This week was a week of beginnings and endings. It was the end of Roland Rendon’s time here at Matthew’s Ridge. He had arrived the end of May with the intention of leaving after the District Convention in August, but he decided to extend his stay. He will be leaving Guyana November 10th, but rather than coming back here after the Circuit Assembly and then having to fly back shortly, he will stay in ‘town until he leaves.
Roland and Andrew were supposed to have gone out on the steamer, leaving on the Sunday we were in Baramita, but Andrew was sick. We think he may have had malaria. He had the symptoms and went for a test, but his ‘smear’ was on the same slide as another person’s and they read the one but not Andrew’s. In the meantime, the medix gave him the treatment for malaria and he seemed to get better. Stephan, Andrew, and Roland ended up all flying out on Wednesday. Stephan and Andrew would attend the pioneer meeting Friday, and all three of them would attend the Circuit Assembly on the weekend.
Jonathan returned from Baramita not feeling well. He mentioned he had a nasty headache, and he just felt completely worn out. A couple of days ago, he mentioned to Terri that he had a strange rash on his arms and stomach. It appears that he must have had a mild case of dengue.
This week was also a week of beginning in that a new class for learning to read and write started. There were thirteen who expressed a desire to learn. A number were ones who had been in the first class, so Terri is going to have to figure out how to make it challenging for them, but yet also accommodate the first timers.
Before it gets too old, I had mentioned last week about sharing some ‘Baramita moments’. Mine was on the last day. I was waiting to hear what was going to happen with the last shuttle flight. I was at the house Bro. Hansraj lives in and where the District and Circuit Overseers were staying. Stephan came walking by and said that there was going to be another flight so we needed to get all the bags off the truck, which was parked about 1/8 mile away. So I got up to go get the bags with him and Brother West. The DO, called to everyone in the house to come and give a hand with the bags. When I got to the truck, I looked back and here came the DO, the CO, Bro. Hansraj, Bro. Monroe, and several of the wives, all coming to help us carry bags back to the airstrip.
Terri’s ‘moment’ was her early morning breakfast preparations. She mentioned how nice it was to see the various ones from the group all working together and laughing as they were getting the breakfast ready. In a similar vein, there were a few in the group who had family living in Baramita, but they chose to stay with the group in the school, rather than with family.
The weather is starting to change here. It is becoming what the locals refer to as, ‘in and out’, which means one minute the sun is shining and the next it is pouring rain. On the positive side, it has not been so hot, but it also means more mud and muddy pant legs when you walk.
The work of digging out underneath the house is continuing. It is approaching half done as far as area, but probably closer to one third in terms of amount of material to be moved. It is getting more difficult since the dirt has to be moved farther. I am hoping I can find a wheelbarrow to use. The digging isn’t so bad, but it’s the moving the dirt that takes all the effort. At one point I had been thinking that if we end up with a Special Assembly Day program here (as I have been told may happen), we would hold it underneath the building since there will be almost twice as much room. Now I have decided we will hold the Memorial observance under the Hall, since last year we had over 200 attend. So now I have a deadline to keep me motivated.
For this week’s pictures I have chosen one of Terri with her new class and one of the kitchen in Baramita. That is Patricia with her face turned, her daughter Melissa behind her, Nicola is helping with the ‘bake’, and Fonda is in the back.
