My Great Adventures

Farewell

2008-06-05T14:19:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe I have been home and gone from Peru for over a month now. Wow, time really flies. Especially back here. Shawn and I are settling into our apartments in Florida, adjusting to the heat (hasn't been too hard for me after Peru) and continuing to plan for the wedding.

Last week I gave a sermon at my church in NY on my experience and showed some pictures. It was nice. I am posting that sermon, modified a little for reading sake to wrap up my adventurous year as a student missionary. Enjoy.

My New Life

Hugging my family and boyfriend good bye and boarding a plane to fly across the ocean, I felt ready for whatever Peru and a mission I knew little about held for me. But as I stepped off the plane in a little jungle town called Pucallpa and was assaulted by humid heat and the strongest sunshine I’ve ever felt, I was scared. Somehow amid my excitement, packing, and idealistic thoughts I overlooked the fact that this country would be very different from anything I had ever known and that in order to survive I was going to have to adjust to living without a lot of things I enjoyed, like electricity, a bed, and hot water. As these realizations hit me and I started to sweat in the dusty small airport surrounded by brown faces, jet black hair, and a language I didn’t know, my nine months of being a student missionary in Pucallpa, Peru began.
Loading my luggage into the bed of the mission’s dusty little Toyota Hilux and squeezing inside with Ansley, Carly, Tara, Laura, Kaitlin, and Kristin, little did I know that in those nine months I would learn more than I ever thought possible in so little time. God was to use this experience to reveal Himself to me in ways He hadn’t been able to before. I want to share three of these lessons with you today. First, when God is in charge we can do things we don’t feel adequate for. Second, being pushed past our breaking points is an opportunity for growth. And third, God calls us to do our best no matter what.
A couple weeks after our arrival, we had our first clinic week experience in Teodoro Vinder, a little neighbouring suburb of Pucallpa. And what an experience it was! By that time I had mastered a few words in the Spanish language and was getting comfortable using my limited vocabulary (and by limited I mean hello, how are you, and where is the bathroom). Due to this slight difficulty in the area of communication, I was put on blood pressure duty, which was a lot of fun. I got to practice my manual blood pressure skills and interact with patients, which is my favourite part of clinics.
After finishing up blood pressures I would float to pharmacy, and since I was a nurse, I had the privilege of giving penicillin shots. Basically, the medicine in itself damages tissue, so the point is to get it into deep muscle tissue, give the shot as quickly as possible, and do it perfectly – in theory. In reality, the medicine clots very easily, many times requiring us to stick the patients more than once to get all the medicine in. Not a fun thing, because besides damaging tissue the shot burns like crazy. A lot of our penicillin patients were children, since they are more prone to the nasty skin infections requiring such a shot. This made the job even more difficult. For these reasons, I absolutely dreaded giving them. I distinctly remember the day Tara, a cute little southern girl who wants to be a doctor and was part of our group from the states, popped her head around a sheet we were using as a wall and told me she needed someone to give a penicillin shot. That someone was me. Knees shaking and hands sweating, I made my way to pharmacy only to see the patient was a baby. Preparing the shot, I prayed my heart out between calculations, swabbed the little bottom, and punctured the soft skin. The needle clotted. I had to pull out. Normally if mom allows a second try, it is your last chance. She just can’t handle the sight of her child screaming in pain, so I knew I had only one chance left to get this poor little baby the medicine its oozing sores desperately needed. I cleaned and stuck one more time, praying with all my might that God would just let it work. And it did! The medicine flowed through the needle like water, and I was able to breathe again.
The situation may not seem like a big deal: things happen, life goes on. But for me it was a big step in God’s work in changing my life while I was in Peru. I will never forget that little story, because it showed me that no matter what, even if things don’t go how you want them to, or situations seem out of control, you can pray, give it all to God and He will take care of you.
When I do things I do them well, but if they are out of my comfort zone or I don’t feel adequate enough to perform them I let others do them instead. I realized in this experience that I am never going to be adequate enough for the things God is going to do with my life, and I don’t have to be. That’s the key: realizing that I will never “arrive” and that’s Ok, because God is in charge and He will hold my hand and grow me for every ministry, task, and call He has for my life.
The last thing I learned is that being pushed out of your comfort zone is an important thing for everyone to experience, because if you aren’t pushed you don’t grow. God knew I needed to grow in confidence and trust in Him, and allowed me to experience this situation so I could learn just that.
I encourage you to examine your own life, and look for the ways God has helped you grow. Think about situations and experiences you can look back on and appreciate because you can see God’s hand in them. Those are the experiences we should never forget, and the ones God wants to us to keep experiencing for the rest of our lives. Next time you face a situation you can’t handle, remember the penicillin shot, and pray. Then rest in the knowledge that He will answer that prayer.
After clinic week Kristin, the other nurse on our team, and I moved into our temporary home with a woman named Mariza and her family to begin our first health program with the people of Teodoro Vinder. Upon arrival we discovered our accommodations were nice, with a single bed for us to share, running water in the backyard, and electricity. Our hosts were a sweet, Adventist family, and did everything they could to make us feel at home. As we were instructed by Jenni and the Dr, we asked if their water was drinkable. “Oh, yes, yes,” they assured us, no problem. We were relieved, since during clinic, we had to boil our water and never seemed to get enough of it. However, as a few days passed, and we diligently filled our Nalgenes from the spigot, I thought it odd that Mariza always provided us with a pitcher of water in our room.
Waking up one morning a short time into our stay after a fitful night’s sleep in our hot mosquito net, I felt funny. My stomach hurt and was rumbling and cramping. As the morning wore on, I drank water and tried to settle it, only to discover when I visited the three-sided, open-aired structure they used as a toilet that what had been a loose stool the day before was now full fledged diarrhea. Kristin had it, too. At breakfast, our hosts noticed we weren’t eating much of our papaya and bread, and we told them why. They looked at each other with knowing expressions and told us it was because we were drinking the water without boiling it. Apparently, when they told us we could drink the water they assumed we knew this meant only after boiling it. Needless to say, I started drinking the water in the pitcher in our room.
We took medicine and the diarrea cleared up, only to be replaced by another, slightly different strain a couple weeks later, and yet a different, more aggressive diarrhea and vomiting after that. And so it continued, week after week, month after month: diarrhea. That dirty little word would haunt the next 4 months of my life and make everything, from performing simple daily tasks to continuing to facilitate programs very difficult, and gradually sapping my strength.
After our health program in Teodoro Vinder the team packed up and squeezed into two trucks that hauled us and all our stuff through the night 8 hours into the jungle on bumpy dirt roads to a little cocaine village along the Ucayali River called Constituccion. I stuffed my money in my bra, kept my light American hair covered, and prayed that the drug lords wouldn’t choose our truck to rob. They didn’t.
We arrived, held clinic week, and then the group loaded up, waved good bye, and headed out, leaving Kristin and I behind, looking forlorn and feeling lost, standing in the doorway of the open pavilion style Adventist church we were to call home. We were 8 hours away by land and more then 24 hours away by boat from all that was reassuring and familiar to us. Talk about scary.
I threw myself into our health program, using work as an opportunity to push my feelings of homesickness and loneliness down to the far corners of my heart. And it worked, most of the time. But there were days when the weariness of fighting a language barrier, constant diarrea, and lack of sleep wore me raw, and I was left with nothing to give. That’s when I turned to the Lord. Pouring my heart out, I told Him that unless He gave me strength, stamina, and a renewed spirit, I couldn’t go on. I had no more to give.
When I felt so lonely I thought my heart would break He sent a sweet little girl who wrapped me in her arms, or a smiling mother offering me food and friendship. When I was sick and needed someone to care He sent me Rosa, a short little lady who brought me tea and tender loving care. And, when I was so exhausted I thought I would die, He gave me a good night’s rest despite the roosters, loud music, and barking dogs. Each time I prayed, He heard me and gave me just what I needed to keep going. Just when I thought I had reached my limit, He broadened it.
When life is so hard we don’t know what to do, God knows. He knows our real limit, and He will stretch us to it, but not beyond, all the time thickening our skin and developing gifts in areas that would remain underdeveloped in other circumstances.
I’ve often heard the phrase, you don’t know until you try. That’s true. I encourage you to step out in faith, and when the going gets tough, reach out to God. Or better yet, before the going gets tough, develop a relationship with Him so that when you’re stretched beyond your limit He will give you whatever you need.
After a short, but amazing Christmas break, I dove into researching, typing outlines, and creating handouts for our new and improved version of the health program: classes. It was a big undertaking, but when our first day of classes rolled around in the little thatch-roof dotted village of Dos de Diciembre, I was ready for it.
10 women faithfully attended, and we had a great time together. We learned how to create a balanced diet for children, why water is so important, how to build sanitary latrines, why pills are not the cure all, how to detect breast cancer, why teeth rot, and how HIV is spread. We laughed, talked, sang, and prayed. We grew close to one another. At the end we proudly presented our women with their certificates of achievement, and they presented us with bags and bundles of sugar cane, papaya, mangos, and granadillas as going away gifts. It was perfect.
Time flew by, and before I knew it the end of March had arrived and we were beginning our last clinic and health program. The location was Nueve Era, a Chipivan village on the outskirts of Yarina Cocha. Things during clinic week went fairly smoothly, despite lots of rain and mud and having to fill in for Dr. Richard a couple days. The people seemed friendly and nice.
The week after clinic Kristin and I began visitations, walking from house to house inviting the families to join our health program, conducting evaluations, and signing people up for visitation times. In a space of two days we had visited the entire community and signed 40 families up, making it necessary to hold two separate classes. We were stoked. We had never had such an interest, and were excited to hold our largest program yet.
The day of our first class it was raining. Not good. When it rains, virtually the entire area is shut down, no one works, everyone stays home, and they certainly don’t attend health classes. When the rain passed we faithfully visited our families, informing them we would hold class tomorrow. Tomorrow came, and I set out to my 9:00am class excited about teaching and a little nervous that I wouldn’t be able to hold their attention with such a large group. But when I arrived there was no one there. I waited. 9:15, 9:30. I waited almost an hour, and finally three women trickled in. Discouraged, I consoled myself by saying that it was really muddy.

