Bits and Bites....

A couple weeks ago two of our pilots had the pleasure of opening a new airstrip in the interior village of Pamek. The people had been working on this strip for 7 years!! A few days beforehand one of the pilots had hiked to the village from another airstrip. He checked it all out and deemed it fit for use. Two days later they landed for the first time. The villagers were very excited and were all dressed up in traditional festive-wear (wearing western clothes underneath so as not to be virtually n*ked). They also cooked up a bunch of pigs in the traditional pit with hot stones. It's really exciting for a village to have its own strip; it's also a bit of a status symbol... Now if a villager should need immediate medical attention, they don't need to carry them to another strip. The hike is a dangerous and laborious one; certainly not one you'd like to do while carrying an ill person.

In the last two weeks twice our pilots have made emergency airdrops of meds to "M's" in great need of medicine. These folks are working in areas accesible only by helicopter. As the heli's were down, our guys were called on to make the airdrops. And they did so successfully and the patients were able to get their meds!

A while ago I wrote about having lent money to a woman from our church and I had had to go to their house to ask them about it. Well, they paid me back in full the other week. I asked a Dutch guy who works with them if I should pursue repayment or forgive the debt or what. He said that I should pursue repayment as forgiving it sets a bad precedent. Plus they do receive a decent wage so they can handle repaying that kind of money.

There have been soccer games across the road every evening again. The games start at around 5:00 and end about an hour later. This week, for the duration of each and every game, children have been drumming loudly and singing a little tune, without ceasing... I can't imagine where they get the stamina from????