Travel - Bolivian style

Another year has passed and it is time for both reflection on the past year and hope and anticipation for the new. The last year has been a time for change, for growth, for challenge. Much the same is anticipated for the next year and we are grateful that we are able to look forward in faith to what we are doing.

Our Christmas was certainly not spent in the same way we did in the past. Without the cold and snow it just wasn’t the same. We planned to leave Cochabamba by bus and travel to Yapacani. There we were to meet up with Pete and Linda, travel to the community of Challevito and spend Christmas there. We planned to visit our friends in Patajusal, as well as meet with the people from CEPY with whom we worked last year. It is a good thing that we are becoming Bolivian and, therefore, used to great changes in plans.

The bus companies decided in their great wisdom that it would be a good time to stop service for a couple days before Christmas. The busses and transportation trucks were told by the government that they were to pay taxes. The trucks complied but the busses have not. So, another order came down and, in response, the busses did not run the Wednesday and Thursday before Christmas. So that was one part of the story. The other was that Finian, Pete and Linda’s 18-month-old son took a tumble from steps and broke his leg. He is in a cast from his waist down so is fairly immobile. Pete and Linda traveled with him to Santa Cruz and decided it was better to stay there rather than return the community. Pete made arrangements to meet us back in Yapacani so we wanted to be there. But how? Fly. A trip to the airport only to find that the planes for the day were filled and they would not let us buy a ticket for the evening flight until an hour before the flight left. I wasn’t comfortable with that solution since I was not convinced there would be tickets and we would get into Santa Cruz late at night, with a two hour taxi ride to Yapacani ahead of us. A friend, Fredrico, was helping us and we were in his brother’s taxi. Jake and I had joked before about taking a taxi so we asked if he would be willing to take us to Yapacani. After some discussion, he agreed. Now this is a 6 to 8 hour ride one-way, depending on the roads. You have to understand the Cochabamba taxis. Most of them are used Japanese imports that have been transformed into taxis. The steering column has been removed from the left side of the vehicle and installed on the right side. The control panel, if it works, is still on the left hand side. Then they convert it from gasoline to natural gas since natural gas is much cheaper. Now you have a Cochabamba taxi. The other thing to understand is that Cochabamba is in a valley, surrounded by mountains. The inclines are great and the roads certainly do not meet North American standards. When there is rain, there are mudslides and there had been rain the previous week so much the road had been recently cleared – at least one lane was clear. For the Canadians that know the Fraser Canyon, that would be the closest I was think of. Now put the road from Edzo to Yellowknife going down the canyon and you would have somewhat of an idea of what it was like.

So just after lunch we head off. Before we left we all prayed together for a safe trip. We travel through the outskirts of Cochabamba and stop at the first town. Frans gets out with a bundle of papers and trots off to a checkpoint. You must get permission from the local constabulary before you can proceed. They check the papers and his license, collect the tax and we are on our way. The country is gorgeous. We are very high but the mountains are still covered with grass and trees. Farms are scattered along the hillsides and we see the farmers out working in their fields with the oxen and plows. Soon we stop. Maybe he is stopping so that we can take a picture. No, the controls on the car do work and it is evident that the engine is heating up. This car is not meant to be going up these hills! Being prepared, Frans has brought along extra water and they refill the radiator, wait a few minutes and proceed. We have been on the road for an hour, travelling through beautiful country but I realize that we have only gone 20 kilometers. The scenery gradually changes and we enter the rainforest. This is also very mountainous country and there is very little civilization. We watch the heat gauge and we are managing that. We get to the top on an incline and Frans pulls over once again. There are a number of trucks stopped at the same place and the small shack on the side of the road indicates that is store that sells oil etc. for vehicles. Frans and Fredrico get out and check the tires. They look fine to us but the problem is not the tire. The brake has seized, the brake pads are totally worn out, the drum is sizzling hot. I am sure we could have fried eggs on it. Thankfully, one of the truckers takes it apart. The line needs to be plugged so that we do not lose the brake fluid. Frans and Fredrico are going to put a piece of plastic around it but Jake gets a small piece of wood to plug the hole. The brake is reassembled, minus brake pads, and off we go. I am wondering if we should go back over the mountains we have already come or forward into the ones we don’t know. Frans and Fredrico don’t seem that concerned and off we go. Did I tell you that every time we stop the car it takes two or three tries to get it started? We enjoy a few more miles of scenery. Think also that there are a fair number of trucks on the road so we pass them on these wonderful mountain roads. As we were passing one, Frans veered off to the side (thankfully toward the mountain!). The brake had gone again, or rather the brake fluid has leaked out so we are without brakes. From then on, he managed control the speed using the gearshift and the emergency brake. At one point a new highway was being built. First they level out the existing road. Loads of stones, gravel and sand are dropped along the road. Then they manually load the stones into wheelbarrows, place them on the road, and level it off with gravel and sand. When all this prep work is done, they take cement and pour in over top and trowel it all by hand. When the road is finished they place large rocks on top so that people cannot drive on it until the cement is cured. Then they take off all the rocks and the road is ready to use. If I had known what was happening, I would have taken pictures of the whole operation. Next time. Frans was a very careful driver, but I also believe that faith, prayer and God’s guidance brought us through. Soon after we left the mountains we arrived at a small town and spotted a garage. Within a half an hour we had brand new brake pads and we were on our way down a paved highway for the rest of the trip. It seemed very uneventful after the mountains.