Next class day arrived on Thursday, and I prayed that there would be a better turn out than Tuesday. No such luck. In fact, no one showed up. Friday I visited, tried baiting the women with pictures from our handouts, reminded them we had a prize, and was extra nice. Tuesday, three women straggled in, this time at 9:30. Three just seemed to be my magical number. And so it continued for the rest of the program. No matter how much visiting I did, the women just seemed to have no time or interest for such a program. They were so nice, they talked and laughed and seemed to genuinely enjoy our company, but they just didn’t know how to attend class.

This was a tough experience for me. Compared to our first program it was like a mountain top to valley scenario. Everything had been going so well, it was working, we were making great steps forward, and then this. It was like we hit a brick wall and I couldn’t do anything about it. We eventually found out the Chipivan people are very artsy fartsy. They can make beautiful bead work, skirts, and pottery, but to sit down and learn something is a little hard for their ADD personalities. We learned that for this people the ideal program is a more hands-on, multi-sensory approach.
Sometimes life is like this experience. You throw yourself into something: school, work, or a relationship, only to find it disintegrating or blowing up in your face. Some things are out of your control. Going through these experiences in our health program taught me to do my best even when it doesn’t seem to be getting me anywhere, and to be flexible. I learned that we can do everything possible, but sometimes things just don’t go as well as planned, and that’s life. God can help us not to get discouraged and move on.
Before I knew it our program in Nueve Era came to a close. Our team spent the last few days in Peru together at km 38, enjoying one another’s company and packing for the return home. We had our last candle lit worship and early morning breakfast. Arriving at the airport we hugged and clung to one another saying teary good byes. And then it was over. Just like that, nine months of getting to know these people who are now family to me came and went, and I still don’t know how it can be over, really over. All I know is that I left a part of me with our team and the people of Peru. The things that land and culture taught me about love, hard work, friendship, hospitality, and true contentment I will never forget.
Before I left on my adventure I had a vague idea of the type of love God has for us, but a couple months into my trip He was finally able to reveal to my heart just how incredible, perfect, and redeeming that love is. I was staying in the most comfortable room Kristin and I shared while living in Peru, a little apartment in Yarina Cocha. For quite some time I had been struggling with a lot of bitterness and emotional pain. I repeatedly prayed about it, raking myself over the coals when it seemed my prayers weren’t working, and kept feeling the same way.
One Friday night, I was at my wit’s end. I had tried everything, only to cause more frustration and bitterness. So I finally opened up and really prayed. I poured my heart out to God, telling Him I was hurt and frustrated, and didn’t know what to do. I told Him I was angry with Him for not helping me when I prayed. And I told Him I was ready to give up, throw in the towel, and just stop trying to be the person I knew He wanted me to be.
That was exactly what He had been waiting for. After unloading all the burdens I was trying to carry, God gave me peace that everything was going to be alright, and exhausted, I went to sleep. The next morning I woke up early. I knew right away that God was trying to speak to me. I opened my bible to John 15 and read the story of the True Vine. As I read the passage and thought about what it means to abide in Christ, suddenly it all came clear to me. The words flowed over my soul like a healing spring, and God showed me how much He loves me.
As I thought back over my life, years of grappling with God and trying to do things right, it occurred to me that many times I found it easy to get caught up in what I thought I should do as a Christian. I would start feeling like I wasn’t good enough for God or it was too hard to live a Christian life, and give up or berate myself for not having devotions regularly or praying more. I thought that was what it took to be a good Christian.
As I lay on my lumpy mattress in our tiny room and the morning light peeked around our curtain, my mind was flooded with understanding. God is a God of love. He loves us wildly and unconditionally, because He made us just the way we are and knows us inside and out. We don’t have to worry about hiding our flaws and trying to be good. He knows them all, and He says “that’s Ok, you are perfect in me. I love you and I have always loved you and I always will.” His heart breaks when our feelings of regret, embarrassment, or doubt keep us from reaching out to Him. He is waiting. He is listening. His greatest joy and highest goal is to win our hearts back. He wants us to come home – back to where He always meant us to be – in His arms.
That day I finally accepted God’s gift of perfect life in Him. For the first time ever, I truly understood what it meant to be free from sin. The old had past away, and the new had come. As I prayed and asked God to take over my heart and life, I felt as though He was holding me in His arms. I was flooded with joy and peace, and I knew He had waited my entire life for that moment.
God worked in my life in some amazing ways while I was in Peru. I learned that with God’s leading I can tackle new, scary things with confidence and assurance. I learned that enduring challenges and difficulties I never thought I could is a blessing from the Lord. And, I learned that when I try my best and things still don’t go the way I want them to, I can trust God to take care of me.
Growing, maturing, developing, I have been stretched to my limit and then some, pushed to the brink and a little beyond. I am learning and changing more than I ever could have imagined. God is taking the person I was and molding and forming me into the person He always meant me to be. I praise the Lord for helping me find myself while serving Him in Peru.
Maybe you have experienced the joy of coming home to Jesus and enjoy the amazing knowledge that so few have found: that Jesus loves you, really loves you for just who you are. But my guess is that you struggle with this concept a lot. It’s not an easy thing for our minds to understand. Satan has dooped us into believing we are not worthy of what God has for us.
I encourage you to give God a chance. That is all He is asking for. Take time to realize that all He wants is you. Nothing more. He doesn’t want the you you want to be. He doesn’t want the you you should be. He wants the you He created and loves so much that He gave His only begotten son to die so that He would have a chance, a possibility, of being a part of your life. He has waited your entire life, knocking, hoping, guiding, loving, and looking for the chance to win your heart. Will you let Him?

38

2008-03-24T14:55:00.001-07:00

That´s how many days I have left in Peru. Hard to believe. I don’t know where the time has gone. We just finished a clinic week, possibly our last. We held it in Nueve Era, a Chipivan village of about 800 people, just outside of Yarina Cocha, a community on the Ucayali River near Pucallpa.
The week went well, especially considering the circumstances. It was the smallest site yet for clinic, consisting of nothing more then a pavilion made of thatch with a tiny back room. We set pharmacy up in the back and divided the rest of the 60x30 (aprox) foot structure into triage, weight/height and blood pressure station, and consults with bed sheets.
Dr. Richard was only able to come to clinic in the afternoons, cutting our patient load capabilities down to 80 medical patients a day. And let me tell you, that number kept us hopping. Jenni and I ran triage in the morning, her functioning as “la doctora,” and me prescribing what I could. I continued triage throughout the day, and between the emergencies and extras we saw about 100 patients daily.
This community had the most infectious diseases and infections I have seen, making me very happy we are having the Familias Saludables program there. We saw everything from diarrhea to Tuberculosis, and everything in between on a daily basis. Diarrhea and urinary tract infections were so rampant that without even asking the patients what was wrong if I wrote those two things on their diagnosis cards, I would have been right about 95% of the time.
Brent’s family was visiting, and it was fun to have them helping. His mom and sister ran the weight/height and blood pressure booth, making it possible for us have it. They did a great job, and it was fun to get to know them.
Tomorrow Familias Saludables and the Kid´s program begin in Nueve Era. This is the last set of programs before we leave. Crazy. I am excited about Familias Saludables. It gets better every time. This last time we added a test at the end and questions for each section. The women really enjoyed the challenge. I am hoping to add pictures to the handouts this time. Every time I try to improve it a little more.
Kristin and I are staying with a pastor in Yarina Cocha. He has a really nice house – they even have a small washing machine! We are pretty excited about that. No more washing at the well! I would rather still be living with everyone at km 38, but we get to see them all on weekends, so it´s all good. Plus, with this set up I get more access to internet and phone! So I can write more blogs! J
That’s all the news for now. God bless!

