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Our current intern in Ixiamas, Bolivia, is 2008 Practicum graduate Becky Forrest. Becky served on short-term mission trips in 2007 and 2008 in Ixiamas. She is now in her second year as an intern. The joys of having power on a regular basis after the blockade opened up and the arrival of fuel was short lived. One of the generators went out of service, and we now hove power on a day and off a day. We are not sure how long this will take or even if they plan on repairing the generator because we have power headed this way from the big hydro plant near LaPaz, which we have been told will be here before the end of the year. This also brings water shortage because we are not able to pump water up to our holding tank. In the United States, we take so many things for granted. Winter is almost here with the cool south winds. I never realized how cold 65 to 70 feels when you are accustomed to the 90’s, and suddenly you have 15 to 20 mph winds and then the temperature drops 20 degrees. Two walls of my room are screened windows, so I close the curtains, duct tape them to the wall to keep the wind out, and pull out my wool blanket and fleece. In a few days, it will be 90 again. You can imagine how good that cold shower feels good on those days! That is winter in Ixiamas. Auburn UMC sent a team of college students, vets, medical professionals and others to Quesimpuco, Bolivia, from May 14-24. Because the project is in such a remote location high in the Andes Mountains, internet access is unavailable. Team leader Scott Middleton has been contacting his wife Lindsey, who is sending us updates, via satellite phone. May 15 Update
I am happy (and relieved) to report that the team made it safely to Quesimpuco about an hour ago. No car troubles, no one got sick, and they made the trip in 10 hours and 45 minutes – in other words, they’ve had a really good day! They have already unloaded and are now getting settled in for the night. They will attend church in the village in the morning, enjoy the official village “greeting†and then get set up for the week. There will be no call-in to the AUMC services tomorrow – they will do that next week from La Paz (where the Bishop of the United Methodist Church there apparently is planning a dinner for the team!). They will also have a visit this week from John Funk, a missionary in Bolivia with the Board of Global Ministries of the UMC. I think we’ll all sleep better tonight, knowing they all are safe and sound — and that each team member is exactly where God has placed him or her. They probably won’t check in for another day or two, so I’ll send another update then. If anyone would like a visual of Quesimpuco as you pray for the team, Scott found this image on Google earth – it is a few years old and predates the bridge site, but it’s an amazing illustration of how far this team has gone to be the hands and feet of Christ: click here. May 17 Update Hello again,Scott had a lot of information to share when he called tonight, so I literally took notes! Today, there were about 35 optometry patients, 50 dental patients, 220 animals at the vet clinic (but word has gotten out – they are expecting as many as 1,000 tomorrow!) and about 120 kids at VBS. Some team members also built new pews for the church. When school let out this afternoon, the students came up to play, so I think they enjoyed some quality time with the high school kids, as well.
Yesterday, the team enjoyed the village greeting, which was apparently interrupted by rain (unusual for this time of year), and then went to church. They set up the clinic for today, and then went back down to the village for evening worship. Scott said the weather is windy and cold, and it took 3 or 4 calls before the satellite phone could get through. He called about 8:30 our time (they’re an hour ahead of us) and said that everyone else had already gone to bed. In other news, the Bolivian government is preparing to build a hospital and new elementary school in Quesimpuco and will apparently be tearing down the Catholic church to do so. For those of you who have been before (or who have, like me, just seen lots of pictures) this will include tearing down the bell tower, which is probably the biggest landmark there. This will leave the Methodist church as the only house of worship in the village. The missionary delegation (not sure who that entails besides John Funk and his wife) will arrive tomorrow and stay for a few days, and they will have Market Day on Wednesday. I think that covers all my notes! It sounds as if everyone is in good shape and they have all earned a good night’s rest. Scott said he will check in again, probably on Wednesday. I know we will all continue to lift up the team in prayer! Our current intern in Ixiamas, Bolivia, is 2008 Practicum graduate Becky Forrest. Becky served on short-term mission trips in 2007 and 2008 in Ixiamas. She is now in her second year as an intern. April 12 was Kid’s Day in Bolivia, so the Internado decided to have a celebration for the kids of Ixiamas. We made an announcement on the Christian radio station and over the loud speaker in town. Every time we looked up more kids were coming. The last count we had was 85. It was a great Sunday afternoon of fun, games and sharing God’s word. We had prizes for contests, served yupi (the Bolivian version of Kool-aid), cookies and bags of candy for each one there. A short trip to LaPaz to turn in papers to Interpol for my visa renewal turned into more than a week-long stay. Rachel, Mateo and I were stuck in LaPaz because of a strike, and the buses are not traveling down the Hill. Finally after three days of no travel, we decide I should fly back to Rurrenanbaque and take the mini bus to Ixiamas. I arrived back on April 30. The blockade continued until May 8th. This has created many problems for the people living down the road from Caranavi (which is about 6 hours from LaPaz). Most of our supplies and food comes from LaPaz, so nothing has been getting through. The shortage of diesel has created power shortages. The last week, we only had power from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. We are out of most vegetables, such as greens, tomatoes and carrots. You could still find some potatoes and onions for sell in town. Eggs were also hard to find, but we had stocked up when we realized it was going to be a while before they opened the road. We take a lot for granted in the United States when it comes to transportation. There is only one road from LaPaz to Ixiamas, so when it is closed for whatever reason, we have problems here. Can you imagine only one road from New York to Florida and all the food was grown in Florida. Or only one road from Texas to Atlanta, and no gasoline could come from Texas to Atlanta. But the people here are used to being without from time to time, and it really doesn’t seem to bother them. They just do the best they can with what they have. Bolivar Sanga, SIFAT 2009 practicum graduate, arrived in LaPaz when we got there