carlos and Roberta’s farm but it would be a messy business. The land around the church was equally wet and muddy. The alternative was to transfer everything to the large building on Jake and Marg Hoogland’s place. There was only an hour before the wedding to move all the tables and chairs, and re-decorate everything at a different location.

The bride and groom were busy scurrying around getting everything done but finally were persuaded to get ready for the ceremony. The dress and the suit were hanging in Marg’s house but the bride and groom headed off to the church – without their attire. More than half an hour passed before people realized that the bride and groom were in one location and the clothes were in another.

Hair-does, make-up, the works for the bride and her three little attendants. In Bolivia, as in most other countries, a wedding is a huge event. The two local teachers took on the task of applying the make-up and doing the hair. Each little girl looked like a little princess in her long white dress with its ruffles and beads. Roberta also had a white dress, veil and white flowers. Roberta’s handmade dress with all the beads and ruffles cost about $35.00. Carlos is very short, barely a meter and a half tall if stretched. He had a terrible time finding a suit because everything was too big. If he wanted a suit made it would have cost over $200 so he settled for a jacket ‘off the rack’. It had two things against it – it was way too big and it was black. But he was not willing to spend that much money on something he would never wear again. Estevan, Carlos and Roberta’s oldest son, wore black pants and a white shirt. Everything was finally ready.

There was even a Bible. Estevan would enter the church carrying an open Bible but, due to lack of communication and planning, the church had not bought them a Bible. Again, Jake and Marg to the rescue. They had purchased a Bible as a wedding present so it was unwrapped and used for the wedding ceremony. The people were gathered and it was time for the processional.

Another problem. How would Roberta make it to the church without getting her dress wet and dirty. Jake and James made a chair with their arms, Roberta hopped on, and off they went to the ceremony. No one mentioned that this was the very first wedding at which Pastor Juan would officiate. The first part moved along smoothly and a very nervous pastor made it through the service. In spite of the little problems, the stutters and the pauses, Carlos and Roberta were married. Photos were taken and Carlos and Roberta joined Jake and Marg for a short trip around the country while everyone else made their way to the reception.

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The reception was reminiscent of the wedding parties of the ‘olden days’. First, there was a meal of lots of rice, potatoes, yuca, a lots of meat. It was delicious! Following the meal there were skits and singing. But there still was one snag. Bolivians also have ‘padrinos’ of the wedding cake. These would be the second most important people, after the ‘padrino’ of the rings. But the wedding cake didn’t arrive. Some friends told us about a car that was stuck in the construction zone. The bus had finally made it at 10 p.m., three hours after its usual time. Scramble for cake. Now, Marg always has cake in the freezer but not enough for a whole wedding reception. She had about 70 pieces and they would need double that. What to do? Finally, at about 10:30 a car rolls in – with the wedding cake. So let them eat cake.

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When weddings take place in town, you can go down town and buy a present. But what do you do when the wedding occurs in the country? The store comes to you. Some enterprising person loads his truck up with gifts and parks outside the church. The guests can purchase their gift, have it gift wrapped, and bring it in the the couple. Often the couple ends up with mounds of the same thing –plates, cups, and glasses. But at this wedding there was no store. So then what would you do? You give money. In a manner similar to the receiving line at North American weddings, the couple accepts the congratulations of all that attend. The guests either give a present or pin money on to the clothing. The women give a gift or pin the money on the bride, the men give a gift or pin money on the groom. It is not unusual to give two gifts, one for the bride and one for the groom. For Carlos and Roberta, the money seemed to be a much better ‘deal’ that all the cups, plates and glasses. They could purchase something that they really needed or wanted. They had lived together for eight years so they really didn’t need all the table ware. They were thankful for the two double beds. Now they had a bed, and the boys had a bed. It was near midnight when the festivities were over – very early for a Bolivian wedding. Because there was no dance and no liquor, the party was shorter. It was a good day! In spite of all the mishaps, everything turned out well. Did Carlos and Roberta have any doubt about that? No, they were in God’s hands and he would work it all out. The faith of a child.

Wonder of Wonders! Miracles of Miracles!

2011-04-18T09:33:00.002-06:00

Pictures are a huge part of a wedding, even in Bolivia. There are not many good cameras; most are camera phones. And I really blew it that day. My ‘good’ camera takes a long time to adjust in dark situations and it sucks up the battery. By the time the wedding was to start, the batteries were shot. I also have a point-and-shoot but it also takes a long time to focus. I felt terrible since Carlos and Roberta are good friends and I wanted good pictures for them. Thankfully, my friend, Marioly, had a camera that worked better in these conditions. I arranged all the people and she took the pictures. I had had many more creative shots in mind but with the rain and all the other little glitches, none of those happened. But we were happy with what we had. Marioly has a developing machine so she developed pictures that evening and sold them at the reception. Each picture was 10 bs. – I pay 1.5 bs. in Santa Cruz. People bought them and she made a good profit which she donated to the church in Yapacani. I arranged to come on Monday morning and transfer all the photos from her chip to my camera. But when I opened her camera there was no chip! She had no idea what had happened to it. It was not in the machine or she could not have closed it. They had developed a couple of pictures in the truck when they left our place. They stopped at the corner at the church and dropped off the photos. Then they proceeded back to Yapacani, stopping at all the places they had soy on the way back. There had been five or six stops in total. The chip could have fallen out of the truck anywhere!! I was sick! I had no photos of the Carlos and Roberta’s wedding. Yes, I had some but they were not the best quality. What would I do? Go back and tell them that there were no photos? How I dreaded that! We had things to do in Yapacani so we did not make it back to Patujusal until Thursday. All week I was fretting – and I was praying. “Please, Lord, let that chip be in Patujusal – and may it be usuable.” This was soy harvest season and the church corner is a busy place with all the tractors, wagons, trucks, and the bus coming and going every day. What chance would there be that a small camera chip would be on the road and still be usable. This chip was in a small case so that would offer some protection – but protection from a truck full of soy? We arrived at the corner in Patujusal at about noon on Thursday. Jake stepped out of the truck, took a couple of steps, bent over and picked up – the chip. A truck, maybe more than one, had driven over it and the case was well scratched so now the prayer only spoke about usability. I plugged the chip into the computer. YES! All the pictures were there. A miracle – and a prayer of thanksgiving.

A must read -- When Helping Hurts

2010-11-23T18:13:00.003-07:00

There are times when the impact of a book is life changing. “When Helping Hurts ... Who to Alleviate poverty Without Hurting the Poor .... and Yourself “ is that kind of book. Anyone involved in short term – or long term --mission projects should read this book for reading and discussion.

Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert are involved with The Chalmers Center, a part of Covenant College, in Lookout Mountain, Tennessee. An excerpt from their website states that

‘The Chalmers Center for Economic Development at Covenant College helps churches to help the poor to help themselves. The methods we use center on the person of Jesus Christ. We believe that He is the only One who can give poor people the dignity, hope, and power they need to restore them to being what God created them to be: workers who can sustain themselves and bring glory to God in the process.’

Another quote (they say it better than I can.)

“When Helping Hurts" combines sound theology, solid research, foundational principles, and proven strategies that prepare you for Christian transformational ministry among the poor, whether in the local community or abroad.

Good Intentions Are Not Enough. Churches and individual Christians often have faulty assumptions about the causes of poverty — assumptions that many times lead to ministry strategies that do considerable harm to poor people as well as to themselves. "When Helping Hurts" addresses these assumptions and offers several principles and strategies for poverty alleviation, including:
the distinction between relief, rehabilitation, and development
the difference between asset-based and needs-based strategies
the advantages of participatory over blueprint approaches

This book is available from Amazon both as a soft cover book and as a downloadable ebook.

The website http://www.chalmers.org/when-helping-hurts/index.php includes information about the book, video interviews, audio interviews and webinars.

Drainage at San Carlos

2010-11-23T13:31:00.006-07:00

There is a small church in the neighbouring town of San Carlos,only 25 members, that operates a Compassion project in which they provide after-school care and instruction to 135 children each week. Members of our local church in Alberta, sponsor a girl who attends this program and I visited the San Carlos project with them last year. Since that time we have developed a good relationship with Carlos and Claudia. We bring bananas and rice.

A few months ago they requested some help. There building is built on a slope and during the wet season there is water in three of the rooms – two classrooms and the office. Compassion suggested that they find a solution to the problem. The Bolivian solution would be to build different buildings but that would cost much more than the church could afford. Compassion suggested that they look for help internationally but their church is a national church without international connections. The only ‘extrangeros’ (foreigners) that they know are ourselves, so they asked us for suggestions and assistance.

Ideas ranged from moving the church and the project to another location to building a second floor on the existing building. The first did not meet with much enthusiasm from the church and we were not enthused about building a second floor since it did not solve the drainage problem. It would only give them a new church and a larger recreation field.

Instead we put heads together and worked on the drainage problem. There were two factors that were clearly part of the problem -- no drainage tile and no eaves troughs. Eaves troughs are not a new concept so they could be easily installed but drainage tile was not to be found. So we built our own using the basic principles that we had used for the filters in the water wells. All we needed to purchase were four inch tubes and clean gravel.

The day was organized. Some volunteers would dig the trench; others would cut slits into the tubes. We arrived to find the trench already started and the volunteers were all female, except one. Our helpers were the director, the teachers, and the minister’s wife. The male volunteer was the minister. All went to work and later in the morning two more men arrived. The men did the digging; the women cut the tubes and carried the gravel.

The system worked smoothly. After the trench was dug, gravel was laid to make it level. The tube was placed in the trench and more gravel was added. Then rice bags, similar to feed sacks, were placed over the gravel so that sand would not clog the tube. Finally, the soil which was mostly sand, was replaced.

At five o’clock everything was completed. We were a tired but happy bunch. We hope and pray that this system, and the eaves troughs, will solve the water problems in the classrooms.

Thank you to Woody Nook Christian Reformed Church for providing the funding for this project.

Machine or manual labour

2010-09-14T16:39:00.006-06:00

A weekend in August was a busy one for the members of Iglesia Dios de Amor as they worked on the church building. While they hauled fill into the sanctuary to raise the floor, we fixed the cement mixer. Freddy had borrowed the machine a couple of months earlier and we were under the impression that they had used the mixer for other parts of the building, but we were wrong. The machine had been sitting idle while the cement was mixed by hand because the mixer did not work. The problem was a small one --the spark plug was full of carbon.

It was 5 pm. and time to mix the cement. We were ready to use the machine but everything came to a halt. The man hired to supervise the building did not want to use the mixer; he wanted to mix the cement by hand. This would mean that all the dry materials would be mixed on the ground using shovels. Then water would be added and finally it would be lifted into the wheel barrows and carried to where it was needed. The helpers wanted to use the mixer – it was easier.

Finally, an agreement was made and we started mixing the cement. Although we were told that everything was ready, there was a mad scramble when the first load of cement was ready. And the mad scramble continued until the last load was poured. They were amazed at the speed at which the cement was being mixed.

We realized that the supervisor did not understand how to calculate how much sand, gravel and cement he should put in the cement mixer. He knew the ratios for mixing on the ground but was not able to convert those amounts into the smaller amounts used in the mixer. The men who handled the wheel barrows also could not understand how Jake was calculating the mix. “Sometimes he puts half sand and half gravel in it and other times he adds a bit more cement. We don’t know what he is doing.” They must have thought Jake was either a magician or was just guessing.

An hour later everything was finished. By 6:30 everyone headed home. Freddy told us that when we started mixing the supervisor said that it would take until the next day to mix with the machine. He could not believe that everything was done in one hour. I think that we will be ‘hired’ again when they want to cement the floor.

Acción de Gracias.

2010-09-14T16:30:00.003-06:00

There is no Thanksgiving Day in Bolivia; however, this church was celebrating Thanksgiving Day. But not in the manner to which we are accustomed. The purpose of this celebration was not only to bring thanksgiving, but also to raise money for the church building.

Many churches depend on ‘outside’ money to build their churches. In some areas this has become the norm. ‘Dios es Amor’ is no exception. A couple of years ago they asked us to donate the tin for the roof of their building. Since we had no connection there, we declined.

The situation has changed since Freddy is the pastor of this church. The congregation wanted to build a larger church. They knew that Freddy has connections in England and expected that he would request the needed funding from there. But Freddy said no. If it was important to them, they would show that importance by raising the money themselves to build the ‘templo’.

On faith, they are building their church. Acción de Gracias was part of this initiative. The women prepared meals and sold them at the church. Some had their own carts that they used to serve meals in the street. Others had their food in large pans. There was fish, steak, and a number of chicken dishes. Each meal came complete with salad and rice. Some had yucca; some had chuño; some had corn. Prices were 8-10 bolivianos for a meal. Coconut juice and juice made from dried peaches (mocachino) were one boliviano. In addition to the meal, people donated other food stuffs that were sold – rice, manadarins, lettuce, bananas.

At the end of the day, the people raised 2200 bolivianos that will be used toward their new building. Will it buy a lot of materials? No. But these people are ‘putting their money where their mouth is’ and they have a great pride in what they are doing. They are doing it themselves.

Will they need help? Yes. Instead of expecting a donation from us, they have taken out a 7,000 boliviano loan which will pay the workers. They will need more money. Freddy will ask a church in England for some assistance.

We, also, want to help with this project, especially since the congregation has shown such initiative. The long term plan is that the church will not only be a ‘templo’ but will also serve as a community center. There are four existing neighbouring barrios and two more are being planned. These are all located in a poorer section of Yapacani. The church plans to operate a Compassion International project as well as women’s programs, programs for teenage mothers, programs for teens, and other programs that will benefit the community.

If any of you would like to donate to this project or if you would like to get a group together to come and help, please contact us and we will send you the information.

A Final Hurdle

2010-07-03T16:16:00.002-06:00

Miracles happen. No, it not be the raising of the dead and the healing of people, but hearts change. We witnessed it.

Every month there is a meeting of the community or ‘sindicato’. This is the meeting at which all the business is discussed – and discussed. Since September these meetings have been a strain on Jake. Each month he would come home more frustrated with certain members of the community and their expectations. Each month he would ask for a letter stating that we are members of the community, that we own the land, and that we have all the privileges of being a member of this community. Every month the request would be ignored or someone would speak negatively. Although Jake kept his cool at the meetings, the tension was wearing on him.

June 30 – meeting day. Jake went, as usual. He came home within a few hours and asked if we had the possibility of photocopying a document. Daniel and Inez’s family had come with a proposal concerning the land. Their proposal was not acceptable to the community and Jake made a suggestion for a slight change that would make the agreement more just. One of the more negative members immediately said that it was a great idea and the new proposal was agreed upon and drawn up. We photocopied it and everyone was happy.

Later in the meeting some of the credit issues were discussed and again Jake requested the letter. This time there was no discussion. Permission was given for us to draw up the letter with a few minor changes. We then could bring the letter to the president and secretary to sign, get it properly notarized in Yapacani, and we would have our letter of security.

The attitude of the community has changed. Was it the death? Is it Mario and his support? We do not know but we sense the difference. We are thankful for the change and the opportunity to stay here and live with these people.

From this day forward

2010-06-28T18:36:00.003-06:00

Teodoro is a good friend and a Christian brother. We always said that whomever he married would have a wonderful husband. One day we heard that Teodoro ‘had a woman’. In this culture that means that he ‘married’, or that the woman has now moved into his house.

From what I can understand, the man goes to the house of his girlfriend and asks the father if she can come and live with him. The father agrees and the woman goes with the man. So, a few months ago it became apparent that Celia was now living with Teodoro. Since very few of the couples in this community are legally married, this arrangement was not unusual.

Last month Teodoro and Celia were married in a civil ceremony. This is not a big event and only the couple and their witnesses attend. The family usually does not attend the ceremony. The couple is asked if they know each other to be of sound character. Then they go through the vows which are very similar to those we use in the weddings in North America, the papers are signed and the couple is married.

Last Saturday we celebrated the religious wedding of Teodoro and Celia. And quite the affair it was. Each wedding we have attended in Bolivia has been quite different. This one was done in style. Words cannot describe it – I should have had a video camera. First seven girls entered with their escorts. The only ones we knew were Gerardo and Valeria Diaz. The rest were strangers to us; not members of either family. Then a small boy holding a Bible entered, followed by a small girl holding a plate with the rings. Following them were another two girls spreading petals. Then the bride entered with her parents from the side door and stopped in the middle. The lights went out and a spot light then followed the groom who had been sitting on an elevated throne at the rear of the church. When he reached the floor, his parents joined them and they proceeded to the place to where the bride was standing. The bride’s father invited the groom into their family and the groom’s father invited the bride into their family. Then the couple went down the aisle, followed by the parents. The ceremony took place.

Following the ceremony everyone moved across down to the Diaz house where the reception took place. The back yard was transformed into a wedding hall complete with white tents for the band and the bride and groom. It was quite luxurious and everything would have fit in a North American wedding. The receiving line was formed and each person would present their gift and give their greetings to the couple. If the gift was large, the photographer would take a picture of the couple with the presenters of the gift. Teodoro and Celia received 2 china cabinets and 4 roperos (cabinets for clothes). All the walls in their room will be covered with these pieces of furniture. According to Dionicio it became a ‘one upmanship’ game in which each person had to buy something at least as good, if not better, than the last. Jake went down two times to the local market to pick up more furniture – at 11:30 at night. The purchaser would call the merchant and the merchant would open the store and the piece would be selected and brought to the reception.

Finally, at 2 in the morning we left.

The next day there was the gift opening but we did not know that we were expected to be there. We went to church instead but someone was sent to retrieve us so that we would be there for lunch. When we returned once again, just before we went home, Celia was placing all the gifts in the cabinets. She had already filled the two china cabinets and still has boxes and boxes of glasses, cups, and plates that still could be unpacked.

A typical Bolivian wedding? Who knows? It was more posh than the other weddings we attended but certainly was not as posh as the other one that took place the same night in Yapacani. That couple received a car as a wedding present. And we thought everyone was poor in Bolivia!

I Have A Plan for You

2010-06-15T20:11:00.007-06:00

We have felt like boats floating aimlessly in the water for the past ten months. Directionless, listless, without direction. In our hearts we knew that we had been in the right place but .... what now? A dwindling community, a community that was ‘on its feet’ financially. To stay or to go? How often we would pray for direction. How often we wanted to know where our paths would lead. We had no plan. We were living day by day ‘con calma’, not wanting to do anything rash.

But God was working his plan and it opened in a way that blew us away.

The story started when we first came to Bolivia. We attended the English service at the Calama Baptist Church. Also attending was a young man, Freddy Gutierrez, whose family lived in Yapacani. He was attending university in Cochabamba. We moved to Patujusal and did not maintain contact, mainly because we did not have a telephone.

One day Jake hailed a mototaxi in Yapacani. The driver asked if he knew a gringo called Jake. Naturally, Jake was surprised since his name was Jake and he was the only gringo living in Yapacani. The driver was Freddy – from Calama in Cochabamba. Remember? We met a few times and we learned that he wanted to learn more English, that he wanted to attend Cambridge in England. Freddy moved to Santa Cruz and after some time we lost contact.

Freddy called when our email was compromised and someone sent an email saying that we were robbed in Nigeria. He was very concerned and wanted to help us. We were touched.

Last January our land lady in Yapacani called me because there was a young man who wanted to talk to me. It was Freddy. He had returned from England and was married the month before. He was planning to work at a small Baptist church plant in Barrio Florida. I was heading to Cochabamba for Quechua classes so we arranged to meet ‘later’. But with our schedules, nothing materialized.

Meanwhile, Freddy worked at the church in Barrio Florida, the barrio where many of the families from Patujusal and La Pista have purchased lots and are building houses. The church has had a positive influence on these people and some of them are now actively involved.

Freddy spent two years at Cambridge taking Integral Missions, an area in which I have been interested and in which I want to be involved. It is the vision we had for our work in Patujusal. Freddy and I only had a few minutes to discuss his plans but in that time he touched on every idea I have had for working in Yapacani. Although I have lots of ideas, I do not have the people that can implement them but Freddy has a network available.

Where this will lead we do not know. How things will be implemented we do not know. But we know that there is a reason that Freddy and ourselves keep connecting. We know God has a plan and we are eager to be part of it.

I Have Decided to Follow Jesus

2010-06-14T17:37:00.003-06:00

Freddy, our pastor friend at the small Baptist church in Yapacani, asked Jake to assist him at Cecilia’s baptism. He was honoured – and I was jealous.

We do not take any credit for Cecilia’s faith. Maybe we prepared the soil; maybe we planted the seed. We hope that by living side by side with these people we have created an atmosphere of love and trust. There are so many facets to this story that it would make a book – and maybe someday it will.

Saturday evening we attended a wedding. Our little friend Samuel, Erselia and Filipe’s son, drew up a chair between us to tell us that he would be baptised the next day. We celebrated with tears and hugs. He was very glad that Jake would be there and wanted my assurance that I would take pictures and that he would get a picture of him with us. His enthusiasm was contagious. Imagine our surprise when Carmen Rose, Mario and Cecilia’s daughter, came to tell us that she would also be baptised the next day – along with her mom and dad. Nine people would be baptised the next day and four of them were from Patujusal.

Sunday morning the whole congregation headed down to the river in two half ton trucks and one large grain truck. The day was very warm but a breeze was blowing so it was comfortable.
Coming from the background of infant baptism, this celebration of adult baptism could have been uncomfortable but we were very at ease. First, the nine people who were to be baptised changed into white robes. Then Jake was asked to say a few words about the meaning of baptism. Each person was led into the water while the congregation sang “I have decided to follow Jesus”. The confessions were made, the person was immersed, and then the congregation sang “The world behind me, the cross before me. No turning back, no turning back.” Everything was very moving. The special glances sent my way while the confessions were said made my heart sing.

God answers prayers in his own way and in his own time. Could we have ever asked for something as profound as this as an answer to prayer?

Cecilia - a true sister

2010-06-14T17:36:00.004-06:00

Cecilia became part of life over five years ago when we first visited this community. With her infectious laugh and huge smile she always made me feel welcome. When we returned to live here I was sad when I heard that she was moving to Yapacani with her children so that they could go to school. We lost touch.

Cecilia’s husband, Mario, was also a very happy-go-lucky man with a unique sense of humour. We got along with him well. Both Mario and Cecilia liked to party and drink. We heard rumors that this was part of their new life in Yapacani.

Although things between us never soured, they never grew. We became a little distrustful of Mario when we heard some of the things that he had said that we had promised. We were friendly to each other, but certainly not close.