All In A Day´s Work

2008-03-24T14:53:00.000-07:00

“Numero 67,” I called, and a woman hurried toward me with her two little ones in tow. As we sat just inside the billowing sheets of my triage cubicle, I asked what was wrong with the smallest child, 2 years old, who was sitting on her lap. “Él tiene diarrhea,” she said, “mira,” and before I could stop her, she was pulling down his pants to show me. Sure enough, there was a small cloth lining the boy’s pants (what the women here use in place of diapers) covered in green diarrhea. As I tried to recover, the boy proceeded to have more diarrhea as his mother tried desperately to contain it to the cloth and pants. Unfortunately, she was quite unsuccessful, and smiled hopelessly at me as she wiped her diarrhea covered hands on her pants and my bench and thanked me, careful to step over the lingering reminder of their presence that had dripped onto the wood floor and was now stinking, on her way out.

Hector

2008-02-26T13:48:00.000-08:00

Hi, quick prayer request. We have a little baby boy, 4 months old, who needs a lot of prayer. He had pneumonia, and now has fluctuating fevers and is losing weight. We don´t know what´s wrong, and he is battling to live. Please pray that we can figure it out and give him the treatment he needs.
Thank you!

2008-02-18T08:47:00.000-08:00

Here's the pink crew during clinic week!

News

2008-02-18T07:34:00.000-08:00

Kristin and I have a week left (this week) in our Familias Saludables program in Dos de Diciembre, a town near km 38. It's been so nice to be living at 38 with the rest of our "family" here in Peru. Where we will be stationed for our next program is still to be decided, but will most likely be near Pucallpa.

I was planning to put more pictures up from my lovely vacation, but my flashdrive is toast, thanks to one of the lovely internet cafe computers over here, so pictures might be a little while coming.

Hard to believe I've been in Peru for about 7 months now!

We just picked Willem up from the airport today. He is South African, and is coming to live at km 38 until December. So, we have another addition to the family.

The other newest addition is a guy names Luis, a peruvian who works with the guys in the chacra at 38. Oh, and a new little lamb. So cute.

And, that's the news. Love and miss you all. God bless.

Teaching, Learning, Following

2008-02-18T07:33:00.000-08:00

Before break, Kristin and I decided to re-vamp our Familias Saludables (Healthy Families) program by teaching classes instead of presenting charlas (health talks). Classes provide much more time to cover important items, enabling us to go much more in depth into each topic, and benefiting the people even more.
Since our original charlas were about 15 minutes long, and each class would be two hours in length, this meant doing a lot more research. And so, the long hours of discovery started: Surfing websites, reading books, creating outlines, and finally printing handouts. I felt like I was back in school.
Finally our classes began, and so did the fun. All the tiring hours and back aches were worth it. To share valuable information about nutrition, hygiene, and water is a big responsibility and an amazing opportunity. It’s wonderful to watch the eager faces and bright eyes of the people as they soak up the information.
Although all the topics we teach are of great importance and very helpful, I have a couple favorites. The first is water, and specifically water as it relates to urinary tract infections. Let me explain. During clinic weeks I work triage, meaning our medical patients see me before Dr. Mathews. My job is to find out what their main problems are, so things go faster with the doctor. Every time a woman comes through, here’s the typical scenario:
“Marisa Vargas Tutusimo,” I call, holding my little triage card and glancing around the room, searching for a face showing some recognition at the name, despite my lacking pronunciation. Finally, after a second call and some laughter at my equally dismal attempt, a shy woman emerges from the corner with a baby on her hip. Her long, shiny black hair is clipped loosely behind her head, and her eyes hold typical Peruvian beauty, subdued only by the tired circles beneath them.
We walk into the little room sectioned off by a piece of cloth and a chalk board and sit at my desk. The baby, chubby with light, malnourished hair and legs full of sores starts to fuss, and the girl breast feeds as I ask why she’s here. As the words leave my mouth, I wonder if I even need to ask. I almost always know what’s coming. Not because I can read women’s minds, but because most women here are suffering from the exact same thing.
Bringing my mind back to our consult, she leans a little closer and tells me how her head hurts constantly, she is dizzy a lot, and feels weak. I nod and write a couple symptoms as I prepare to ask the question I ask every woman who comes through triage complaining of these symptoms of dehydration: “Do you have pain when you urinate?” Her eyes widen for a split second, and in that moment I can see her surprise at being asked, and her relief that there is hope. Placing her work worn 19 year old hand on the table and leaning forward again, she says, “Yes, for three months.” I nod reassuringly, ask a few more questions, and write her diagnosis on the triage card: urinary tract infection.
Most of the people here in the selba (jungle) work in large jungle gardens called chacras, where they grow yucca, platano, pineapples, lemons, mangoes, rice, and other local fruits and vegetables to sell and live on. Waking up at the crack of dawn and returning just before dark, men, women, and even children work using machetes, wooden plows, hoes, and shovels: All this under the hot, sweltering, humid tropical sun; a sun that saps their energy and drinks their sweat. In such a climate dehydration is a deathly reality; not just because of the hot sun, but the lack of water. Despite working twelve hours a day in such heat and humidity, the jungle people drink, on average, one liter of water a day. Not nearly enough. And, for the women this is a double curse. The sun causes dehydration, and dehydration causes urinary tract infections.
Because this is such a large problem here and so easily prevented, I spend a large part of class talking about the importance of drinking water – especially for women. It is very rewarding to help them learn how to deal with and prevent such a painful, wide spread, and dangerous problem.
The other topic I enjoy teaching about is medicine use. “Vitamins, please.” “I need vitamins for anemia.” “My back hurts all the time and I know it’s because I don’t have any vitamins.” “I don’t need anything but vitamins.” I regularly hear these comments and many more like them during clinic week. For whatever reason, cultural or not, Peruvian people are convinced that vitamins are the cure-all. That and the noni-plant – an odd-shaped little fruit that is claimed to heal everything from cancer to hemorrhoids. But, since we don’t have noni, it’s vitamins that are clamored for, over and over again. We meet such requests with good, sound reasoning and explain that their prescription will contain every medicine they need to get better, and whether that happens to be Complejo B (complex B vitamins) or not doesn’t really matter. These explanations are, of course, met with stony, unwavering faces and short, impatient “yah’s,” making it clear that they feel insulted at our stupidity.
Vitamins aren’t the only pill we have problems with. In fact, in our visitations with the people, Kristin and I have discovered a number of people who have many misguided, and a few very strange, beliefs about medication. Here are a few of them:
If a medicine causes side effects (not harmful, just annoying), you should stop taking it.
Once a medicine starts making you feel better, you don’t need it anymore.
Because of these beliefs, many times the patients we treat during clinic week stop taking their medications. However, realistically, who can blame them? They have been taught to be their own doctors and pharmacists: You can go to any corner mom and pop shop and find Tetracycline, Diazepam, and Tylenol stacked neatly on the shelf waiting to be sold to whoever decides they need them, and in whatever quantity.
These issues and more are discussed in class, and the people are given opportunity to explore them and learn safer, more effective ways to use medicines.
Urinary tract infections, water, how to use medicines, and many more topics fill my hours, days, and weeks, as I laugh, learn, and share with the people of Peru. I am so thankful for this opportunity. Being welcomed into the hearts, homes, and culture of the Peruvians is something very special. It is an opportunity few people experience, and turns my thoughts to the Great Teacher. After all, Jesus as our perfect example spent much of His time on this earth healing, helping, and teaching: Meeting people’s physical needs as well as spiritual. What a blessing to be walking in the steps of the Savior.

