I thought I ought to give Terri equal billing. This was taken at the airstrip when Wendy was leaving.
Our trip to Yarakita was a success after getting off to a shakey start. I had figured on taking one of the bikes to Kumaka to get the boat ready as I didn’t think there would be buses running that early. I told Alex I would pick him up on the way by, and he was waiting when I got there. As we were passing by the hospital in compound, the bike suddenly started going back and forth in the back, so I knew the tire had instantly lost all its air. I gave my keys to the shed that the motor and things are kept in to Alex and told him to go ahead to start to get the boat ready. I then started walking around in compound trying to locate a tire pump, hoping that it would hold air enough to let me reach Kumaka, but there was none to be found. Finally a bus came by and I stopped it to ask if they had a pump. They did, so I borrowed it and pumped the tire. I then gave the pump back to the conductor on the bus, and by the time I walked back to the bike, the tire was flat again. I ended up sitting as far ahead as I could so my weight would be in the front tire and drove it to Kumaka. So we were about 45 minutes late in getting underway.
Because there were four of us in the boat, it couldn’t plane up out of the water, so we could only do about 11.5 MPH. Then we went into the creek before Yarakita, and had to turn back to reach the right one, so it was about 11:30 when we got started. Solo and I went down on direction, and Compton and Alex went the other way. The village is much more spread out than the last river village we did. Maybe because the village can also be reached overland as well.
Solo and I had several nice calls. Solo knew many of the people, or at least the families there. We met a young woman who mentioned that she had come to the Special Assembly Day program last year at the Primary School. We told her about the one scheduled for May. She then asked us when we were planning on coming back to Yarakita. Compton mentioned that he had many ask the same question of him. It makes you feel bad that you can’t give an answer to that. Then before we left the young woman, she asked if we had a Secret to Family Happiness book. Not your usual question.
We had agreed to meet back at the boat at 4:00 PM. It took Solo and I a half an hour to walk back from where we had ended. It was about 4:30 by the time we were ready to leave, and several of the people standing around mentioned that if we didn’t leave soon we would be stuck there until the next day, because at low tide the creek becomes unnavigable. Because we were lighter, and the falling tide’s current is stronger than the washings tide’s, we were about to make about 13 MPH on the way back, but we still reached Kumaka in full darkness.
Today it was just Terri and I going to Kobarimo. While school is still on vacation, there were a number of boats at the landing. We had decided on a fairly large looking boat, and I was getting into it when a woman paddled up in another canoe. We asked her who the boat we were taking belonged to, and she said it was a man who was out working, and would not be back until late afternoon. But she said she didn’t think we should take that boat, as it was very ‘twisty’. She mentioned she would be gone until 4:00, and we could take hers. I thought it was nice she was looking out for the white folks. We had a nice paddle up the creek, no strong words and no umbrella blows.
At one of our calls, an older woman who is the mother-in-law of the one we started the call with, but who has been there the last few weeks, mentioned that she had ‘given testimony’ in the church Sunday that no one from the church ever comes to visit them to share the word. The only ones who come are the white folks from the Kingdom Hall. I don’t know what else she might have said, but she said afterwards, everyone clapped their hands. When we first started going there, they were always busy doing cassava bread, but now they do that on Thursday since we come Friday. They also mentioned they go to the pond early, and encourage one another to hurry up, so they will be back before we get there. We are really hoping Joy or someone will be able to continue the calls after we leave.
Because there were four of us in the boat, it couldn’t plane up out of the water, so we could only do about 11.5 MPH. Then we went into the creek before Yarakita, and had to turn back to reach the right one, so it was about 11:30 when we got started. Solo and I went down on direction, and Compton and Alex went the other way. The village is much more spread out than the last river village we did. Maybe because the village can also be reached overland as well.
Solo and I had several nice calls. Solo knew many of the people, or at least the families there. We met a young woman who mentioned that she had come to the Special Assembly Day program last year at the Primary School. We told her about the one scheduled for May. She then asked us when we were planning on coming back to Yarakita. Compton mentioned that he had many ask the same question of him. It makes you feel bad that you can’t give an answer to that. Then before we left the young woman, she asked if we had a Secret to Family Happiness book. Not your usual question.
We had agreed to meet back at the boat at 4:00 PM. It took Solo and I a half an hour to walk back from where we had ended. It was about 4:30 by the time we were ready to leave, and several of the people standing around mentioned that if we didn’t leave soon we would be stuck there until the next day, because at low tide the creek becomes unnavigable. Because we were lighter, and the falling tide’s current is stronger than the washings tide’s, we were about to make about 13 MPH on the way back, but we still reached Kumaka in full darkness.
Today it was just Terri and I going to Kobarimo. While school is still on vacation, there were a number of boats at the landing. We had decided on a fairly large looking boat, and I was getting into it when a woman paddled up in another canoe. We asked her who the boat we were taking belonged to, and she said it was a man who was out working, and would not be back until late afternoon. But she said she didn’t think we should take that boat, as it was very ‘twisty’. She mentioned she would be gone until 4:00, and we could take hers. I thought it was nice she was looking out for the white folks. We had a nice paddle up the creek, no strong words and no umbrella blows.
At one of our calls, an older woman who is the mother-in-law of the one we started the call with, but who has been there the last few weeks, mentioned that she had ‘given testimony’ in the church Sunday that no one from the church ever comes to visit them to share the word. The only ones who come are the white folks from the Kingdom Hall. I don’t know what else she might have said, but she said afterwards, everyone clapped their hands. When we first started going there, they were always busy doing cassava bread, but now they do that on Thursday since we come Friday. They also mentioned they go to the pond early, and encourage one another to hurry up, so they will be back before we get there. We are really hoping Joy or someone will be able to continue the calls after we leave.