Then came the accident. Mario included Jake in everything. There was a feeling that he needed Jake to be there although we did not understand. On Sunday afternoon we found out why.
Jake took some of the family members to the river to wash the belongings. Cecilia was a passenger in the truck. She talked to him at length about the children and asked his advice on what should happen.

Then she shared that she was going to church in Yapacani. The pastor is a friend of ours that we met our first months in Cochabamba. Mario took him to visit us but we were not home. Things were starting to sound a little weird. Mario taking a pastor out to see us? Mario going to church? And then she asked if we would please come to church on June 13. She was being baptised and she and Mario are getting married in September.

Later, when Cecilia and I were talking and I expressed that I was afraid to talk Quechua, she gently looks at me and says, “But with God you don’t have to be afraid.” What a gem. She also told me that it was only with God that they were getting through this difficult time.

I sat with some of the family later in the evening and some were drinking beer. Someone gave Erselia a can. She took one sip and gave it to me. I took a sip and gave it back. Then she gave it to Mario. He took one sip and put it down. That one action showed me how much he had changed. Then when some of the traditional things started, Mario walked out. I realized that all day he was in the background, doing only what needed to be done but not participating in those things that did not agree with his new life. What a witness – and what a great blessing! I am positive that now we will become closer and that Mario will stand beside Jake as we work with this community.

Another tragedy

2010-05-25T18:39:00.003-06:00

Thursday, May 21. Daniel and Ines were ready to go back to their house in La Pista. The onions were planted; the patuju was cut along the road; the work for the day was finished. They would return tomorrow. But now it was around 6 o’clock and getting dark. Their two school-aged children, Gustavo and Grabiella, were waiting for them. They mounted the motor bike with 3 year old, Aiden, and 14 month old, Graciela. Travelling to and from the chaco was much easier since they purchased the moto a year and a half before.
It was dark and the first part of the road required concentration since there were many potholes and bumps. Daniel was not a confident driver but took great care when driving. They continued on through Patujusal 1 where the road was more solid, although very narrow.
In front of them they saw the lights of the micro, bringing the people from Yapacani after their day of shopping. Behind them they noticed other lights, probably a truck filled with rice.
***********
No one knows what really happened next. Many people have their stories. It seems that the micro passed and Daniel kept to his side of the road. Somehow he lost control of the moto and it, with all its passengers fell onto the road. The large truck with the rice continued down the road. Did the driver see the family? The road is very narrow, the grass is very tall, and there were the lights of the micro shining down the road. But Daniel and Ines and little Graciela were no more. The truck had driven over their heads. Aiden lay on the side of the road.
************
Ten o’clock at night someone banged vigorously on the door. Finally, Jake woke up and realized someone wanted this attention.
“There has been a terrible accident, very serious. Daniel is dead. Would you please go down the road and pick up Mario and Cecilia and Justino and his wife. I will go ahead and tell them to get ready. And Francisco is fishing. Someone needs to find him, also,” said a shocked and shaking German Diaz. German took the unpleasant task of telling Daniel’s two sisters and his brother that Daniel was gone. Jake picked up the families and drove them to the site of the accident.
Members of the community has secured the site and covered the heads with blankets. German’s wife, Carmen, a shy young woman, made sure that no one messed up the tracks. Someone took young Aiden into the hospital in La Pista.
Nearly one hundred people milled around waiting for the police to arrive from Yapacani. When they arrived, they performed the normal procedures for an accident – took pictures and looked around a little – none of the detailed inspections we expect. Since there were no witnesses at the scene no one could say exactly what happened. However, somehow someone knew what truck was involved.
After the police did their work, the gory task of loading the bodies on to the truck needed to be done. Someone took the hands, the other the feet, and placed the bodies on a blanket. Then the using the four corners, the bodies of Daniel and Ines were placed in the back of the truck with little Gracelia between them. No such things as body bags. Jake, along with the families, drove the bodies into the hospital in Yapacani, arriving at about 3 in the morning.
Jake went to our house in Yapacani while the family took care of the details. Unlike North America, the door to the morgue remains open and the family is able to see what is happening.
******************
It was noon and I was walking down the street in Cochabamba. I had just finished classes and was going for a walk when my cell phone rang. It was someone saying that Jake wanted to talk to me. He told me about the accident. I immediately went to my house, grabbed a few essentials, and caught a taxi to Yapacani – a five hour ride.
Meanwhile, Jake was getting pieces of the story. The truck belonged to the son-in-law of a farmer from Tarumá, whose name is Paulino Moreda. Rumor says that the driver of the truck was drunk but the Moredas say that this is not true.. That charge is very common in an accident. The truck was at Km. 35 when the police arrived. The driver was jailed, another common occurrence when an accident happens.
Mr. Moreda is a gentle conscientious man, a good farmer, and a fellow believer. He does his best to help the communities in which he farms. He also did his best to help the family. Jake and a friend of Mr. Moreda purchased the coffins and delivered them to the hospital. The intention was that Jake would then drive them back to the farm of one of Daniel’s sisters in Patujusal. However, the put the coffins on a rice truck instead and Jake waited for me to arrive from Cochabamba.
*********************
Saturday morning we arrived at the home of Gregorio, the brother-in-law of Daniel. Already many people were gathered to pay their respects. Some had been there all night. Gregorio left for Yapacani to meet with lawyers and to ensure that the driver did not get out of jail on bail.
I tried to console some of the relatives, especially Ines’ brother and sister-in-law, Felipe and Erselia. They had lost their son a couple of years ago so this was especially hard on them. I sat with Erselia and Felipe’s other sister. Their desire was to visit Daniel and Ines’ house so the truck was filled with people and the trip was made. Will we ever understand the Bolivian customs surrounding death? No. But we also do not feel that we have the right to criticize and judge them. Many tears were shed and candles were lit and positioned by the beds. After some time everyone returned to the house for lunch.
The afternoon wore on. The nichos were being built in La Pista and nothing could happen until they were ready. Conversation swirled around, mostly about the accident, the truck driver, and the responsibilities of the Moredas. It soon became clear that no matter what the Moredas would do, it would never be enough. The food, the drinks, the meat, paying all the funeral expenses were all given and yet some expected that he should be catering to them; that his family should be doing all the work and they be the guests.
********************
Although this is the fourth funeral we have attended and in which we have participated, we still do not what is ‘normal’. Since Daniel and Ines did not attend church we did not want to interfere with the traditions and wishes of the family. However, Mr. Moreda made it clear that we were to be part of the service since we were an important part of the faith community. So we, along with a young man from La Pista, led a short service. We were told that Daniel and Ines ‘used to believe’ and should, therefore, have a Christian burial. There was no Catholic, only traditional, influence. Although the family expected Mr. Moreda to coordinate the service, some soon took over and did their own thing in the midst of what was planned.
After the service the coffins were loaded onto our truck and that of the Moredos. The people piled into two farms trucks and we all drove the hour’s drive to La Pista for the internment. I read Psalm 23 and prayed for the families, the communities, the truck driver and for the Moredas. I knew that this was not the custom but I felt that we had to show our love for everyone.
Then it was time to put the coffins in the nichos but first all the hardware and the handles had to be removed. Since the bodies were not fit to be viewed, the caskets remained closed and the older members of the family were not able to put their parting gifts inside. Instead these gifts were stuffed in the nichos. Then the bricklayers closed the front of the nichos. During this time the people chatted and drank soda pop. We couldn’t help but comment on the disorganization and confusion that takes place at these funerals.
*****************
Sometimes we wonder why we are invited to be part of these very personal events in people’s lives. Sunday there was no church since some people had gone to Yapacani and the others were still at Gregorio’s house. More traditions, more food. I spent the morning with some of the women of the community. We peeled the vegetables and prepared the midday meal. Jake returned to the Daniel and Ines’ house and had a more interesting experience. First, the people took everything out of the house. The beds were dismantled and placed under a tarp in front of the house. Everything was swept out. After water was sprinkled on the beds they were returned to the house. All the kitchen utensils, the tools, and everything that could be carried was loaded onto the truck and taken to the river to be washed. At the same time another truck of household utensils, farm equipment and clothes was also taken to the river for washing. After this traditional washing, everyone returned to Gregorio’s house for a meal.
Late in the evening the family would burn the old clothes and belongings. We are not sure why this is done but it is part of their tradition. We did not stay for this but instead returned home since we would be back early in the morning to pick up Filipe, Erselia, their five children and the three new members of their family.
Gustavo, Grabiella and Aiden will make their home with their aunt and uncle for now. They will live in Yapacani and attend school there. Ines had said that if she died she wanted Erselia to bring up her children. Erselia said the same to Ines. Erselia takes this commitment very seriously. Although she has a vegetable stand in the market in Yapacani she will give that up so that she can raise the children. Daniel’s sister, Cecilia, lives very close so she will help. We are thankful that these two families, Ines brother and Daniel’s sister, are willing to raise these children.
(Photos to follow when I get to the city)

Unfufilled Expectations

2010-05-02T17:14:00.002-06:00

We have lived in the community of Patujusal for four years. When we came we had many dreams and expectations. So did they. The trouble is that most of these expectations have not been fulfilled and that has led to disillusionment for all parties.

Our expectations

Expectation 1: The people would be eager to learn about better health and better nutrition.
Reality: They are happy with their food. They are not that interested in learning to cook new recipes because unless it is cake. They know that an egg a day keeps their children healthy so they feed them that. Chicken and beef are eaten for fiestas. They already know how to cook. They have been doing it for hundreds of years.
Expectation 2: The people would accept our help and our advice.
Reality: We are the strangers. We do not understand their culture. They are not sure that we really know anything about living in the jungle. But they are very willing to have us take them and/or their products into town.
Expectation 3: We could just live in the community in the same way that they do.
Reality: We will never be accepted as full members of the community.

Expectations of the Community

Expectation 1: We have access to funding for their projects, especially machinery and infrastructure such as building roads and bridges and canalizing the river.
Expectation 2: We would buy them the machinery needed to do their farming,
Expectation 3: We would be at their beck and call when they needed to have something done, whether it be bringing them to Yapacani or threshing their rice.
Expectation 4: Anything we did would be free of charge.
Reality: We don’t have that kind of money. We do not have access to government funding for infrastructure projects. And if we asked for money every time we came home, no one would want to see us. This mentality does not jive with our ideas of what we should be doing.

Expectation of the Churches

Expectation 1: We have the money, or the access to money, to build churches for whomever needs one. We should also purchase instruments for the church.
Expectation 2: We will administer the local mission.
Expectation 3: We are missionaries and, therefore, preachers. We should preach every Sunday. If we visit a church, we should preach.
Reality: We are not preachers. I do give the message in our church when I am there but it not top priority. The churches must exist apart from our being there. If they become dependent on us for the preaching, teaching, or money, they will not be able to continue when we leave. This is a difficult concept since many missionaries become much more active in the general administration of the church but these churches operated before we came and are able to continue without our interference. We encourage them and we visit them.

So, after four years the honeymoon is over and we realize that all of us are disappointed. We are disappointed with their lack of initiative; they are disappointed that we do not give them the things they would like.
I am always thankful for my many books. At this time Henri Nouwen’s writings have been uplifting and challenging. This is not about ‘us’ and ‘them’. It’s not about me! It is about working in God’s kingdom. It is about working together in community. No one said it would be easy. It will take time to show them that, despite not giving them money, we do care about them.

Frustrations

2010-05-02T17:13:00.001-06:00

When do you know if you are doing the best thing for someone else? After much thought and prayer we decided that we would purchase the combine so that the members of the community would be able to harvest their rice in time. However, things did not go according to plan.
Our rice was ready to harvest the first part of February but, due to the frequent rains, it took 2 ½ weeks to harvest 20 hectares. But harvesting was only the beginning. The rice was slightly moist so needed to be taken to Yapacani immediately so that it could be dried. Due to the rain, the road became impassable and some of the rice was left on the truck and began to overheat. After first getting stuck, the truck broke down and the rice had to be manually moved from one truck to another. Finally, the rice arrived in Yapacani and Jake was able to have it dried, hulled and sold. The other three trucks arrived in a timelier manner but due to low prices, it is in storage.
Each year the price for renting the combine is set by the owners of the machines. New machines work faster and there is less loss. The average price last year in our area was $90.00 per hectare or $100.00 per hectare if the tracks are needed. However, the price is much higher east of our place where there are larger farms -- $120 per hectare or more. We decided that we would harvest in our community for $90.00 per hectare and the community verbally agreed that they would use the machine. After harvesting for two neighbours, our machine was not used because a older, smaller machine came in and was willing for work for $80.00 per hectare. After much discussion with our partner, Alberto, it was decided that we would move the machine out east and harvest there. It was a painful decision but we could not afford to have a costly machine sitting idle but we also could not harvest at $80.00 per hectare.
Of course, after our machine left, the other machine also left for greener pastures and many of the farmers ended up in the same predicament that they were in last year. The rice became too ripe and was difficult to harvest; the price was docked. In spite of everything, all the rice was finally combined.
Although we explained that the combine was a business venture, there is still the idea that, either because we are ‘gringo’ or because we are missionaries, we should be doing things for less, or preferably free. We are frustrated because we know that the new machine does a better job and that the $10.00 per hectare would be easily recovered since the rice does not simply go through the back end of the machine. Many of the neighbours know that also but like the price of the older, less efficient machine.
So what will happen? We do not know. Will the farmers realize that they will never get machines on time if they are not willing to pay for them? Will they realize that they need to work together so that it is worthwhile for a combine to come in to harvest all the little pieces? This year there was a small percentage of the rice land actually planted due to the rain, but what will happen if all the land is planted and the machines are busier?
We pray daily for wisdom – but the wisdom of one is not necessarily the wisdom of another.

Dead Aid

2010-05-02T17:11:00.004-06:00

I have just finished an excellent book called Dead Aid by a Zambian economist, Dambiso Moyo. This is not an easy read. It requires concentration and thought as Moyo explains the detrimental effect that aid has had on Africa. The statistics are startling. She states that in the past 50 years over more than US $1 trillion dollars in development related aid has been transferred from rich countries to Africa. And yet “the proportion of the people in sub-Saharan Africa living in abject poverty increased to almost 50%. Between 1981 and 2002, the number of people in the continent living in poverty nearly doubles, leaving the average African poorer today than just two decades ago.” She also states that the life expectancy has stagnated and adult literacy across most African countries has plummeted below pre-1980’s levels.
This book is about foreign aid at a national level, not charity based aid. But as I read it I see many similarities in the results, whether it be thousands of dollars in charity aid or millions, billions, or trillions of dollars in national aid. The results are the same. It is easier to pocket aid money than investment money. Aid money is not as traceable as investment money. Aid money encourages people to wait for more aid rather than taking initiative to do things on their own. Also, emergency relief in not included her assessment of aid. This would include onetime donations to victims of natural disasters.
Moyo starts her book by saying that we live in a culture of aid. “Rich” people genuinely want to help “poor” people. It takes so few American or Canadian dollars to ‘help’ people in third world countries. But it is imperative that we consider if we are enabling or dis-enabling the people whom we are trying to help. A number of years ago someone told me about a wonderful mission project. Each year a group would go to the same place in Mexico. They would repair houses, purchasing all the needed supplies and taking along their own tools. Each year there would be a new list of projects. The residents of the village learned to do something to improve their village. They learned to make their list for each year. If this group no longer comes to do the repairs, what will happen to these houses? Have the people learned to do their own maintenance or have they learned to make a list? We build houses – do we enable them to build their own or do we give them a house?
This past week we faced the impact of the aid mentality. Jake attended the regular monthly meeting of the community. Much to his surprise, one of the items on the list was “Analizar misionario”. Now why would this be an agenda point? Are other people in the community analysed? The point being made is that we do not help the community. We do not give them project money. We are not giving them the things they would like – machinery and infrastructure money for roads, bridges and river canalization. The things that we consider important – walking beside them day by day, delivering babies, fetching the nurse, taking women to the hospital to have their babies, the micro-credit program. These things are just ‘little’ things and they want big things – and they want them free. Why? Because they, too, know the aid mentality. Although we can explain that this type of freebie aid does not work in the long run, they do not care. They want the money for themselves NOW. Let the future take care of itself. How we will address this is a question we have yet to answer. We pray, and we ask you to pray for us, that we will have the wisdom to deal with this situation.

Queshwata yachani

2010-05-02T16:04:00.005-06:00

For the people of Patujusal and many other communities, Quechua is their mother tongue. Many of the older people speak only Quechua; and most of the middle aged and younger people also speak both Quechua and Castellano. Because I love to learn and because I want to be able to communicate with the people, I am dedicating this year to learning this language.
Quechua is one of the Incan languages. There are over 20 different types of Quechua so there is not a standard for either the written or the spoken language. In some places the “j” sound will be used; in others the “h” sound. Spelling is a challenge! The language is built like a train with the engine being the root word and the cars being suffixes. When I asked one of my teachers how many suffixed there were he said that he had a book with 350 – and that was not all.
When we learned Castellano we found that there were many words similar to English or French. This is not so in Quechua so memorizing vocabulary is a large part of my day. Quechua grammar and sentence structure is more like English so that is a bit easier. Everything is connected so you can say a whole sentence in one word. Technically, I am learning Quechallano – a combination of Quechua and Castellano. Many of the words that are used did not exist in Incan times so the Castellano word has been adopted.
Language training means that I am spending a lot of time in Cochabamba. I am very thankful that one of my teachers has a place above the city and that I am able to stay in a postage-stamp house on that property. There is also a childrens’ home here. I have a wonderful view of the city but rotten transportation lines. It takes me 45 minutes to get down to the school but usually I travel to school with Gladys and take the bus or trufi-taxi home. I was able to purchase an internet flash drive so I now have internet in my little house. Although a bit slow, it gives me the flexibility to use it when I wish. I also have Skype and that is the way I can communicate with Jake since our phone reception in the country is still not that reliable.
My plan is that I will spend 3 to 4 weeks in Cochabamba learning the language, return to the community to use it for a week or two, and then continue in school. Either I go back or Jake will come here half way through each session. We will try it and see how it works.

God's World is Small -- and He is Good!

2009-12-11T07:55:00.005-07:00

This past week we spent at the ECHO (Education Concerns for Hunger Organization) Conference in Florida. We had attended this conference 4 years ago as we travelled to Bolivia and we now returning after four years of experience.

Living in a foreign country has its challenges and we have been suffering from cultural fatigue for the past few months. We were wondering what we were doing in Bolivia, if we were effective, if we should move on -- what should be we do?

Coming here was not without its challenges, also. I booked the trip in September.We planned to go to Iowa and Minnesota to visit Jake's family and attend a wedding and then fly on the the ECHO conference in Florida. The night before we left I checked the computer for a receipt for the trip but saw instead that all our flights were cancelled -- and there was no receipt. After a late night trip to the airport, we spent hours on two computers trying to arrange flights. Finally, we put one on hold at a price that was far beyond our means and our credit card limit. The next morning we were the first in line at the American Airlines counter and were told that the prices had changed -- they had gone up. However, by combining our flights the agent was able to get us a flight for a semi reasonable rate -- one that would fit on the credit card! Words could not express the gratitude we felt as we made the final arrangements and boarded the plane.

Whenever I come to a conference I am curious about the attendees. The first surprise was to find that there were six people at this conference associated with out little rural church way out in Alberta, Canada, attending a little known conference in Florida. Ad is a missionary in Haiti sponsored by our church, Jake and I are still members of WoodyNook, Andrew's girlfriend attends that church as does David and his family. It was great to spend time with people with similar ideas and to have the 'in' on the ECHO farm.

But that was not all. EFCCM is not a large organization either. The attendee list contained two delegates, Melvin and Priscilla from the Ukraine associated with EFCCM. One of the speakers, a former ECHO intern,Angela. and her husband have recently joined the EFCCM team as well.

The conference was a real blessing. It re-invigorated us, gave us a renewed perspective on what we are doing, gave us ideas for change, and gave us the support from fellow delegates. The devotions and singing were especially meaningful and many tears were shed. We feel blessed as we head back to Bolivia. Thank you, ECHO.

I encourage all those who read this to check out the ECHO link on our blog.

Is the honeymoon over?

2009-11-28T20:17:00.000-07:00

We have now been here for four years and the honeymoon is over. We are realizing the differences in expectations between ourselves and some of the members of the community. It seems like some of them accepted us into the community so that they could benefit from the ‘freebies’ that the gringos would bring. Now that they are realizing that there are no freebies, they do not see any advantage to having us in the community.
This all started in May when the men of the community asked Jake about buying a combine. Jake arranged a day to meet to discuss the combine but no one came. Now, this was not unusual for Bolivia – rice harvesting was over so why think about a combine in May when you didn’t need it until October? There were some men who showed some interest in purchasing a combine. However, they wanted 90-100% financing and we cannot afford to do that. We also do not think that it is wise for one of them to be so far in debt.
Instead we decided to enter this as a business and to look for someone with whom to partner, someone with a good business sense, someone who was honest, and someone who would work in our area. The man we are working with is from Santa Cruz and seems to have a good head and a good heart. He bought the cat a couple of years ago and had it paid off in a year and a half. He has a chaco in one of the neighbouring communities as well as a house in Santa Cruz.
So in September, when the men asked Jake what was happening, he said that he was working on something but would not tell them all the details. Some of the men of the community became very angry and the ‘carpet bagging’ started. There were two vocal men who stated they were talking for the rest. If they were we do not know but no one asked them to be quiet. The long and the short of it is that some do not feel that they are receiving any benefits that they feel deserve and that other are getting more than others. They feel that only the Diaz family is benefitting from the tractor. Somehow they forget that two years ago they were walking or biking 18 kilometres to see if there might be a tractor or a combine available – and often there wasn’t. Now they just go 6 kms. and arrange the tractor work with Teodoro. But it is not money in their pocket so they don’t see any benefit. The health program, the transportation to and from the doctor—all the little things – those “were just little things and didn’t count”. They also thought that Jake should come to them for approval on anything that he wanted to do with anyone in the community and that no one should get more than the other –unless, of course, that someone happened to be them. They also did not want Jake to help other communities.
Thankfully, there are some wonderful people from the community who showed their support for us. We decided to purchased the combine as an investment and still want it to be available to the people in this zone. The rest of the time it can work in other areas. We should be able to keep it working 10 months of the year. There are lots of people in the neighbouring communities who are thrilled that there will be a combine in the area and we feel we made the right decision. At the last meeting there was an overwhelming show of support. Sometimes it takes a crisis to bring everything together and into perspective. We are so thankful for wonderful friends in the community who have stood by and supported us. They truly are a gift of God.
Things in agriculture have changed since we arrived. The first year was a disaster with low rice prices, the flooding and the difficulties it presented. Most of the people had small plots, the largest being 10 hectares but most being 3-5 hectares so the combine operators didn’t really want to come that far for so little work.
The next year, there was no flooding because the river changed, the weather was good, the production was up, and the price rose substantially. A lot of money was made and consequently, many of the farmers cleared more land to plant more rice to make more money. The majority of the neighbours acquired motorcycles and life looked good.
But last year brought drought conditions and production was way down. Because there was no rain, the weeds grew well. When the rice was ready, there were no combines availableso the rice became too dry. Add to that, the price fell and many were not able to sell their rice. Now is the time to plant another crop and many still have not sold their crops from last year. In other areas, because it has been a wet winter, the road is still too wet to take out the rice.
Then there is another side. With the increase of land in production, many of the farmers borrowed money from a government program called MAPA. Some also borrowed money from banks. And they borrowed some from Jake. When all was said and done, some were not able to pay all their loans. Nor did they pay the operators for combining or the cat operator for clearing the land. In the community of Tarumá, many took out loans to clear more land. Now they are caught. It is time to plant rice and there is no money. When we started the credit program we explained that credit could be your best friend or your worst enemy. For those who did not manage their money well, it has become their enemy. What will happen, we do not know. Maybe much of the land that was cleared will not be planted. There will be growing pains as the people learn how to live in a different economy.