Colca Canyon

2008-01-21T07:12:00.001-08:00

Our day hike in Colca Canyon, Peru

At a restaurant in Cabanaconde, Peru, overlooking the Plaza de Armas
More pictures of the hike in Colca Canyon

One of our hostel rooms
Cabanaconde, Peru - I feel in love with this whimsical, peaceful little village

A couple more pictures from Arequipa

Arequipa

2008-01-18T20:33:00.000-08:00

The Monasterio in Arequipa

Us in Arequipa
At a restaurant high above the Plaza de Armas in Arequipa
Our entertainment at the restaurant - they played beautifully

The Monasterio

Vacation

2008-01-18T19:22:00.001-08:00

The Plaza de Armas in Arequipa at night

A Cathedral on the Plaza de Armas in Arequipa
The Plaza de Armas in Arequipa
Our first day of vacation together in Lima
Shawn relaxing in our hostel in Lima

Engagement Pictures!

2008-01-08T06:49:00.000-08:00

Shawn and Frankie...it was love at first sight

Fun pictures the day after the engagement

The grand lobby of the Miraflores Park Hotel

My pretty ring

Shawn and I on the beach in Miraflores, Peru

The day after the engagement

Shawn and I surrounded by my flowers at the Miraflores Park Hotel. That´s Shawn´s nice new guitar.

Can you see the "I L Y"? It stands for I Love You. Aw, how sweet.

My pretty roses

We took this just a few minutes after Shawn proposed!

In the taxi on the way to the Mexican retaurant the night Shawn proposed

In the hostel just before we left for dinner

The Story

2008-01-03T11:29:00.000-08:00

We arrived in Lima, Peru early Sunday morning, Dec 30, and spent the day shopping for a guitar for Shawn and shoes for me. He wanted a nice, hand made guitar because they´re really cheap here in Peru, and I wanted some pretty shoes to go with my dress (I had it made in Pucallpa) for the special dinner we were going to have that night, to celebrate the end of a lovely vacation together.
He found a glossy, elegant white wooded guitar, I found come sparkly silver heels, and we headed back to our hostel to get ready for dinner.
At six o'clock a nice, clean, new taxi (very rare in Peru) pulled up and our great host, Erick, snapped a few pictures as we headed out the door (He also gave Shawn his camera because he discovered the battery on mine was low – how sweet).
About 45 minutes later, after driving through most of beautiful, oceanside Miraflores, trying to find our restaurant, we finally pulled up in front of a not-overly-fancy, but very nice MEXICAN restaurant. This was a wonderful surprise for me, because I had been craving mexican food the entire trip. (That is one thing that is very hard to find in Peru, and when you find it you usually wish you hadn´t, because it tastes nothing like real mexican).
The meal was delightful, and after struggling to finish my Chimichanga and sipping the last of my Strawberry Margarita (virgin :)), Shawn realized he had left Erick´s camera in the taxi. After the initial panic, we decided to go to an internet cafe and look up the taxi company and Erick´s phone number and figure things out.
After getting the numbers and trying to call with no luck, Shawn decided to give it up until the next day, and we headed to the next surprise of the evening, of which the only thing I knew was that I wouldn´t get cold (I had been a little worried about this, since the evening was quite cool, and I thought we might be walking on the ocean).
After winding along the beach through some very nice hotels and high rises, we pulled up in front of Miraflores Park Hotel, a five star hotel that boasted every inch of its estrellas, from the gracefully winding staircase in the lobby to the door service to the lighting to the elegant decor, and I felt like royalty.
As we stepped out of the taxi, I was wondering what we were doing there. I thought maybe we were there for dessert, or an entertainment event. The whole place just dazzled my senses.
As we walked into the hotel, Shawn informed me that we were spending the night! Wow. My mind was swirling.
We checked in and the receptionist led us into the elevator and up to our room. As I opened the door, I was immediately surrounded by the perfume of fresh flowers. The wonderful scents were thick in the air, and I turned to tell Shawn just how good this hotel made their rooms smell, when me eyes caught the source of the aroma. There, in the center of the floor, were huge bouquets of beautiful roses, lilies, and all kinds of tropical flowers, colorfully lighting up the room.
When I finally came to my senses enough to speak, Shawn told me they were for me, and I read the sweet note attached to one of the bouquets, still amazed we were actually staying in such a place. Our room was on the seventh floor, and overlooked the ocean. (Erick had brought over what I needed for the night and Shawn´s guitar as well as the flowers. What a nice guy).
Somewhere in the midst of everything, I realized I had lost my purse, which created a bit of chaos, with me charging around the room looking for it, because I was positive it was there. Finally convinced it wasn´t, we went downstairs, and the second the receptionists saw us, they were asking if I had forgotten something...apparently I had. :)
As we headed up stairs again, we decided to check out the pool and spa on the eleventh floor. As we stepped outside I was once again amazed by the beauty. The pool was illuminated, and glowed in the night air, covered only by the starry sky. Looking past the sparkling water we could see the ocean waves lapping at the beach, far below. I had to go swimming! How romantic was this?
Only one problem…I had left my swim suit in Arequipa. So, we headed back down to the lobby where they assured me there were still stores open where I could find a suit. Jumping into the Mercedes taxi they had waiting outside (we thought it was free…found out later it most definitely was not), we drove five minutes to a huge department store.
After trying on about five different suits and having no luck with any of them, I grabbed a pretty aqua-colored one that was the cheapest suit in the store, prayed it would look good, and left.
We finally hit the pool, had it all to ourselves, and swam beneath the stars.
Afterwards, I hopped in the shower, got ready for bed, and informed Shawn that I wanted him to sing me “my song,” the one he had written for me before we started dating. So, while I curled up in bed, he obliged, and sang me the beautiful words. As I listened, I couldn´t help but wish there were more verses to it, verses that told where our relationship had come since “the early days.” So, when he was finished, I told Shawn he needed to write more verses. He just smiled at me, and pulled out his little note book that he always writes everything in (it keeps him organized with building the house and all), and told me he had actually written me another song. I´m sure he could see the surprise and happiness in my eyes, and I asked him when he had written it. He just smiled, and said I would have to listen to the song. So, I leaned into my down pillows and relaxed as he started to sing…
As he sang about how much he loved me, and recounted some of the precious memories we had made together, tears stung my eyes. I was so in love with him, and just dreading the day he would have to leave Peru. As the song came to a close, I knew, from the look in his eyes and the tender words he had sung, that this song was very special, and very deep.
After he finished singing, we talked about the different memories and special moments he highlighted in the song, smiling and talking a little about each one. As the special moment came to a close, Shawn looked at me, and with an intensity I had never heard before in his voice, he explained that he had written the song exactly one year after we started dating (April 2006). As I smiled, he continued, and with more intensity and love, told me he had wanted to give me the song a few times throughout our relationship since then, but had decided not to until he asked me to marry him.
And that´s when the fireworks started going off in my mind, and my eyes got huge. Suddenly it all became crystal clear – the flowers, the pool, the hotel, the beautiful song, the ocean - it was all a part of the plan!
Then he got on one knee, as I sat cross-legged on the edge of my bed, in complete shock, and asked me to marry him! And of course I said yes, and neither one of us could hardly sleep a wink that night! We were so excited!

And that´s our sweet little story...the end.

Surprise!

2008-01-02T07:29:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone,

I know I have been terrible at updating y'all lately, but you know what they say - "no news is good news," right?

I just got back from an absolutely amazing vacation... I can honestly say the best ever. I got to spend quality time with my Baby, and (those of you who get squimish around mushiness can cut out right now)at the end of our fairy tale two weeks together, Shawn asked me to marry him, surrounded by flowers overlooking the ocean in Miraflores, Peru. And I said... YES!

I am very excited, and have never been happier! As soon as I get a minute I will be updating my site with pictures of the engagement and the full blown, very romantic story of how it all came to be. Stay tuned!

