Pictures

chopping down a tree

what happens when sm´s spend to much time using machete´s

Me and Mauro looking our best

david and manuel throwing ¨logs of fire¨

the whole gang after a day of clearing the land


Dr. Matthews carrying a log



Some of our team after a days work

Clearing the land, looking for brakes, and sight-reading

This past week has been filled with both adventure and regularity. Mauro, Edwin, David, Manuel, and I spent all of this past week clearing out the hectar of land that will eventually have fruit trees planted on it. After the first day of working in the noonday sun we decided to get up earlier and work until about 11 am and then return to work again at 3 pm. This schedule proved to work well and by the end of the week we had cleared most of the brush and trees. Some of the highlights of working this week included the purchase of my very own machete as well as chasing a bull away from the pineapple field.
Although I worked most of the week, on Tuesday Dr. Matthews had me come with him and Domingo to try and get the projects Jeep fixed. I found out on the way to the mechanic that we were going to tie the Jeep up to the truck with a rope and tow it into Pulcallpa from Campo Verde to get it completely fixed. Also, I found out that I was going to be the one steering the Jeep while Dr. Matthews drove the truck through downtown Pulcallpa traffic. Unfortunately, when we got to the mechanic we found out that the brakes didn’t work on the Jeep so we couldn’t tow it in. Thus began the saga of finding an American brake line in a primarily foreign car country. Domingo and I spent most of the afternoon searching high and low through Pulcallpa for the part. We eventually got a mechanic to fabricate one for us. I then took the part back to the mechanic in Campo Verde so that he could install it. When I got to the shop the mechanic told me that it would not work because it was not strong enough to withstand the pressure of brake fluid. Even though the quest for the part ended up not working I improved my Spanish and learned were all of the Mechanics in Pulcallpa. The trip ended up being extremely useful because next time we have to find a part I will have some basic knowledge of how to find it.
Another highlight of this week was playing the piano for Sabbath School and Church. Although it was fun, at times it is very difficult because I have usually never heard the hymn before and the congregation usually doesn’t have music for it, which means they sing the tune from memory. This causes problems because I play directly from the music but many times the congregation sings the hymn at a completely different rhythm and speed. It usually takes me a few verses before I catch onto the hymn but with God’s help I somehow struggle through. Even though I make a lot of mistakes the congregation really seem to appreciate having a pianist. Another aspect of playing the piano for church is being flexible enough to play special music on the spot. This Sabbath the choir director informed me that I was playing with the choir for special music. Thankfully we got to church early and I was able to play the song through once with them. In addition to playing for the choir I also accompanied a trio for Sabbath school without ever playing the song through with them. God is definitely pushing me out of my comfort zone but I give Him all the praise for helping me through even though I sometimes feel that I can’t do it.
In a week we go on our next clinic to a village about a days journey away. It will be a hard week but I am looking forward to pulling teeth and hopefully assisting with some surgeries. Please pray that God will work on the people’s hearts in the village we are going to. Thank you to everyone for keeping our project in your prayers. God is definitely working!

Learning how to use a machete

This past week has involved a lot of hard work but has been very rewarding. At the beginning of the week we started clearing out one hectaria of land for noni plants which are a medicinal herb. Clearing out jungle is anything but easy. The first day involved a lot of clearing of brush and vines with machetes. Then we brought out the ¨beast¨ the beloved name of our chainsaw and went to work on the larger logs. One of the big differences between clearing out jungle and forests in the US is the size of the trees as well as their weight. A regular sized log in the US is usually quite light even if it is a hard wood. In the jungle a seemingly small log can actually weigh around 50 lbs! Again the guys had fun laughing at my desperate attempts to try and heave one of the humongous logs onto my back. It is actually really difficult for a tall person to try and lever a log onto their back when they have to do a complete squat to get under it. Hopefully in a few weeks I will get the technique down.
After the first day my hands were blistered, torn from briars, and having a hard time gripping the machete. But I had a lot of fun working with the guys and learning Spanish at the same time. Later that evening I casually asked how long we would be clearing land. Edwin replied that we would be working in the jungle for a month. So I guess I really will get good at using a machete. The rest of the week was spent working away. We actually got a lot of progress made which was cool to see. At the end of each day I looked like I had transformed into a black footed indian because my face was red from sunburn and my feet were black from soot! But all the dirt really made me appreciate the shower at the end of the day.
I would now like to talk about the fine are of using a machete. Most of the guys down here have been using machetes since they were really little. So when they teach you how to use one it looks extremely easy. All that you do is swing it at an angle and the tree splits like a ripe watermelon. Unfortunately it is not so easy. But after about 6 hours chopping away at brush and trees I started to get the hang of it!
Another highlight of this week was going to Maisisea again for the weekend. I got to preach my third sermon which was on prayer. It was fun to see some of our friends from the previous weeks and talk with them. I definitely feel that my Spanish improved because David usually only speaks Spanish and the other person on the trip was Manuel so I had the pleasure of learning a lot. Thanks to all the people who sent me birthday wishes. It really made my day to hear from all of you! Continue to pray for our project and our mission in Peru!