Bridges and Roads

2009-11-20T08:17:00.005-07:00

We have lived in this community for 3 and a half years and have seen the condition of the road ebb and flow with the seasons. This spring , it is at its worst.

Year #1 was a series of community blockades that restricted our movement and led to many frustrating times trying to obtain permission to come and go through the neighbouring community. Thanks to their diligent blockading, the road in our community stayed in relatively good shape.

Year #2 brought increased traffic since many of the local farmers increased their rice production, the farming was more mechanized, and more people were working land further into the jungle. That meant more road traffic and our poor roads were eaten away by the heavy rice trucks. Also, the logging company moved on and the little maintenance that was done ceased.

Year #3 – a new gravel (rock) road to within three kilometres of the gate. But more problems with those three kilometres. No one was maintaining the road. People were moving the rice while the roads were wet. The dry season was wetter than normal so the road never dried out. The result was a very rough path, full of pot holes.

Of course, there is always talk of fixing the road and of installing bridges. This spring it happened. One new bridge and four culverts have been installed in the three kilometres leading to the main road. After a couple of weeks the road grader arrived and started to raise the road. As is normal, it has now broken down and is in for repairs. The local government says that it doesn’t have the money for the repairs so one of the farmers from Taruma has lent them 4000 bolivianos so that the grader can be fixed. He and his family own three chacos and have soy ready to be harvested so he sees the need for a better road.

It would cost about $1000US to put gravel on the road in Patujusal 2. Each land owner would pay about $70.00 -- about what one would receive for 2 fanagas (360 kilos) of rice. Most farmers have over 5 hectares of land mechanized and should get between 18 and 25 fanagas per hectare for a total of 90 to 245 fanagas. It would take only 2 fanagas to gravel the road but the majority decided that they would rather not gravel the road but instead, wait for a year or so to see if the local government – or someone else – will do it for them. You can imagine what the road will look like next year!

We hear that they will asphalt the first 45 kilometers in 2010. Should we count on it?

New Life

2009-09-07T18:55:00.001-06:00

It was about 10 in the morning and I was just finishing coffee and conversation with a friend from Santa Cruz. The neighbour, Francisco, arrived on his motorbike and asked if I would come because his wife was having the baby. She wasn't due for another three days but babies come when they are ready. It took a few minutes to find Jake since he had the keys to the truck, but soon I left with a blanket, some towels, and a scissors -- just in case.

I came to the house to find Carmen standing beside the bed and Francisco, holding a very newborn baby girl while the two other boys, Fanor and William, peeked through the cracks in the siding of the house.

Gingerly, we helped Carmen to the bed. She was having problems expelling the placenta. Francisco had already cut the cord so there was a chance that the cord would slip back into Carmen's body. To prevent this, he cut a length of string long enough so that one end could be tied to the end of the umbilical cord and the other end to Carmen's toe. Very inventive and simple!

After insuring that everything with the baby was fine and that she was wrapped up in a clean, warm towel, I headed off to La Pista to get the nurse, praying that she would actually be there. Thankfully, she was and she willingly came back with me.

Santitation and cleanliness is an issue in the Western world. How would one function in a house with a dirt floor and questionable sanitation? The evidence of the birth had been covered with fresh dirt and Francisco had prepared water with herbs to clean the baby and Carmen. The IV was hung with a piece of string to the wood rafter, a used pop bottle was used for breathing, and soon the placenta was expelled. No, sanitation was not the standard we expect in Canda and most women of the developed world would never want to deliver a baby under these conditions. I was impressed by the care of both Francisco and the nurse to keep things clean.

Soon Mother and baby were clean and warm in their bed, the nurse returned to La Pisa, and I went home to prepare dinner for Jake.

(This is a picture of Abigail at 2 months of age. My picture of her taken an hour after her birth disappeared somewhere between the camera and the computer.)

Faith of our Fathers

2009-09-07T08:30:00.006-06:00

It was 80 years ago when my dad, 25, and his eighteen year old brother left Holland and arrived in Alberta on a cold, snowy spring day. Their expected work did not transpire but Dad was able to secure work at another farm within a couple of weeks. He worked on that farm for five years until he and his brother were able to purchase their own land.

This summer our families joined together to celebrate these two events -- their arrival and the purchase of the farm. My brother resides on the original farm so we were able to celebrate there, and a celebration it was.

Although I had known the facts of their immigration, the loss of my uncle's hands and the subsequent events, the impact hit me this summer. Imagine a young man in the prime of life having only stumps where his arms once were. Imagine these stumps not being long enough even to maintain basic bodily cleanliness. Imagine being faced with deportation and loosing a dream of a new life in a new land. And also imagine the responsibility of the older brother who had already lost four other siblings as children and only had this brother and his handicapped sister left. He had promised that he would take care of this brother and he took this very seriously until the day he died.

But what remains is the heritage of faith and loyalty. Our Sunday worship centered on Joshua 4 and family members laid a stone on a pile, illustrating the faith of our fathers. What a witness to these two men and to our God.

We have chosen to move to Bolivia and we experience many of the same problems, the same challenges, that they did but how much easier we have it. We went for different reasons. They saw a land of opportunity in which they could provide for their families. We left for a calmer lifestyle and an opportunity to bring a world and life view to people in Bolivia that centers on God, his world and our place in it. We have age and experience. We left our children, not our parents. We have enough finances to purchase the things we need and many of the wants. We have instant communication while they wondered if their wartime letters reached their aging parents.

And yet one thing remains constant. We all know and experience the constant presence of our Lord through the Holy Spirit. We are confident that God guides our lives, that he turns our mistakes,our sins, our errors for good. We have confidence in his promises that he will never leave us or forsake us, that he will be with us always. That is the reason we can live where we live and do what we can do.

We become frustrated. We wonder what we are doing. We question how our actions affect the community. People ask how it is going and how long we will stay. We don't always know how to answer. But we do know that God is control and that he has brought us to this place. We can only trust that he will also guide our blundering actions to show his love and his kingdom. I think it was Henri Nouwen who, when talking about the work of missionaries, said that we must always remember that God was here before us and I also know that he will be here after we leave. We thank him for the opportunity to show a small part of his love and his grace to this little part of the world.

Farming Challenges

2009-04-23T19:51:00.003-06:00

This year has been anything but normal. I expected to experience the January flooding but saw dusty roads. Good for the drivers but bad for the farmers.

Before we left in December we already knew that many of the rice crops planted earlier in September and October did not germinate. The plan was that these crops could be harvested in January. Other farmers planted in December, planning to harvest in April. But the rains still not come, resulting in poor production from lack of moisture.

Water in the fields serves two purposes. The first is moisture for the crops. Rice does not need to stand in water to grow and we could get into the technicalities of aeration and the water capacities of soils but I will leave that to the experts. The second advantage of standing water is that the grass seeds do not germinate when everything is wet. So, when we have a dry season such as we just experienced, the rice does not grow as well and the grasses and weeds quickly surpass it.

Now add another problem -- no combines available when the rice was ready to harvest. Many of the combine operators worked on the other side of Santa Cruz harvesting the larger fields of soy beans. Considering payment is made per hectare it makes good business sense to work the larger fields. However, that meant that there were no combines available for the smaller fields. There is a very small window for harvesting rice at its prime. When it is dry, the rice shatters when hulled and the value drops significantly. Without a combine, most of the rice in our area was harvested when it was much to dry. In many fields the grasses continued to grow and when the combines were finally available, there was too much grass and too little rice so the fields were not harvested.

Then add the third problem. The value of rice has dropped since last year. Farmers based their profit estimates on the price of the previous year and are now very disappointed. The general price has dropped and then there is the dockage for the rice being too dry. And that is if you are able to sell your rice. We have ours in storage because no one was buying. Some farmers have stood in line for two or three days just waiting to sell rice.

The farmers who planted 'chaco' rice, which is harvested by hand, were able to harvest on time and get a good price. But too many have experienced the ease of mechanized farming and decided that they would do it the easy way. Sadly, the easy way doesn't always bring a profit so many will be experiencing a very thin year financially.

Farming, no matter where it is, is a next year occupation. In spite of the problems, the rice will be planted again next fall with hopes of more rain and better prices.

Adios Mi Amiga Balentina

2009-02-19T16:31:00.006-07:00

7:30 p.m. A knock on the door. Ángel, one of the neighbours, looking shocked and slightly teary. Would we please take his Mom and Dad and himself to Yapacani? His aunt was killed in a motorcycle accident – Balentina.

Reaction to this type of announcement is disbelief and immediate action. Within half an hour we were on the road with Ángel’s family and some of the neighbours. Still, it did not seem real. Arriving in Yapacani at 10:30 we found family and friends surrounding the casket. It was real. My friend had died. Only the day before we saw her washing clothes at her home in the chaco – the familiar large smile and the wave as we drove past, not knowing that we would never see her again.

Balentina and her family returned to the city on Monday morning. She was walking along the road close to the bridge on the east end of town. (For you who have been here that is the bridge close to our corner.) A motorcycle passed her and hit her in the side with the handle bars, causing her to fall head first on to the road and roll three times. Reports say that she got up and immediate fell again, this time backwards. From then on we are not clear what happened but she was taken to the Japanese hospital (a good private hospital) in San Juan but they sent her immediately to Santa Cruz. There she died from her injuries and the body was taken by ambulance back to Yapacani. The driver of the motorcycle spent the night and the next day in the police station. He hired a lawyer, who wanted Zacarius, Balentina’s husband, to sign a settlement immediately. A cousin suggested that he sign nothing and we concurred.

Because Balentina’s mother lives in Sucre, the funeral did not take place until Wednesday – a long wait for Bolivia. In the meantime, family and friends visited the room in which Balentina lay in her coffin. Each visitor brought something – food, candles, soda pop, coca leaves, or cigarettes. Many of the Catholic or traditional customs were observed – the lighting of the candles around the coffin, the spilling of the soda pop or chicha, the three taps on the side of the coffin, the black tops or shawls, the new shawl and food in the coffin, the washing of the clothes in acid and then burning them.

Zacarius has a very strong family circle and their support was evident. They were more accustomed to death and know what normally was done, according to their culture. Also, they are a great support for Zacarius and his daughters Erlinda, Nilda, MarieLyn and his son, Alvaro.

Yesterday was the funeral. We bid Adios—to God -- to Balentina. She was a lady who always expressed a great interest in the church although she was not comfortable attending church in Yapacani. She would attend special services at the church in Patujusal. But that doesn’t always tell the story. As we visited, I spotted a well used Bible in the house. I have no doubt that she and children used it. I believe that God takes each of his children where they are at and that, Balentina with her child like faith, has a place with him.

I will miss her. I will miss her big smile, her wonderful warm hugs, her openness, the demonstrations of love for her husband and her children, the conversations. But I will remember her fondly and will never look at a piece of embroidery without thinking of her.

A Dios, Balentina.. God bless you.

Taking your life in Your Hands

2009-02-13T16:37:00.002-07:00

For those who have never travelled to other countries, the traffic in Bolivia may be a bit intimidating. So let me tell you a few of the ‘guidelines’ that might be useful if you decide to drive here. It really isn’t that hard. Just believe that you have the right of way, act like it, and drive a bigger vehicle. There has been a huge increase in traffic, both in the city and the country. I am sure that most have received their licenses in the Crackerjack or Corn Flakes box! There are also more women driving motorcycles, vehicles and even tractor.

There are no stop signs and those that exist have no meaning. Maybe you should stop, maybe not. Best just proceed.
You usually drive on the right side of the road. But if the left side is smoother, drive there until there is oncoming traffic. Or if the traffic is moving too slow for you and there is on-coming traffic, feel free to use the shoulder.
If there is a one way street and you just need to proceed a little ways down it, do so. The one coming traffic will move, although they will scold you by beeping their horns.
Turning left – first, do not assume that the person to your right will not decide to make a left turn. He will wave his fingers indicating that you are to let him move in front of you. Second, it is unlikely that if there are two people who wish to turn left, that they will form a line. Rather, they will both approach the intersection side by side and proceed to make their turn.
On a gravel road you do not expect the other driver to pull over into his own lane when he meets you. Maybe he will move a foot or two. It works to stop and just fold your arms indicating that you are not moving.turn when they consider it safe.
When someone peeps the horn it may mean that: a) get out of my way. b) I am here, c) Do you want a ride in my taxi?, d) Hi, e) Didn’t you notice that the light changed a quarter of a second ago?, f) Move!
When you pass, try to ensure that there is enough room. But it there isn’t the on-coming traffic will move over for you.
If you are entering a busy intersection, just enter and slowly merge. Either you will get in or you will wait. It depends who backs down first.
If you need to need to stop to go into a store, just double park.
In the smaller towns, park where your vehicle fits. Don’t worry if you are nearly on the road. Better there than getting blocked in by parking ‘correctly’.

Most of all – be alert and have fun! No one wants to be involved in an accident.

A new year starts

2009-02-13T16:20:00.000-07:00

After a long trek across the Americas we arrived safely home in Bolivia. We are always grateful for the ease at which we can traverse the globe. After a couple of days in Santa Cruz we headed back to Patuju with the truck and the quad, thinking that we if the roads were flooded we would be able to get home. However, we were shocked by the lack of rain and lack of moisture for the crops. No water – no flooding!

There had been very little rain since we left five weeks ago. The rice is showing stress but the weeds are growing well. Although there was some rain it wasn’t sufficient for the rice. The impact that this will have on the economy of this area is uncertain.

But things have changed and the rain has come. Again, we wonder if there is enough. 2 ¾ inches in North America would last for quite some time but not so in Bolivia. However, it has been raining off and on for the past week and the rain has soaked in. For our rice, which is just flowering, this rain has been a blessing.

Being farmers, there is much complaining! Although the rice price is much lower than it was last year, it is still higher than it was the first year we lived here. Like everyone else, they get used to the higher price and feel that they are in a bad situation when the prices lower.

In spite of the lack of rain the weeds continued to grow, and I have a couple of weeks of work cleaning the flower gardens in front of the house. Grass is the dominant weed and each one needs to be taken out by the root and since the ground is moist, the roots come out easily. The problem is not the weeds but the ants. They attack anything that disturbs their home so feet and hands are easy targets.

Jake tried to hook up the solar panels again but again something blew so we will have to send both controls back to USA for repair. Frustrating!!! Hopefully someday everything will be hooked up and working. For now, when the sun shines, we have enough for lights and for the computer. It is sufficient and we are thankful for what we have.

We Are Legal!

2008-11-30T14:21:00.003-07:00

After eight years - depending on who you talk to - the communities of Patujusal 2 and Taruma have the title to their land. When these communities are started the people 'squat' on the land since there is no means by which to get title. There is also the legal aspect that this probably is part of the national reserve but no one will say that it is illegal to take reserve land. As the communities are settled, the work on legal status is started. Do I understand it? No.

Last Wednesday we saw a parade of motos, bikes, and people on foot heading to Taruma. Quickly we learned that the titles were to arrive that day. A delegation from Santa Cruz was coming to present them. There was not a quorum for the meeting in Patujusal 2 to arrange for a meeting with the delegation so their title was delivered to the president. However, Taruma held a grand fiesta to which we were invited.

The title is a document that gives a certain number of hectares to the sindicato. It does not give each person a title to their own land. All our land is held communally and the members of the community have the right to decide what is happening on each other's land, including if the land can be sold. In some sindicatos there are laws saying that only a certain number of hectares can be cleared each year. Others, such as Patujusal 2, does not want any land sold to people who do not live in the community; that is, to people who live in Yapacani or Santa Cruz and will rent out their land.

Before the title was handed to the officials, the man from INRA (the government agency that regulates land titles) carefully explained what was on the document and explained that it is the wish of the government tha the people take care of the lands for their children and their granddchildren. That fits in with our vision for these communities.

Now that the community title is in our hands, the next step will be the divison of each sindicato into separate parcels and obtaining titles for each parcel. When -- and I am not holding my breath -- this happens, the families can obtain credit from the bank.

We are glad that we live in a legal community.

Our first Workshop

2008-11-30T13:40:00.002-07:00

It has taken two and a half years but we are finally ready to host workshops for the members of the surrounding communities. Our first workshop was led by our friend, Dr. Bill Janecke. He is a veterinarian from Iowa who works out of Santa Cruz with World Concern. All of the people have some Creole chickens running around. These are a hardy variety that does not require the same care as the chickens produced for meat. They produce fine eggs and although the meat is very tough, it is also tastier than the mass produced birds. However, these birds are still susceptible to disease and need care in order to grow and reproduce successfully.

The morning was spent getting acquainted with the people and their communities. This is essential to facilitate successful workshops. Following lunch, Bill and another Bolivian vet gave a short course on chickens and then we all went to the neighbours to actually vaccinate.

People from seven communities attended this workshop and there was a strong indication that they want more information on animal production, fruit production, vegetable gardening, and beekeeping. Women want to learn how to knit, sew, and make clothes. Their husbands want them to learn how make cake!

Transportation Bolivian Style

2008-11-30T12:54:00.002-07:00

One of our aims is that the people of the community make enough money from their crops to provide the necessary things for their families. This is the reason that we started the microcredit project. One way we have determined the success of this project is seeing the changes and one of the most noticeable advances is the 125 cc.motorcycle, the main transportation for the people in the chaco. This moto provides a means for the men to get back and forth to their farms in a timely manner. They can also take also their families, their seed, their seeder, their food and anything else that they need for their stay.

When we moved here two and a half years ago there was only a couple of men who had motos in our community. Now everyone but two own their own transportation and traffic has increased down the road. We do not need to transport people to the doctor, except in the case of pregnant ladies ready to have their baby. Men make a trip to Yapacani in a little over than an hour and a half, rather than spending 8 hours for a return trip on the micro. Men who didn't drive a moto six months ago are now cruising past with their whole family accompanying them.

A Changing Landscape

2008-11-30T12:14:00.005-07:00

When we decided to move to Bolivia we thought that we were moving to the jungle and that things would remain relatively primitive. But you cannot stop progress.

Four years ago each farmer was cultivating 2-4 hectares of land by hand. This is called ‘chaqueado’ farming. We were told that mechanized farming was not allowed in this area but this is Bolivia and the ‘guidelines’ are just that. Each year our neighbours have cleared more land, first by hand and recently renting a caterpillar to do the work for them.

So we joined them, reluctantly. We don’t like the impact of the machinery on the soil but we would not be able to do any experimentation unless we cleared some of our own land and started growing rice.

But we still could not be ‘normal’. Instead of simply brushing all the trees into a long row or ‘cordon’ and then burning them, we buried the trees and covered them with soil. Hopefully, this will provide nutrition as they decompose. We are not sure how the removal of that much top soil will affect the rice production but we will see.

Now instead of looking out at all the native bush I look out over our land, and the neighbour’s land, and the next neighbour’s land and so on. We plan to plant trees along the property line and also on top of one of the cordons. Yes, it looks naked right now but just wait a year!

Waiting in line

2008-10-14T17:51:00.005-06:00

Oh, how funny! A shortage of diesel in Alberta! We love it!

It is November and it is time to harvest the soy and seed the rice. That means diesel! As many of you know, there was a complete shut down of deliveries of diesel, especially to more rural areas, during September. One the 'incidents' had died down, every returned to normal but there still is a great diesel shortage.

Our little truck uses diesel. We went into Yapacani, hoping that there would be diesel. We had some in a jerry can but things were getting pretty tight. It seems like one gas station would have diesel and one had to listen around town to find out which station would be open that night. Km. 9 was the station so off we went. Teodoro and Geraldo were already in line. Teodoro brought 4 - 200 liter barrels to the station at 8 a.m. and was waiting for the station to start pumping at 7. He thought we would have diesel by 8 or maybe a little later. Both he and Geraldo would have to be there when they were pumping since there was a limit of 2 barrels per person. Many of the people had brought their containers or their vehicles and left them in line. Everyone took turns watching each other's containers. Jake returned at 9 p.m. No diesel.

The next morning we went again to the station to find Teodoro and Geraldo still waiting in line. What do we do? Go to Santa Cruz and chance getting diesel there? We had a friend coming through that said there were station pumpind diesel in Montero, midway between Yapacani and Montero. We decided to try it. If nothing else, we could leave the truck at our friend in Montero and take a taxi to Santa Cruz. When we came to Montero, the wife of Zenon Flores graciously sold us their jerry can of diesel so that we could make the trip. When we returned in the evening we visited with them and they urged us to take their remaining diesel also, saying that they lived in town and were able to get diesel much easier than we could. What great friends! With that diesel we were able to get back to Patujusal (we would have to spend the night waiting in line of we wanted more) and then again to Yapacani.

We bought two barrels -- one had a crack in it -- but we now have one barrel of diesel. It took waiting two nights in line, a couple of hours each time, to get the barrels and the truck filled but we feel comfortable that we have enough for a couple of months.

And Teodoro? He got his 4 barrels that night and returned to buy more the next night. They are stockpiling so that they will have diesel for their tractor but they use 1 barrel each day.

Another Good Crop

2008-10-14T16:30:00.005-06:00

Another harvest season is complete. The second soy crop appears to be better than last year, with yields of 2 to 3 tonnes per hectare. Although the price has weakened, our neighbours were still able to profit from their investment. They are paying back their short term loans and are investing their money in the clearing of more land.

When we reflect over the past couple of years we see many changes, the greatest being the amount of land that is being cleared for the mechanized production of rice and soy. Last spring most of the families in the community acquired a motorcycle, some purchased houses in Yapacani, one purchased a truck, and two purchased tractors.