2007-11-23T12:55:00.000-08:00

Back to Pucallpa for two days, and I get welcomed back by two teenage boys stealing my wallet. Yep, the excitement never dies down around here. Kristin and I were buying meds at dusk for our next campaign, and as we rounded a corner, bumping and jostling between some people, a young guy stopped right infront of me, forcing me to stop. His friend was right behind me, and slipped my wallet out of my back pack. Of course, all this occured without me even realizing it, and when I discovered a couple hours later that the back zipper of my backpack was open, the plan those two crooks put together became all to clear and perfect in my mind.
So, after getting the run around from my bank for having my wallet stolen on Thanksgiving Day of all things (how dare I), I finally got my debit card cancelled so at least the thieves won't be able to use more then the 200 soles cash I had (about $60), some Bible verse cards in English, and some nice pictures of my gorgeous sister that I'm sure they'll enjoy pouring over almost as much as they like hooting and hollering at us girls as we walk by.
The really funny thing about all this is I had just realized that everything here in Peru has finally become completely normal to me. Life here is just what I do, and I have made a complete transition from thinking that life in the USA is normal. What a nice celebration of that realization. Oh, well, like the policeman who I filed the police report with who asked me whether I was married or not said, there's bad people all over the world. And, like I told him, that's true, but here in Peru the bad people look for people who look like me: tall, blonde, American, and innocent. :)
Moving on to what's been going on in my life over the past few weeks, since these recent occurances are just a part of the many adventures I've been enjoying while in Peru. The past 6 weeks, Kristin and I along with two Bible workers from Pucallpa, Manuel and Domingo, have been in Ciudad Constituccion. Now we're back and on Sunday jump into a mini campaign of about 2 weeks before Christmas vacation and travelling!
Doing our first full length program for the kids and families was challenging, but very rewarding and we learned a lot. We started out with 20 families in our program, but by the end only had 10 due to families having to travel and work in their chacras. But the 10 we had were quality. They showered us with many gifts of fruit, crackers, and cold treats, and always listened and encouraged us when our Spanish was terrible or our charlas were a little on the ridiculous side. We had a lot of fun getting to know them. The programs itself needs a lot of work we've discovered, and the next full length campaign, after vacation, we will be trying a new approach, starting in the homes with the families like we are doing now, but only for the first week, and then moving into a classroom setting. I think it will be much better for the families and us. We talk about a such a wide variety of topics that we need to have more time to do more then just scratch the surface of them, and having to walk all over tarnation trying to visit these families takes up a lot of time we could devote to teaching.
The kids program went fine, I just get really sick of singing the same old songs and having clingy, loud, whining kids hanging off of me constantly. 6 weeks of kids is a lot for me to handle! But, they are really cute. That helps me hang on to my patience until about the last two weeks. Then I really start to lose it. I've realized I am not made to be a kindergarten teacher! Give me the adults and I'm fine, but kids are just another story. Oh, well, I'm sure God is using this to help me grow in some way. Patience, maybe???
So, for the last 6 weeks we've been living in the adventist church of Ciudad Constituccion, in a tent. Camping for six weeks, woohoo! Actually, it really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. We ate all our meals with a really sweet, equally crazy lady named Rosita, who would go on funny little sprees with our food, serving us all potatoe stuff one week, all platanoes another, and so forth...but all came with the never ending fountain of rice. Of course. Rosita owned two parakeets, both of which she called Piwichu. She would paint them with pink nail polish and hack their wings off with a knife (one of which lost a toe as well when she got a little knife-happy) to keep them from leaving her side. After a few days of watching her chew up food and spit it into her hands to feed her "babies" we arrived for breakfast one day to discover a tragedy had occured. Her pregnant cat had needed a supplement to her regularly sparse diet, and feasted on parakeet. We think they couldn't handle all the love and commited suicide by jumping into her cat's mouth.
While in Ciudad Constituccion, we encountered many more experiences...all of which I want to write about, but, I am needed back at km 38 at this moment, so, this will have to be continued with part two in well, an indefinite amount of time, because, as anyone here will tell you, nothing in Peru is ever a sure thing...
Thank you all for hanging on and hanging in for this ever crazy, changing, bumpy ride. I am so thankful for all the prayers and support. Happy late Thanksgiving! Hope you are all still enjoying the left overs, eat some for me!

2007-11-21T10:19:00.000-08:00

Hi all! I'm finally back where the internet sun shines! (and doesn't take 15 minutes just to open my email!) We made it back to Pucallpa, and now I need to actually sit down and spend some time filling you all in on what has been happening in the adventure that is my wonderful life here in Peru. But, that will have to be another time, because I have a million things to do right now get ready for the next campaign, starting this Sunday if we don't get a strike. Love you all. God bless.

2007-11-21T10:11:00.000-08:00

2007-11-21T09:46:00.000-08:00

2007-11-11T18:21:00.000-08:00

Hey, it has sure been awhile since I wrote anything for my pitiful little page. Hope I still have people checking it once in awhile! Sorry to desert everyone. Good news, I will be back to better (aka faster) internet in a week, and will be sure to put a beefy update up here for all. I love and miss everyone, and am doing very well. Cant wait to fill you all in on what has been happening here in Ciudad Constituccion. Our programs have been going really well, and I am learning more everyday. Thank you for your prayers and support!

2007-10-04T09:59:00.000-07:00

Reflections

2007-10-01T17:51:00.000-07:00

As Kristin and I entered the tent, I was surprised by the number of children running up wanting hugs and kisses. As they energetically threw their little arms around me and lifted their faces to mine for a kiss, my heart was heavy. This was our last night of the kid´s program, and they all knew it. With more volume and excitement then usual they sang the songs we sang every night, Cancion de Creacion, En El Arca de Noe, and Yo Tengo Gozo, a few of their favorites. As we talked about heaven, and how much Jesus loved each of them, I hoped with all my might that I would see their precious faces again in a place much, much better than this old world. I pray that the seeds we planted God will watch over, and see that they start to grow in their tender little hearts.
The next day, Sabbath, marked the end of the evangelistic meetings as well. Our faithful bible workers have toiled and the Lord has blessed. They baptized about 50 people, and started a new church in this community. Very exciting!
Today Kristin and I made our last visits to the families in our health program, as well. Everything is coming to an end, and we are now looking forward to the next campaign, starting this Sunday, 18 hours southeast of here in a little jungle town. That will be our home for the next six weeks!
As this campaign has now come to a close, I look back on it and am so thankful. We have learned a lot already about how to communicate and teach, but more importantly I have learned so much about the importance of reaching out to others. That is truly what this life is all about. We will never know just what these families do with the information we shared with them. Sure, some will disregard it completely (after all, what do gringas know about Peru?), but I pray that the Lord will use the interactions we had with them to touch even one person. I have realized that if we were in the right place, said the right thing, for that one person, it is all worth it.

2007-09-23T18:48:00.000-07:00

The group in Pucallpa enjoying a night on the town

One of the many old, fun buildings in Lima

Breakfast in Lima with the girls

The beautiful square in Lima

Finally, some more pictures!

2007-09-23T18:10:00.000-07:00

Cheva and Lola, our faithful friends at km 38

Kristin and I, the travelling nurses!

The girls! This is our first night in Peru. Can you believe we´re all crammed in the back seat of a taxi?! Good thing we´re small!

Here´s the vampire bat Kristin found sleeping above her bed.

This is a picture of the man we are sponsoring. His intestines are literally in a bag.

And, here is the newest addition to the family.

The girls (minus Laura) before boarding our plane to Pucallpa.

News

2007-09-21T09:06:00.000-07:00

Kristin and I followed the mother along the sidewalk that wound along the buildings making up the Hospital in Yarina. Entering the pediatrics ICU, she led us into a small room where three babies lay in basinets. One was clearly very ill, and it was hers. As we peered down at the tiny 23-day old preemie, my heart broke. Skin and bones except for a big, bloated belly, the baby had been in the hospital for nine days and couldn´t keep anything down. The family didn´t have enough money for the medicines and treatments it needed, so Kristin and I had filled a prescription for it. I could see the weariness and worry written all over the woman´s face as she leaned over her little one. I wanted so badly to help this tiny life. To find out what it needed and fix it. But, it was out of my control, and all I could do was fill some prescriptions and pray. I am realizing this is a constant struggle in the mission field. There is really only so much you can do, and then you have to trust God and pray. This is very hard, especially when there are no gaurantees things will turn out well or the way you want them to. Thankfully this baby is getting better. He is now nursing and able to keep it down. He still has an uphill battle ahead of him if he is going to regain the strength he lost, but I am praying, and I know prayers work. Prayers do things we are unable to do humanly. I am realizing when I feel hopeless or like things are totally a mess, I can always pray. God has the power to make any situation, any life, any problem all better, working in ways we aren´t even aware of. That´s why I am so happy to be able to do the little bit I can. I may be limited, but the God of this universe who loves and cares about each of us more then we can even imagine, and knows our needs better then we do is only limited to the extent that we ask.
I forgot to mention in my last blog, that if anyone chooses to donate the surgery for the man with his intestines in a bag and we end up with multiple donors, we will be creating a fund for future people in need with any money left over. So, if you would like that money returned to you if we meet this need, just let me know. Thank you.
Our programs are going well. We went through the community and did an evaluation of the letrines. They are all above ground, and many are not even fully enclosed or covered. This is a real contributor to disease and diarrhea in the families here. But, it is very difficult to come into a community and tell them that something they all practice and believe is just fine needs to be changed. It is a good challenge, and we are learning more everyday.