on April 22. Bolivar has come from Ecuador to Ixiamas to work on water projects in the jungle communities that don’t have clean water. He fortunately took one of the last buses from LaPaz before the blockade. Unfortunately with the gas shortage, he has not been able to travel to any of the communities yet. We have been getting the word out that he will be drilling wells for any communities that need it. We are hoping that the first community he will be able to provide clean water for will be the village of Puerto Ruso that we visited last fall. The only water the Tschimane’s have there is from a really muddy river, and we hear of sickness among the people. Please keep this project and the Internado in your prayers. May God’s grace cover you with his love, Our current intern in Ixiamas, Bolivia, is 2008 Practicum graduate Becky Forrest. Becky served on short-term mission trips in 2007 and 2008 in Ixiamas. She is now in her second year as an intern. Yay! The heat has broken for now in Ixiamas! Easter Sunday blessed us with a thunderstorm and cooling winds. It finally got below 80. I believe winter is on its way. They say it has been cold in LaPaz; I guess I will see for myself in another month when I go to start the process of renewing my visa. I pray it will be an easier process than last year. Most of the students went home over the long Easter weekend. Schools were closed for Good Friday here. Easter is not celebrated here like it is in the US. In fact, church services were not held in Ixiamas because it was Election Day to elect a new mayor. There are no chocolate bunnies or marshmallow Peeps to eat or colored eggs to hunt. Thank the Lord I had CD’s of last Easter’s service at Belin UMC, my home church. Holy Week was always special for me, since the choir had a lot of special music at that time. I have to admit to being a little homesick. With the students gone, the staff took turns cooking, so we had some really good meals that were different than what we normally have. I still had a little cornmeal left from the bag a group brought me last year, so I cooked black-eyed peas and cornbread muffins. We also had the big chicken slaughter. We have been raising chickens to sell as one of our money making projects. Saturday, we sold around 20, so there was much work to be done since they had to be slaughtered and cleaned. I back away from the task and took the position of photographer and helped with some cleanup afterward. Rachel stepped right in there and plucked three. She did a good job but was a little slower than Mercedes (our cook), Delia (animal and grounds caretaker) and Nancy (our only student here). Those ladies have had much experience with chickens–a lost art in my family, and one I don’t really want to learn. English classes are going really well. We have had a request for another class on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. At the present time, I have 10 students with classes 4 nights a week. They seem to be enjoying learning, and we have a good time with lots of laughs at some of the pronunciations. It is also helping me with my Spanish, which is coming along. I am trying to do my devotions with the students in Spanish this year. I write it out in English, and then translate to Spanish. Eduardo, my Spanish teacher, then reads it and helps me to correct the grammar. I have really been learning a lot that way and he says he enjoys my devotionals. We will be finishing the rice harvest this week. We had a lot left over from last year, so Andres did not plant as much this year and planted later in the year. Many people in the area who planted early lost most of their crops to disease, but God has blessed our harvest. We will have plenty. Please keep the Internado in your prayers. Our current intern in Ixiamas, Bolivia, is 2008 Practicum graduate Becky Forrest. Becky served on short-term mission trips in 2007 and 2008 in Ixiamas. She is now in her second year as an intern.
The last few weeks have gone by so fast it is hard to believe. God blessed me again with a companion to travel with on the bus down the “BIG HILL†because I am still uncomfortable traveling alone. The first few days I spent unpacking and getting adjusted to being back in Bolivia. Life is so very different here, and it is the rainy season so the heat and humidity take a while to get adjusted to. It was so good to see the students from last year and meet the new ones. We have 10 girls, 5 returning from last year and 9 boys, 3 from last year so far this year. I have finally learned the names of all the new students, and for the most part, I have the pronunciation correct. We also have a new staff member this year working with the animals and agriculture on the campus. Delia previously worked at the internado in Sapecho as a cook when the internado there was open and caretaker after it closed. She has a son who is now one of our students. We are very blessed to have her here, and I look forward to getting to know her.
Week 2 started out with a bang, English and computer classes with the students, staff and 8 people from town. Some of the new students have no computer experience, but they really seem to be fast learners. I was pleased to find out that many of last year’s students remembered a lot of the English they learned last year. My biggest challenge right now is the classes for the people from town. They are a group of people forming a tourist association and want to prepare by learning to speak English. It is very different from the kids because they have a greater desire to learn, but share some of the same problems in pronunciation that I have with Spanish. We will both learn a lot from each other. I have also started back with my Spanish lessons, and fortunately, I did not forget all I had learned while home for 2 months. I thank God I am much better at communicating than a year ago. The rice is now ready to harvest, and we had two afternoons working in the chaco. I was asked to stay and help cook so our cook could go harvest rice. She was the champion and harvested more than anyone else, so I guess that means I will be in charge of cooking on the afternoons of working at the chaco since my harvesting skills are lacking. I made the bad mistake of bringing a room thermometer with me this year. Yesterday at 6 p.m. it was 98 degrees in my room. Thank God for cold showers and my fan. The rainy season is starting to change, and we have not had rain for five days with hardly a cloud in the sky. The heat has been on. I have a hard time getting the students to drink enough water. They are like the kids at home; they want soda all the time and spend their own money for it. At our meals, we usually have fresh fruit juices and herbal teas, which are very refreshing. As I finish this post, I see clouds moving in so maybe today will be the day the heat breaks. Until next time, please remember all of us here at the internado in your prayers as we try to teach God’s way to the students here. Grace, love and peace, |
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