Sad to say, the truck was not a good investment since the motor quit soon after purchase and Mario does not have the extra $1000 to fix it. He maxed out his loans with us so we were not willing to advance any more money. He will wait until he gets the profits from his soy, then fix the truck. His wife wanted to buy a house rather than the truck; I think she will have to wait another year for her house.

The two tractors in the community have relieved the tension over lack of equipment for planting and harvesting. Tomas and his sons purchased a new New Holland tractor with a sprayer and disk in the spring. Teodoro, his son, did custom disking and spraying this year. They have now added a seeder to their line of equipment and hope to add a different type of disk and a chimungo, a wagon for hauling rice and soy from the field. We have noticed the tractor hauling people out of the mud also!

It is good to see progress. We know that with progress comes problems but that is all part of the challenge.

Pink eye, Red Eye, Purple Eye

2008-10-13T15:04:00.003-06:00

On Sunday morning my eye was very itchy but not bad enough to stay home from church. During the afternoon, it became redder and it felt as though there was something in it. I had spent some time sanding and had come upon termite nests so thought that maybe a small piece of termite dung settled in the eye and that it would soon disappear. My glands were starting to swell and I was having difficult swallowing. Why not just one thing at a time?

We already planned to go to Santa Cruz on Wednesday and while there I would pick up some medication. There was no reason to do to the doctor. I could buy antibiotic drops and Cipro for the swollen glands. Back home again, happy that things would improve.

But they didn’t -- they got worse!

Friday morning at 5 o’clock I told Jake that I thought my other eye was becoming infected. Remember, we do not have ‘normal’ electricity and I do not have many mirrors in the house. But when I looked – WOW! The whole eye ball was the color of the little red truck – and the eye lid as well! I guess the drops did not work. So back to Santa Cruz and this time to a doctor.

We went to the Eye Hospital, paid our 200 bolivianos ($29.00) for a consultation and waited. The actual consult was short – very short – less than 5 minutes. I was told that I had a very bad case of bacterial conjunctivitis (pink eye), that it was very contagious, that I should not shake hands nor kiss anyone, that I continue taking the drops but use one drop in each eye every two hours, and that I come back in a week.

(In retrospect, I am sure that I got the conjunctivitis from the little neighbour boy. A number of small children, ages 1-2 years, develop eye infections at this time of year. Why only now and not all year long?)

I looked at my eye in the mirror of the truck. Why do you forget the camera when you need it! The eye was changing color once again. It appeared that I had applied a thick layer of purple eye liner and accented it with yellowy-orange eye shadow. In addition, there was a purple mark along the side of the nose and another one arching upwards. Poor make up job or Jake hit me in the eye!

We were home 13 hours after leaving in the morning and I continued with the medication. Within another day the worst of it was over. The eye is still very tender and becomes sore with the salty sweat that flows down my face in the wonderful plus 30 degree weather. It is still ugly but I don’t think I am going to spend 10 hours driving back and forth to Santa Cruz to be told that it is healing.

Upheaval and Survival

2008-09-30T17:42:00.002-06:00

Round One is over. No more blockades. No more marches. No more ‘paros’. No more violence – at least not for the near future.

Up to this point we have avoided the political situation as much as possible. However, two things happened this last time that brought everything close to home. First, we were expecting visitors from Canada who were to arrive while the blockade was happening. Second, our own neigbours were active in the blockade and march. Our friends decided to postpone their trip since it was a two month stay. We are still hoping to rearrange it.

The community involvement is more complicated. During other minor blockades the neighbours may or may not have been involved. A fine of 20 bolivianos was levied but it was no big deal if one did not attend. Many times the guys would come to the blockade at roll call and then go back into town or back into the chaco; nothing was said. But this was different. All the indigenous communities were involved and all were united in their cause. They were very upset with the deaths that occurred in the Pando and with the violence and destruction that occurred in Santa Cruz. They were frustrated that the government with an initial 50% approval rating, and then a 67% approval rating, was not able to govern. The fine rose to 150 bolivianos and the men were to be there for a full 48 hours. There were three groups from our community taking turns at the blockade. We are not sure how many people were there but reports were up to 5000 people in Yapacani.

The march consisted on mainly farmers from the Santa Cruz area. We talked to our neighbours and they perceived it as a peaceful march and said that the marchers tried their best not to react to provocation. There were no injuries and no destruction of property. Reports stated that they were heavily armed – with machetes and 22s.

We did not get involved in this blockade because we were a bit scared and didn’t think that it would be safe. In retrospect, both of us are embarrassed by that excuse.

I spent many nights on the computer researching the situation. Sad to say, there was very little mentioned about the campesino march and their frustrations. Although the gas tax was mentioned, there was never any factual information on the division of taxes. Although land reform was mentioned, there was no factual information of this situation either. I became curious. What caused this dissension? Although both problems have long histories, it was difficult to find web sites that spoke without bias. Most tended to be slanted very much to one side of the other, with very little fact. Finally I was able to find a couple of websites that seemed to have more fact than bias. I encourage you to read these if you want to know why the situation is now volatile.

http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/bolivia_land_2008_07.pdf

http://www.coha.org/2007/11/agrarian-revolution/

For the perspective of an American living in Santa Cruz check out http://www.santacruzperspective.blogspot.com/. It will give you good reason to wonder about what is really going on!

What will we do next time? We are not sure but we will not be hiding out in the jungle. W We cannot sit still if we seriously mean that we believe in justice for the oppressed.

We survived -- until the next time

2008-09-25T18:53:00.002-06:00

Last night our neighbour, Andrea, came over to use the phone and she told us the blockades and the march was over -- for now. The campesinos have abandoned their march on Santa Cruz, pending the signing of an agreement by the two parties. The men will return home and life will be normal once again.

BUT, and there is always the but, nothing was signed today. According to the Santa Cruz paper, the government ordered the campesinos to abandon the march and they obeyed. However, if nothing materializes the march and the blockades will go up again on October 15. In reading the papers today, it does not seem like there is much movement towards an accord. The five eastern provinces are determined that they will retain the oil royalties and their 'right to autonomia' while the campesinos are equally determined that they should have a share of the royalties and that the new constitution should be passed. What will happen is anyone's guess. We hope and pray that the violence shown in the Pando and in Santa Cruz City will not be repeated.

So we will life as usual in the campo and will ensure that we have enough suppplies for the long haul in case there are more blockades in October. We survived just fine this time but we remember to buy the toilet paper and the toothpaste. These were not items that we had on the 'needed supply' list. Hopefully, we will have the solar energy problem solved by then and we will be 'tranquilos'.

The Big Bad World

2008-09-23T18:46:00.002-06:00

Today we were forced to enter into the Big Bad World out there after living in the safe cocoon of our little farm. Filipe came early this morning to tell us that Erselia was in labor; that meant a trip to either La Pista or Yapacani. Since there was no doctor in La Pista we headed to Yapacani.

To our surprise things appeared very normal except that there was no 'heavy traffic'. Most of the stores are open but the restaurants are closed. However, the small portable cafes were still in business. We were able to purchase the few things we needed -- the most important being toilet paper. Funny how that was not on the list of staples needed. There were some vegetables available but expensive. Thank goodness we have our own

We also picked up some construction supplies but were not able to purchase diesel, gasoline or propane. One of our friends took a couple of our propane bottles and will try to exchange them when the truck comes from Cochabamba. It is there at 10 in the morning and leaves when the bottles are sold. Diesel and gasoline might be available during the night but we were not staying that long.

On our way home we picked up someone in a town about 15 km. from our place. He told us that there were two barrels of diesel for our neighbour. We have given up trying to figure out how he purchased two barrels but we know that they need the fuel for their tractor. We are sure that we will be able to get some from them if we really need it.

We are praying that an accord will be signed on Thursday. The alternative is not something we want to think about.

Life in the Chaco

2008-09-14T18:17:00.002-06:00

Returning to life in the chaco takes some adjustment. Life is back to 'normal' and routines have been established once again. Some things have changed.

We have been trying to get the solar electrical system working but have been having difficulty with it. There is sufficient energy during about 5 hours of the day to use the internet and the computer but for some reason the batteries are not storing the energy for use during the evening. Since there is a shortage of gasoline, I am thankful for the time I can use the computer without using the generator.

We also have a new well and that has supplied us with clean water. There has been a little rain so there is also water in the tank. All I have to do is turn the tap and I can fill the buckets to water the plants. It sure beats the hand pump, especially since it was not working well.

But everything is not so normal. The political situation is rather volatile and we choose not leave our little haven at the end of the world. We have veggies in the garden, fish in the river, enough supplies in the cupboard for a few weeks. There is enough gasoline to run the generator for a couple of weeks, enough propane for the stove and fridge for about that long, and diesel in the truck to get into town. The neighbours have offered to purchase the necessary groceries that we need so the first thing I needed was toilet paper! We hope that the situation is resolved swiftly and that we can return to normal activities.

Look What You Can Buy in Santa Cruz

2008-08-19T07:16:00.006-06:00

I am a reader and often the only thing in the suitcase coming back from Canada is a load of books. Imagine my delight when I walked into the local grocery store and found a new selection of English books -- Vinyl Cafe Diaries by Stuart McLean, a Sunday at the pool in Kinglali. Yes, there would be a market for those and a variety of other English books. But Wayside Flowers of Alberta and Animal Tracks of Alberta? If anyone wants a copy for just under five dollars (I didn't say they were cheap), I will get you one.

The Last Chapter

2008-08-16T19:59:00.002-06:00

Tuesday morning our guest, Gordon Gilchrist, arrived from Alberta, Canada and we planned to spend a week or ten days exploring agricultural projects in Bolivia. Arrangements were made enabling Erselia to purchase the needed drugs for Jhonny and we planned to hire someone to stay at the hospital over night so that Erselia would get some much needed rest.

Jhonny was breathing on his own – no respirator. However, he appeared to have seizures every five minutes and during that time it was difficult to keep his body from arching. After the seizure ended someone would straighten his body so that he could breath normally again. With medication these seizures were controlled but it was very evident when the medication was wearing off. The specialist was very optimistic about his progress; the doctors in the unit also felt there was improvement.

We were just finishing supper when the phone rang asking me to come to the hospital. I left immediately, expecting to find the lady that would care of Jhonny for the night. Instead I found Erselia crying in the hall way. She told me that Jhonny had died but I was positive that I had misunderstood her. I went into the ward and found out that it was true. Between 8:30 and 8:45 Jhonny was laying in bed and everything seemed normal. Then his heart stopped. There was no notice, nothing. It just stopped and everything was over.

Dealing with death when you know it is imminent is one thing. But dealing with it when you think things are progressing in something else. Because Erselia was in shock, Jake, Gordon and I had to make all the decisions, purchase the coffin, pay the bills, and tie up all the loose ends. It was good we had gone through the process. The half hour process with Jose Luis turned into a three hour marathon with Jhonny because there was so much more bookwork. Because the offices were closed no final accounts were available so the secretary had to add everything up, cross check it, and then come up with the final bill. We paid the estimated bill and I will go back and get the final numbers next week.

It was midnight before we left Santa Cruz and arrived in Patujusal at 5 in the morning. Imagine being woken up to be told that your son or your brother was dead. The body was brought to the church, washed, dressed and placed in the coffin again.

The next day some of the neighbours helped build the nicho – the tomb for the coffin. While that was being constructed the rest of the neighbours and the school children were singing and hearing scripture at the church.

It was nearly five o’clock in the evening when the red truck with the coffin and the family headed down the road to La Pista to the cemetery. Behind were the people, walking or biking the 11 kilometers. Thankfully, another neighbour picked up another load and everyone gathered at the cemetery for the internment. The candle lit ceremony was impressive. Jhonny was laid to rest. He is in heaven without any pain, with a brain that functions normally, with legs and eyes that are perfect. As hard as it is for the family left behind, I know that everything is working out for good. We are thankful that God has taken care of him and we are assured that He is also care for the family and friends left behind.

Isolation

2008-08-11T19:40:00.002-06:00

After a very frustrating weekend we have come to an amicable relationship with the staff in the Isolation Unit. The regular staff are doctors with whom we have worked before and we are now able to have out questions answered.

Jhonny has two serious infections -- chicken pox and a severe urinary infection. The chicken pox is running its course and they are treating the urinary infection. Aside from that he is suffering from seizures related to the operations. These seizures are happening every five minutes and cause severe body contortions that also affect his breathing. When the seizure subsides Jhonny needs to be lifted back into a laying position. Because his mom is short she has difficulty doing this.

We talked to the specialist today and he is hoping that within a week or two Jhonny will be able to be transferred to the hospital in Yapacani and then to our house. He will need at least three months to rebuild his energy before they will consider radiation.

The lack of knowledge about brain surgery is quite evident. Only the specialist really knows what is going on and the rest of the doctors are on the same learning curve as we are. Thanks to the internet I have been able to research what is happening. Although it seems like ages to us it has only been six weeks -- not an unreasonable amount of time for brain surgery.

Same stuff -- different day

2008-08-07T19:09:00.003-06:00

It has been over a week and nothing has changed -- just more surgeries and more CT scans. Saturday night was another night at the hospital waiting for surgery. The two hour surgery ended up taking four hours and Jhonny now has two shunts in his head, as well as a four catheters to drain the liquid from his brain. A feeding tube was going to be inserted at the same time but the doctor failed to show up so that was done on Monday.

Today Jhonny was moved to another part of the hospital -- into isolation. He has pimple-like spots on his body and they are not sure what is causing them. His room is very nice but he isn't enjoying it. He still is not responding except to noise and touch.

Because he has been in bed and inactive for so long his limbs are atrophying. It is very hard to move his legs at the knees although moving them does bring about a negative reaction. His hands are clenched, rigid, and bent backwards. When he lays his body is arched and his head lays at a peculiar angle. No matter how many times we straighten out his body it returns to that angle. His teeth are clenched and he often is grinding them.

It is hard to go every day and see no change. It is hard not to be discouraged. This is also affecting Erselia and she was very eager to go home for a day this week. It is the first time she was willing to leave the hospital for any length of time. We left Tuesday night and came back Thursday morning. Erselia was able to spend a day with the rest of her family and enjoy the Independence Day celebration in the community.

When we came back today Erselia and I talked about the future and she said she did not want Jhonny to continue to suffer. They want to know what his quality of life will be before they continue with more treatments, especially radiation. Our new challenge will be to get an answer to that question.

More Surgeries for Jhonny

2008-07-30T05:13:00.002-06:00

All week there was talk about inserting a shunt into Jhonny's head but nothing happened. Then on Saturday afternoon we are told that he will have to go for another tomography (CT Scan). About 6 pm. I receive a phone call from the specialist saying that they will insert the shunt at 10:30 that night. Why on a Saturday night? We asked for the list of medications needed for the anesthesia but they did not have it ready. By the time we received it we had to rush to find everything since most of the pharmacies were closed. He did have the surgery and we were assured that things went well.

It is not Tuesday. And guess what? We are scheduled for another surgery today. It appears that the shunt is not working. From what I understand the body is producing protein which is forming globules that is plugging the shunt. It needs to be replaced. This is little Jhonny's fifth surgery in a month. How much more can his body and head take?

Laying Jose Luis to Rest

2008-07-26T10:38:00.002-06:00

How so I begin? How much do I say? What is important? All these questions go through my mind as I sit down to write. I did not know Jose Luis except to see him play while we helped build the church in Vibora. His dad is part of our Church Leaders' Group but I have only met him a few times since he was not always able to attend. And the biggest thing is that although I played a large part in this story I know that it was only the hand of God that put me there.

Jose Luis entered the Children's Hospital in a coma. He had already had a CT scan and his parents were told that he suffered an aneurysm The next day the diagnosis was changed to meningitis. Jose Luis remained in a deep coma and his brain no longer functioned. His face was chilly to the touch and his eyes were vacant. Wisely, the parents choose not to purchase medications so little by little Jose Luis faded away. The doctors wished to harvest his organs but that was not something that his parents could even contemplate. On Wednesday afternoon, Jose Luis blood pressure fell to such a level that the doctors were willing to remove the oxygen and declare him dead. As hard as that was, it was a relief that it was finally over. Once we knew the death was imminent, everything moved very quickly.

Although there are funeral services available in Bolivia, the family did not have the money or the inclination to purchase these services. Instead Julio, Jose Luis' father, and I went down the street and purchased the casket -- a simple white box with a small piece of glass so that the face could be viewed. Before we could take possession of the casket, we needed the death certificate. Back to the hospital. All the tubes and paraphernalia had been removed and Jose Luis was again dressed in his own clothes and his body was put on a gurney in the hall.

Back to the funeral home with the documentation. It is Bolivia but there are still some things that are not done -- you do not carry the casket down the street. Instead the men from the funeral home took it in their car to the hospital. In the meantime, there was an attempt to convince the family to have the body brought to the funeral home for embalming. Frankly, we told him they could do it but there was no money to pay them. Strangely, they did not force the issue.

One cannot leave the hospital until all the bills are paid so Julio was doing that while we were preparing the body and putting it in the coffin. He did not have enough money. Yes, the bed itself costs 120 bolivianos a day but one still has to pay for the oxygen and all the monitoring machines. The total bill with the discount still came to over 11oo bolivianos for four days.

The casket was taken out of the hospital and loaded into the back of the truck along with the other things we had purchased. Julio was quite anxious about being stopped at one of the check stops so we made sure that the casket was covered with a tarp and that there was enough other things in the truck so that there would be no need to be stopped.

After a short stop in Yapacani and other in Challavito we arrived at the church in Vibora where the coffin was placed in the church. No one had any experience with death or funerals so each event was discussed before it took place. The family wanted the body washed so that was the first step. That provided a good time to explain what had happened with the meningitis, what had happened to the body already and what would happen in the next day. After a time of worship it was time to rest. Many of the people simply slept in the church that night.

The next morning the men built the crypt for the coffin. This is a brick structure built above ground and the coffin in slipped in the mouth and then sealed with more bricks. When this was completed, dinner was served followed by a short service. Then the body was carried to the cemetery and placed in the crypt after a short service and prayer.

Bolivians do not show their sorrow or support in the way we are accustomed. The mother was sobbing, distraught, but no one 'comforted' her. No one except the parents cried although it was evident through their support that they cared. There was no touching, no hugging, no crying together. We hope that the community continues to support but we also have to remember that their view of death is in many ways more realistic than that of North Americans. We know that Julio's faith is strong and that certainly will carry them a long ways.

FRUSTRATION!

2008-07-22T18:03:00.002-06:00

Anyone who knows me well will be wondering how I am even handling all this stuff that is out of my control. Today -- not very well.

Although the family made the decision to let Jose Luis die, the state has its laws and they are not willing to remove the oxygen. We went through this morning waiting and waiting. Finally a young doctor told us the same story -- his brain is not functioning etc, etc. Julio asked that the machines be removed and was told that the law does not allow that and we would have to wait another 48 hours. I asked for a meeting with the chief of ICU and he gave us the same story. I told him that the family did not know what to believe because we were told on Sunday that it would be Monday, on Monday that it would be today. I understood what was happening until the emotions came into play and they all talked more rapidly. From what we understood, the family could pay for the bed, then get something from the doctor, get some legal work done, and the machine would be removed. But reality was much different. When they removed the machine and Jose Luis started to gasp for air the mother said, "No, no" and the hospital took that as an indication that they did not want the machine removed. So we are back to square one. I am trying to get a translator for tomorrow so that I know what is happening and what needs to be done.

Although we don't want to be negative, it now seems like a money grab. The one doctor said we would have to wait 2 or 3 months because Jose Luis could come out of the coma! The cost of the bed with a discount is 120 bolivianos a day, not the 30 another family quoted. We are not sure if this is a true price or what is happening. We were also told that if we paid $110US we could get an EKG to prove that the brain was not working.

So tomorrow we begin over again.

Emotional Roller Coaster

2008-07-21T20:04:00.002-06:00

The emotional roller coaster had me for a rider today. The incredible downs centered on little Jose Luis, the son of one of the members of the Leader's group I teach. His brain activity has not increased but the doctors are unable to disconnect him from the machines until 48 hours has elapsed. It has been a traumatic day for his parents, just seeing the shell of their son breathing and heart beating but no brain activity. Today they covered his eyes so we did not see the vacant look. We think that tomorrow they will disconnect machine and we will be able to take him to Vibora for his burial.

But then there are the good things -- things that are hard to celebrate when someone else is dying. Jhonny is starting to respond and we are sure that he is hearing us. When we talk his body starts to move and his head turns. We are not sure how much he hears but I told his dad to tell him all about the farm. His dad, his brothers and sister came into town today to visit their mom. It was a great treat for Erselia.

And then there is the highlight. We were blessed with another grand daughter. Although we cannot hold her and hug her we hear that her big sister is doing that for us.

2008-07-20T19:19:00.002-06:00

Today was supposed to be a calm, quiet day. After church I spent some time eating lunch and reading my book, then stopped in the park and read some more. Erselia and I went for a leisurely walk through the park and looked at all the artisan stuff for sale at the market. We returned to the hospital about 3 pm. I noticed how my mood changed when we walked into the hospital -- more subdued, more depressed.

We arrived at the Intensive Care Unit and a man whom I recognized but could not place said ¨Hermana Margarita¨ (Sister Margaret). His wife was in tears and we learned that their son had been admitted to intensive care while we were for our walk. He had fallen off his bike on Thursday and he had a headache but nothing that serious. It became worse so they took him to the doctor in Vibora who called the local ambulance from the gas company and they transfered him to Yapacani. There he was intubated and sent off to Santa Cruz in an ambulance. He ended up in ICU, two beds down from Jhonny.

How I would like to tell you that things are well with Jose Luis but that is not so. The doctor told us that he had an aneurism in his head and that there is blood throughout his brain and into his body. The prognosis is not good. He is literally brain dead and is being kept alive with a respirator waiting for a specialist´s opinion -- the same doctor that operated on Jhonny. We were told that a normal brain rates 15, one in danger rates 7 or 8. Jose Luis is rated at 3. . His eyes do not move and his skin is cool. While we were there the doctor took off the machine and his breathing stopped. It is incredibly hard on the parents and the mother is very, very upset. I bought her a relaxant and she is now sleeping.

This is not what I had expected when I woke up this morning. But I am very grateful that I was in the place where I could help this family. Please add them to your prayer list.

Finally -- some answers

2008-07-19T07:16:00.000-06:00

Every day seems to bring about more answers and more questions. This morning one of the doctors said that Jhonny appeared a little better but that there were still complications. We met with the specialist who said that although the fluid was draining, there is a possibility that there will need to be more surgery to insure that this drainage continues. They call it a ‘valvula’ and without internet connection, I have not been able to check on more information. Because the surgery sounds very serious I decided to get a second opinion.

