Bits and Bites....

Today we, MAF Sentani, celebrated 1 year of accident-free flying. We know that this is a gift from God and for that gift we are thankful. So we had a lunch with all the national workers and pilots/mechanics/teachers etc... and their spouses. After a couple short speeches, we dove into the food. It was a sea of light blue with dark blue. All MAF national workers just got new uniforms. I feel very bad for them because they are all polyester... sweat-inducing stuff... Thankfully, Hugo can wear his own "uniform" which is 100% cotton...

There's Mikah playing the saxophone. She's able to make notes so she's off to a good start!

Marc and Brynne like to listen to audio books on my Mp4 player...

*Ice is sick again. I started her on meds right away so we nipped things in the bud a bit and the pain isn't so bad as it was a couple weeks ago. However, the expat doctor here feels that there is a good possibility that there is something else besides PID going on. So I've been trying to track down an OBGYN for her to see.... I feel a sense of helplessness and hopelessness. I just wish I could take her to a doctor and know that she would get good care and that they would take the time to get an accurate diagnosis. But the system here is terrible. There are too few doctors and too many patients meaning no one patient gets much attention. Never mind that the education for doctors in this country is much lower than in the West.

Bits and Bites....

Poor Ritha. She’s in her second year of studies to become a teacher of the Protestant Religion (Maybe there’s a better way of translating her course name but that’s the literal translation). She has the second highest GPA of the entire class. The majority of her teachers hail from Ambon. There are also a lot of students in the class also from Ambon. The one person with a higher GPA than Ritha is a “straight-haired” woman from Western Indonesia. Recently Ritha had to write a paper and she tried her best not to get too good a mark, but alas, she got an “A”. What that means for Ritha is that she has to prove to her teachers where she got her information from to achieve this stellar grade. The other woman has to do this as well, but not to the extent that Ritha does. Ritha really feels that the teachers think she is cheating because how can a Papuan woman get better grades than people from Ambon or other islands??? Um... maybe cause she’s just smart? Another factor is that Ritha has access to our computer and our neighbour’s computer and can use the internet. The other student’s most likely need to go to internet cafes where they have to pay and the internet is slow. Having unlimited time allows one to do a lot more research. She’s offered to bring her teachers to our house to prove this but they have yet to take her up on her offer... I say, “Bring em on!”
It is difficult here to find clothing of a decent quality. There’s a lot of cotton, but it is thick and sweat-inducing and often ill-fitting. However, the other day I stumbled upon a new brand of t-shirt that is made with nice thin, stretchable cotton and is designed in a flattering shape. The name brand? Jail Body Inside. I kid you not....
The other day Ice came to work but could not enter the gate because our yard guy’s brother misunderstood me when I asked him NOT to lock the gate when he left... I told Ice that next time that happens she should just go to their house and ask them to unlock the gate. But Ibu, she says, they live right beside the parents of the girl that was killed. So what, I respond. Well, the mom likes to sit outside there and she has said that as long as she’s alive, Pak Mitre’s (Ice’s dad) daughters will not have children. So I’m scared of her... You should know that the only reason this woman is focussing on Ice’s dad is because he decided to “pegang the masalah”. Literally translated this means, “to hold the problem”. It was he that instigated discussions regarding payment and it was he that organized the ultimate exchange of pigs, money and nokens (weaved bags). He and his children did not have any involvement in the actual murder of the girl. But that is all meaningless to the family of the dead girl. It still leaves me feeling completely baffled....
I have begun painting our house. This lovely house we live in was built just before our arrival 2 years ago and according to our organizations standards, was painted a stark white inside and out and unfortunately with a low quality water-based paint. Local water based paints come off when you rub the wall with a wet cloth especially if there’s a little vinegar on it. So instead of cleaning the walls, you are actually removing the paint. I’m a little sick of dirty walls so I’ve decided it’s time to paint in spite of the fact that in three short months we are due to head to Canada for home assignment. I figure that it will be nice to return to a “freshly” painted house. The kids are super excited at the prospect of not having dirty-white bedroom walls anymore! Thankfully, there’s a new shop in town that sells paint of a calibre similar to what one would find in Canada. If I purchase 250,000 rupiahs worth of paint, I receive 5 free packages of Supermie (ramen noodles – all the rage here)! If I purchase lots of paint, I get a free nylon tote bag to carry it all in! They are really pushing this stuff here.... The only problem is that sometimes they run out of certain tints and they don't order ahead of time.... And everything comes here by boat from Jakarta...

More "fun"...

Things have not slowed down much... I've been busy getting a person to come to test Ice and hubby for HIV. That was a bit of a kafaful. They first said they would come Monday morning and then no, it couldn't happen until Tuesday and then later someone else called and said could it happen in the afternoon that day (Monday)? I foolishly said,"Sure." Went to find Ice and she was gone! I asked some people where she was and they couldn't find her either. One of the guys had on a familiar looking pair of runners... Ones that you can't buy here... Ones that look rather identical to a pair stolen from my neighbour... I asked him where he got the shoes and he claimed that a friend had given them... right... Anyways, the people came and no Ice... So I made a new appointment for this morning. A woman came and again, I had to go get Ice, who was sound asleep while her hubby was hand washing the laundry... Anyways, the woman got their info and proceeded to attempt to draw blood. She tried both of them on both arms and couldn't draw any... She depressed and drew the syringes multiple times while they were inside the arms of Ice and hubby. Then, upon being unsuccessful at drawing blood, proceeded to rinse the syringes in tap water... Using the same water for both syringes... I called a nurse friend who came and had no trouble after using a tourniquet. Anyways, apparently this is a government sponsored program and you don't need to pay for anything. That's good news. Plus they both have to go to the hospital in Abe together to get the results and receive any necessary counselling. This is good information to have!
Tomorrow I have a meeting at the private Catholic hospital in Waena regarding setting up a hearing clinic there. I hope they are interested! At this moment there is no where to get ones hearing tested! I don't think there is anywhere on the entire island! But you can get a real fancy lazy-boy type chair that will give you a massage!
*BTW, Ice is not her full name and there are hundreds of women with the same name here...

