Mission Projects in Mashabo

Anticipation and preparation; two words that accurately describe these past few months. Ever since my dad and his mission team purchased their tickets, thus making their trip a sure reality, I have been looking forward to his arrival. At the same time, I have certainly come to appreciate all the work that goes into the local end of a mission trip. My sister and I were bequeathed the task of coordinating all aspects of preparing for the group, aside from the building project, the details were seemingly endless…housing for everyone, shopping lists, menus, schedules for kitchen duties etc, hotel rooms in G-town, transportation via land and sea, evening meetings, temporary licensing for the doctor, I began to wonder if it would ever end.

Finally, the day came, and we traveled to the airport to meet the group. I cannot begin to describe how wonderful it was to see my dad arrive in this country I have come to love. Next came the cramped bus ride to the river, the wet crossing, the long tractor ride, and finally unpacking and settling in Mashabo.

Thus began the busy, fun-packed week of building, clinic, visitation, evening meetings and even some time for a bit of swimming and other such fun. All the work put into our end of the trip was well worth it, and I thoroughly enjoyed having my dad here.

Day 1: Starting with the floor

Day 2: Wall # 1 and # 2

Day 3: wall # 3 and #4

Day 4: inside walls the water tower

Day 5: Finishing touches on water tower, and working on the roof

The team that came down with my dad

A Few of the Reasons that I Love Mashabo

Here are just a few of the many reasons that I have come to love Mashabo...

The Elusive Jaguar

Ever since setting foot in Guyana I have been longing to see a jaguar in the wild, at a safe distance, of course. I have seen their footprints nearly everywhere: under our dorm, on the trail to Bethany or Mashabo, elsewhere around campus, taunting me. I have even heard stories of jaguar sightings, walking down the trail a little ahead of one of the villagers, up in a tree in the jungle, and various other locations. Yet somehow these beautiful cats have remained elusive to my fovea centralis.

There are several of us in this little jungle clearing, who are intent on spotting a “tiger” as the locals refer to them. We have threatened to camp out on the airstrip, where we see their tracks repeatedly, or jokingly suggested using Lulu, the campus dog as bait to attract them into view. But so far, none of us have been in the least bit successful. In fact many times it seems as though we are alone in the jungle, with only birds, monkeys, lizards, a multitude of unique, and sometimes loathsome, insects, and the occasional tropical rodent or small mammal. I feel entirely safe wandering the jungle, sometimes even at night (for which I have been properly chastised by my dear mother=)

Yet after 6 long months of eagerly watching and waiting to view the big beautiful cat, I am still waiting and hoping…

Then, one night when least expected, it happened. I was lying in my bed, in that hazy grey expanse between wakefulness and sleep, when suddenly a voice jolted me awake “Liz, wake up, they just saw a jaguar!” Suffice it to say that I rapidly exited my bed, and attempted to untangle myself from my mosquito net without further prodding. There stood my sister, in an excited voice, telling me a tale of a jaguar sighting that yet again I had missed.

It seems that this particular evening, after our staff meeting, where one item of discussion was our broken pump and our hive of bees sitting serenely on top, two of the male staff members decided upon a plan, they would venture down to the creek in the dark mantle of night to move the bee hive while the bees were slumbering. Although this sounded like a curious spectacle to behold, I decided that my pillow took precedence after a long day, so I hastened back to my humble abode for the night. After I left, the troops convened for counsel before heading down to the creek and the waiting bees.

As they trudged down the hill toward the creek, pushing their way between the branches of jungle bushes, they heard an odd sound. It could only be described as a grunting snarl, and they quickly swung their light in the direction of the sound. There in their flashlight beams, only 20 yards away, stood a jaguar, his eye flashing back green in the light.

As soon as they caught sight of him they quickly decided that the bees could wait for another day, especially when he growled again and began walking toward them slowly. These two young men turned on their heels and began walking rather quickly back in the direction from whence they had come. They returned from the creek laughing loudly and telling their story…a story that I had to chide myself for missing.

Water-less

Since the night of the girls clandestine mission to the boys dorm, the little clearing in the jungle has been without running water. While it was clear that the problem was with the pump, and not the power source, the masculine occupants of this clearing were unable to access the inner recesses of the water pumping apparatus due to the location of a hive of honey bees. It seems that back in November when these bees were purchased and a location was being scouted for their residence, the water pump appeared to be the ideal location. It was not in the area of the creek where humans usually frequented, it was near some lovely banana trees which the bees would appreciate, and it put the bees very near to water. In hindsight, as is usually the case in such circumstances, that idea proved to be a very poor plan.

Now if the only problem was the location of the bees, that could be easily remedied by moving their hive to a more suitable location, but there was also another problem. The only articles of bee-keeping clothing that was available when the bees were purchased was the hat and the mask. While wearing these items would definitely keep one from sustaining stings to the face, it would not afford much protection for any other body parts. Moving the bees at night was suggested, and even attempted, but the result of that expedition is another story. Shall we simply say that it ended in a rapid exodus on the part of two particular gentleman for good reason.