The Front Lines

2007-09-16T14:15:00.000-07:00

Hello!
Kristin and I are now located in a cute, clean apartment in Yarina, a few minutes from Las Brisas and Teodora Vinder, the two communities where our campaign is currently running. For these last two weeks remaining of the campaign we will be focusing on building sanitary letrines with our families, a real need we´ve noticed. It is important to dig a pit to bury waste, and every home we´ve visited has an above ground letrine. This means the pile of waste sits on the ground, and rats, chickens, and other creatures run through it and eat from it, contributing greatly to the spread of disease and infection. Not to mention the many flies that lay their eggs and travel from letrine to the kitchen and back again.
One of the latest discoveries we made while visiting km 38 for a few days was a vampire bat happily sleeping above Kristin´s bed. David kindly rid us of the nasty looking thing, and I was once again so thankful for my mosquito net. It and I will be inseparable, I´m sure, by the end of this trip.
A while back I wrote about a man who came through our clinic with his intestines in a plastic bag, and said that we were going to look into raising money for the surgery he needs to put them back in. We are still trying to raise the money he needs for the surgery and would like to help him with it as soon as posible. The surgery will cost $500. I know a lot of my friends have been putting up information about this guy on their blogs, too. If you are interested in donating money to help this man, please let me know. He is a member of the SDA church in Las Brisas, and is a fisherman by trade. However, he can´t fish because of the strain it puts on his stomach, so he is doing odd jobs for members of the church in exchange for food and money, earning enough to live, but no more. He has been faithfully attending the meetings, and just yesterday as Kristin and I sat under the tent for Sabbath school, I looked over and saw him eagerly reading his Bible. When you look into his eyes, you can see the pain he´s in, but he keeps going, smiling and remaining true to the Lord. Why else are we here but to help those who can´t help themselves? I was impressed that if we could show him God´s love by meeting this need, his faith will be strengthened in such a tangible way.
I want to thank you all for the many prayers said daily for me and the project here. I believe prayer is powerful, and we are on the front lines. Satan is not happy to see the people here responding in love and gratitude to the Lord for the joy He is bringing to their lives. He is working hard to weaken the efforts here in any way he can. Please continue to pray for the people of Las Brisas and Teodora Vinder, that the Holy Spirit would move on their hearts and use us in whatever capacity He sees fit to bring the precious gospel of love to their thirsty souls.

Newest Addition to the Family

2007-09-11T12:51:00.000-07:00

Hi all.

I´ve had so much more internet access lately, I just don´t know what to do with myself! It doesn´t feel like I have much to tell. Kristin and I have been working really hard on creating a program for our health program, since discovering there really wasn´t enough of one for our limited spanish to make work. It is tedious, but rewarding.
The group got back Sabbath from their exciting adventure on the river, and brought a new addition from deep in the jungle to join our little family. Yes, you guessed it - el mono. It´s a really cute, tiny little spider monkey, with a first, middle, and last name, making up for his small size. His first name is Franc. The girls fell in love with him despite his inability to be potty trained and bad habit of wiping urine all over his little hands to ¨clean¨himself.

Posts

2007-09-04T08:12:00.000-07:00

By the way...

I didn´t realize I could check and reply to posts on my site! (Thank you Shawn, for helping me figure that one out!) So, please feel free to leave postings - I love them, and will be sure to reply...now that I know they´re there! Love you all, and thank you for the prayers. They make a big difference.

Amazing

2007-09-04T07:44:00.000-07:00

Hello all. I wanted to write a little bit about the spiritual experiences I am having over here as well as the physical ones. They have been just as exciting, in a different way.
The Lord has really been working in my life, and I am realizing what I have heard every person involved in any type of mission work say: to give is to recieve, and so much more. I feel that although I am working hard and giving some time for service, I have never been more blessed. It´s hard to explain, but being over here, away from the business and stress of the States and school is just amazing. When I get up in the morning, I just love being able to spend time in the early morning hours with the Lord, reading the Bible, praying, and being rejuvenated, recharged for another day of service.
When you´re in the mission service so actively, everyday, it´s so easy to see what life is truly all about: living for others. Well, not just living for others. Giving of your life so that whatever you do, whatever difference you can make, will be an effort to let God work through you to show them how much better life is with Him then without.
The lesson I have learned very quickly here is that it is impòssible to give and keep giving when you don´t have a connection, a relationship with the Lord. The more time I spend with Him, the more I am overwhelmed with His amazing love, and how perfectly He knows just what I need.
I know the Lord has led me to Peru, if for no other reason, to really show me His love and desire to be a part of my life and help me to serve Him. The lessons I am learning each day are more valuable and precious then any class or lecture I could take, and they´re straight from the best professor ever!
I know in a few short months this wonderful chapter in my life will end, and I will jump back into our crazy but comfortable North Amercian lifestyle. Although I will leave many things behind, I want to hold onto and never let go of the life changing, life saving lesson that I have learned: I can´t live without the Lord. I want to make time for Him, and never let go of the special relationship I have begun to allow Him to develop within me. I can describe it as nothing less than amazing.

Week One of Our Six Week Saga

2007-08-31T13:36:00.000-07:00

Hello all. So much has been packed into this past week, it´s crazy. Kristin and I truly fontiering it, going where no student missionary has gone before! Pretty exciting.
On Monday and Tuesday we came down with watery, mucousy diarrhea. After telling the people we lived with, they promptly responded that it was because we were drinking “agua cruda.” In other words, they don´t drink that water until they´ve boiled it. So, we are now taking Metronidazol TID and chlorinating our water.
The people we live with are really very sweet, and when Mariza (the lady of the house) heard we weren´t feeling well, she whipped out her jungle remedies on us. She practiced some rock therapy, covering our bellies in rancid olive oil and massaging them with rocks for about 30 minutes, and then grabbing our heads with her oil covered hands and praying in a whisper for about 5 minutes. Then we were told to leave the oil on until it dried. She also had me drink some jungle honey for my sore throat and tried to give me some blood from a jungle plant, but that was where I drew the line. We have to have some boundaries!
We have begun our kid´s program and surveys, and today enrolled 11 families in the health program. At one of the homes the lady invited us to have a seat and enjoy some of the “refresca” she and another woman were drinking. The pitcher was sitting on the table and its contents looked like green slime, but we didn´t want to refuse. So, two tall glasses were poured, and I smiled and took a sip. And almost spit it out. I really don´t want to know what was in it, but I can tell you whatever it was had been rotten and fermenting for quite awhile. So, I´ve had my first alcoholic drink as a student missionary! What´s next?! Needless to say, I couldn´t drink anymore.
God is good, and it is exciting to be involved in His work. Please continue to pray for us and the participants in the program, as it starts officially this Monday.