I met with a cancer specialist. Although we have not been able to get the results, this doctor found out that the tumor is one that can not be treated with neither chemotherapy nor radiation. There is a good chance that it will continue to grow and more surgeries will need to be done in the future. However, at this time, the ‘valvula’ is the best option if the fluid does not drain. We need to wait another 5 or 6 days to see if this operation is necessary. What they would do is insert a tube in his head and lace it through his body to his stomach so that the fluid would continually drain. Without it the pressure would build up and would cause more problems.

It is a relief to have some information. I am assured daily that Jhonny would have died without the operation. They are also amazed that Jhonny lived without symptoms for so long. If I were not there to assure them that Erselia was right, I am sure they would not believe her.

However, there are times when I have doubts about what we have done. There is a chance that he will have one weak side and have vision problems. We still do not know how his brain will heal and if there is more damgage. If he is truly handicapped, what is his future in the campo? How will his parents care for him and the other five children? Will it be too much of a burden? How does anyone cope with this without faith?

One forward and two back or two forward and one back?

2008-07-16T18:07:00.002-06:00

We were disappointed this morning to hear that Jhonny would undergo another surgery this afternoon. It was especially difficult for Erselia since many of the women talk about him not coming through this. It took some reassuring that this was not as major as the other surgeries and was only to drain some of the fluids. The specialist felt that it was better to put in another couple of tubes so that things would drain better. So it is back to Jhonny being under anesthesia and waiting for him to show response.

While Jhonny was in surgery two young doctors interviewed Erselia about Jhonny's medical history. Every time she tells it I learn more. The same day that she went in for a checkup for the baby, she took Jhonny along since he was getting worse. The doctor in La Pista had given him Milk of Magnesia but that didn't help. I wonder why? Then in Yapacani the doctor told her that they lived in dirty conditions with pigs and chickens and all Jhonny had was an infection. He didn't check him or order any tests. The lack of caring is almost too much to handle. It seems that if you live in the campo you are automatically (1) dumb and illiterate, (2) dirty, (3) have 'bichos', (4) not deserving of proper medical care.

I asked Erselia what was most important in the campo. (1) clean water. That can be solved by a simple filtration system using buckets and sand. (2) a good doctor. I am not sure we can do anything about that but I hope that we can increase awareness of illness - what is serious and what is not. Maybe a yearly medical team? Anyone willing to take that one on?

Improving!

2008-07-15T17:28:00.002-06:00

Jhonny is improving. He is coughing and that means his body is working on its own. The fever is still a problem but something with which we will have to endure for now. Today we journeyed back to the 'rich' hospital for another tomography and it certainly looked better. Although there is still some fluid on the brain, the general pictures were very clear in comparison to last week. Things to be thankful for.

Being in the city can be pretty depressing, especially when you sit in the hospital around sick people and their families. Today Erselia and I went for a walk to a local supermarket four blocks from the hospital. I thought it would be a good place for her to know about and it only required one turn. Later she left to purchase diapers for Jhonny and I remained at the hospital reading my book. After an hour and a half I was a bit concerned that she had returned. When she finally came back she said she was lost but did find her way back. She is getting braver.

Small improvements

2008-07-14T17:09:00.002-06:00

Jhonny is holding his own. Each day we see small improvements and I am happy to say that is off the respirator and is breathing on his own. His temperature is still a concern since it often is high. The doctor visits him daily and is saying that he is stable. Each day we pray for more improvement.

Finally -- A Better Day

2008-07-11T17:30:00.002-06:00

The Condori family was having breakfast when I came to the hospital this morning -- buns and coffee. Erselia was crocheting a mat for a lady who has befriended her and we had a good visit. Jhonny is still not responsive although his body is moving more and the doctor says that he thinks Jhonny will respond in a day or so. The doctors and nurses are saying he is looking better before we ask so that is also a good sign.

This afternoon Erselia and I went to another health clinic to check on the status of her pregnancy. She had gone to the doctor in Yapacani but they were unwilling or unable to go any tests. She presented the documents at this clinic and came out with a big smile on her face and ultrasound pictures of the baby -- not that we could decipher anything. She was told that is was a mujercita -- a girl -- and that it would be born in 9 weeks. I am sure that she is the only women in the community who was a picture of the baby and knows already that it will be a girl.

After tough days it is wonderful to have this ray of sunshine -- a sign of God's love and grace.

A Slow Road

2008-07-10T11:41:00.002-06:00

Yesterday was another busy day. The first concern was to get Jhonny a 'catagoria'. This is a type of social assistance and we have been working on this since he arrived at the hospital but every day the lady says "Tomorrow." Finally, after a bit of persistance we finally received the correct papers and Jhonny now receives a lower rate on the lab work, the surgeries and his bed. Erselia was a bit perplexed when the lady told her that all ladies that wore polleras (the native skirt) could not read. The assumption is that if you wear native dress and live in the campo, you are automatically poor.

By the time that was all done and the medications purchased it was too late to bring the tumor to its new home.

At noon we were informed that Jhonny needed another tamography and, thanks to the teachers, we had a 3 p.m. appointment. Of course, that is Bolivian time so it was after 4 before we left since they had problems finding an oxygen bottle for the ambulance. We were thankful that for some reason the ride was free. While we were there the doctors asked if they could get a chest x-ray at the same time. The original price - $42US -- the final price 78 bolivianos or a little over $10.

This morning we finally were able to talk to the surgeon who informed us that the tumor was half the size of Jhonny's brain and that was the reason that recovery was taking so long. He says that Jhonny will be in 'a delicate state' for two or three more days and we won't know much until then.

I was very happy that the doctor talked to us since we were all feeling low. Since Sunday four children have died -- one ten year old and three babies. Erselia expressed this morning that it seems that only dead children came out of that ward. This morning was especially hard since the mother is single and was alone when she was told her baby died. It was a very hard couple of hours until her friends came. There is no type of grief counselling and the staff just walk passed looking straight ahead. It is the other people with children in intensive care that end up helping and supporting.

Every day I am thankful for the health care system we have. You have no idea what it is like to have to pay for every little thing before something can be done. But on the other hand, the public system is not always the cheapest. I brought the tumor to its new home today -- a private lab that will have the results quicker than the public system. The price was 100 bolivianos cheaper at the private lab -- you just never know!

A better day

2008-07-08T16:49:00.002-06:00

Jhonny appears better today. Erselia said that he had a tough night, running a high fever. She bathed him with cool cloths until 1 or 2 in the morning. His breathing seemed a bit labored earlier today but now it was more normal. His blood pressure is also normal.

But a day could not go by without some excitement. This morning I had to bring the tumor sample to the cancer hospital. The tumor was in a plastic container and I didn't look at it that well. A block from the hospital we hit a bump -- and the bottom part of the container slid from the top part, which was in my hand. The tumor and all the liquid fell to the floor of the taxi. What to do but scoop the tumor up, jump out of the taxi , run back into the hospital and request that they please replace the liquid. Thankfully they could do that and I proceeded to the cancer hospital -- only to find that it is a holiday (Medical Day? Day for Doctors and Nurses?) and many of the personal at the hospitals were off. So, again, I returned back to the Children's Hospital with the tumor and will bring it back again tomorrow.

We still haven't been able to get Jhonny on Social Assistance so we will try that again tomorrow. I might have to get my girlfriend to help since she speaks Spanish much better than I do.

More Surgeries

2008-07-07T16:36:00.002-06:00

I came to the hospital this morning to find that Jhonny was scheduled for surgery again this morning. Because there was fluid and swelling on the brain. It was another six hours in surgery and we really have no idea what is going on. All we know is that they used one more unit of blood and three of plasma. It has been a very hard day on both myself and Erselia.
Today I brought the sample of the tumor to the other hospital and tomorrow I need to do the same with the samples from today's operation. It will be ten days before we get the results.

One Tough Day

2008-07-06T19:54:00.002-06:00

I expected that today would be an easy one with Jhonny resting comfortably. Another dream in Technicolor. Jake arrived this morning and we went to church and then to the hospital. We planned to stop to say hello and then go out for lunch and have some time together. Another dream in Technicolor! We arrived to find that new tomographies were needed and Jhonny would be taken to another hospital for these -- but they needed our approval since we would pay the bill. So instead of going out for lunch I viewed the procedure in a very upscale private hospital. The technician said that he could not see much since there was too much swelling and blood. This, however, means that Jhonny will undergo surgery again tomorrow to relieve the swelling and remove some of the liquids. We also noticed that his breathing is very labored and that causes some concern.

We probably would take this more in stride except that another 10 year old boy died today in ICU. He had had a tumor removed two weeks ago. The whole concept of death here is much more 'matter of fact'. The boy died and within a short time all the tubes were removed from the body and they put underpants on him rather than a diaper. Then he was wheeled into the hallway. Within less than ten minutes male members of the family arrived with a coffin and the body was placed in it. The men then carried out the coffin through the front exit of ICU and placed it in a station wagon. Along with the coffin went the candles, lamps, etc. that they use for Catholic funerals. We are not sure if they went directly to the cemetery or to a church. Everything was over at the hospital within half and hour and other baby was in the space.

This whole incident affected both Erselia and me and it does make me more apprehensive about tomorrow's surgery. We ask for all you prayers tonight and tomorrow.

A Day in Surgery

2008-07-05T11:59:00.003-06:00

The alarm went off early and off I went back to the hospital. Filipe was trying the bathe Jhonny and shave his head for surgery. His hair off in bits and pieces and Jhonny was crying so I took over that part of the job. It is hard when there is no assistance. Soon Jhonny was tucked back into a warm blanket and off to surgery.

The surgery lasted seven hours. There is not a lot said but they used three more units of blood than they had planned. The good thing is that they just used them and didn't get us to pay for them first. I would have had to change some money and that could have been a crucial delay. The majority of the tumor was removed but they were unable to get it all. After surgery I was presented with two vials with parts of the tumor which I brought to the cancer hospital across town. They were not receiving items until Monday morning --what do I do with tumor parts? Thankfully the hospital took them back and is storing them until Monday morning.

Jhonny was resting quietly when I left. Not that that says much. He was very drugged and these Bolivians don't show it when they are pale.

In the Bolivian hospitals there are many ladies from different churches talking to the patients and their families. One befriended Filipe and Ersilia and they stayed at her place last night. It is great that they have a place to go instead of a hotel room.

Thank you for all the prayers. I will post pictures when I get them off my camera

Adventures of the Medical System

2008-07-03T20:14:00.002-06:00

Today was a calm day -- waiting for the operation tomorrow morning. Filipe, Ersilia and Daimer slept at the hospital last night. They joined all the other families sleeping on the floor in the hallway.

Bolivia does have a type of social assistance for the poor. DAVASON provides medicine in exchange for a donation. That was the way we purchased the medications today. It turns out that we paid more for them through the donation that had I purchased them at the pharmacy. Because you do not know the value of the product the donation may be too much or too little. However, this program subsidizes the beds so we will be paying 25 bolivianos per night instead of 50.

Today I calculated all the expenses I have incurred so far. It comes to 4251 bolivianos or just under $600. Imagine that the average wage in the campo is 35 bolivianos a day. Already we have spent 121.5 days of wages! Compare that to earnings of $100 a day and we have spent the equivilant of $12,150 dollars.

Another Day in the Hospital

2008-07-02T20:48:00.003-06:00

Filipe and Samuel left this morning for Yapacani. Erselia took the micro from Patujusal to Yapacani. From there Samuel would return home while Filipe and Erselia returned to Santa Cruz. Although I arrived at the hospital at 9, I was informed that I could not sit with Jhonny since I was not his family. Instead I purchased the items for the anesthesiologist. That took until 12:30! Of course, another list was added. I fed Jhonny his lunch and had to leave until 3.

It was good to see the change in Jhonny. He was able to sit up for about 30 seconds before he would loose his balance. That doesn’t seem like much but yesterday he did not have the energy to lift his body off the bed. His appetite returned and he ate all his lunch – after I went across the street to get a spoon so that he didn’t have to eat with his fingers. His speech has returned and the constant questions were "What time is it?" and "When is Daddy coming back?" However, his depth perception has been affected so he has trouble getting the food to his mouth and when he pointed at something, he could not do it.

Another medical system quirk. One has to pay to use blood and it is not cheap by Bolivian standards -- 250 bolivianos or a little over $60 a unit. But before the surgery can be done, one of the parents much donate the units back into the bank. So we purchased 3 units of blood and Filipe must donate 3 units back. He did not do that before he left so surgery is delayed one day.

The items I purchased today were much more expensive than those purchased yesterday. One realizes how the poor simply cannot afford to have these type of operations performed. I changed $500 this morning and the majority of it was used to purchase medication and supplies.

And we complain about our medical system?

2008-07-02T20:47:00.000-06:00

Medical System

Last April one of the ladies from the community asked me if I would take her son to the doctor in Santa Cruz. He had been suffering from headaches for the past two years and he had a soft spot on his head. The first doctor wrote a note explaining that she felt the situation was urgent and that she thought Jhonny had a tumor in his head. After looking at the X-rays the doctor at the Children’s Hospital said that yes, there might be a tumor but the biggest problem was ‘bichos’ – the catch all phrase for all worms and insects. Erselia and Jhonny returned home and life went on as normal – or so I thought.

On Saturday the teachers asked what had we had found out about Jhonny – he hadn’t been back to school and his brother said that he was not walking or talking. I talked to an aunt but she knew nothing. However, early the next morning her husband biked over the Erselia’s and found Jhonny in bed. He could no longer walk without assistance and was barely talking. Erselia came to church to ask for prayers for Jhonny so after the church service all the members went to the house since Jhonny could not be moved easily. Jhonny was responsive but very tired. On his head there was a soft spot that felt mushy and his face appeared slightly larger than usual. He was running a low grade fever, had problems with vomiting and incontinence.

3:30 am on Monday Jhonny, his brother Samuel, his father Filipe and I headed to Santa Cruz with all the documentation of the previous visit. We arrived at Mision de Esperanza, a hospital operated by a group from USA. They were unable to help but contacted a neurologist who would meet us, even though it was not his clinic day. He, in turn, sent us off to another clinic where a tomography was taken. By this time, little Jhonny was tired and the only way he could move was if someone carried him. I never thought I would be able to carry a 10 year old boy. Since we would not see the neurologist until 6:30 p.m., the family rested in a little hotel for a few hours. The neurologist informed us that there was a large tumor in Jhonny’s head but we needed to come to the Children’s Hospital the next morning to determine a course of action.

Tuesday morning Jhonny was admitted to the hospital for an assessment. This was 8:30. Finally at 3:30 he had a bed. We had an interesting day in the emergency part of the hospital and I learned a lot. If you need a splint, make one from cardboard. The lack of efficiency is directly related to the amount of paperwork. Nothing can be done until payment is made. The patient buys everything for the treatment – except the cardboard!

First you get a number, go to the cashier, and pay the amount needed for the initial consultation. Then you go back to see the doctor. If there is lab work needed, you go back to the cashier and pay another amount. This lab work is done. Then some more lab work needs to be done. Back to the cashier so that it can be done.

A list two pages long contains all the items needed for the surgery. Off to the pharmacies along the street to buy everything from the saline solutions to the thread for the stitches. Back to the hospital to find another list of items that need to be purchased – and then another list. Finally, we are done and Jhonny is given a room in the ward. Imagine the hospitals 40 or more years ago – an open room with 10 beds. The parent stays to help and only one visitor is allowed. No children are allowed to visit and the visiting hours are strictly enforced. Before we left for the night, I received another two pages list of items needed for the anesthesiologist.

Are we still at the end of the World?

2008-07-02T20:39:00.002-06:00

There are times when we become frustrated with the lack of ability to get things done. And then everything happens at once. We purchased a tower for the cell phone but were unable to raise it since we did not have the manpower. It is difficult to do such a project when you are unable to give the proper instructions in Spanish. Thanks to all the muscles of the group from Texas – and their understanding of what needed to be done – the tower is now standing and we have reception on the cell phone. However, we are so used to living without a phone that we don’t remember to turn it on! With the purchase of an additional cell phone Jake will have the advantage of being able the call me and give me his shopping list when I am in the city.

Our new friend Lucy

2008-07-02T19:50:00.008-06:00

Is it a swimming pool? And who is Lucy? Everything needs a name so our new venture was named Lucy by Candice, a friend from Canada.

Back in January we started another project – water storage. However, after a few days our helpers found other things to do and the work halted. (Did I ever say that patience is something you learn when you live here?) For months we had a large structure about 5.5 meters in diameter and about a meter high sitting in the yard. When neighbours came they questioned us about our swimming pool. That we were building a large water storage tank was a bit more than they understood.

In May, with the help of Dana and Candice, a couple of Canada and a few Bolivian friends we were able to complete the construction. Although the Bolivians were not comfortable constructing something round and large, they managed.

Using the advice of our cousin who built similar structures in Australia, we tackled the project. Bricks were first laid on a cement foundation. When the brick tank was completed it was reinforced with wire wound closer at the bottom and farther apart at the top. Then a layer of cement was applied to the outside.

At this point all the workers left. Dana and Candice returned to Canada and the rest of the helpers went back to their own work. Jake spent the next week applying the cement to the inside of the tank. Not being as skilled at applying the ‘reboque’ as the Bolivians with a trowel, he used his hands. No one will see the inside anyway, he says.

Jake needs to complete the spouts to the tank and the cover. Then we wait for the rain. When the tank is filled we should enough water with pressure for the house and even be able to water the plants – with a hose rather than a bucket! All we need is a bit more patience for the rains to come – but we are more than willing to wait for that.

And then there is even more water.

A fellow missionary, Daniel Beams, works with well drilling projects. One of his groups, a team from Texas, wanted a jungle experience. Danny knew that this area had trouble with iron in the water and was curious at what level one would reach iron-free, sweet water. Although we didn’t feel we really needed another well, it was more appropriate to dig at our place in case good water was not available.

The first well, 12 meters deep, produced lots of iron laden water. A second well, 50 meters deep, gives iron free water. We are sending some to be tested to ensure that it is drinkable without further filtering.

The team also drilled one well in Tarumá, the neighbouring community. Carlos, the well driller that work with the teams, will continue to drill well with the men of the community over the next month.

A Cell Phone -- Sometimes

2008-04-29T16:27:00.004-06:00

Oh if I could count the times when I wish that I could just call someone to reschedule a meeting due to bad roads! Two things prevent this – not everyone has a phone, and even with a phone there may not be reception.

Many of the men in the community own phones so that they can keep in contact with their families in Yapacani. Some have small antennas but others are more creative. They found that if they stand underneath a certain tree located near they can get reception. If the reception is poor, it can be improved by climbing the tree!

At our place we are surrounded by trees and do not have a clear line of sight for reception. We do, however, have a tall metal shed. If Jake climbs up the ladder on to the roof, and then climbs another strategically placed ladder to the peak, he can phone to Yapacani. We still cannot receive phone calls unless he just happens to be up on the roof when a call comes in.

We still hope to get the antenna put up and when that is done we should have reception for the cell phone. If we liked the connectivity to the outside world again we are not sure. But we can always turn the phone off!

A View From Above

2008-03-16T18:42:00.007-06:00

Our blogs and newsletters have frequently mentioned the flooding problems and road conditions. Everyone looks for a solution but sometimes we are not sure what the problem is. A remedy for our lack of knowledge was a flight over the Yapacani River to view the present flooding problems and the meanderings of the river.

Since the river broke a new channel last November the communities in our area have not suffered from river flooding. That does not say it is not flooding. Ten inches (25 cm.) of rain a night can cause its own flooding problems! However, across the river, in the county of San Juan, serious flooding has occurred. That county would like to close the new channel and redirect the water back through the old channel which would cause flooding in our area once again. Since that is not a viable option, a new solution needs to be found. We have to admit that we are not convinced there is a ‘solution’ since the river moves where it moves.

Two representatives from Yapacani county and one from the San Juan county joined us. Two had never flown before and we made sure everyone had eaten and had taken Gravol before the flight. The day was very breezy, making the flight in a 6-seater plane more than interesting!

We flew to Yapacani and then up the river. When we arrived at our group of communities we saw that the river became a real ‘snake’ with lots of curves. It would be interesting to know how many miles of river there are in that small piece of land. The picture we saw was much different from the Google map.

All the pictures we took will be put together to provide a profile for the communities, illustrating where the river broke through and the flooding in the communities on the other side. We could determine where and how the river had moved by surveying the growth of trees.

Now the community representatives are left with the challenge of determining what action should be taken, drawing up a proposal, and finding funding for the project.

A Road in Danger

2008-03-16T17:56:00.004-06:00

The highway from Cochabamba to Santa Cruz is the main thoroughfare through Bolivia, and without it; Santa Cruz would be cut off from all materials – diesel, gas, food. This past week the waters in Rio Pirai, close to Montero, caused problems. Although the water is not high, its force is wearing away the soft banks. Last year and enormous amount of time and money was spent building ‘defensibles’ that were meant to prevent this erosion but already these have broken and the river has changed its course.

Last week the water was about 50 to 75m. from the road and now it is starting to undercut the bank. The pavement is cracking. The military and road crews are building cages for rocks and sand and literally throwing them over, along with logs, to give the bank some protection.

While work is done on the road, all traffic is stopped. Long line ups occur. Traffic can proceed through the work zone for an hour while the men have lunch or when the work day is finished. Trucks and cars line the road while vendors sell food and drinks to those waiting to cross. Truckers take a snooze under their vehicles, lying either on the asphalt or in a hammock. Trufi taxis and moto taxis ferry people to the front of the line where they walk through the construction zone, then hire another taxi on the other side and proceed to their destination

Christmas Fruit

2007-12-26T04:47:00.000-07:00

Coming from Canada, I am missing my usual Jap oranges at Christmas. That always was my favorite Christmas food. So here I am living in a region where I can enjoy mandarins for at least 6 months a year and I am missing them now!

So what do I have instead? How about mangos? In Canada, mangos were the treat in the summer and I was thrilled to buy a case of 10 for $7.00. Although we have mango trees planted they are not producing so I still buy my mangos at a much cheaper price.

There are two types of mangos – those with fibre and those without. The native mango is a smaller fruit with a green skin. It contains a lot of fibre and people suck out the juice more than ‘eat’ the mango. Otherwise you need lots of dental floss. The most common hybrid mango is the Manzana or Apple Mango. It is larger, has a reddish skin, and much less fibre. Delicious! We buy them for 1 boliviano, about 25 cents, each.