To fast-forward through the gory details, the pump was finally accessed with only a swollen left hand on the part of Michael due to several bee stings. After examination it was found that a part of the pump, I will not even pretend to understand, was wet so it was disassembled, dried and then reassembled. It was then discovered that another part was broken, and despite many heroic attempts on the part of several men, a solution was not forthcoming. The company who manufactured the water pump was contacted in an attempt to secure a replacement part. That’s when the trouble worsened.

It seems that their pumps are so well acclaimed, that it is commonly believed that they will not break, hence they do not sell replacement parts. At first they were unbelieving that our pump could possible be broken, after much assurance that it was very much broken, they insisted that we send it to them for inspection. Although it was carefully explained to the company representative the location of the pump, and the distance that location happens to be from their company headquarters, they were unimpressed and continued to insist that the pump be returned. I suggested that we inform them that their representative was perfectly welcome to travel to our jungle home and assess the pump for himself, but for some reason they did not think it prudent to include that in their communications with the company. The end result of the encounter was that our pump was broken, there was no way to acquire a replacement part, and the pump itself would be rather difficult to get to the States. It would appear that we are without relief from our water-less existence.

And so the occupants of the clearing in the jungle have resigned themselves to their fate of creek bathing and laundering, water hauling for cleaning and toilet purposes, and praying for rain since rainwater is significantly preferred as drinking water at the moment without the pump and filter.

Thus far, as soon as our rainwater 500 gallon tank nears empty, the skies have never failed to open up and pour down a glorious liquid. I am learning to pray for, and be thankful for rain. Most of all, when we finally get a pump again, whenever that may be, I will be immensely thankful for the beauty of running water. Afterall, we are very blessed to have such things as running water and electricity at the chool, and I think we take it for granted far too often.

Random Happenings

Learning to drive an outboard 40hp, 2-stroke engine...now I can drive vehicles land, air and sea Alexis and Anca on the boat

Passing the boat...man she drives with speed =)Rainbow over the Sisson's house after a shower that we were thankful for since it replenished our drinking water
Some howler monkeys in the jungle behind the girls dorm

A group of us after AY one Sabbath evening My sister with the pumpkins...doesn't she look so proud A cute little boa that caught a bird in our bora one morning
I wanted to keep him!

Sabbath afternoon lay activities =)

Stealthy Night Ops

The inky blackness of night had long since settled on the clearing in the jungle. The only light to be seen spilled out of several buildings, but was quickly swallowed up in the pervasive darkness of a moonless night. Had someone been looking closely, they may have chanced to see two shadows creeping along silently in the night, intent on a covert operation. Thankfully, however, not a soul witnessed the two shadows as they successfully accomplished their mission before vanishing again into the veil of night.

Who were these two shadows? What secretive mission were they so intent on? In order to properly answer these questions we must traverse backward in time for a moment…

Once upon a time, away over in our jungle home, lived a lovely solar powered water pump that we loved dearly. Obviously, we had ulterior motives for loving this little pump, for it delivered a delightful liquid substance into large water barrels that were then piped into our buildings. This fluid was especially ideal for such things as showers, drinking, washing dishes, and flushing toilets.

Nevertheless, from time-to-time, our water barrels would run dry, usually because someone had forgotten to turn off the water in the garden, or there had not been adequate sun that day to power the pump to fill our precious barrels. On occasions such as these, the girls dorm would be the first to run out of water, courtesy of dear old gravity and the fact that their dorm was at the top of a slight hill. The boys dorm, at the bottom of the incline, would continue to have water awhile longer, until the long, thick, pipe relinquished its last drop.

Then one day, the barrels ran dry while the sun was shining, so some of the jungle dwellers ventured down to the trusty water pump to see what the trouble was. The checked the pipes, the wires, the solar panels, and even tried running the pump on the generator, without any success. It appeared that the pump was the faulty one, but the solution was not forth-coming. Sadly, it appeared that the occupants of the little jungle clearing would be without running water until the problem could be identified and then fixed.

That morning the girls dorm rain out of water, then the kitchen ran out of water, but down the hill the boys dorm still had running water. The gentlemen (who hardly merit the word at times) were not in the least sympathetic, and loudly proclaimed how “blessed” they were as the ladies trekked down to the creek for their evening bath. They bragged of flushing toilets, running showers, and all the water necessary for doing their laundry, and as they talked the ladies decided that something must be done.

Two of the young ladies, Vilissa, and some white girl, discussed what should be done with the haughty boys, and quickly agreed upon a brilliant plan. They decided to wait for night to fall, before venturing down to the boys dormitory to shut off the water valve beneath the building. This would stop the arrogant claims of the boys once and for all.

As darkness fell, they hastened to carry out their mission. First they made sure all the boys were otherwise occupied, before sneaking down the hill, through some tall grass, and under the dorm. After straining to find the water valve in the darkness, they were finally successful and turned it into the “off” position. As they slipped away into the night they couldn’t help but laugh to themselves about their triumph. Their mission was complete and the boys would not have reason to boast any longer.