Bits and Bites....

It's been a crazy week!

Hugo returned safely on Wednesday morning after virtually circumnavigating Indonesia. He had to fly from Tarakan to Balikpapan where he changed planes, from there he flew to Surabaya where he had a lengthy wait and again changed planes. From there he flew to Makasar where he changed planes once more and then flew to Sentani arriving at 6:00 am. He had a productive time in Kalimantan and even took work back with him. He'll probably need to go back there sometime early on in our second term.

Today I was able to pick up Ice from the hospital. Apparently the cist is gone and there is no need to operate. They sent her home with a weeks worth of 2 different kinds of antibiotics. I had to do some convincing to get her released. She was told last night by the doctor that she could go home but for some reason someone wrote on her chart that she needed to see the doctor first today. I told the nurses in no uncertain terms that I was not coming back, I was taking her then! So they called the doctor and he said,"Of course she can go home!" Then there was the whole, we have to write up the bill and then bring it to the front where they enter it into the computer, yes at this hospital there is a computer system, and then I could pay. Once I'd paid I had to go back to the nurses and show them the receipt and they did something with it and then gave it back to me again. Anyways, the whole process was a bit trying and again another cross-cultural experience that left me out over $100 again... I told Ice that she really really needs to get the government insurance for poor people. She totally qualifies. But someone told them that this hospital doesn't accept it but the four different people I spoke with assured me that they do accept it.... Ugghh.... Well, now there is an expat doctor in town and she's okay with giving advice if needed... so glad...

In the meantime, I was without a husband or a helper (Ritha is gone back to school) which left me feeling a little over-extended... Well, at least I have my husband again. I asked Ice's mom if she could help me out on Tuesday and Thursday next week. She's happy to make a little money.

In between all this, Brynnie started preschool on Tuesday. She was a little shy, but excited and had trouble sitting still... So not her brother...

This is the hangar in Tarakan, Kalimantan and the aircraft that Hugo was working on.

Bits and Bites....

It's been a while since I posted.... Life has been a little busy...
Hugo has been gone since Monday to Kalimantan where he is helping out with some work on the Caravan there. I am very thankful for cell phones which allow us to speak each day. Things are going well with the work there but Hugo is ready to come home. Lord willing he will come home on Wednesday.
Last night Ice came to my door in tremendous pain. I thought she was in a lot of pain three weeks ago when I brought her to the hospital, but I think she was in twice as much pain now. I made the decision to bring her to the hospital again but this time I brought her to the best hospital in our area, a private Catholic hospital where Marc was born about a 20-25 minute drive away, as the other hospital does not have a surgeon and I was quite worried that Ice would need surgery. I felt like an ambulance driver as we raced along the curvy road to Waena with me honking my horn and flashing my lights to get people to move aside for me.
This hospital is better. They actually provide water to patients in the ER to swallow pills with. At the other hospital we had to go buy water so she could take her pills.... Things happened quite quickly and she had an ultrasound and her blood checked. She still has PID, but they also found a cist in her uterus that they feel is causing the pain. She also still has her bladder infection and some inflamation of the intestines. She is receiving pain meds, but I think mostly because I asked them to give them to her. When I went there this morning she was in a lot of pain and I asked if they'd given her anything and they hadn't since the night before. So they gave her something. So now she is on two different powerful antibiotics which we hope will clear things up. If not, she will need to be operated on.
This hospital stay is going to cost a lot more than the other one but I hope that the end result will be better as well. Please remember Ice in your prayers.
Brynnie is finished her malaria meds and seems to be fully recovered.
Mikah has started to learn both the piano and saxophone. We had already arranged for her to have piano lessons from our neighbour and this year at school she has band class and chose to learn the saxophone. She can already play a note... yeah.... man that things loud...

Bits and Bites....

After a week of constant posts I have been rather neglectful....
Ice has been doing great. I gave her this past week off of work so that she could get her energy back. Yesterday I went to visit her and her husband and talk to them about the infection Ice has and what it all means. I also brought meds for her husband to take because he could re-infect her. Thankfully he was quite willing to take the medication. I just hope they listened to me when I explained how important it was that they take the meds for the full two weeks even if they feel fine after only one week. Then I explained to them that there may be a possibility that they would never have children. They took this news rather stoically. I do believe that had anyone one of us Westerners been told this kind of news, we would react emotionally. The people here live with such hardship and instead of fighting it or trying to alleviate it, they often just simply accept it. That is why Ice did not go to the doctor in spite of having symptoms of PID for a while already.
We are settling into the school routine again. The kids are happy to be back for the most part. They all have great teachers which is a blessing. Although one of Mikah’s teachers is still waiting for her Visa to come through. In the meantime, the grade 5 teacher is teaching the classes she will be teaching.
Hugo is headed to Kalimantan tomorrow. Almost one year ago the program in Kalimantan received their first Cessna Caravan. Now that plane needs some inspections, installations, and repairs on its avionics systems. So they asked if Hugo could come to do the job. It’s a lot cheaper for him to go then for one of the guys from Nampa to come out. Lucky guy... He will be gone for just over one week.
This past Monday was a national holiday celebrating Indonesia's independance. So we went to the beach with our church. We decided to go to the beach we always like to visit as it is really the best one and the other church members had never been there before. Of course, we had another cultural experience. There is a guy who is controlling all the boat drivers and making them ask more money. There is one man who will do it for less, the man who actually owns the beach we visit, but he wasn’t around when we came. So we were forced to wait a long time and then pay more. We arrived at the beach to find that there were already about 100 Indonesians there! We have never ever seen that many people at that beach before. In spite of it all, we had a nice time with our fellow church members.

