Home again, Home again, Jiggety Jig
Mon. June 24 - 9:45 PM Surpise!!! So this morning we went down to the airport at 7:30 with the girls and a few of the other community development missionaries. We helped unload their baggage and waited around a little bit for them all to leave around 11:00. Then the rest of us: Kevin, Mark, Alfredo (one of the engineers) and I, without telling them of the change in plans, instead of flying down to join the rest of them decided to go out and eat an almuerzo (lunch) at a nearby restaurant. We proceeded to take naps, head over to Alfredo's house, drink tea (his wife is British and makes a mean cup of tea), play Wii Golf, eat Thai food, and now I'm here swinging on the hammock updating my blog and I'll be sleeping in a double bed instead of on a mattress pad on a wood floor in a mosquito tent like they will. No, I promise we didn't decide to just abandon the others and we're not quite as jerkish as we sound. Let me explain the full story. There were three flights scheduled to fly down to Washintza today with MAF. (Actually, there was a fourth, but it was only going to be some of the building materials for the construction of the water project.) The first left around 9:45 with 4 missionaries: Steve, Ruth, Tania, and Martin. The plane flew the nearly half hour flight down to Washintza and then returned to pick up the 4 girl interns about an hour later. At about 11:15, though, it started raining and there was a slight crosswind across the runway. Rain and wind are bad news for the little propeller planes that fly out of Shell, so while the plane that took the girls was able to make it back in time, the runway was soon closed, leaving us to go out to an early lunch while we waited. After lunch we headed back. It was raining more lightly now, but out in Washintza there was still a low cloud cieling and we were told the grass runway in Washintza would need to dry for an hour after it stopped raining before we landed. So the best thing to do was come back to our house and relax for a couple hours to wait for it to stop raining. And it did stop raining around 3:00. The clouds cleared and conditions looked good for flying. So we headed down to the airport again (good thing it's only a 5 minute walk!) But when we got there they told us they didn't think the landing strip in Washintza would be dry enough yet. The pilot who had flown the others told us that it was in bad condition this morning before it had rained and that landing there just after it had rained would be nearly impossible. They offered to fly us by and see if it was in good enough condition, but they made no promises and we're the ones paying for the flight. The other option was to land in San Juan, which has a better dirt runway, and then make the 1 1/4 trek to Washintza. It was a tough call for Alfredo to make. I think if he had been alone he would have flown, but with the three of us interns who have never hiked a jungle trail before, several shovels and other equipment we were hoping to take, and no time for mistakes with nightfall quickly approaching, he had to make the difficult decision to postpone the trip until tomorrow morning. Ironically enough, this morning my family also flew out of Quito back to Kansas. To my knowledge everything has gone smoothly. Thus, we have established that a 7 hour flight with security and customs can take longer than a 27 minute flight. I think the biggest lesson from today has been patience. Waiting at the airport this morning I started getting a little impatient when it took a couple hours for the first flight to get going, even consciously telling myself to be patient and understanding that's just the way it works both in Ecuadorian culture and with the uncertainties of missionary aviation. It's frustrating to be so close to getting down and joining the others and yet having to wait a whole day to do it. After the first couple hours I've just gone with the flow. If we can get down there by Wednesday I'll be fine. But it's a good reminder that not everything goes according to plan; flexibility is essential sometimes. Everything happens for a reason and Lord willing it will stay dry tonight and we'll fly down first thing in the morning tomorrow. Blessings, David From Inside a Mosquito Tent
Wed. June 26 - 9:30 PM This evening I come writing to you on a piece of notebook paper from Washintsa, Pastaza, Ecuador. We did successfully make it Tuesday morning. It was a beautifully clear day. Both El Altar and sangay (two snowcapped mountains that aren't visible from Quito) were out. Flying over the jungle is one of the most beautiful sights. As far as you can see there are only trees in every direction, with only an occasional trace of human life like a hut or a road. Washintsa is one of these small traces of life. There are probably 20 buildings in the community and maybe 10-15 families. The town is built around the grass airstrip and the soccer field, with houses around the edges. The houses are all rough-cut wood. About half have tin roofs and half woven leaves. the people are also a pleasure to get to know. I will admit, though, that the hardest thing to get used to is chica. Chicha is a traditional drink for the Shuar, the indigenous tribe in and around Washintsa. It's so common that it was a curiosity today when I invited three men to drink (water) from my water bottle. As they've explained to me, "You drink water, we drink chicha." The exact details of the preparation of the drink are a little bit vague for me since I haven't actually seen it prepared, but I know that it involves the women chewing up yuca (manioc root) and spitting it into a pot. River water is added and it is allowed to ferment to taste. Then the women serve it by straining it though a coconut with holes to get out the pulp and pouring it into another coconut used as a cup. They proceed to pass it around one by one to each person sitting around, refilling it as necessary. Of course, it would be very rude to refuse it (they are very proud of it) and it is wise to at least put the cup to your lips if you aren't able to drink from it. Some women's chicha is much too strong and I have to do my best to look polite; other's is weaker and less fermented and I can imagine myself getting used to it someday. We are here in Washintsa working to provide clean water. Perhaps the time I understood the necessity for this most was this afternoon when I was sharing my water bottle with one of the men. He hesitated and asked me if he would get sick. He explained that he got sick whenever he drank water or when he added water to his chica. (Apparently the fermentation of the chicha has advantages is killing off nasty organisms.) Smiling, I pointed to the slightly brownish water we had just carried up from the river and scooped out a grasshopper for emphasis. I said, "It's because the water's dirty. If you drink clean water it doesn't make you sick." Providing them clean water is what we're here for. The first contact between HCJB and Washintsa was in 2007. HCJB doesn't initiate water projects; they wait until they are invited by the community. Two years later a spring protection was completed, along with some latrines. Since then, the water has become cloudy and has occasionally dried up. So now construction has been started on a second spring protection. A concrete box is built on top of the spring to keep the water clean and to provide storage. Solar panels will power a submersible pump that in the daytime will pump the water about 200 m up the hill to a concrete platform above the village with 9 550 L plastic water tanks that will serve as the water tower. From here, pipes will be laid out to all the houses and each will get their own water tap. Each house will also have a water meter and if all goes correctly in 10-20 years the people designated to take care of the water in the community will have enough money saved to replace the pump and solar panels. |