When mango season just starts the best ones are purchased from the Japanese farmers at Santa Fe, just a little ways down the road. I bought my Manzanas and then the lady encouraged me to try the new varieties – Mango Platano (banana) and Mango Papaya. I thought the Manazanas were good but these were even better – and completely without fibre. And the price – same as the Manzana.

Each time we come into town we buzz down to Santa Fe for our mangos because they do not sell the newer varieties anywhere else. Jake purchased seven Mango Platano trees and the Mango Papaya and another new variety will be ready in three months. The young man says they should start producing next year. So I will have lots of mangos for Christmas but I still will miss my good old Jap oranges.

.... and Higher Prices

2007-12-26T04:45:00.000-07:00

The diesel problems and other problems in the country have also led to higher prices of all commodities. We, and most other missionaries and foreigners, have sufficient money that these increases do not prevent us from doing our normal activities. This is not true for the lower middle and lower income people here. I do not buy a lot of groceries since we grow most of our veggies and we have been given meat to last us a couple of months – lots of fish and a couple of chickens.

Just a few examples that I have noticed.
A 1 kilo bag of flour cost 3.5 bs. now is 5 bs.
Sugar was 12 bs a bag, now is 20 bs.
Peanuts have risen from 5 bs to 15 bs a kilo
Rice has risen from 3-4 bs a kilo to 6-8 bs.
And these are the basic things that everyone would buy.

For the things the locals would not buy:
Cement up from 45 bs to 60 bs a bag
Bricks up from 600 bs./1000 to 1200 bs/1000
computer paper up from 25 bs to 33 bs
cappuccino frio, up to 12 bs from 8 bs;
chicken dinner, 12 bs from 9 bs.
The cost themselves are not that great but the percentage increase is great. They say that at one ‘gringo’ restaurant in Santa Cruz, the prices have doubled.

In addition to that, the people are not getting the same value for their American dollars. They are paid for their soy and rice in dollars and feel that they are getting less when they change it to Bolivianos. They used to get 8 bs per dollar but are now getting somewhere between 7.5 and 7.6 per dollar. We had a shelf built for the bathroom and the carpenter, for the first time, wanted bolivianos rather than dollars. We think that the inflation rate is about 25-30% but there are no firm statistics.

Shortages

2007-12-26T04:43:00.000-07:00

Things are changing in Bolivia but because I do not understand what is happening, I do not feel that I can comment on what is going on behind the scenes but I can tell you how it impacts the community.

The major problem we have faced for the past two months is a severe diesel shortage. There has always been a sensitive diesel situation and we always made sure that we filled up whenever we were in town, just to be safe. However, since October the situation has escalated. This is the time for soy harvest and rice planting all at the same time so the amount of diesel needed in agriculture alone from September through January is substantial. Then add to that all the truck transport that carried all the goods through the country. There is no other means of transportation for the animals, vegetables, fruit, sugar cane, cotton and all the other products that are either used within the country or exported to neighbouring countries.

Because the price is controlled by the government there has been no increase in cost, just in supply. News reports say that the imports of diesel are down by between 60 and 70%, thus the shortage. When the shortage first became evident we noticed often two of the three stations in town would be out of diesel and there would be a line up of 4 or 5 vehicles at the other station. Then the line ups started to get longer and longer. It became very frustrating when trucks with a couple of tanks and 4 or 5 barrels would need to be filled. We calculated the average fill would take about half and hour. But in Yapacani you could take your jerry cans and get them filled while they waited between trucks.

To be honest, we never had to wait a really long time in Yapacani but the situation in Santa Cruz was much more serious. We have one friend who waited from 10 in the evening until 3 in the morning to get his truck filled. Another waited for three hours and when he got to the pump they were only giving 6 liters per vehicle.

A couple of days ago we purchased some extra gas and diesel and now we have enough to carry us through a minor shortage. Often when we come to town there is no gasoline and we use that for the quad and the generator. Technically, the stations are not allowed to sell gasoline in jerry cans but we found a place that will sell it if we don’t want a receipt. Another one of these wonderful laws that are set to control the gasoline being purchased for drug production!

Yes, I know that you pay way more for gas and diesel that we do but you know when you go to the station that you will be able to get the vehicle filled.

Lejos, lejos! Veo lejos!

2007-11-19T17:30:00.000-07:00

Esther and her mother, Rosemarie, traveled from their campo home to the big city of Santa Cruz. Everything appeared new and overwhelming. Crossing the street was a terrifying experience and the modern, upscale health center didn’t seem suited to them. I prayed that they would be treated with respect, even though they were country folk.

Dr. Nazra tried his hardest to put Esther at ease and to encourage her to answer his questions about her vision. It was a difficult situation in which he had to make an examination on someone who was afraid to answer his questions. Finally, he left the questions and examined Esther’s eyes, then asked us to wait for an hour. He patiently started all over again. The results were devastating. Rosemarie suffered from toxoplasmosis while she was pregnant with Esther. The parasites entered Esther’s eyes in utero and damaged both of them. She is completely blind in one eye and she sees a large circle in the middle of the other. Constantly her head is cocked so that she sees around the circle. There is no chance that she will ever be able to see normally. Dr. Nazra tried some glasses but did not seem satisfied with the result so he asked us to return the next day.

Another start from the beginning. Although Esther was somewhat more relaxed and responsive it was still difficult to get answers. He placed some glasses on her face and asked her to read. And she read – and read – and read. She didn’t stop. When she read previously, she halted and stammered but now she was reading smoothly and eloquently. I don’t know who was closer to tears – Dr. Nazra or I. But we had another problem. Esther was not able to tell him which pair of glasses was better so we left the office with both pairs and spent the next half hour reading. She finally told me that they were both the same! We left the office with a few hundred dollars less in my pocket but with a girl that was proudly reading. The glasses are ugly; they are thick and too big for her. They are the only thing that we can buy here so we feel very privileged to have them.

Dr. Nazra was kind enough to send us to another association that assisted with the purchase of the second pair of glasses required for distance vision. When Esther put them on and walked into the street, all she could say was “Lejos, lejos. Veo lejos!’ -- ‘Far, far. I see far!’ For the first time in her nine years she is able to see the world around her.

The Dedication

2007-10-10T14:07:00.000-06:00

The inauguration or dedication of anything is an important event in the lives of the Bolivians. Whether it be the water wells, a home, or a church, a celebration is in order. Having the WoodyNook group participate in this cultural event was important, especially since these believers were dedicating the church to God. In North America we may have a different view of the church building than they do here. Here it is considered the house of God and they would like it to be a ‘good’ house, something worthy of God. Although we consider our multi-purpose building to be a place where we will be doing God’s work, they do not see it as such. Therefore, our foreman, José, worked without pay for two weeks on the church – because it is God’s house.

Before we started building the church the congregation talked about associating with a denomination. There are two different types of Assemblies of God denominations in this area but the people were quite adamant that this would be a church for the community – every one is welcome. Therefore, the total service was organized by the members of the church rather than by a visiting pastor. Throughout the service it was emphasized that this is was a church for the community since only community people participated in the majority of the ceremony. The only pastor was the person who actually blessed and dedicated the church.

Showing their appreciation to the ‘grupo’ was essential and was illustrated by their being asked to cut the ribbon to the main entrance of the church. Teodoro and his father, Tomas, cut the ribbon the entrance walkway and Jake and Marg cut the ribbon for the back entrance door. At one time they also wanted to cut ribbons to the prayer room and the storage room but that didn’t happen.

During this time the community also expressed its thankfulness to the drupo by giving them gifts. All received a friendship bracelet made by one of the women in the community, the women received traditional blankets, and the men received traditional women necklaces with Patajú on the ends. In return, the group gave the church a set of drums.

Following the inauguration service, a feast was held and the guests of honor (the grupo and Jake and Marg) were fed in the building in which we had eaten during the week. The rest of the people gathered outside and found a place to eat – some in the church, some on the ground, and others on pieces of wood.

Then came the time for the first church service. This was led by a pastor from Yapacani and his youth group. One of our young men, Geraldo, attends that church while going to school in Yapacani. Geraldo plays the zampoña ( pan flute) and that was one of the highlights of the evening. Music filled the air and all the people were clapping and singing praises. The night ended early because the group from Yapacani had to return to the city for worship the next morning. We trust that they made it – their one vehicle broke down on the way to Patujusal and their bus didn’t sound too reliable.

Floors and the Final Touches

2007-10-09T13:28:00.000-06:00

The crew worked late into the night last night finishing the walls, to the accompaniment of Bolivian music. Jake and Irene rose early to mark the points for leveling the floor but when they got there they found that the floor was already started. Not only had the guys finished the walls but they also started hauling in all the large rocks for the floor. This was a huge job but many hands were there to help. First they lay the rocks down the center and level them. Then all the remaining rocks are placed so that all are level. They use a long board or rod to ensure that everything lines up. Using rocks lessens the amount of cement that is used. However, we still wanted a deep enough cover so that it didn't chip.

Then the cement brigade started once again with the girls making the cement and the guys hauling it in. Leveling and smoothing was the job of the maestros. We didn’t count how many wheelbarrows of cement we used! We were thankful for all the Bolivians who just kept on trucking late into the night. It was midnight again before they shut down for the night.

While most of the people were working of the floor other groups were finishing other small projects such as finishing the prayer room and the storage room. Others cleaned up the site. The women and Tomas baked buns, enough to feed an army. Their whole house was filled with buns -- beds, steps, everything!

Saturday morning was the last time on the job site. The cooks were busy killing the fatted calf and preparing the feast. Pots were brought in from La Pista and there were at least 30 women cooking.

Dionicio monitored the installation of the doors. These doors are made of wood and that means that each one of them has to be trimmed to fit the opening. Dionocio was thankful for the electric drill and other equipment that he could use. It made the job go much faster.

While Dioniscio finished the doors, Jose and a couple of others trimmed up the windows with a layer of cement. This covered all the little holes and cracks that could not be filled and cleaned around the windows.

Finally everything was done -- the building looked good, the yard was cleaned, and the food was been cooked. By noon all that was left was cleaning up the equipment to be returned to Jake’s and wait for the ‘Gran Fiesta.’

It was hard to believe that only two weeks earlier the team had arrived to see only bare ground with a few stakes and now there was a church standing!

Walls completed :)

2007-09-28T07:25:00.000-06:00

Hola,

Today was an exciting day! The church is close to completion, yet there are still many things to do. The scaffolding was taken down today and the holes where the log supports had been placed for the scaffolding, filled in and spooned smooth.

Irene and others worked on clearing all the excess lumber away from the site which was so nice because the area is beginning to look neat and finished.

The tin was put on the roof today as well. Pete and Ray sat on the top of the roof and a couple of the Yucra boys handed the tin up to them to be nailed in place.

The walls were all plastered today as well. This is also a neat process. The men mix some cement and then throw it at the wall and after a section is covered, they smooth it out. The walls were constantly being wetted. The water is thrown at the walls and may or may not have been purposefully thrown at Pete on the roof…but it was only in revenge! The men did not finish the walls until 9:30pm. They worked in the pitch dark with a light run by the generator. Lisa brought them a c.d. player so they could groove and be encouraged by music.

Marg had taken all the school children to La Pista last night to sleep there because there was a sports event today. She picked them all up later today after the event was over.

Marg, Irene, Carolyn and Francine worked on moving the extra bricks from the site to Jake and Marg’s yard. We have to carry a couple of bricks at a time from the pile to the truck and then unload them the same way. In total, today we moved about 1500 bricks. It was neat to see how the Bolivian’s move them though. One man, who helped transfer bricks, would sandwich 6-8 bricks between his hands and quickly move them around. He was a welcome help!

The Lord willing, we will be able to pour the concrete floor tomorrow and do some finishing touches with painting and put up the doors. It is amazing to look back and see all the work that has been completed. When we first looked at the site for the church and only saw hard dirt and garbage, we could not imagine the wonderful church that is now standing there!

Until tomorrow…

Rafters put up :)

2007-09-28T07:20:00.000-06:00

Hello!

Today was a long day but productive. All the rafters were put up. We were wondering how they would get the very heavy rafters lifted up to the roof. The men carry a rafter to the area and lift it up to the men above. When it is high enough then they flip it into a V and it balances on the two walls. Then it is ready to flip upright and put in place. There was one time where the rafter fell but thankfully, no one was hurt. Ray and Pete helped put the rafters up (and can tell you in greater detail how it all works) and hammer them in place with the supports. A few layers of brick are placed above the rafters to hold them in place well. These had to be spooned as well.

Francine and Carolyn painted one side of all the doors to dry for tomorrow when the other side would be painted. They also, along with Lisa, painted the support beams for the roof of the church. Francine and Lisa went up to the roof to finish the last three rafters which had not been painted the previous day. They stood on some boards and the brick wall and while it was a difficult procedure, managed to paint them all.

Carolyn and Francine pumped bucket after bucket of water from the pump and Lisa, Marg and others threw the water on the inside walls of the church. The walls need to be wet because it helps the cement stick better to the walls.

Marg spent time with the Bolivian church leaders planning the service and dedication for the service on Saturday. The kids helped her pick out songs. Our service Saturday will begin with the dedication of the church at 3:00 and then the worship service to follow supper.

We all worked until dark and the family had prepared a meal for us there. We ate rice, yucca, veggies and wild pig (boar). It was delicious! They set up candles for us on the table to see.

We got home and took turns with showering. Then it was off to bed...

Arm wrestling...

2007-09-26T17:40:00.000-06:00

Hola!

Today was warmer. The night was cold but refreshing for a change from the stifling heat. Breakfast was good and Ray made us some delicious coffee to wake and warm us up!

Most of the bricks are done being laid for the church walls. The gable ends are up now as well and look really good. Ray and Pete continued working on the inner walls of the church. Francine and Carolyn worked on painting the church pews, along with one of the younger boys from the community, and managed to finish them all. At lunch they set out the ones from yesterday because they appeared dry, but unfortunately, some of them were a little wet in areas and a few bums stuck to the paint.

Lisa and Irene spooned for the morning and Francine and Carolyn the afternoon. The scaffolding is very high now and although it does not appear very strong at a glance, was secure and worked well!

The rafters were all cut and pieced together and needed painting as well. Carolyn and Francine painted and then the teachers came to visit and really wanted to help paint as well. Lisa and the teachers ended up almost finishing them all but ran out of paint so two rafters need to be painted later because the rafters are all going up tomorrow. Then someone will have to climb to the roof and paint them up there.

At lunch, Pete took on the very strong Francine in an arm wrestle and I’m sure you are all curious as to who won… :) Then two of the men from the community wanted to test Pete’s strength as well. They were both beat so they decided that if they could go together against him they could win. It was fun to watch! Carolyn and Lisa had an arm wrestle as well and it was stalemate for them for a long time!

Supper was chicken and rice with a salad. Lisa’s nursing skills came in handy when she cleaned and bandaged Hose’s knee (one of the men helping us build the church), which he had hurt badly in a game of futbol on Sunday. It was a relaxing evening.

Goodnight :)

"My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken." Psalm 62:1-2

"En Dios solamente esta acallada mi alma; De el viene mi salvacion. El solamente es mi roca y mi salvacion; Es mi refugio, no resbalare mucho." Salmos 62:1-2

Visiting the school :)

2007-09-26T17:38:00.000-06:00

Last night was a crazy night! The south wind blew in with full force and brought the temperature here way down! All night, the wind made the tin roof bang and the plastic covering on the window flap making as much noise as possible! Pete, who was sleeping in his tent under the loud tin roof, came into the house to camp out the night. Francine, unaware of this bit of information, came into the kitchen in the middle of the night and shone her flashlight right onto the face of Pete, shocking and partially scaring her.

There was some rain in the morning which was refreshing but did not really help with the dust control or filling the rain barrel. It was a good thing for work on the church though.

On the way to the church site, the truck encountered a large tree which had fallen across the road. The men worked to remove it. Pieces of trees were littered here and there, remnants of the previous night’s storm.

Jake put his back out really bad this morning as well and it is frustrating because he has so many things to do and he is in so much pain. There is a missionary woman who is also a chiropractor in Santa Cruz that he went to see. She was a welcome help to Jake! While in Santa Cruz Jake went to get new tires for his truck (because tires do not last long on these rough roads and flats are not uncommon). It is a 4 hour trip to Santa Cruz from here so it is better to do all the errands you can think of doing. Jake and Marg keep in contact by internet because Jake can check email in internet café’s. When there is something needed here, Marg writes an email and hopes Jake will read it in time so the 4 hour trip does not have to be made over and over again!

At the site, the men were bricklaying. Irene and Lisa did more of the spooning and then Lisa painted the window bars black.

Before lunch, we all piled in and on the truck and headed to the school. On the way we had to drive in 4 wheel drive because they are constructing the road. This construction involves a cat which pushes all the dirt into a pile on the road and makes for some difficult driving.

When we got to the school the children were waiting and VERY excited! They came running to us and shook our hands. Any picture we took, they would gather around the digital camera to look and all you would see is a dozen little heads in a circle around one of the cameras.

We got to see the classrooms which are two separate buildings. One of the classrooms is for grades 4-6 and there are 12 students who are taught by a man named Carlos. And the other room is for grades 1-3 and there are 26 students taught by a woman named Lydia. They are currently working on the teacher’s house and the bathroom.

Today was set up as the day for the children. Marg had baked chocolate cakes for the children. The teacher had the children line up and he split them into two teams to play futbol. They needed two more players so Pete and Francine played as well. Lisa joined in later as well. The kids love futbol and were having a blast! Pete had some great corner kicks. It was an awesome time and all of us were sad to say goodbye.

Back at the site, Francine, Carolyn and Lisa painted half of the church pews. It was cool outside and after awhile all three of the girls were shivering. It was hard to believe that one day we could be sweltering and the next so cold we wanted to wear long pants and sweatshirts! Their hands were covered in paint and stuck to anything they touched. Every time they had to move a bench, they had to rip their hands off the sticky bench! The men continued work on the bricklaying.

On the way home, Pete decided it would be nice to bring one of the men, Mario, home because he lived a ways down the road from our place. In the middle of the road was a large log from a fallen tree. No one has a large vehicle, just motorcycles, so the log had been there a long time! The men went to move the log and soon they were covered in ants, biting their arms. They quickly moved it and began to wipe off all the ants. It was not a fun experience, to say the least.

We ate fish for supper which was good! Then we all bundled up for a chilly sleep once again.

God bless

Monkeys and river swimming :)

2007-09-24T07:17:00.001-06:00

Good morning!

We hope all is well with everyone! It was incredibly hot today! We went to church and when we arrived, it was neat because the family had taken the new church pews and placed them in the hut so we could sit on them instead of the old benches during the service. We started by singing. The Bolivians sang in Quechua and in Spanish. We shared the song books so we could try and sing along with them. Quechua is a very difficult language to learn and sing! Most of the words are very long and hard to pronounce! We sang our English praise songs as well and the boys with their guitar and mandolin would play some chords and try to accompany our singing. We must say that our singing is improving and we are beginning to sound more together! :)

One of the older men in the community, Fransicco, gave his testimony. He is 74. Then Irene and Pete talked about their lives and what God means to them as well. It is always a wonderful thing to hear other people’s stories and how they came to know God as their savior.

A couple of the little girls in the community are sick and so they took them to the front of the church and the older man and Irene laid their hands on them and prayed for them. The mother of one of the little girls was crying by the end of the prayer; it meant so much to her to have the support and prayers of the community for her little girl.

After a lunch of soup, we all piled into and on the truck and headed home. Some of the Bolivian men wanted to go fishing that afternoon so they headed to the river. We went home first and then walked to the river as well. On the way, in the jungle, we were able to see some monkeys swinging from the branches! It was so awesome! Francine and Lisa found some vines hanging down and Francine suggested Lisa swing on them like Tarzan would, so she did.

The sand was burning on the bottom of our feet! We got the river and thankfully, the bugs were not as bad as usual. The water was nice and warm, yet cooling. The bottom of the river is soft sand. The current pulls you along downstream. It was shallow most of the way until the bend where the current picked up and it was above-head deep.

When we got home, we sat outside for awhile and Jake peeled sugar cane for us and we munched on that. It is really delicious! Lisa and Francine went for a walk into the thicker jungle. They got to see some HUGE trees with large roots and lots of banana trees as well.

The wind changed to come from the south so therefore, we knew that cooler weather was going to come. We all sat outside to have supper because there was a nice, cool wind blowing. We had chicken, potatoes and salad with vanilla pudding, made by Lisa, for dessert. Everywhere we looked there were many fireflies so Lisa and Francine went to catch some but came home empty-handed. Irene, however, managed to catch one and it was neat to see it up close. Its eyes were glowing neon green.

Pete led devotions and we have a good discussion. Then it was off to bed once again…

Washing machines and natural landfills

2007-09-24T07:15:00.001-06:00

Hi!

Today is Saturday. It was a hot day with a few clouds. We decided to work on the church in the morning and leave the afternoon to relax and catch up on things such as washing clothes (which get dirty very quickly from all the dust and mud!)

At the building site, the men were busy laying more bricks and the walls are close to being finished; past the window frames. Half a meter of bricks need to be laid around the church yet. They also worked with the chainsaw to cut the wood into the finished rafters. As well, they put the protector bars in the window frames. These bars are necessary to keep people from breaking into the church.

Irene was busy working on the spooning. She decided that she would also clean up a lot of the garbage around the building site. She piled it all together and found a deep hole to put it all into. The children saw what she was doing and she showed them that they could cover it all with dirt and they happily did so. They laughed about the whole thing but it was good to show them how to clean up garbage, instead of just throwing it everywhere.

Marg held her Bible study for church leaders of thefive churches in the area. They sat in the shade and the men had brought their instruments and sang many praise songs. They worked on the song book (which is going to be a book of songs in both Quechua and Spanish for all the churches around here). Songs are sung by memory here and therefore, there is not that many new songs, but rather only a few that are sung over and over again. This song book will help the church leaders introduce new songs to sing during services.

Carolyn, Lisa and Francine stayed at the house and cleaned up the dishes and floors. There was a rather large spider which Lisa gladly put to rest. Lisa also organized songs to print out for us to sing on Sunday to the Bolivians.

Carolyn, Francine and Lisa filled tubs with water and soap and did their washing. Pete decided to try a new method of washing by using his feet to tromp all over the clothes in the soapy water. He figured it sounded like a wash machine as well. His method worked very well!

The rest of the day was spent chatting, sleeping and reading. It was nice to have some relaxing time.

some pictures of random times :)

2007-09-22T17:51:00.000-06:00

This is our team, and Jake and Marg and Marcos, at the Santa Cruz airport shortly after landing.