Home again!

Today Hugo and I went to the hospital with the intention of donating blood for Ice. We met the doctor in Ice's room as he was making the rounds. We discussed her situation and what we should do. We went to the lab where Ice's blood was checked again and Hugo had his blood type checked during which he let slip that he had had dengue fever last year. This immediately ruled him out from donating. As it turns out, Ice's HB levels had risen enough that she no longer needed a transfusion, but could take iron pills. Then it was on to the ultrasound. The idea was to look at the appendix, but of course if that had been the problem on Monday, it wouldn't be obvious anymore as antibiotics had taken their course. However, I felt that we should still take a look at things and it was a good thing we did. As it turns out, she has a bladder infection (why a urine sample wasn't taken on Monday baffles me) and she still has pelvic inflammatory disease. I was able to convince the doctor that she could go home and take antibiotics there. That left the bill to be settled. Ice's husband had gotten a letter from their district head stating that they were poor. However, at this hospital that letter is meaningless. Apparently, this hospital was built specifically for people from coastal tribes in this area, not those from interior tribes. Had we gone to either the hospital in Abe or in Jayapura, the bill would have been taken care of. However, those hospitals are far away and very dirty. As it turns out, the cost per night to stay there is a whopping 24,000 rupiahs ($3.00 CAD - including 3 meals a day)! So in the end we paid about $110 for five nights, iv fluids, meds, scans/x-ray, and meds she will take at home now. I told Ice and her mom that I would take care of 75% of the costs and that they would have to pay 25%. I don't think this means much to them as I'm pretty sure they don't understand percentages. But I'm sure once I sit down with Ice and explains exactly what it means for her she will be relieved. She has savings as I keep back some funds from her pay each month. Sadly, I will need to sit down with Ice and her husband and explain the ramifications of pelvic inflammatory disease.

Cross-Cultural training...

This is what we see on our way to Jayapura. In the first photo is Lake Sentani. The second photo is of a monument to three soldiers who were in a helicopter showing off for the prostitutes that live along the edge of the lake when they crashed and all died.... (photo credit - Mikah)

I feel a bit like I'm in a cross-cultural training program right now. Yesterday I went to the hospital again to see Ice and she told me that the doctor had said that she needs to have a blood transfusion and that she should find someone with type B blood to donate. So I went to the nurses station and asked them what the doctor had said and there were no notes for that day. So I went to the ER in the hopes that he would be there and I could speak with him; having not seen him since Monday evening. He was there, (poor guy was the only Doc in the entire hospital I think...), and I waited patiently until he aknowledged me. I asked him about Ice and the blood transfusion thing. He explained that her hemoglobin level had dropped to 5 which is extremely low and therefore she was in need of some blood. He figured that they should give her blood and monitor her for another day or so and then do and ultrasound to try to get a look at her appendix and see if that is the problem. (If it is, she would need to be transferred to another hospital in Abe or Jayapura as they can't do operations in Doyo.) Ice's mom doesn't really want her to get blood from someone else because apparently she had a transfusion as a very young child and it made her "not normal".... I explained to Ice and her husband that now they check blood for the major illnesses - malaria, syphillis, hepatitis and HIV/Aids. So I went home. I'm pretty sure that Hugo has type B blood but when I saw Ritha's sister, I asked her what her type is and she is B. So she and Ritha went to the hospital, but for legitimate reasons, she was not able to donate but they told me that the lab closes at 5:00. So Hugo and I left for the hospital right away and arrived just after 4:00 only to be told that the lab person had just gone home for the day. Well.... I marched over to the ER in a bit of a huff (although I have to admit I kind of expected this to happen) in the hopes that the same Doc would still be there. He was and I waited patiently again for him while he dealt with the patients that were in need of him. I explained what had happened and he did his best to track the lab tech down but was unsuccessful. I gave him my cell phone number and we went home. Later that evening he sent me a message and we set up an appointment for Saturday morning at 10:00.... Let's hope it happens...

