Before I share our adventure, let me share some exciting news from here. Sometime ago, James had told me that a while back there had been an eye doctor who had visited the Ridge and James had gone to see him. The doctor had told him that if he could get to ‘town, they would be able to do something about his eyes. After hearing that, I had gone by the hospital and inquired of the Medics about the procedure of getting people evaluated for further treatment in ‘town. She had told me to bring him by and she could evaluate him, and if justified, arrange for his passage to ‘town.
Several weeks ago now, Stephan had taken James up after service on a Wednesday and the Medics said she would check into getting him a ticket to go to ‘town. We checked back a few times and were always told, “Just now.” Sunday, James asked to speak to Stephan and I after the meeting. He told us that someone had given him money for a ticket to ‘town and told him to try and have us arrange it. I told him I wanted to try to speak to the Medics one more time because if we could get them to provide the ticket, it would give him more money to keep himself in ‘town.
I went and spoke to her. She mentioned one of the problems was getting fund to pay for someone to travel with him. I told her that that wouldn’t be necessary, as we would arrange for someone in ‘town to collect him and get him around. When she heard that, she said that the woman who schedules the plane was there using the phone, and when she was finished, she would see if there were any seats available. When she asked, she found out there was a seat, so it was set for Wednesday.
Tuesday morning I went by the hospital to make sure everything was still in order. I had also wanted to get a referral letter for him. I was told that the Medics was in the back dam and wouldn’t be back until sometime Wednesday. The nurse said that she could write the letter, and she said that she had been told he was going to have to pay for his own ticket. I told the nurse that I had spoken to Medics on Sunday and she had checked with the agent and had told me that there was going to be a seat for him on Wednesday’s flight. She thought for a minute and then told me that they had originally had two patients going out, but one got put on a Tuesday’s flight, so she would write a letter that I could carry to the agent to see if James could fly. I did and it was confirmed.
I picked him up Wednesday morning and took him to where they do the check in. Gary picked him up when he got to ‘town and they went to the eye clinic and an appointment was made for him to see an eye doctor the following Wednesday. He then took him to the Amerindian Hostel where he will be staying. He also contacted the Congregation Coordinator of the congregation nearest to the Hostel. That brother will arrange for the friends to check in on James, take him to the meetings, and help him get out in service. So he will be getting to experience firsthand the brotherhood.
Now for our adventure, since our Sunday meeting attendance has gone up so, we are often short of Watchtowers for the study. I had tried a few times to get word across to Baramita to see if they could send some over, but with no success. We are starting a new Watchtower this week and we had placed out almost all of them after last week’s meeting. Since it has been so dry here, I have wondered how far they have pushed the road through to Baramita. I also have wanted to talk to some there about making a literal English translation of the new Carib tract to assist us in learning the language. For all these reasons, I decided to take my bike as far as I could drive it, and then walk the rest of the way, get the magazines, try to arrange for future ones to be sent across, and express our interest in having a literal translation of the tract.
Since Thursday is my ‘day off’ I announced my intention to go. Terri said she wanted to join me. I told her that there would be a fair amount of walking involved, but she assured me she was definite in her desire to go. So we set off a little before 8 AM. We drove for about two hours, and went about twelve kilometers past where we had walked through before. We then started walking. We walked through in an hour and a half.
It was nice to meet the new couple who are now in Baramita. I was able to get a little over thirty magazines to bring back. I spoke to ones there about a literal translation. The new brother also showed me a language manual he had and offered to copy some sheets for me. We spent about three hours there and then it was time to go. We started walking back and after we had walked a little over half an hour, I happen to check my pocket, and I couldn’t find my bike key. So now I had a dilemma, should we walk back checking as we went because I had taken a cloth out of my pocket to clean my sunglasses? Or should we press on because I felt I might have left it with the bike?
I decided to keep walking, hoping that it was with the bike. The last thing I had done was to unlock the helmet lock to put Terri’s helmet with mine. But I could almost remember playing with the keys as I spoke to the brother in Baramita (those of you who know me, know that I can be a fidget). Terri was not happy at the thought of walking all the way to the bike, only to have to turn around and walk all the way back to Baramita. I told her she could just wait where we were, I would walk to the bike and if the key was there, I would walk back to get her. If it wasn’t there, she would then walk back to Baramita. She said there was no way she was going to sit for an hour all alone in the middle of the jungle. So we walked, and thankfully, when we got there, the key was there.
For this week’s pictures I have included one from our trip to Baramita. At one place along the road there are a bunch of large (huge) rocks, one of which you can see here. The other is a picture Terri took while on a study. When the study was finished, she looked over and here was this little boy standing. She told the mother, “I think someone has gotten into the powder.”