At a popular marketplace.

Trying to help with the flat tire :)

This is an example of what the bugs have a tendency to do to us :) (this is an earlier picture so imagine this times 2 now!)

Preparing the fish for supper.

Friday- Day 7

2007-09-22T16:13:00.001-06:00

Hola once again!

(I should mention that the internet does not always work out here very well so it is sometimes difficult to get the blog updated on time. :) )

At the work site today, the scaffolding was put up around two of the walls. Window frames were put up and squared. The men stood on the scaffolding and had their large buckets of cement and the bricks on the boards by their feet. They began the bricklaying once again.

We also had to bring in dirt to build up the floor of the church and even it all out. Pete (which I should also mention is called Pedro by the people here) and Lisa dug dirt in the wooded area by the church. Francine, Irene and a member of the community took wheelbarrows and transported the dirt to the church where Ray used a rake to even it all out. One of the older men in the community used a pick axe to loosen the dirt and Pete and Lisa had quite the hole dug by the end of the day!! It took most of the day to transport all the dirt and lunch was a welcome break from the hot sun!

Lunch was more soup and a rice dish with chicken and salad and potatoes. The Bolivians here take the skin off the potatoes and tomatoes and laughed that we eat it all. The men played their instruments once again and then sang their traditional song…. And we sang some worship songs in English and then our anthem.

Carolyn sanded the rest of the pew benches and talked with some of the little girls. One of the little girls had a simple cloth doll and she wrapped it up in a blanket and then tied the doll up with another piece of cloth. It was cute because she was mimicking how her mother wraps the baby; all tightly wrapped in the blanket.

Irene and Carolyn also did a lot more of the spooning but because the scaffolding is in the way and the walls are getting pretty high now, had to wait until the men finished the walls up to above the window frames. Irene, Francine, Carolyn and Lisa then went up onto the scaffolding to spoon the walls up there.

It was neat again how some of the Bolivian men want to learn English. They point at things and ask us what it is in English and then repeat it over and over. One of the men was trying to tell Carolyn the Quechua word for tickle but it was becoming confusing and everyone had a different idea about what was going on. The word sounded like coochy coochy and everyone was laughing about this, even the next day. We all are trying to learn the Spanish for things as well so do likewise. Slowly we are learning from one another and communication is coming much easier!

Supper was chili and salad and many people from the community came over to eat with us. After supper, we set up a blanket as a movie screen and the projector to watch a movie. Marg picked the movie, ‘End of the Spear.’ We could not get the sound very loud so there were only Spanish subtitles to read. Everyone seemed to enjoy the movie and even though we could not hear anything and caught only a few Spanish words, we were able to make out the story line. Then it was tea time and off to bed once again :)

Thursday- Day 6

2007-09-22T07:34:00.001-06:00

Buenos días (good morning)!

This morning while a couple of us cleaned the house and Carolyn made two loaves of delicious banana bread, Pete was trekking into the jungle to get rafters. He said that they went 1 km into the jungle but the road was so bad that they were barely crawling with the truck. The road consisted of old creek beds, large ruts and winded around trees. The Bolivian men had cut the logs already into the rafters so they loaded them onto the truck. However, each rafter was so heavy that they could only take about 7 on the truck at a time so, therefore, they had to make the 1 km journey over and over again. Lisa went on one of the trips into the jungle and took a picture of a very unique and beautiful flower.

The Bolivian men taught Ray and Pete how to lay bricks for the walls. They say that it is not near as easy as it looks but rather, it is quite difficult to do. They have a system with fishing wire tied to either post to make sure all the bricks are even across the wall. It is time-consuming but looks really good when finished! Ray and Pete can now be considered official brick-layers if their wives want any brick structures made. It is an art and good experience for sure!

Irene, Lisa and Francine sanded the pews that will be painted later on. They also, along with Carolyn, did some more of the spooning; filling in holes and smoothing it all out. The children took the wheelbarrows and were taking cement powder and sand to the men as well as giving one another rides in it.

Lunch was soup again. I should mention, that only our group and Marg and Jake get a piece of meat in their soup. The Bolivians don’t keep any for themselves. This is another way of them showing us that we are their honored guests. We got boiled bananas again for dessert and the men played their instruments and sang once again. Irene chose this time to have a quick siesta.

The door frames are up in the church now and bricks were laid up to the window frame level. We worked until dark again to get it all finished. The family fed supper to those at the site even though they told them that we had a supper waiting at home.

Supper here was tamales which the Bolivian women, Felicia and Roberta, spent about 5 hours making! They first gathered 100 ears of corn! They cut off the top and bottom of each one and husk it. Then they stand it on end and cut off all the kernels. There were enough kernels to fill a large laundry basket. They then grinded it all by hand which is a difficult procedure! They add salt, baking powder, yeast, cinnamon, cheese, shortening and sugar to the mush, tasting it to see if there is enough of everything. They then take the husks and make them square, filling each one with some of the tamale mix. They fold the husk into a triangle and put into the outdoor oven for 10 minutes. They were very good!

After dinner we had some tea and relaxed a bit before bed. There were many fireflies as well glittering all over! Well Buenos noche (good evening).

day 5

2007-09-22T07:33:00.002-06:00

Hola!

Today is Wednesday and we spent the day working here on the multi-cultural building. Two of the men who work on the church with us had stayed up all night to spray their soya crops and needed to have a day to rest and sleep. The men who are helping us also have their own chaco’s (farms) and need time to work on them as well.

Pete and Ray went to the church site in the morning to get some supplies and Pete said that the pig which often walks around the yard was in the church. The pig had walked through the front door and decided to stick around inside the church for awhile. One of the little boys threw large rocks at it to chase it out.

Lisa mopped the house’s floors and they looked amazing! Every day the floors become muddy from all the dust and water and, therefore, it is difficult to keep them clean!

Pete and Ray worked on the tin roof again with Francine and Lisa passing the tin up to them. They got almost one whole side of the roof finished.

After a lunch of German Summer Soup, we all walked down the road and through the jungle to the river. Right now, the river is very low compared to how high it will be the rainy season. The sand is amazing; white and soft! The Bolivians have a big net and they spread it out and walk with it downstream, catching fish. Many of us went swimming alongside the net. Lisa had one fish shoot out of the water right beside her arm. It was refreshing but as soon as you were outside the water, the bugs would swarm around you and start biting. Ray is covered in bug bites!

Many fish were caught and prepared for supper. One of the fish caught was a piranha and Irene decided to keep its teeth. We all ate together outside again with the Yucra family and a few others from the community. One little girl, Daisy, fell asleep at the supper table which was really cute.

After we ate, the Yucra family talked about how they came to live here and when they became Christians and their life in general. It was neat to hear them open up about their personal lives and gave us a better understanding about who they are and what their lives are like. The Yucra family has been here for 15 years and Tomas and Cerile have 9 children. The older sons have their own farm land with crops of soya and rice.

It was nice to have a day where we could see more of the land while fishing in the river and walking through the jungle as well as hear more about the people in this community. We hope all is well with everyone back home as well!

Day 4

2007-09-20T08:41:00.000-06:00

Hi :)

This morning we had breakfast with some of the Bolivian men who are working with us on the church. We sat outside and had hot porridge (Jake grinds amaranth every morning) and fruit. Jake had gone to Yapacani to get more supplies for the church so Marg had to be at the site as a translator.

Carolyn and Francine took the quad to the site and Carolyn’s back was covered in dirt! It hasn’t rained for a long time and the roads are sheer dusty dirt! A funny story about last nights dinner; one of the little boys who had been helping us out was sitting by Pete at dinner and he somehow grabbed Pete’s glasses unbeknownst to Pete, and was wearing them. We looked over and this little boy’s face was hiding behind Pete’s glasses! It was really cute.

At the site, bricks are beginning to go up. We worked on two of the walls today. The bricks have to be wetted so they do not suck the water from the cement as the cement is drying which is what a few of the other men in the community love to do. Laying the bricks is very difficult and the Bolivian men do that part of the process. Then a few of us come behind them and taking a spoon, smooth the cement in the cracks to make sure there are no gaps and it looks good, a process we call ‘spooning’.

Lunch was soup again but this time chicken and peanut soup and a salad with boiled bananas for dessert. During our devotion time, one of the mothers put her daughter in a wash basin near us for her bath. She is very cute and was having fun putting water everywhere.

Four of the Bolivian men wanted to play some of their music for us after we ate so they took out their guitars and mandolins and played a few songs. They are amazing and very talented! It was wonderful to listen to them play and sing, not only because they are very talented, but because they play completely from their hearts. One of the older men was clapping and dancing to the music and the women and children came to join in the singing as well.

A few of us came back to the house earlier to help put tin on the multi-purpose building which is used right now for when the community comes to have dinner or watch a movie. Ray, Pete and Jake sat on the roof and Lisa and Francine handed the large pieces of tin up to them. Ray and Pete joked about how they would need good sunglasses to shield their eyes with the sun reflecting off the tin.

Irene had stayed behind to help with the spooning and when dinner time came, they told her she must sit down and eat with them. She ate with all the men as their honored guest, as it is custom for the women to eat separate, but she was to sit with all the men.

One of the Bolivian women, Roberta, came over with her two small children to help Marg cook supper. They made a delicious roast. The oven broke down half-way through cooking it so they used the outdoor oven which is what the natives here use. The outdoor oven works so that you make the fire inside it and then move the coals to the side and stick the pan of whatever you are cooking inside. It works wonderfully!

Three of the Bolivian men came over for some supper and after supper we conversed with them in both Spanish and English, learning from one another. These men are excited to learn English and Lisa taught one of the men the days of the week in English. Irene and Lisa showed them pictures of their family and home as well. Irene was talking with one of the men about the word OK. In the Spanish book they were looking at, OK meant ‘de acuerdo’ but that was much too sophisticated for the meaning of OK so they decided that OK in English is the same as ‘bien’ in Spanish even though ‘bien’ means good or well in Spanish.

Some of these men sleep in a hut outside the house and as we were falling asleep, we could hear them playing their instruments and singing. It is a peaceful way to fall asleep; hearing music and singing as well as birds and other jungle noises.
Ciao :)

Day 3

2007-09-20T06:40:00.000-06:00

Hola! :)
Work on the church began today!

The trenches were dug around the perimeter and large rocks placed in them. Cement was made constantly and poured over the rocks. It is nice that we don’t have to mix the cement by hand, as we have a small mixer.
The children loved to help out and one little boy would carry the cement bags in a wheelbarrow and wanted to dump them out for us. It was cute to watch, as the cemento bags weigh about 100lbs and the little boy weighed only about 50 pounds, but he was determined to help out. The next step was setting up the wooden frame around the perimeter for the cement foundation.

Carolyn was chased by a gander on her way to the washroom and we found out from a little boy there that ganders do indeed bite because his ankle had been attacked earlier. The Yucra family, on whose land we are building the church, built us Canadians a washroom in their horse pen. It is a hole in the ground with some boards for privacy. We are sure you can imagine the fun we have with such a small hole… The fact that this family went out of their way to build us such a nice washroom though is very thoughtful and sweet! They would do anything for us to make us feel more at home and that speaks so much to us!

For dinner, some of the Bolivian woman cooked us a large meal. We sat in the hut which they had also built just for us to have shade, and the first thing brought to us was soup made of vegetables and meat. We were all getting full from the large bowl of soup, when out came the next part of the meal which was a large bowl of rice, meat, lentils, tomatoes, etc. We had to tell them little (pequeno/ poco) because we cannot eat that much! They gave us oranges for dessert. That is one thing that is so amazing; all the fresh fruit that is grown right here. We have lots of bananas and oranges fresh from the trees. We had time to have devotions which Irene led and talk before we got back to building. We got two of the main walls filled with cement in preparation for bricklaying tomorrow, but the process took a long time and we didn’t get finished until past sundown, but it was only nearing 7:00.

A few of the Bolivian women and Marg prepared a huge meal for us! They had three different salads and pork and hamburger with rice. Marg figured that there would be much left over but we ate close to everything! All the families that could make it from the community came for this meal and we set up tables outside under the stars. The gringos sat in the midst of the Bolivians and using Marg and Jake as our translators carried out short conversations with one another. After the meal each one of us from the team told the Bolivians a little bit about ourselves; our families, things we like, where we live and so forth. Marg translated for us. A few of us had pictures and they loved to see all the babies from our families. Children are very important to the people here. After everyone left it was time to unwind and get ready for bed and get some rest for a new day. :)

Building the Church at Patujusal Days 1 and 2

2007-09-17T19:41:00.000-06:00

Hola to everyone!

Our team, consisting of Irene Prins, Ray VanderKooi, Peter Kuipers, Lisa Breukelman, Carolyn Tiemstra and Francine Tiemstra, arrived saftely in Patujusal, Bolivia Saturday morning after 32 hours of travel. The flight from La Paz to Santa Cruz allowed us to view the Andes Mountains which are just magnificent and a reminder of the Rockies. The city of La Paz is high above sea level and therefore are breathing was much more difficult.

We were greeted at the Santa Cruz airport by Jake, Marg and Marcos, one of the men from a nearby community. We split up into their truck and a taxi and began our drive to Patujusal. The taxi holding Marg, Carolyn, Francine and Lisa had a good start. For the gringos, there was much to take in! We stopped at a roadside market for some juice. The driving in Bolivia is quite different from Canada as there are no rules whatsoever and honking is not a rude thing to do, but rather, a way of telling other drivers that you are coming up beside them or next in a traffic circle. There were many sugar cane trucks on the road as well.

The taxi got a flat tire soon after starting out on the gravel road. Thankfully, the driver had a spare and although it took some time to change the tire, we were soon on the road again. The road got a bit worse and once again we had a flat tire. This time there was no replacement tire and therefore we had to wait it out on the side of the road. There was a small store close by which was a blessing. We were not stranded in the middle of nowhere which was a good feeling. The people were in a meeting so as soon as they were done (which took a while) they opened the store so we could buy something to drink. It was here that the marriage proposal occurred between Lisa and one of the local men. This man figured that Lisa could be Bolivian and was very beautiful. He kissed all our arms. We had resigned to waiting for possibly 4 hours for the men and Irene to come by on their way from Santa Cruz. The taxi driver finally decided to work on fixing one of the tires with the men at the store and as usually and ironically happens, as soon as the tire was fixed, the truck drove up. To say the least, it was a relief!

We transferred our luggage from the taxi onto the already full truck and four of our team sat on top of the truck and the rest in the cab. The tires were sitting very low. Irene had three dozen eggs on her lap and it was difficult to keep them all intact and it was beginning to appear as though we would have scrambled eggs.

The truck with Jake, Pete, Ray, Irene and Marcos had gone from the airport to Santa Cruz and then on to Yapacani to pick up supplies which included melons, potatoes, chickens and more. They found it quite funny to see us gringos on the side of the road waiting for them to pick us up. We drove a ways and once again we experienced a flat tire but were able to get it fixed right away.

The rest of the drive allowed us a better view of the jungle and we got to see a large iguana crossing the road and running into the soya plants. We passed the school which the children attend as well. The road we were on was very dusty as it has not rained for a long time and rather bumpy because in areas the river had redirected itself and left large rocks and ruts.

We stopped at the Yucra family’s place which is also where we will build the church. The Yucra family donated their land for the church and they are amazing people! They were very welcoming to us. The wife, Sedila, had a baby a week ago and he was bundled up in blankets.

Just a couple miles down the road is Jake and Marg’s land and home. They have a wonderful and cozy home surrounded by the beautiful jungle! We pitched our tents outside and had a delicious meal of peanut soup and buns. We were all tired from our travels and therefore, retired early to bed.

Sunday morning we went to church at 8 and at first it appeared that due to a community meeting we would just go home and hold a small service there. But soon enough, people started showing up on their motos (motorcycles) and by walking or hitching rides on trucks. We sang some hymns in English and the natives sang hymns in Quechua, their native language and then in Spanish. We were greeted with a hand shake, touch on the arm and another hand shake, the traditional greeting. After more people arrived we moved our service into the thatched roof hut they built for us there. The children were very excited! Singing was accompanied by lots of clapping. Marcos read a passage in Spanish from Matthew 7:7-12 and Marg gave a talk on God’s wisdom. We brought greetings from WoodyNook and Pete made the analogy of how in Canada and in Bolivia we stare at the same sun and how we all serve the same God as well. We may be miles apart but we are united by the same God as we are by the same sun. It was truly a wonderful feeling to see the strong faith and love for God that the people here express! It is encouraging and inspiring.

Sunday afternoon was a relaxing time spent talking and learning from one another about the natives, the land, customs and our own reasons for coming and thoughts about everything. Marg, Irene and Lisa took one of the men from the community who was quite sick to the hospital in La Pista and the men went to the river to fish. The men came back with 10 fish which Marg prepared in the traditional way and fried them for supper. The little girls of the man who was taken to the hospital went fishing and caught two fish for us as a thank you for taking their father to the hospital. We had a wonderful supper of fried fish, rice and salad.

We begin work on the church early tomorrow morning so we are all heading to bed now. Ray, Irene and Pete have tents pitched in the front yard and the rest of us sleep in the house. All the best with everyone! Until next time…God bless

Dust or mud?

2007-08-18T11:16:00.000-06:00

They say that there are two seasons for the roads – mud or dust – and we are deep into the dust season. We reduced the number of passengers that we will take in the truck since we really don’t want anyone sitting in the back in all the dust. Even though the doors and windows are shut, the cab is full of fine dust. The fan and air conditioner will be cleaned during our next trip to the city.

When we returned from Canada we were met with a great surprise. As we turned the corner at La Pista to head to Patujusal we were amazed to find an upgraded road. The holes that went to China had not only been filled, but the whole road was elevated about 2 meters. We think that it might be a bit of overkill but we are happy that we no longer dodge pot holes. However, nothing is ever ‘finished’ in Bolivia, so we encountered ‘montañas’ instead. When the machine pushed the dirt from 5 meters on either side of the road, it moved across the road, leaving gouges at every width of the blade. Natural speed bumps!

In Patujusal 2 changes also occurred. The parts of road that caused the most problems during the last flooding season have been elevated. Rumor has it that the total road will be elevated, eliminating the flood problems. Some of us are minus entrances to our places but that seems to be a minor concern.

Today, some sections of the road are covered with up to 5 cm. of fine, flour-like dust. We are waiting for some rain. The lumber trucks can then compact the road. The new owner of the lumber company that has the lumber concession appears to be willing to work with the community so we hope that the road will be maintained this year.

Vacation????

2007-07-20T12:03:00.000-06:00

After a month in Canada we are back in Bolivia. It was a busy, interesting month in which we did not get much rest. We started the time off by making a whirlwind trip to Iowa with Kurt, Sherry Ann, Sophia and Kolten (our son and his family). While there we made a presentation of our projects to some of Jake's family. Back home again to celebrate the graduation of our grand daughter, Katelyn. Another milestone in our lives!

Then we made a huge decision, something we had no intention of doing. We put our acreage up for sale. It was not an easy decision and I still have a hard time with it. It was the land on which my grandfather farmed when he moved to Canada from Holland. But times have changed and it is no longer financially feasible to keep it. But listing it meant that we had to pack up all our 'stuff' and store in in a trailer until we decide what to do. We changed our tickets and 'bought' a couple of extra days to get all the work done. Of course, that didn't happen and our kids were left with the last of the cleaning.

But there were happier things. We celebrated the wedding of our niece as well as my birthday and Tim's (our other son) birthday. My sister came from Ontario, so we had a chance to visit.

The weather was scorching hot for Alberta but we felt right at home. I was able to drive my car with the top down for more than a week! The grandkids loved being able to move the roof of the car up and down although they didn't appreciate the wind when riding in the back seat.

We spent time organizing a team to come to Bolivia to build a church building in our little community. We were heartened by the support and the the willingness of people of come. We are looking forward to a group arriving in the middle of September. Our next month will be busy with planning and purchasing supplies.

So we are back in Bolivia, complete with a scanner, a new camera, the inverter and a few more things but minus the canna bulbs I wanted to plant.

GRACIAS!

2007-06-03T11:51:00.001-06:00

Living in another country makes you realize the gift of friends, both old and new. Jeanine came to visit. I did not know her and we crossed ways because she came into Santa Cruz a day early to ensure that she would be on time for her flight home. She came to Bolivia on a mission trip to help at some orphanages but had many questions about Bolivia – its culture, its problems, the people, the poverty, and the solutions to some of the problems. Most of all she wanted to know what impact, positive and negative, that short term missions had on the people.

As we talked, she shared with me that she was reading a book by a priest who had worked in Bolivia in the ‘80’s. She loved the book and the insights shared by the priest. It was a thought provoking book and led to many deep discussions. It was evident that this book had changed her and had given her a different perspective on life and faith.

The day she left, she said she wanted to give me the book that had meant so much to her. She was hesitant about giving me, an evangelical, a book by a Catholic priest; a book that asked many questions about the people from the first world working in the third world. When she handed it to me, I cried. It was Gracias! by Henri Nouwen – one of my favorite authors. She was relieved and overjoyed and I was thrilled with it.

In reading Gracias! I see that there has been many changes in Bolivia in the past twenty years but that many things have not changed. Nouwen challenges all of us to look at what we are doing and how we are influencing what happens in developing countries without being judgmental. There are so many times I was saying “Yes” and “Thank you” while reading. He asks many of same questions that I ask and although he does not have solutions, it is inspiring and gratifying to read his view on these challenges.

Jeanine and I both found that some people avoidd the book because it was written by a Catholic. That is sad; they are missing out on a great inspirational read. I challenge you to get the book from the library, or better yet, buy a copy, read it and be moved. Gracias from the bottom of my heart, Jeanine!

Gord, the Guinea Pig Man

2007-06-03T11:31:00.000-06:00

Early in May we had a visitor from Canada. Marg first met Gord Gilchrist briefly a couple of years ago when she was on the Board of Olds College and Gord was an instructor there. While visiting the office of “A Better World’ in January, she read an article that said that Gord had worked on an alternative energy project in Africa and she also was told that he would be coming to Bolivia in May. She extended an invitation for him to visit the farm.

After thirty hours on the plane, Gord spent another 5 hours riding in the truck to Patujusal. Throughout the conversation, it became evident that we struck a gold mine of information. I don’t call it just coincidence that Gord raised guinea pigs and is one of the four qualified guinea pig judges in Canada – and we plan to raise guinea pigs. He also raises the older variety of chickens that are more suitable for this area so we will be able to secure eggs for new breeding lines without bringing them in from USA. Then his area of expertise is alternative energy, GPS and mapping. The day flew by and soon we were back in Santa Cruz enjoying a steak dinner at one of the ‘local’ restaurants.