This morning we had an appointment at 10:00 to get our fingerprinting done at the immigration office in Jayapura. The guy from our office was already there ahead of us trying to smooth the way for us. Apparently things weren't going well and he was told that we'd just have to wait. I guess the boss there was feeling uppity and just wanted to flex his power. The kids did great waiting. We were expecting things to go like they do for most people; in and out in 15 minutes. Therefore we hadn't brought any form of entertainment for the kids except one garfield comic book (which I read to the kids from cover to cover while we were waiting). Finally, we were told we could go in. In the old days, like 6 years ago when we lived here, the process involved actual ink that was only removable by a combination of vaseline and wet wipes. Now the process is highly modern. Our photos are taken by a digital camera attached to the computer then each of of fingers is scanned by a special finger print scanner. But we still have to sign 2 items manually and one on a special computer pad. The reason we need to have our finger prints taken each year? No clue except that they like to keep track of us... Need I say more. By 12:00 we were done. We then went to a nice school supply store (they also sell sports equipment, musical instruments, toys, movies, electronic equipment, books....) to get the kids what they need for school. Then we had lunch at KFC. Following that we decided to try and find a beach called Base G. After a number of wrong turns and adventures down extremely narrow roads, we finally saw a sign telling us which way to go. You really can't get lost here, there aren't that many roads. This beach is open to the ocean and so there are waves and wind. The beach we usually go to is in a bay. So we hung out there for about an hour. Then a guy comes along and tells us that we need to pay 100,000 Rups for the use of the shelter. We explained that we had only been using it for one hour and were in the process of leaving and so would he accept 20,000 rups? He claimed that normally they charge 200,000 rups and that he had already cut the price in half. He claimed that they keep it clean (not, there were beer bottles and other garbage lying around...). We stuck to our ground and finally said we were leaving right then and didn't pay anything. The truth is that any old person could come up and ask for money, we have no idea if he is legitimate or not, there were no signs saying that one had to pay, and he didn't show any proof. There were some Spanish tourists in the shelter beside us and he tried the same with them and they also didn't give him anything. At the other beach they have a book in which you write your name and the amount you paid and there are signs telling you that you need to pay.

Then we made our way back and headed to a place called the Papua Trade Centre. We had promised to take the kids there as they have an enormous blow up bouncy castle on the weekends and there is a Canadian pizza chain there called Sarpino's. The traffic was horrid and what should have taken us 15 minutes, took about an hour. Then after all that, no bouncy castle... ugghh... Well, we met our friends there and ordered pizzas, which were tasty. After that the kids played in a place called Time Zone. One of those arcade type places. It was incredibly loud and local kids kept coming in a bothering us and a couple stole our kids swipe cards... Then there were the ladies wanting to take photos of the kids and photos of Mikah holding their kids...

One can never ever forget where one lives.... But it was still a good day.... :-)

Visiting Ice...

Today I took Marc and Brynne, Ritha, her sister and Rode to see Ice. She is looking a lot better although she still has some pain. As you can see on the photos, the room she is in is actually quite nice and clean although very sparse. It is the first half of the white and yellow building on the bottom photo. The hospital is a series of buildings attached by covered walkways. The circular part with the pointed roof is the nurses station for the area that Ice is in. I think the nurses mostly hang around in there really... When I came to see Ice her IV had long since quite dripping and her blood was going up the tube. Of course she doesn't say anything about it... So I went to the nurses and told them about it and they immediately came to fix the problem (you can see her in the photo there doing her thing). Ritha said that my skin colour probably was the deciding factor in that. She's had the same thing when her sister-in-law was in the hospital and the nurses basically ignored her. It often happens here that those from other parts of the country don't show much care to those from this particular province, if you get my drift...

Ice hadn't seen the specialist yet when I came so I hope it happened this afternoon but I'm not holding my breath.

Update on Ice...

Ritha and I went to visit Ice today. I just felt that I should check up on her and make sure she was getting what she needed. Well, as it turns out... I walked into the room, incidentally, she happens to be in the mens room as the women's room was full (but thankfully she has one of only two beds that can be completely closed with curtains) and the first thing she said was that she wanted to go home. I informed her that that was just not an option. She is obviously still in a tremendous amount of pain. Then I noticed what looked like a prescription lying on the table beside her bed. I asked her and her mom (who is staying with her now) about it and they didn't know. "The sister (nurse) put that there earlier today." I went and asked some nurses what it was and it turns out that one needs to go to the pharmacy and get the prescriptions and then give them to the nurses.... What? Okay, so off I went and to get the meds. Turns out they are out of stock on one of the items and tell me that I'll have to get that one in Sentani.... Ugghh... By the time I get back to Ice, she's received her lunch. It was in a nice divided container; hard-boiled egg, rice (of course), piece of chicken and piece of fried tofu, some green veggies and a piece of red papaya. Not bad! Except they don't even give you a utensil to eat it with! So we took Ice's mom back to Sentani with us and got the medicine so she could bring it back along with a long list of items that no one had thought to bring poor Ice. Items such as a toothbrush, soap, towel, spoon, bottles of water, plate, cup, clean clothes etc... Ice's mom got a little mattress from her boss and she is going to sleep there tonight on the floor beside Ice's bed. You cannot be in the hospital here without someone helping you. How else would you get your meds? Ice can barely get out of bed! Plus, her IV ran out and her blood started going up the tube. I told her mom that if it runs out, she needs to go to the nurses and tell them. I hope she will. These people are so shy when it comes to medical things that they won't speak up for themselves. I really believe that had I not gone to her house and told her we were going to the hospital, Ice would still be lying there on her mattress on the floor of her stuffy little bedroom wracked with pain. It just baffles me. Anyways, there is supposed to be a specialist coming from Jakarta tomorrow and they will bring Ice to him and we'll see from there what happens. Let's pray that she doesn't need surgery....

Hospital...

