July 5, 2010

Greetings form the land of many waters, we understand why they call Guyana this. There are rivers and canals everywhere. We were checking on a project in Friendship, yesterday after church, with a group of families in Cuffy Dam East bank Demerara. There are about 30 families who live in this area and there is a canal running in front of their homes. We cross little foot bridges ( sometimes three 2X6's ) to get to their homes. I asked one of the ladies if there were any fish in the canal and she said " yes a lot of them and alligators" when I asked how big the alligators were she said they were very big. I asked her if they ever had trouble with them and she said " they don't bother people, sometimes they take a dog". They have small children who cross these small bridges all the time but they don't seem to worry.
We are learning our way around and the driving is getting much better. I still can't relax when I drive because we have to be on watch all the time. The buses will whip past when there is oncoming traffic so I have to move onto the shoulder and then they pull in and stop to pick up passengers 100 feet down the road. It is always an adventure when we get into the car.
We got our first project approved last week. We will furnish a container of wheelchairs to the Ministry of Health. We are also working on a Neonatal Resuscitation Training for later this year.
We have submitted a project with the St Paul's boys Orphanage but haven't received approval yet. There are many groups who would like a container of clothing and kits from the sort center. We only know of one organization that can get the container cleared through customs so we are working with Bernice Mansell, it is her organization, to bring in two containers to divide between the groups. Bernice is in her 80's and has been doing this work for 40 years. She is very lively and energetic and very fun to be around. She is very sharp and very honest so it is great to work with her. If we have a question about another group we just ask her and she will tell us if they are good to work with.
There is so much corruption in the Government and other organizations that we have to be very careful who we work with.
We are working with the University of Guyana to furnish books and equipment for their Library and with the Georgetown North Primary School to help them with some desks and equipment.
We are enjoying going to the Diamond Branch and are learning the name of the members. They are great people and have so much faith in the savior. They have many challenges in their lives.
Last week I became a bus driver, we borrowed the mission van ( they are called buses ) and we went into the interior. We took President Ramdeholl, the Linden Branch President and his wife along with 4 Elders and 2 Sisters and drove into the interior a ways. We went to Anarika which is an Amerindian village on the Essequibo river. We had a great outing with the missionaries. The river was very high so no one caught any fish but we were able to try some of the local jungle fruit. Some of it was good and some was OK but we prefer the bananas, pineapples and mango's we buy at the markets.
We are grateful for the opportunity to serve the Lord and the people of Guyana and the West indies. Every day is a new adventure and we are learning so much. Especially how blessed we are and how generous the Lord has been to us and our family. We need to be very grateful and share what we have with those who are less fortunate.