Marg went to Santa Cruz to check on the carnets and passports, only to find that Gord and one of women of his team would be arriving the next day. What a blessing! Saturday was spent wandering around one of the markets and the central part of Santa Cruz. It was a great opportunity to share some of the culture of the country, to talk about its problems and to discuss the position of mission and NGO groups in developing countries.

We were thankful for all the information we received from Gord and were thrilled that we could fulfill one of his dreams. He wanted to see a South American guinea pig farm and we knew just the place. Zenón Flores raises about 1000 guinea pigs per year, as well as ducks, chickens, hair sheep and cows. We spent Sunday afternoon at the farm and it was a relief to hear Gord say that the guinea pigs were high quality since we plan to use this as our breeding stock.

The most amusing part of the experience is Gord’s name. The locals have ahard time saying it so Gord asked about ‘gourd’ in Spanish. Calabeza just didn’t make the grade. So we kept calling him Gord. However, our friend Zenón, asks us about Gordo each time we visit. I am not sure how Gord likes to be referred to as ‘fat’ – but that is a compliment in Bolivia. We are very grateful for the time Gord spent with us and we look forward to working with him in the future.

Illegal Aliens!

2007-06-03T11:30:00.000-06:00

A Reason for Rejoicing

We want to be permanent residents of Bolivia. When we arrived a year ago we were advised to get a ‘permiso’ since it was much cheaper than a regular carnet. However, the laws have changed and everyone is now required to have a carnet. The law also says that you must first apply for a one year carnet, then a two year carnet and then a permanent one. However, the lawyer explained that things could be done differently and who were we to argue?

We still are not sure how things proceeded but we know that our passports were sent to La Paz and have come back saying that we are now permanent residents of Bolivia. The lawyer began the legal documentation for the carnets and we should be the proud owners of carnets when we get back from Canada.

The biggest problem is that our ‘permiso’ to drive has also expired and because we have lived here for more than three months, we cannot drive on an international license. We cannot get a drivers license because we do not have the carnet. We tried to get an extension on the ‘permiso’ but were not able to do so. Although we are told verbally that it is still good, we are not taking chances and are restricting our trips to the city.

Changing with the Seasons

2007-06-03T11:22:00.000-06:00

Blog time again. I can tell that we lived here a year already. All the things that were so new last year are now normal. The changes are incredible when we think back but our life has acquired a rhythm. Now that the rainy season is somewhat over and the helpers are coming back, construction is also happening.

It is fall. The temperature is dropping and it seems like we are getting more south winds this year, bringing cooler weather. We are not complaining since it makes working outside much more pleasant but the locals are freezing. They sit in the house with three or four layers of clothing and are still shivering. Both of us have resorted to wearing a sweatshort or light jacket early in the morning and later in the evening but during the day we are in our shirt sleeves, much to the amazement of the neighbours.

José is busy working on the second building that now has a name- El Centro de Capatación. If we called it an education center people think that we are starting a school. We did not want to call it a ministry center since people will think that it is a church. So we were calling it a multi purpose building for lack of a better name, but that sounds rather mundane. But the other day, a friend called it ‘el centro de capatación – a name that does not translate well into English. It literally means qualification but the nuances are toward learning. So, work began and is continuing for the present. The road is still soft so we have not been able to get in the sand and word is that the river is too high right now. We definitely need sand to continue. We are taking in cement, a few bags at a time, every time we go to Yapacani.

Although we are making in back and forth from town to the farm, it is a challenge. More often than not, Jake chains up the tires so that we can proceed. Thankfully, the river silt is solid enough that we can drive over it, but it is a challenge to stay on the road. The truck that was blocking the road is now gone and the cat is moved to the side so driving is getting much easier. The biggest problem is the ruts – some that reach to Asia. There are promises that the road will be fixed – next month – so we will see when it actually happens. We hear that they have calculated 50 hours of cat work needed to fix the road in Patujusal 2. However, when the 50 hours of work is completed, that is it, even if the road is not completed. There is a channel project in the river that does not work. Why not? Because they miscalculated the number of hours needed and they ran out of hours before the channel was completed – so it doesn’t work!

José is eager to complete the building. He is in a quandary right now but we cannot find a way to help him. His wife, Juana, and their children, Moises, Karen, and Katleen are living in Santa Cruz. Moises is at the age where he either moves from the community or no longer attends school. So the family moved to the city, leaving José behind. Juana is able to find work as a maid in Santa Cruz. She loves to work and there is nothing for her in the community. José, although an excellent mason, prefers the campo and realizes that he needs something for himself. He is 40 years old and knows that in a few years he will no longer be hired because of his age. It is a no win situation. We would like to offer both José and Juana full time work but that means that Moises would likely be apart from the family. We pray that things will work out as time goes on.

This is a typical situation in Bolivia. Some of the schools go to grade 4, others to grade 6 and others to grade 8. After that, the students go to Yapacani or another city to school. Often the boys further their education and the girls remain in the campo. We have a number of neighboring families where the mother and some of the children live in the city and the father and some of the kids remain in the campo. They visit back and forth but do not operate as a single unit. Some of the women have a vegetable stall in Yapacani to help with the family income but we are not sure that they make much money. The whole situation does not bode well for family unity.

This situation is difficult for the schools also. The school in Patujusal has lost about 10 students in the past year but the school at Km. 32 lost over 20 students. As the schools loose students, they close. When we travel to Yapacani, we find that the schools between Km. 23 and Yapacani have all been closed because the families have moved into the city.

And back at the campo --- Water and Mud

2007-03-13T15:54:00.001-06:00

Remember I wrote that we walked out through all the water. That was the beginning of the rainy season and we are hoping and praying that it will end. Jake choose to remain in the chaco for the entire time and was one of the five or six residents. The woman and children moved to other communities and the men stayed either at their chaco or with their families.

The December flood was only the beginning. By the middle of January the road had been flooded five or six times and the worst was yet to come. In the end of the month all of Bolivia was deluged with rain, so much that it made international news and calls for relief. Our community is situated very close to the Yapacani River. There is a loop in the river and when there is a lot of water flowing the flat land surrounding it gets covered since the water does not make the curve. The water just covers all the land with water and silt. There is really no way to explain all of this -- pictures will do it better. Apologies to those who have a hard time uploading this.

In early December we thought that the road was bad. The night before the rains the cat had disturbed some of the clay and made the road very slippery and difficult. After this espisode we went to Santa Cruz and bought chains.

The water covers about 2 kilometers of road. It is a low spot and the water runs straight through one of our neighbour´s house and yard. The top picture on the left is the house in early January (forget the date on the pic) and picture on the left is the same place in mid March. The yard has not dried up.

Although the water was a serious problem it recedes rather quickly and is usually done within a couple of days. But what is left behind is more of a problem. There is about a meter of silt dunes that resember snow banks in the road. These also extend into the rice fields. Some of the rice has been ruined by the rain and the silt since the heads were covered with water. Other is ready to harvest but it is very wet and muddy in the fields making it difficult to get people to assist with the harvest by hand.

The other day they tried to get a tractor in to take in the combine but the tractor became stuck in the mud and the owner returned home, leaving behind a very rutted road.

The road has to be opened. Jake offered to hire a cat to clean the road but the owner of the cat said it was too hard to do and would take about 40 hours just to move the silt. I am sure that he thought that he would never get paid for all his time. There is also a problem because there is no convenient place to put all the silt.

So it seems that we are still at square one with the road. There is a layer of dried silt that seals the water underneath. The men of the community built a cordoroy road using tree trucks and branches to cover the silt. In the areas where there are the silt dunes they loosened them with a spade and then moved as much clay as they could by hand. It was remarkable to see all them working, laughing and talking, knee deep in mud. But my night they were much quieter and very tired. They built the road well enough for Jake to get the truck out, for which we are very thankful. The next job was to get the tractor and the combine in. The men were very confident that that could be done. The challenge would be hauling the rice out on the wagons through all the mud.

A Visit to the Campo

2007-03-08T14:14:00.000-07:00

Our first visitors arrived at the campo even though we were not prepared. Intentions were to have the house completed before they arrived but the rain squelched all those plans. So Karmen and Jo had to survive some of the trials we experience in the jungle.

Our friend, Dionisio, was kind enough to drive us in to the community so we did not have to ride the local micro. We could leave during the day and walk in when it was light. The road showed all the effects of the floods -- many washed out areas, many areas full of nothing but mud. The trip took an hour longer than usual but we were able to drive to within a kilometer of the house. Although Jake had sent pictures of the mud, I was still amazed at the condition of the road. For about 2 kilometers there is nothing but silt dunes. Imagine meter high snow drifts but instead it is all silt. You can walk on the top but just under the surface there is nothing but wet clay. The men from the community were laying tree trunks across the road to built a road for the tractor and combine. The rice is ready to harvest and timing is important or the rice will fall. We walked about a kilometer to the house and we won´t dwell too much on the shape of the house.

First job was to get some lunch ready and Jake still had some soup left over. Jake harvested some fresh moringa so the girls had a taste of that in the soup. I thought it was a bit heavy with moringa but Karmen said that she liked it. After lunch the girls rested and talked while I organized the kitchen. Most of the women have left the community. There are only 5 people living in Patajusal 2 and the girls said they could understand why they left.

The truck was thoroughly stuck in the mud so Jake, Jose and Dionisio spent the afternoon digging it out. Talk about muscles and patience. Jack it up, put boards under it, jack it up, put boards under it -- until it is level with the road and it could be driven out a few feet. Something was broken on the front wheels and oil was leaking so Jake returned to Yapacani with Dionisio and the women stayed at the house.

Having only women in the house was probably a good thing. Supper was -- you guessed it -- rice! But with sou sauce and with sugar and cinnamon. We played some cards but soon it was time for bed. Following a sponge bath in the bathroom with the tile floor we were all ready to crawl into the tent. Since Jake was not home we all slept together in the tent and the girls did not have to use the mosquito nets! I think they were relieved.

The next morning we had a wonderful breakfast of Grandma´s scrambled eggs and real ketchup! Our morning walk was interrupted with more rain and it continued for about two hours. Yes, it interrupted the walk but worse, it made things worse for the men who were trying to repair the road. Will it ever end!! In the afternoon the girlds decided to bake a delicious chocolate cake from Grandma Siebenga´s recipe.

Jake and Dionisio returned and quickly fixed the truck. Everything was working but Jake would not drive out the truck since there are a lot of parts of trees sticking out and he doesn´t want to damage the truck. So he stayed in the community to help with the road and wait for the tractor to compact the road. Then he will come out. The girls and I returned to Yapacani with Dionisio on a road that was much worse than the day before.

So much for impressing Karmen and Jo with the community and the work we do. They wondered what I did all day and they found out that it was much easier to get homesick out there without any communication and not much to do when it rains. I wish they could go back to Canada with a better experience.

More travels with Marg

2007-03-08T13:14:00.000-07:00

Can you imagine an overweight, out of shape, fifty plus Grandma touring Bolivia with two attractive, slender, teenager girls. It did happen and we all survived.

Karmen and Jo are 19 and 18 respectively and experienced their first adventure in Bolivia. Coming from the modern North American world, it was a shock to find out that things do not happen on time or may not happen at all.

Carnaval is a South American experience that we didn´t think they should miss so we stayed in Santa Cruz for the weekend. The parade was scheduled for Saturday night but was cancelled due to rain. We heard it was rescheduled for 5 the next evening but in the morning that paper said it would start at 10. So off we went. The girls were a bit of a sensation and became the target for friendly foam and water spraying. It didn´t take long for them to purchase there own cans of foam and retaliate. And you can guess what happened next. Everything was in good fun until the paint spraying started and none of us appreciated that. Although there is some respect for the older people, we did get some paint on our clothes. The parade finally came but by then we were hungrey, burnt, and tired and didn´t even stay for the whole thing. The three women suffered from the affects of sunburn for the next few weeks.

Plans were to travel. It was not possible to go to the house due to mud and silt dunes so we thought that after a couple of weeks things would be better. Jake headed home and the women headed off. Due to the amount of rain in Bolivia many of the roads were closed with mud slides. Instead of taking the bus to Sucre as planned, we flew. Yes, it was a half hour ride instead of 8 hours by bus but we didn´t see the countryside. Sucre is a beautiful city and is the judicial capital of Bolivia. It is nestled in the hills (mountains) and is known as the white city. The hotel was downtown and close to the markets so the girls could shop to their hearts content. We didn´t do Sucre justice. We decided to go to a water fall which was supposely a twenty minute drive from the city. We were told that we could walk--not! It was more like an hour from the city center and would have included a long walk over many hills in the hot sun. We took a taxi and wondered if we would every find it. We didn´t. We saw the area in which the falls are located but would have had to hike for 3 hours to see the waterfall. I have a suspicion that there was a road to the falls but the taxi driver was unwilling to take it. We planned to go to the Children´s museum but it was closed. So much for Sucre.

On we went to Potosi, the highest city in the world and at one time, the richest city in the Americas. The economy is based on silver mining and the city has fallen on much harder times. We had the opportunity to tour the silver mine, an experience that I will leave to the younger crowd next time. It was mind boggling to imagine that people work in those conditions without the safety regulations that we are used to. We also toured the mint museum where all the money was made at one time. Although Potosi has a lot of history it is not as attractive as Sucre. It was good for me to visit this area since many of the people that we live with come from here.

Busses do not run frequently to the small community of Uyuni so we took the night bus -- another 8 hour ride through the darkness, arriving at 2 in the morning. Try finding a hotel at that time of night! We thought we had reserved a place but they didn´t receive the email. Thankfully we were able to find a place for three. There were still many people walking around looking for a place at that time of night but they were not willing to spend the money on a bit more expensive place. It costs us 45 bolivianos or about $5.50 to $6.00 each that night.

The next morning we left on the more interesting part of the trip, the Salar de Uyuni 3 day trip. The three of us, along with a couple from Denmark and a young girl from France and the driver, loaded ourselves into a 4 wheel drive and started on the trek. Only a couple of kilometers out of town we hit the salt flats and from then on we had to have faith in the driver. Due to the amount of rain we were travelling through between 12 and 18 inches of water on top of the salt. Imagine what that does to the engines! At this point there were a lot of vehicles, all travelling in the same direction toward the Salt Hotel. This building is totalling made of salt -- the building, the beds, the tables, everything. But it is closed due to contamination. Imagine a building closed in Bolivia! They are now building a new faciltity with a better sewage system.

From the hotel we headed once again into the horizon - literally. I tried to determine how the driver knew where he was going but I could not find the landmarks. I imagine that after driving the same ´róad´for years, you know where you are going. At this stage there was no longer any water and we drove over salt. hearing it crunch under the tires. A delicious lunch of potatoes, llama, and veggies was served and after lunch we were encouraged to walk around Fish Island. We didn´t even make it half way around and turned back due to heat and tiredness from our time in the mine. Next time. This island, one of 63, is in the middle of the salt flats and is covered with cacti. From Fish Island we again headed into the horizon with much less company. Day trips only go to Fish Island and then return to Uyuni. After a couple of hours of driving through nothing but salt we arrived at some thing -- either another island or the edge of the salar. Our driver decided to take one of the roads and told us not to be scared. We were not sure of what but it soon became clear that we were driving through mud, the kind of mud we have in the community. It wasn´t long before the bald tires were covered in mud and we were stuck. Unlike North America, people don´t stop. It wasn´t until we sent out Karmen and Jo that another group stopped. They looked at the situation and said they would send help from the village about a kilometer away. No one came. Thankfully a couple of other vehicles did stop and we finally got out. Now only to describe it. They took the spare tire off, placed it on the ground and put a 4 x 4 on top of it for more height. Then they took a long pole, placed it under the wheel nuts and leveraged the whole truck up. While a number were leveraging the truck, others placed rocks and boards under the tire until it was level with the road and then we could drive out. We arrived at our hotel in plenty of time and enjoyed a piping hot shower before our supper. Lights went out literally at 9.

Dawn came about 5:30 and we were on the road by 7. The salt flats were now behind us and we drove by small fields of quinoa and then nothing but desert type plants. The whole day was spent driving through some of the more desert areas of southern Bolivia. Some of it resembled the badlands of Alberta but the wind erosion was much more evident. One of the highlights were the flamingos. We could not get as close to them as we would have liked but were able to get some good pictures. Unfortunately though, they all disappeared with the computer. By evening we were high up on the Altiplano and experienced some colder weather. All of us were bundled up in sweats and blankets. It is hard to believe that most tourists go here in the winter when the weather is down to -30C. There was no hot water and so no showers. But we did have electricity for two hours so some were able to charge batteries on cameras, I Pods, etc.

3:30 in the morning, What a time to get up. But we were to be on the road by 4:30 and we made it with a minute to spare. The first few hours were spent driving in the dark. The point was to get down to the bottom of the park and then come back in the light. It was still dark when we passed the geysers and the cold and lack of light didn´t make it a great experience. The next stop was the hot springs. Although the water was warm there was a lot of algae present and that did not make the experienec that pleasant. But we can say that we sat in the hot spring in Bolivia. The rest of the day was a long drive back to Uyuni. I wished that there was more time for photo stops but it was not to be. The colors were a painter´s palette and there is no way to describe it. The rock formations were incredible. We did have a couple of incidents -- one was getting a little stuck in a creek and the other was a flat tire when we were about an hour out of town. I know that there are not many tools in the vehicles in Bolivia and understood that we did not have a spade or shovel when we were stuck in the mud, but not having a jack was something else. Thankfully, again, another vehicle stopped and helped us. We made it back to Uyuni safely and spent the next few hours waiting for the train to Oruro.

If there were train service throughout Bolivia, I would use it. This was a wonderfully smooth ride without all the stops. We travelled through part of the night, leaving at about 3 in the morning and getting to Oruro at about 9:30. The scenery around the lake was beautiful and it was a relaxing ride. From the train station in Oruro we had to go the bus station. Things were very busy and hectic there and during this hassle I had my computer stolen. What a way to end a good vacation! We could not change our tickets so had to leave right away so I could not even look for it. Not only was my computer taken but also all the cords to the rest of my electronic equipment and my identification. However, our passports are in La Paz so we still have those. Somehow I will survive without Bolivian ID until I leave again. The scenery from Oruro to Cochabamba is absolutely gorgeous but the whole trip was shadowed by the loss of the computer and by the infomercial guys who were selling health supplements, videos, and hand cream. What a way to travel. Our ears are still ringing.

We arrived in Coch, spent a day there, and planned to take the bus to Yapacani. But it was not to be. The roads were still closed, or closed again, due to mud slides so we ended up flying back. In all honesty, I don´t think any of us minded that we were not spending another 8 hours on the bus. We arrived safely back in Santa Cruz and spent the night in wonderful beds at the New Tribes Mission. What a treat to be back.

Travels with Marg

2007-03-08T12:26:00.000-07:00

The river came rushing down the road the evening of December 21, announcing the beginning of flood season. Plans for Christmas in Santa Cruz were in place and we were eager to get out and have some quiet time. I had hoped that the house would be completed by Christmas and I needed to make some mental adjustment when I realized that would not happen. Now I was hoping for everything to be done before the girls came in January. We were expecting our first visitors -- my grand-daughter, Karmen, and her friend, Jolyn. We were hoping to give them a good experience so that they would go home and spread the word that we had a wonderful place.

But everything changed with the rains. We, along with some of our employees, decided to walk out on the morning of the 22nd. There were about 10 of us in all. The waters started about 100 meters from our driveway and it was not long before we were walking in water up to our calves, and at one point, up to our thighs. That was not bad for us -- imagine the height on our short Bolivian friends! We walked about 3 kilometers through the water and then hit the dry ground. From that point on we walked periodically through water but at one point it was thigh deep and running rapidly. After I had a bit of a spill, we all joined arms and walked across that section together. If only I had had my camera on that trip but I had left it in Yapacani.

The length of the journey was about 11 kilometers and although I would like to say that I managed it well, I have to admit that I rode a moto part of the way. When we arrived at the La Pista corner we waited for some type of transportation for the rest of the way to Yapacani. Marcos went to the next town to try to get a taxi but was unable to do so. So we ended up riding in the back of a three ton farm truck, along with the goats, sheep, fish, produce and people. It was an experience but not one that I would want to do every day. It gave us an appreciation for the local transportation available but also made us really appreciate our truck! Meeting the locals was a great experience. We realized that we were well known in the communities as the people who picked them along the road when they were going to town. What goes around, comes around!

We spent Christmas with friends in Santa Cruz and I ended up staying in the city until I left for Canada. There was constant rain in the city and I knew that every drop would make its way into the campo at some point.

While in Canada I spent time with the the kids and grand kids. It was a memorable, and emotional, occasion to witness the baptism of our grandson, Kolten. We also celebrated the birthdays of our oldest grand daughter, Karmen, and our youngest grand daughter, Sophia. It always is great to see the kids. We also celebrated another birthday -- the 60th birthday of my sister, Agnes.

Plans were that I would fly out on February 9 and the girls would come on Feb 12. So I was at the airport on time, went through customs and security in about 15 minutes and thought things were going great. But the plane never left due to a mechanical difficulty and I stood in line for the next three hours to rebook the flight. Understandably, I was unable to make my connections after that time and I was quite sure that this would not be easy. Santa Cruz airport has a habit of being short of jet fuel so flights are regularly cancelled. It turned out that I was not able to catch another flight to Santa Cruz until the next Thursday. Jake took care of the girls when they came and I enjoyed the luxury of a first class flight and a restful night in a hotel in Miami. Finally I returned to Bolivia but was still not able to go home -- but that is another story.

Apologies!

2007-03-08T12:17:00.000-07:00

Sorry, it has been some time since I wrote in the blog. There are a number of reasons for this. First, I spent the month of January in Canada and was somewhat unaware of what was going on in Bolivia. Then I went on a two weeks whirlwind Bolivian tour with my grand-daughter, Karmen, and her friend, Jo. One this tour I lost my computer -- I think it was stolen. So all my information and pictures are gone for now. Thankfully, I backed up all the information when I was in Canada. Talk about God at work. I have never, never, in the twenty some years that I have used the computer, have I backed things up unless I was bringing the computer in for a problem. So I am very grateful that I have all my pics and info in Canada. The only thing I am missing is the pictures from the trip but I am sure that we will go there again. Karmen has pics that I can use. However, the blog will not be as colorful for the next while until I can obtain a new computer along with pen drive to transfer information. I am very thankful that it was only the computer and not one of the girls. Can you imagine if I had to explain the unexpected disappearance of one of them! But I am over the woulda, coulda, shoulda and am going on with life.