Yesterday evening Ice came to me saying that her stomach had been hurting since the day before. I figured that maybe she had amoeba (she's had it before) and as I didn't have the meds for that I just gave her some travel meds in the hopes that they might help her feel better. Today she didn't come in to work so I figured she must be in some pain. As I was busy with the kids I didn't go see her. At 5:30 her husband came and told me that she was experiencing a lot of pain in her midsection, especially the right side. I started feeling somewhat concerned but he said that she didn't have a fever or diarrhea or constipation. I called a nurse and she said that it would be best not to give amoeba meds but to have a doctor look at her. I told this to her husband and told him to come back if they needed a ride to the hospital. I got dinner ready for the fam and I ate some myself (thankfully). I had this niggling feeling that I needed to go see Ice myself. So I got out my flashlight and hand phone (in the event of a problem...) and made my way over to her place. It was about 6:15 at the time and it was very dark already. I went into her house and she came out of her bedroom and I think she thought I was mad at her for not working but I told her to lay down so that I could check her abdomen. I poked a bit and she told me it was very painful and I also observed that she had a fever. I made an immediate decision to bring her to the hospital. So we went, her husband, his twin brother and Ice's little brother all coming along. We went to the emergency room which is a largish room with lovely green satin curtains between each two equally lovely green stretchers. None of said curtains was closed though. There were women curled up sleeping; there were babies with IV's strapped to their little wrists; and family members sleeping on the floor beside the beds. We were instantly given a little piece of paper and told to go to the lab. I was a little confused and asked the doctor as he finished looking at a guy getting his head sewed back together following a motorcycle accident. He told me to go to the lab and they would check Ice's blood for her leukocyte and iron levels. So off we all went. The nice thing about going there at night is that it is quite quiet and you don't have to wait too long. Well, Ice's leukocytes were 16,000 and her iron was 8.8. Those of you medically inclined will know that those are not good numbers. We made our way back to the Emerg where they did an appendicitis check (inconclusive) and we were immediately taken to the radiology room. This time they pushed Ice in a wheelchair. Thankfully, the poor girl was in so much pain. This hospital is quite the place. It is government run. There are lots of nice tools like a mammography machine, panoramic x-ray machine, a well-equipped lab, 2 ultrasound machines - one 3D, the other 4D, and a digital x-ray machine. The only problem is that there aren't that many people who know how to use these wonderful tools. There are no computers in sight as well. Everything is written out on pieces of paper. It's hard to describe, except to say that it is a spartan place. Anyways, after I paid $10 for the x-ray and $10 for the ultrasound, Ice had her x-ray and then the doctor came and did an ultrasound. She has an enlarged spleen (could be just from many bouts of malaria), a womb full of pus, some issue with a part of her intestines and they couldn't get a good look at her appendix cause there was something in the way... Yikes! So back to the ER we went. There they put her on an IV and sent me off to get meds. Which I did after paying first again. Then I brought them back to the ER and gave the IV ones to the doctor (a Papu*n guy). The other meds they explained to me. Then I explained them to Ice and her husband.... Anyways, they got her going on some antibiotics after doing a little allergy test first. Because of the lack of curtains, all the goings on are observed by everyone. Finally they confirmed that there was a bed available for her. So off we went. Outside all the patient areas are family members sleeping. Apparently only one person is allowed to stay inside with each patient. Once we got Ice settled in, she was so zonked out by then, I left for home with her brother and the twin of her husband. The twin was instructed to get clothes, blankets/pillows (not provided), and drinking water (also not provided) and food for the hubby. His plan was to come back right away with a friends motorbike.
So this whole process took about 5 hours.... Good thing I ate some supper first....
Please pray for Ice that she may recieve the care she needs and get healthy again.

Why we refuse to land at this runway....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwTNvhzGAEA

This was not an unusual occurrence at this airport... Yikes...

Update...

They've found the missing plane. It crashed into an 11,000 ft tall mountain at a level of about 9,000 ft. So far no helicopters have been able to go in and search for survivors. Someone we know was actually the one to spot the plane and from what we understand it is doubtful that anyone survived.

One of my little projects has been to get Ritha and Ice's teeth fixed. Dentists here are really bad at their job (maybe there is one good one out there that I don't know about, if so, I'm sorry...). Ritha has gone to get a cavity filled and instead of drilling out the decayed area, they simply inserted a composite into the hole... There is an American dentist here who has been training a P*puan woman. Right now, as the American dentist is on furlough, she's running the show. Ika is great. She teaches all the patients how to properly brush their teeth and makes them understand the dangers of eating beetle nut and smoking. Today I took Ritha's younger brother to have his teeth checked. He is 14 years old and has never before been to a dentist. Well, he's got four teeth that are beyond repair, and a bunch of cavities. Ika also fixed one of his front teeth that had been broken off years ago. Ice has virtually no molars left in her mouth; to eat bread she rips it into pieces first and basically sucks on it as she's got nothing to chew with. Today we did impressions for fake teeth. I really feel that having a healthy mouth affects ones life quite drastically. Can you imagine feeling pain every time you ate? That's quite normal here. Many people are missing lots of teeth in their mouths which does nothing for ones self-esteem or make it easy to eat... Abscesses are a common occurrence as well and can lead to death.