Post clinic: Fire, water, bees, and other exciting experiences

Balancing manuevers

Pulling the tank back up

Painting the tower

Fun in the mud

Carrying wood
After finishing up the clinic with the Gordon group we stayed in Contomana for an extra day to visit the hot springs for a team bonding trip. Dr. Matthews borrowed a dirt bike to take to the hot springs which was cool because I got to ride on the back! Unfortunately halfway there it started raining turning the dirt road into mud. Because the other half of our group were in motokars we had to help push to get them up some of the hills. We finally made it the 20 km to the hot springs. It was really nice to be able to sit in the hot water and take a break from the crazy pace of the past week. That night we stayed in a “tree hut” by the hot springs in hammocks. After supper we had team evaluations which not only were fun but also bonded us as a team. One “sad” thing that I realized that night was that I had officially lost my Michigan cold weather endurance. I was literally freezing in 65 degree weather! Because it rained most of the night the motokars couldn’t get through to pick us up in the morning. We decided to stick 3 girls on the back of the bike with Dr. Matthews while the rest of us walked. The plan was that he would come back and pick the rest of us up when he got them to a place were motos were running. Unfortunately that plan was nixed because one of the girls backpack straps got stuck in the chain causing the back wheel to lock up. We decided push the bike and try to get it working again. It was quite a site to see Dr. Matthews, Manuel, and I trying to push a dirt bike with a locked back wheel through about 6 inches of mud. We would push for about 10 feet and then take a break and then do it all over again. Finally, we got the bike started again and Dr. Matthews rode off. I thought that would be the end of it but after another hour of hiking we found him along side the road. After trying to restart the bike for about a half hour we left it at a school on the side of the road. We had about 12 km more to hike and then we caught motos into town, ate lunch, and went and picked the bike up from the school after the mud dried.
Because our launcha was leaving at 5 am the next morning we carried our stuff to the port and slept on some extremely hard benches until the boat arrived. This launcha was different from the last one in that it was packed with people. We barely had enough room to put our hammocks up. On the one floor there was close to 100 people smashed together like sardines. Needless to say it didn’t make for the most relaxing of trips. Because it was really hot in the room I spent quality time with my journal on the front of the boat were there was a nice breeze. We spent all day and all night on the boat and arrived in Pulcallpa at around 6 am Sabbath morning. Once we finally got all of the stuff off the boat we caught taxis back to km. 38. We got back just in time for church. Also we met the new SM, David. He is really cool and he knows Spanish really well, which will hopefully help me to learn it faster! On Sunday we washed laundry (my least favorite activity) and unpacked.
The next couple of days were spent reorganizing the medicines at the other house which doubles as our pharmacy. On the last day of organization the African killer bees that we have decided to swarm the outside of the house. We were held hostage by them for a couple of hours but they eventually calmed down. Later in the week we worked around the house putting up “bump outs” over the windows to prevent rain from coming in. While I was nailing one of the boards up a wasp stung me in my finger. I though it would just leave a little mark but instead my finger decided to balloon to a couple times its normal size. In the morning my whole hand was swollen but it finally dispersed a day later. On Thursday we had an extremely exciting day! It started out pretty normal. We took down the water tank so that we could put stronger boards under it. After we got those up we went to cut some wood for the top. While we were cutting we saw smoke coming from the pineapple field. Mauro ran to see what was happening and David and I followed close behind. Unfortunately as we came around the corner we saw that about one-quarter of the field on fire. We picked up some long sticks and started frantically trying to keep it from spreading. Eventually everyone got involved and with God’s help we put it out. It took most of the afternoon to put the fire out and by the time we got back to the house we were tired, hot, and sweaty. That night we had another scare because Cheva, our rotweiler, almost killed the monkey. She ran into the house and grabbed Franky but Kaitlin ran inside and started screaming at Cheva. For some reason she let him go and ran out the door. Needless to say the monkey was pretty excited to have survived its brush with death. On friday Mauro and I started painting the tower and by the end of the day we had it up and running again. These past two weeks have been really exciting and I have seen God working each and every day. Please continue to keep our team in your prayers as we continue to have new experiences!