We arrived at our little hotel in Yapacani at 8:30, three hours later than we had planned. We walked in and greeting the young man at the desk. He looked at us, pulled out his book and started paging through it, virtually ignoring us. Soon he came to a page, looked at us with a big smile, and pointed to our names from last year! We were amazed – and impressed! We were now friends and we didn’t have to fill anything in. There was only one room left – with three double beds. We planned on taking Frans and Fredrico out for supper before they headed back and this time it seemed like the car had given up. It wouldn’t even turn over. After some fiddling, it started once again and the guys were safely back in Cochabamba at 5:30 the next morning.

We started the next day by phoning Nico and making arrangements to meet him. With our limited Spanish we made plans. Pete came at 9 and we headed off to the CEPY office. We spent the morning discussing the future of CEPY, what is wants to do and where it is headed. It has reached a crossroads in its existence and has to reevaluate its purpose and mission. They would like to continue to work but realize that they have not been as effective as they could be. We also told them what we would like to do and asked advice on our plans. It became obvious that they did not want people simply to come from the city and tell them what to do or how to do it. If we plan to living in the community we would be welcome but not if we were only coming ‘from the city’. They also were quite strong that the relationship with the people was the most important part of development. I was very appreciative of their honesty. We plan to return in February and have another meeting. I will review their constitution and structural plan and they are going to look for communities and land within those communities. It still seems like Patajusal is the best choice but we want to make sure. We planned to go to Patajusal on Saturday but it rained Friday night. The Land rover was not working and they did not think that the motorbike would make it through the sand. So we didn’t go. That is another February visit. It would have been good to see the people there but this way they won’t have their hopes up already.

Instead we spent the morning with Nico and his family and then traveled to Santa Cruz. We booked into our usual hotel and enjoyed the air conditioning. In the evening we attended the Christmas service for the International Church, the English speaking church in Santa Cruz. We met some of these people last year so it was not entirely new. We knew that Jake and Dorothy Fehr attended that church but were not sure that they would be there since Jake planned to be on air at the radio station in Pailon all day Sunday. We sat in the back with Linda and Finian – and his cast. After the service we were talking and a couple came up to us. It was Jake and Dorothy. They were very good to us and took us along to a Bolivian Christmas at one of their friends. It was a good time – good food, good people, and a lot of fire works and fire crackers. Singing Christmas songs in church made it seem somewhat Christmasy but spending the evening sitting outside with fireworks reminded me of the American July 4 we spent in Sioux Falls. The next day we spent with Bill and Heidi Janeke. They work with the Christian Veterinary Mission and World Concern. It was a relaxing day and we were very thankful to all of them for including us in their day. That night we moved into the South American Mission Guesthouse and stayed there for the rest of the week. From there we were able to scout out the city, check prices on things, and see what was available in Santa Cruz. On Wednesday we headed out to Pailon to Radio Trans Mundial. It was a fantastic experience, seeing the station, seeing new country, and meeting new friends. We felt very much at home with Jake and Dorothy and their friends. And I even got to see some Corner Gas episodes!! Back in Santa Cruz we spent more time looking, planning and thinking. Thanks to Jake Fehr (working with two Jakes is a challenge!) we were able to scout out some vehicles although we did not buy one.

So we now start a new year. We are so thankful for:
*The support of our families. This includes our sons, daughters in law, and grandchildren; our brothers, sisters, nieces, and nephews, our parents.
*The opportunity to work with Evangelical Free Church of Canada Mission, for their vision and their openness to let us explore God’s world and our place in it
*For the members of our team: for Jake and Dorothy, Steve and Myra
*For the wonderful support and friendship of Pete, Linda and Finian
*For the support of the people back home and all those who support us through finances and prayers
*For our language school, our teachers, and their understanding of our needs; for the rest of the students and their constant support with our studies
*For the intricate communication networks that we are able to use to keep in contact *The opportunity to celebrate Jake’s parents’ 60th wedding anniversary in January and spending some time with our children and grandchildren
*The witness we are able to give to the people we know in Canada and US and to the people were getting to know in Bolivia
*Our great Savior and Lord who holds us all each day, every hour in his hand.