There's another missing plane...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090802/ap_on_re_as/as_indonesia_plane_missing

We are down to our last two weeks of school holidays now.
Last Thursday I went to the beach with the kids along with our neighbours and Ritha, her brother and sister, and the girls. Hugo had to work poor guy. It was a beautiful day of fun in the sun.
Ritha’s mother continues to bother Ritha and her brother and sister. One night she came and gathered together the brother’s stuff and told him to come with her. So he did, but it wasn’t long and he was back at Ritha’s place. The mother keeps telling the siblings that Ritha is a bad older sister and doesn’t treat them well so they should come live with her. Such bunk! To top it all off, the girls are getting money together for the brothers entrance fee to his new school. Please continue to pray for this little family!
Please also remember Ice in your prayers. To tell you the truth, I often feel as though I have a teenage daughter when she’s around. She has received very little guidance in her life and her understanding of our purpose in this life is minimal. I have been trying, when I can as all the kids are home now, to talk with her about life and God and our relationship with God. I’ve also been trying to give her some marital advice...
This morning I went to church with the four oldest kids. Brynnie has malaria so Hugo stayed home with her. As we were making our way down the hill, a drunken fellow suddenly materialized out of the bushes. I saw him look at us and I yelled,”Run!” So we ran and he of course followed us. Marc tripped and fell and I had to go back to get him and at the same time the guy picked up a big rock and was saying,”You understand?” Not sure what that was supposed to mean but I replied,”Mau ke gereja.” Which means, “We want to go to church.” So we ran to the gate of the church yard and went in. He actually followed a bit behind us but the men of the church came out and told him to take a hike. Thankfully, by the time church was finished, he was long gone.
One of the elders in our church, Pak Nara, is very sick. He has gone blind in one eye and can no longer read. I don’t mean that he can’t see the letters, he can see them; he has simply lost the ability to read. We suspect that he has a form of dementia. He is rapidly beginning to look old and frail. He has a son who is about 9 years old. Please remember them in your prayers also.
On a brighter note, Mikah and I made the hike out to Abe yesterday. We both needed to get our hair cut. I know it sounds silly to drive so far for a haircut, but seriously, it is really hard to find a good hairdresser here. Plus, sometimes you find goodies there that are hard to find here. Like yesterday I scored some lovely cauliflower, broccoli and strawberries that were actually sweet (and priced like gold...). And who can pass up lunch at KFC? (Well maybe you folks can, but to us, that’s a swanky restaurant!)
On Friday it was my birthday. I’d rather forget about it really (well, the adding on a year part), but the truth is that God has kept me and blessed me so how can I forget? We celebrated with two families who had supper with us and we all enjoyed the chocolate trifle that I had made.


Can you tell we enjoyed those strawberries? All except Brynnie who claims she doesn't like strawberries and would much rather eat pineapple... Just wait until she tries a strawberry from Kraus brothers farm!

Bits and Bites....

* There is both margarine and sandwich meat available again! It feels a little sureal really... Wonder how long they'll be available for... Maybe I should stock up... Some friends just got me some bacon in Bali and it was half the price of what we pay here...

* Our guard as it turns out, is learning to play the piano. And wouldn't you know it, we happen to have a piano! I told him he could come and practice any time he likes. He'd never seen a real piano before, he had no idea that a piano that didn't require electricity existed. When I showed him the piano for the first time he was quite and excited and asked how long he could play for. I told him that he could play until he was bored or his back hurt... 2.5 hours later... his back hurt... Yokben is a great guy. He's been married for one year about. When we inquired of his age he really had to think hard and then said that he was born in 1987 then had to correct himself, no he was born in 1985. He paid 8 pigs for his wife. That's quite a princely sum, especially since her parents said that he could pay whatever he wanted... What a guy! He's been going out into the jungle and finding interesting plants and putting them in pots at the back of our house! He brought me calla lillies the other day! I think one of them is about to produce a flower!

*So I bought a fish the other day. Paid way too much. The price sounded fine to me as it was much cheaper than ground beef... Oh well, next time I'll bargain... But he did deliver it, cut it up for me, and take out the bones.

* It turns out that Ice has had a baby before. This news shocked the pants off me... When she was much younger she had a boyfriend. They were dating for a while when he started making certain requests of her that she was not interested in fulfilling. So he forced her to fulfill his request but he did so when the power was out and there was a rain storm so she didn't know who had done it. She of course told her family and they called the neighbours together to talk about it. At that point the guy confessed. So his family had to pay for his sins. Ice became pregnant and gave birth somewhat prematurely to a baby boy. (I believe she was about 16 yrs old at the time) If I understand her correctly, the baby was blind. At five months of age there were problems in Ice's family (her parents eventually divorced) and she entrusted the baby to the care of another family. Apparently they had to bring the child to the doctor often and at seven months of age, he developed breathing problems. They brought him to the government hospital in Jayapura but they weren't able to help him and he died. Ice told me that it wasn't that she didn't want to tell me about this happening in her life, but that it all feels like a dream. Like maybe it didn't really happen. One can't even imagine what the women here go through in their lives. I think we westerners would all be seeing therapists and psychologists but these women just keeping on going.

* In other news, Ritha's mom came and took her brother away, but the next night he was back... hmm.... I asked the sisters why he came back and they said they hadn't asked him. See, that just shocks me. I'd be asking him tons of questions, but they just accept that he's back and that it might be for just a while or it might be more permanent... Just see what happens... In the meantime, the sister is registering him for school and paying the entrance fee. (which she had to borrow from us and others...)

*We've had some health issues since returning from our family conference. I needed to go on Cipro and now Hugo is on it... Aidan has been sick for about a week now. He's not super sick, but you can tell he's not himself. He started out with a fever and sore throat and now he's complaining about his stomach and some intestinal issues and he's not eating much (a sure sign that Aidan is not himself)... I'm thinking he might have amoeba. You see, Hugo, Aidan, Mikah and I all had some chicken in Wamena while we were waiting for our flight home.... So far only Mikah hasn't had any negative reaction, but then she seems to have a stomach made of stainless steel...

And life goes on...