Gordon Hospital clinic

Having fun sorting medicines

Pulling teeth

Sleeping "Franky"

Our new monkey

Elbow surgery

Getting the wormies out of my foot

Hanging out in the hammocks

We hit the ground running after our first clinic. After a two day “rest” which included doing a weeks worth of laundry we went into Pulcallpa to finish last minute preparations for the medical group that was coming down from Gordon Hospital in Georgia. There were 14 people coming to do a 4 day clinic with our group assisting them with translation, logistics, medical, and dental. We picked them up from the airport on Wednesday, got all of the supplies/medicine somewhat organized, and then headed to the port to catch a large boat called a launcha. It took a while but we finally got everything loaded onto the boat and we though that we were ready to leave. But as with most things in Peru nothing is confirmed until it actually happens. So after getting everything on the boat we found out that the boat wasn’t leaving until the next day. Thus began the saga of moving supplies/medicine to the next launcha. It was late at night and everyone was really tired but we all worked together and moved the stuff to the next boat which was leaving that night. God definitely had everything planned because the new boat was nicer and we had almost the whole third floor to ourselves. This was just an example of some of the amazing plans God had for us on the trip.
The next day was extremely relaxing because the way the launchas work is you bring your own hammock, hang it up between to poles that run the length of the room, and you have your seat on the boat. But even on the boat the work didn’t stop. We organized medicines, did a few minor surgeries, learned how to fit people for glasses, and had team meetings. At about 2 am the next morning we arrived at our destination which was called Inauhaya. After getting all the supplies off the boat we had to transport it to the town municipality. By the time we finished it was around 4:30 am. I fell asleep right when my head hit the pillow. But my visions of sleep quickly came to an end when Jenny woke our team up at 6 am to sort medicines. Because our team was big enough we split into two separate groups so that we could go to two different sites per day. The first site we went to ended up taking a 20 minute boat ride followed by a 7 Km hike through the jungle to get to. Laura and I were teamed up together to do the dental. The first day was especially frustrating for me because we ended up pulling only 3 teeth, all of which Dr. Matthews had to help us with. The last patient we had screamed so much that everybody who was even thinking about getting their teeth pulled decided not to! But with God’s help I was able to see the first day as a huge learning experience. After finishing the first day our team was closer, more efficient, and ready for the next day. The next day was Sabbath and fortunately we only had to take motokars to our site. Dental went much better because we got some additional instuments which helped tremendously. Before we started dental however Dr. Matthews did an insect removal surgery on my foot. He said that I had a whole family living in me but thankfully he got them all out! Another cool experience I had was assisting Dr. Matthews with a tumor removal from a girls elbow. After finishing up for the day at around 6 pm we went back to Inauhaya, had supper, and started with the night clinic. We ended up finishing the evening clinic at around 11 pm. I was utterly exhausted and pretty much everyone couldn’t think straight. But all in all it was a very rewarding Sabbath day! On Sunday we had to travel to a village about an hour away by boat. Unfortunately the propeller on our boat started trying to come off. Dr. Matthews and his friend Julio tried to fix it with a metal toothpick and a plastic bag (I love Peruvian ingenuity!). The fix worked for a little while but we ended up having to link together with the other teams boat and travel together. Some of the of the other highlights from Sunday included getting a pet monkey for the SM team and almost getting stuck in the middle of the lake because the boat ran out of gas! For the last day of clinic we stayed at our home base of Inauhaya. Dental was quite challenging but very rewarding. One of our last patients was a teenage girl who was deathly afraid of needles. After a lot of coaxing and a few tricks I finally got her numb. Unfortunately she did not like the feeling of getting her molar pulled out. I didn’t think I was going to get the tooth out but with Laura’s help and a little prayer the tooth finally came out! The feeling of getting a difficult tooth out is indescribable. You really have to experience for yourself to understand. The last day of clinic didn’t end up finishing until about 11 pm because we had to finish seeing patients and pack up supplies so that we could leave in the morning. Tuesday morning came and we were all sad to leave. We packed everything onto a midsized pecki pecki and about 8 hours later we reached our destination of Contomana were the Gordon group was flying to Pulcallpa from. The next morning we saw them off from one of the most interesting airports I have seen. Although there was pavement it was extremely worn. Also, the “terminal” consisted of a grass-covered hut. As the Gordon groups plane took off into the air our clinic was officially over. It had been hard but very rewarding. We saw hundreds of patients and with God’s help made it through the week!