The group: last day of clinic and Laura´s birthday

2007-08-26T14:47:00.000-07:00

Clinic Week

2007-08-26T08:40:00.000-07:00

A lot has happened in one week. I am now a seasoned clinician after our first clinic. Ok, maybe that’s stretching it a little. I know longer shake in my boots at the thought of clinic, because I know what it involves and it’s not all that bad. Sunday we packed all our meds and supplies into the truck and headed to Los Brisas (sp?), a community about 20 minutes from Pucallpa. Clinic was set up as quickly as possible in a new house in the community. Dental took the campaign tent where evangelistic meetings were held at night, and Medical took the house. There were two rooms. The smaller one was the consult room for the doctor and OR for the minor surgeries we performed throughout the week. The other one was the pharmacy/everything else. We had five tables lining the walls and grouped analgesics, antibiotics, antihistamines, shots, creams, vitamins, and BP meds together for greater ease and fewer errors in dispensing meds. Then clinic began.
The first day was crazy because no one really knew what we were doing. We had to rely on Jenni a lot to explain meds and answer questions. But, by day two we had the process down pretty well, and every day improved more. Here´s the way our days went: Up at 6 to take down our tents which we set up inside the house and pack everything into the truck for safe keeping. Breakfast, worship, and then triage began. I took blood pressures and then headed back to help in pharmacy. Kristin took complaints, kid´s weights, and temperatures, sorting out people who only needed Abendazole for worms and vitamins from those who really needed to see the doctor. The rest of us (minus the dentist, Laura, Manuel, and Brent, who were in dental) were in pharmacy, filling prescriptions as patients filed out of the consult room. We also gave shots, pulled out stitches, and bandaged wounds. This week we also got to give a couple Lasix shots IV for sky high BPs and an IV for major dehydration. Medical alone treated 70 patients in the morning and 70 in the afternoon, and dental averaged about 50 patients a day. By the end of the day we were all exhausted, but the work was very rewarding. And it was evident that the people appreciated it and needed the medical attention.
We saw some sad situations this past week as well. A few stand out. A lady came through with her kids, and was standing in line for pharmacy. I noticed tears in her eyes, and I wondered what had happened in the consult room. As she waited for help, Jenni filled me in on her situation. She has terminal liver cancer, and doesn´t have much longer to live. She has five little children. One is still breast feeding, but she can´t breast feed it, so it is lacking nutrition it needs to survive. We were able to buy the vitamin supplement the baby needs and give it to her, but it will take a miracle to stop the cancer. Another man came through who had had some type of colon resection surgery performed by a local surgeon. The doctor had simply left what was supposed to be a temporary stoma after the surgery, and now that mans intestines are literally hanging in a plastic bag outside his body. It’s horrible how a doctor who is supposed to make people better could leave someone like that. We are trying to raise money so he can have surgery performed to fix the stoma. We also removed a golf ball sized tumor from the head of a young man. It was just hanging off his head on his left temple, and it looked like a large melanoma. He took it to have it biopsied, and I don´t know the results. Even though it was nice to removed it for cosmetic reasons, it ´s sad to know that it could be cancerous, and if he had access to medical help sooner, it might have been prevented.
My favorite part of clinic was actually taking blood pressures. I got really good at taking them, which is a good skill to have (thank you Southern for that stupid nursing skills bag I never used in school – the BP cuff has really come in handy in the mission field). It was not as high stress as pharmacy, and I actually got to communicate and interact with the people more, which is what I enjoy the most. I felt like even though I wasn´t doing a whole lot, just being able smile and ask how they were doing was really nice. It was nice to see the different faces, ages, and poverty levels. It made me realize that no matter where you go or what people you come in contact with, everyone is alike in that we are all the children of the Lord and loved so much by Him. These Peruvian people are all hungering and searching for the love of the One who loves them more then they can comprehend, and they deserve all the love and kindness we can give them. They are no different then you and I in that respect, and I am learning to truly love them as a people.
Well, that´s all for now, folks. On to our next big adventure. Well, at least for Kristin and I. For the next six weeks we will be immersed in our Healthy Families program in the community where we did the clinic. Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to grow everyday in our new jobs. God bless!

Firefighting and Earthquake

2007-08-17T13:01:00.000-07:00

A lot of excitement has happened in the last couple days. We did feel the earth quake that I´m sure you all heard about, but it was nothing where we were. Pretty cool to feel it, though. It happened while we were all sitting around the dinner table getting ready to eat supper. We started praying and all of a sudden it felt like the house was moving. By the time the prayer was said it was gone, but everyone was like, did you feel that? And then as we were still trying to figure out what it was, another one came, and we could see the walls and doors moving. Weird. Then it was gone. Manuel had a little radio that he listened to and started telling us how bad it was and where it hit. Crazy. We wanted to go do relief work, but it would be too much right now, and we don´t really have the skills to do search and rescue.
The same day the quake hit we did a little firefighting. The Peruvians had used their burn method to clear the land, only it was really windy, so the fire spread quickly, and was headed toward one of the buildings. We didn´t have water at the time either, so we used boards to beat out the flames in the grass. Thankfully no one was burnt. The Dr just thought it was hilarious to watch me fight fires becauseI would beat the grass in front of me that wasn´t burnt on my way to the fire to scare away any snakes that might be escaping from the flames. :) So after we saved the building and a lemon tree we thought our day was done. Until after supper Kaitlin noticed flames way on the edge of our land. So, we all loaded into the truck with a few shovels and headed in the direction of the fire. We got there just in time. The flames were only about 6 meters away from a house that a little old man was house sitting for. The roof was thatch and the entire building was wood, which would have gone up like kindling. We woke him up, and he seemed totally unconcerned. He told us Jesus was coming soon, and he wasn´t worried about it. He said it wasn’t going to keep coming toward the house! Needless to say, both Jenni and Manuel tried convincing him that he needed to be more aware, but he didn´t care. We threw dirt on the flames and got them out.
I have been running since midnight last night, and I am so tired, hungry, and thirsty. Kristin and I went into Pucallpa last night with Jenni and stayed in a hostel so she could show us where to buy all the meds we need for clinic. It took us until almost 1am to make the list and all. I was so tired because my body is used to going to bed at 9! Then we got up early this morning and went to 5 pharmacies to get prices, then returned to four to get meds. Plus we had to take out and change money. Thankfully all the pharmacies are on the same strip, but it still made for a ton of running around. I am looking forward to Sabbath - the last restful one for awhile I´m afraid, because on Sunday we start our clinic and 6 weeks of health/kids programs. Every Sabbath I think we´ll be helping the bible workers. And today isn´t over yet. We still have to go pick up all the meds with the truck and pack for clinic back at km 38. Where are the peaceful days?? It’s nice though, because I feel like now we´re finally doing what we came here to do.

Ansley and the maggot filled old bathroom

2007-08-17T12:49:00.000-07:00

Backyard view of the bathroom/shower

2007-08-17T12:42:00.000-07:00

Update 2

2007-08-17T12:41:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone,
A lot has happened since I last wrote! Here’s the latest:
We took a trip down river about two hours to a Shipibo Village along the Ucayali River. The village makes money off tourists by making beautiful beaded jewelry and Shipibo clothing. We played a futbol game with the kids and were amazed by their skill – they kicked our butts! The children are very sweet, and love having their picture taken. They swarmed Laura, and had to look at every picture she took. As we left, a little girl shyly placed a beautiful bracelet she had made into my hand, as a gift. It was so sweet. I will definitely be getting some souvenirs there before I leave.
We had a new experience right here at km 38 last week too! We have some sheep that eat our grass to keep the land fairly clear, and one morning before we let them out of their little pen a ewe gave birth to a little brown lamb. It was so cute! The miracle of life is always so wonderful to see, and it amazes me how tender animals are to their young. The lamb is growing quickly and enjoys jumping around and exploring every little tuft of grass. This morning while Mauro was painting the sheep’s hooves with violet (it keeps the parasites out and kills the ones that are already in their hooves making them lame) I discovered that the lamb is small enough to fit through the fence as well.
This past weekend we traveled up the Ucayali to Masisea, a town about 4 hours from Pucallpa by boat. That was an interesting experience. We arrived Friday afternoon and played a game of futbol with the kids. It’s a very good way to make our presence known (we always have a large audience), and shake the stereotype all Americans get: stuck up, rich, and above interacting with the natives unless absolutely necessary. Then we had a meeting to welcome in the Sabbath a home that the brand new church there meets in. The church was planted only a few weeks ago, and this was their first Sabbath without the Bible workers there.
Next day we had church service and then it began to rain. We were supposed to leave for the boat back to Pucallpa by 1pm, but the rain never let up. So, we settled for plan B. The next boat would leave at 5am. We hadn’t slept very well anyway the night before, between the techno blasting from club a few houses up through the wee hours of the morning, and the roosters who started making noise at 1am. So, getting up at three to catch the moto to the river was fine. Except for one thing. At 3am there really are no motos making rounds in Masisea. So, four crammed into the one driven by our hostel owner, one rode with Domingo, the Bible worker, who had brought his motorbike, and Jenni, Tara, and I waited in the dark for a moto. It was a little unsettling, but we did our best to blend in, and finally a moto came for us. Next came the bumpy, slippery ride down the very muddy road to the river. When we got there we paid our driver and started walking what we thought would be a few feet to the river. Only to discover he had decided the road was too muddy to go farther, so we had to walk the rest of the way. Now very late for the boat, we hurried along as best we could in the dark, and came upon the motorbike, with Domingo and Margy. They had wiped out on the road and were waiting to be towed. Thankfully in the end it all worked out and we all made in onboard about two hours later, thanks to the nice boat driver who waited for us all. Not like transportation in the US!
I think I will write a small book about advice on Peru when I get back. I’ve come up with two entries already:
1. Don’t inspect your surroundings, wherever you are, because chances are, you’ll see things you really didn’t want to see! For example, I used our outhouse at the hostel in Masisea and began to look around. Hanging a few feet above my head were huge spider skeletons caught in webs (when I say huge I mean 3-4 inches wide). As I stared at them I realized if those spiders were dead, then something much larger then them was eating them! And I really didn’t want to see whatever that was!
2. Never complain about what you have, because it can always get worse. For example, I was rather shocked by our transportation from Pucallpa to Masisea. For some reason my idea of public transportation by boat was a bit different then the real deal. I had envisioned a clean, roomy, fairly new boat with a bathroom. Not so in Peru. Our boat was old, rickety, very dirty, and smelled like rotten meat. Boards on the floor covered some of the water and other liquids that were sloshing in the bottom, and everyone piled their belongings, including trees, live chickens, bunches of green platanos, and cases of Inca Cola (a local soda) on top. If you have to pee between the plentiful stops between villages along the route, if you’re a guy or child you’re lucky and pee over the side (children also take care of other business over the side, which I was unfortunate enough to witness on this trip), and women bring pee basins (pee in the basin, then dump it over the side). While all this was rather uncomfortable, the trip back was much worse. The boat was half the size with the same amount of people, and the roof was so low I couldn’t sit up straight. Plus, we got a boatload of smokers. Lots of fun, especially after getting up at 3am to get to the boat, only to sit there waiting to leave for three hours!
So, my adventures continue. This Sunday if the strike doesn’t happen we will be starting our first clinic. Please keep us in your prayers. We’ve been doing inventory of our meds, and it’s tedious, but now we’re ready to buy what we need and finish up preparations for the clinic. Feel free to email me with questions or just to say hi! emilym@southern.edu. God bless!