It's been a while since I've posted a wordy post...
Last week we were in Pyramid for our annual MAF family conference. Pyramid is a village in the Baliem valley situated at an altitude of about 5,000 ft up. So it gets fairly chilly there at night... well, chilly for us coastal folks... A long time ago one of the other missions built this centre and we have used it for many years. It's a great place to go and enjoy spending time with your fellow workers. The cabins are very rustic, privacy is minimal, all food is cooked on two large wood stoves, all all drinking water is boiled first leaving it with a distinct smoky flavour, and when it rains, there's mud, mud and more mud. But, there are hot showers (water is heated up in drums by a fire underneath), we don't have to cook or do dishes, there's American candy to buy, there's VBS for the kids, teaching for the grownups, lots of singing, and lots of fun!
On Monday the weather started out not so great so the flights coming to and from Wamena (10 minutes flying, 1.15 hours driving away) were delayed. Plus all the rain we had made the airstrip in Pyramid muddy forcing us to reduce the loading on our caravans which meant extra flights. Then we got to Wamena and found out that the local carrier we were going to take to Sentani had mechanical problems on one of their aircraft and the airconditioning was broken on the other (or something like that). That combined with the bad weather earlier in the day just made things really delayed. So we waited and waited in Wamena and the guys in charge of our flights kept going to the airport and talking with the airline people there. I went and got some food for us (a mistake as I am now on Cipro because of that food...). Finally, they got us on a flight. Because we weigh more than locals do, they couldn't take as much cargo and as the back half of the plane is people the tail was getting heavy so they moved a couple very large local men to the front row and bumped Christiaan and I a row back. Marc had to be on my lap and Brynne on Hugo's in order for us all to fit on. There were 40 of us. Then we took off and quickly realized that we had the plane with the broken a/c... It was a sweaty 38 minute flight...

* In the meantime Ritha's mom is causing problems again and is now saying that Ritha is not a good older sister to her younger siblings (a sister of 20 and brother of 15) and that they should live with her. Ritha apparently has too many rules in her house. Rules like, you need to be home by 9:00pm and, if a boy takes you out, he needs to pick you up from the house so I can see him too; don't drink or smoke; you need to do your chores... Doesn't she sound terrible?? Ritha is one of the most responsible locals you will meet.
Today they had a meeting with her mother about this issue and her mother brought some very loud mouthed friends with. They didn't want to hear about how she didn't take care of Ritha and her siblings at all when they were young. Then during the meeting, the mom burns Ritha's sister on the cheek with her cigarette!! Can you believe it? The conclusion of it all was that the kids should live with their mom and that the sisters boyfriend has to pay money to the mom so that he can date her!!! Ritha and her sister aren't sure how that happened and what the point is... I suspect her mother has a mental illness, well, actually, we're pretty sure she does, and what she is really after is money. (Remember, a few months back she tried to stab Ritha's sister but the knife was dull...) They had waited at their house for a while to see if the mom would come to collect the kids but she didn't so they came up to our house for a bit. Today happens to be Ritha's daughters 10th birthday. This girl is actually the daughter of Ritha's husband's (for those of you who don't know, Ritha's husband died mysteriously 1.5 years ago) younger sister, but has no idea that she was adopted... What a birthday for her. At least she got cake, I made her a chocolate cake yesterday and gave her some clothes today. My heart just goes out to this little family just trying their best to live their lives to God's glory but having to deal with a lot of painful stuff along the way. Please remember them in your prayers!

Some random shots of our time in Pyramud... I mean Pyramid

Bits and Bites....

Today we went to the beach with some Dutch folks. The weather was fabulous and the kids had fun jumping into the ocean off a rope swing hanging from a palm tree over the water. We were the only folks there the whole day which I have to admit was rather nice. On the boat ride home our boat ran out of gas; within sight of the pier no less. We floated aimlessly for a few minutes and then a guy came by in a traditional boat with a little 15 horse-power motor. He had no extra gas so we attached a rope to his boat and he dragged us to the pier. Then, since the tide had dropped so much, we had to climb onto one of the bigger old-style boats and then from there up onto the pier (nope, no ladder). Thankfully all of us and our stuff made it safely to the top. Then on the way home, over 4 rather rickety bridges, one of them with large gaping holes, our friend drove over a little pig. In his defense, the pig literally ran under his tires... We didn't stop, you don't want to stop... A full-grown pig is worth about 10 million rupiah so you don't want to start discussing retribution for an animal that should really be penned up but isn't... Just another day at the beach in P*pua...
Tomorrow morning we are scheduled to fly to Wamena on a local airline. From there we are to be shuttled to a village called Pyramid where we will stay until next Monday. Yup, it's time for our annual family conference again. The kids are pumped! There's a team from New Heights Church in Vancouver, Washington here to do VBS for all the kids. They also bring lots of American candy with them... And of course, Pastor Matt Hannon will be speaking to us grown-ups each day.
So we'll be incommunicado for the next week. I believe there is one spot on the entire compound where you can sometimes get a bar or two on your cell phone.... if you stand on one leg and hold up a tower of aluminum foil... :-)

Fun times...

Today I took our kids, the two neighbour kids, and Ritha's girls to the Happy Kiddy play place at the mall. 9 kids, I know, but it went great! This place kills me. They have constant annoying kiddy-type music playing and blinking lights and as it is on the top floor of the mall and heat rises... it's an oven up there... The kids love it though. The ball pit is really quite large. And you gotta love the ride-on reindeer (or whatever they are...). Those cost extra as do the battery-powered cars. After their play time was up, we went to the Dunkin' Donuts and they each got to pick out a donut to take home. Fun times!

That last photo is how you read your kids a book when the power is out... I know it looks dorky, but it works great. Don't you love Aidan's dinosaur headlamp? We've been having quite a lot of power outages lately and many of them last for about 8 hours... Fun times...

Ambulance...

This morning as I was trying to get the cobwebs out of my head while lounging in bed at 7:30 am (I really do like the looser schedule of the summer...) when there was a timid knock on my bedroom door. Since none of my kids ever knocks, they just barrel in, I knew it was Ice. I told her to come on in. She was a little embarrassed but I assured her it was no big deal. She proceeded to ask me if I could take her dad to the hospital as he was having trouble breathing. I said sure, but I need to have a quick shower first. In retrospect I probably should have gotten a little more information from her regarding his condition... Anyways, I showered as quickly as I could and called a friend to come and have breakfast with the kids and made my way to Ice's house. Unfortunately I couldn't drive very close to their house. They live in a kind of a valley and you have to walk down a path which goes over a creek to get to their house. I looked in the front door and saw what appeared to be a body covered with a blanket. I watched it closely to see if there was any movement and when I saw none I had a moment of panic that I was too late and that I shouldn't have been so vain regarding my personal grooming... But then I saw Ice and she laughed at me and said that her brother in law was just cold so he wrapped himself up like that... Whew... As it turned out, Ice's sister Elina and Ice's husband came along with me. Ice's husband is afraid of me. Ice says he grew up in a village and isn't used to white people. He refused to sit in the front with me. "He's scared," Elina informed me. So she sat in the front and off we went sent off by a small crowd. Evidently Ice's dad, Mitre, is an important man in this area. I feel so bad for these folks. The government built a new hospital intended for the Papuans, particularly those coming from interior for medical care. Previously everyone went to the government hospital in Jayapura or sometimes the hospital in Abe. There is a better hospital in Waena, closer by, but it is a private Catholic hospital and therefore more expensive and they don't accept the government insurance cards. Anyways, back to this new hospital; it's way out of town so anyone who wants to go there has to take transportation quite far. And the taxis stop all the time to let people off and take new people on so a 15 minute trip can turn into a 45 minute trip and when you are sick.... So they asked me for help. It took us only 15 minutes to get there and I told them to call me when they were done. Four hours later they were done. Pak Mitre had been checked and told to spit into two different sample bottles and then bring them back the next day to be checked by the lab. (It sounds to my untrained ear that he has something like emphysema.)
Here's the other thing, there isn't ambulance service here like back in Canada. People don't just call up an ambulance to take them to the hospital. I think it is very expensive. From what I've seen, ambulances are used to bring people from one hospital to another if they cannot receive adequate treatment in the first hospital. They are also used to carry dead bodies. According to Ice the ambulance drivers are often drunk... hmmm.... Never, ever take our Canadian medical system for granted people!!!

Bits and Bites....

* I asked Ice how the payment went on Saturday. She said that her tribe had amassed 25 pigs, a large envelope of money and many nokens (hand-weaved bag carried at the back with the strap over the forehead). Nokens are the traditional item to give in times of marriage or payment for a wrong especially against an young unmarried girl etc... The pigs were apparently all large and worth 10 million each which means that the pigs alone were more than enough to cover the agreed amount. However, the family of the girl who had died were not happy with just the pigs. They began to raise their voices. So Ice's dad, who was brokering this peace agreement, made the decision to just give everything to them so as to achieve peace. But he then asked if they could have 2 pigs in return to have a pig feast with all the people who had come from far to help pay the fine. This was granted. Following the payment Ice's dad spoke to the tribe of the girl who died and thanked them and so one. All very cultural. However, the immediate family members of Hrlina could not look Ice's dad in the eye while he spoke his humble words. This is because just days earlier, a witness had come forward and told who had committed the murder and it was not a member of Ice's tribe. But Ice's dad felt they should just pay the fine and then try to deal with those responsible. I think he probably made the right decision because otherwise the family of the girl would most likey still be complaining about things. Now they have nothing to say.
However, the peace that previously reigned in the area has been broken. There are about 5 different tribes represented. On Monday the tribe of the girl who died also had a pig feast and forbade Ice's tribe from participating.
In the old days each tribe had their territory and you could stay away from other tribes quite easily. Now they are mixed together in "subdivisions" and that creates a new can of worms to deal with.
* There's been another plane crash here. Like the last one, it happened near Wamena. In fact it is the same airline as the last one and it was also a cargo plane. Occasionally they do carry a few passengers and were scheduled to carry at least one passenger. However, this fellow ended up taking a more direct flight with one of our mission aviation groups here. A good choice. The plane had three people on board and it looks like they hit the side of a mountain. There are so many mountain passes here it is easy to go into the wrong one and get lost and if there are clouds....
* Hugo is looking into the possibility of going interior this fall with a Dutch friend and do some courses on basic radio maintenance. HF radios are the lifeline of the interior and each time something goes wrong they have to send it to us to get fixed. Having grown up in a non-electronic environment, many of the folks interior have no clue of how to properly maintain their radios.
* I've planted a small corn garden just for fun. I brought the seeds along from Canada and they are sprouting and growing quite quickly. We are very optimistic right now that we will be eating sweet Canadian corn on the cob in a couple months....
* On Canada Day we had a barbeque with the other Canucks living here in Sentani. There are five Canadian families living here although one was unable to attend our gathering. One of the families is new and they just unpacked their crates and they had shipped a rather lovely gas barbeque. Man, those were tasty burgers! Although they're not as juicy as a true Canadian burger cause the meat here has no fat in it at all....