Update 2 Postponed

2007-08-14T14:49:00.000-07:00

Hey,

I wasn´t able to get my jump drive to work on this computer, so i´ll have to wait to put my up`date on here til next time. Bummer. I´m doing well. God bless!

My Peruvian Life

2007-08-08T10:39:00.000-07:00

Hola! Como esta? I am doing very well, and keeping busy learning many new things everyday in my new home at km 38 in Peru. It’s called km 38 because it is 38 km from Pucallpa, the nearest town on he map. However, it is only 4 km from Campo Verde, a little village where we buy a lot of our food. In Peru buying food is very different from the States. I think most are familiar with farmer’s markets. They are the US equivalent to the grocery shopping options here. It makes it fun, because you can barter for things and the fruit and veggies are seasonal, so there’s pineapple, mango, and papaya seasons. Here a dollar is equivalent to three soles, and things in general are much cheaper then in the US, making it kinda nice for poor SM’s like me! We spend about five soles a day on food for each person here, and we eat very well; at least relatively. Ansley was here the first couple days and we ate like kings and queens, but we have had some trouble figuring out how to cook so well. Her cooking spoiled the Peruvians we live with, and working on watery oatmeal and a small banana doesn’t go far in the hot sun. But, we’re learning quickly, and the meals are improving. As is our Spanish! Praise the Lord, I can see progress, slow but sure, even since the first couple days. I understand a bit more and communicate pretty well, broken and incorrect though it may be. Margy, a Peruvian who is a good friend of Jenni, is living with us and giving us daily practical Spanish lessons, which are very helpful. I’ve also been making flashcards of the never-ending verbs.
So, now that I have shared bits and pieces of my life in Peru, let me give you an over view of what is going on over here (Down here). Arriving here was not such a culture shock as I was expecting. I think attitude and flexibility has a lot to do with adjusting to new surroundings and culture. I am really enjoying experiencing all the new things Peru has to offer. We (Laura, Tara, Kristin, Kaitlin, and I) arrived late (1 am) Tuesday night in Lima and stayed in a youth hostel. We were in a rickety old two-story building with damp drafty rooms and large statues throughout the vaulted hallways. I also noticed some rotting skulls with hair still semi-intact behind some glass next to the desk as we were checking in. Evidently it’s some Incan thing.
The next day we flew to Pucallpa where Ansley and Carly, the two SM’s, picked us up in the project truck. We loaded our many bags into the back and headed through town to km 38. That was fun! The traffic in Peru is insane, especially in the city. Drivers are generally very good, because they have to be. In the city there are many one way streets, and on any two way road there are no lanes. Motos (motorized rickshaws), bicycles, motorcycles, motorbikes, taxis, and combis (buses) all wind their way to wherever they’re going. The horn is just as important as steering, as it is used almost constantly to get people and traffic out of the way. Pedestrians have no rights in the road, so watch out!
The next few days were spent settling in, learning our way around Campo Verde and Pucallpa, and getting to know the group. Brent, the only guy here so far arrived Friday. We have four Peruvian friends who live with us. Manuel, Edwin, Mauro, and Nitia. Edwin and Nitia are married. Nitia is 17 and Edwin is 30. Quite an age difference, but it is common here. Mauro is 17 too, and Edwin’s brother. They are all a lot of fun, and we have a great time trying to communicate and laughing.
We also have some pets. Lola and Cheva are our watchdogs and Joey the cat prowls the house for cock roaches. We are thinking about getting el mono (monkey) because there are many for sale in Pucallpa and they are fairly cheap (50 soles), but we’ll see.
Sabbath we attended the little iglesia (church) at the end of our drive way. It’s small, but the people are very nice. At the afternoon meeting I had an experience with the common bathroom scenario in Peru. Most poor families have a building with boards covering a pit that they move aside when they use the bathroom. I like to call it the squat and pee method. Needless to say, it takes a special talent that I don’t have.
When we arrived we had only a pit with a toilet cover over it and maggots in the bottom and a bucket shower surrounded by a tarp, but within a couple days we had a beautiful bathroom and shower attached, curtesy of our Peruvian friends. We even have a homemade toilet paper holder! It took me a few days to learn to put my toilet paper in the trash can. Here the sewage system can get stopped up very easily if you don’t.
Anyway, on to the present. We have started going over our job descriptions and responsibilities, and are now working on planning and preparation for the clinics and health/kids programs. Yesterday we went swimming in a lake down the road, but I couldn’t stay in for long. I kept thinking about alligators and piranhas. We’ve also made a trip to the Natural Park, like a zoo in the states. The animals were in small cages, which was sad, but it was really neat to see the big cats and el monos. And, one thing is for sure. We gringos and gringas make a commotion wherever we go. I feel like a celebrity here! Children, guys, and really everyone watches and follows, trying to talk to us. We took pictures with strangers at the park who wanted to take pictures with the Americans. I thought afterward I should have charged some soles! We were interviewed by a local TV station as well.
Although I may feel like a celebrity, our living conditions are quite rustic. We have no electricity and sleep on hard wooden bunks. But it is home, and I have adjusted to it for the most part. It’s all part of the experience. That’s it for now, I will write more next time about what my nursing and teaching responsibilities are over here, and the new stories as they develop.

The bucket shower

2007-08-08T10:35:00.000-07:00

Top to bottom: My room, The dining/living room, Kristin (my fellow nurse), and Tara

2007-08-08T10:21:00.000-07:00

Governor´s Palace in Lima

2007-08-08T10:16:00.000-07:00

Lima - our first days in Peru

2007-08-08T10:09:00.000-07:00

The girls

2007-08-03T13:44:00.000-07:00

Laura

2007-08-03T13:39:00.000-07:00

2007-07-12T17:56:00.000-07:00

A postcard perfect view on the North Fork Trail in Big Pine, California

2007-07-12T17:45:00.000-07:00

Wildlife in Big Pine, California

2007-07-12T17:41:00.000-07:00

Beauty

2007-07-12T17:36:00.000-07:00

A tender moment

2007-07-12T17:29:00.000-07:00

The Wild Animal Park's finest

2007-07-12T17:19:00.000-07:00

Enjoying the beauty of Idyllwild, CA

Counting Down

2007-07-12T14:31:00.000-07:00

The days are ticking by, eating away at July. With every one that passes I am brought closer to my departure date. The excitement is beginning to mount, along with some aprehension toward the unknown. Very soon my life will be changing drastically!