Coming Home

Just when you thought the messages from Belize had come to an end... Sorry for the length. It's what happens when you put a pen and paper in front of someone on an airplane with too many thoughts and too much time...

We've boarded the plane from Belize City to Houston. We're sitting on the tarmac, making the psychological transition back to the first world. It's hard to believe that the adventure is over. And it's hard to imagine it having gone any better. Some credit for that goes to our pre-trip prep work; some to the tremendous support of the congregation; some to Pastor Kerra's efforts in preparing the devotional booklet that we used religiously (sorry) twice a day.

Given the importance of each of those components, I can't say enough for the facilitation and support provided by Katie Frankhauser and the rest of the staff at Jaguar Creek. Katie was with us almost constantly, becoming a de facto member of our team. She met us at the airport and ushered us though customs. She ate breakfast and dinner with us every day, and lunch with one of the service teams when she wasn't too busy ferrying team members from place to place. She even MADE (or at least served) breakfast for us on the days when we left camp before the kitchen crew arrived. She participated in all our devotions and worked with Dale to pull off two very moving worship events on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. She worked behind the scenes to coordinate our worship participation in the Spanish Armenian service on our first Sunday in Belize and in the Ecumenical Sunrise Service on Easter. And sometimes she spent an hour or more late at night coaxing a cranky modem into sending our email missives back to Oak Ridge. Our experience would have been profoundly different without Katie's enthusiastic support in everything we did.

The only thing Katie wasn't able to join us for was the final departure trip back to Belize City. We said our goodbyes at the bus at Jaguar Creek. Katie was there along with Percy, the camp manager. Tono the construction manager (I'm making these titles up!) was there, along with Matteo and Carlos who do security at Jaguar Creek, and also helped us on the laundry project. It was not a tearful goodbye, but it was heartfelt all around. There seemed to be an implicit understanding that our relationship with Jaguar Creek and with Armenia was not ending, but merely beginning. I made Tono promise to have Katie take pictures of the laundry site to send to us as Tono and his crew make further progress on it.

As we pulled out of Jaguar Creek, it began to drizzle, the first rain we'd seen since arriving in Belize. Bob wrote a poem likening the rain to tears from the sky at our departure. The rain let up as we stopped briefly in Armenia for Chuck and Doug to take some pictures of a well head where we may do a future water purification project. Jordan and Dale also hopped out to get some pictures of typical Armenian houses off the main road. While they were gone, an Armenian boy about 8 year old approached the bus with a plastic bag of hand woven baskets. When we proved to be a receptive market, his mother -- a young woman with a baby on her hip and another in her belly -- boarded the bus with more baskets to sell. By the time we were ready to leave she had pocketed about $50 Bz, or $25 US. Daniel said "Wow, that's probably enough to feed her whole family for a month!" Probably a slight exaggeration, but not by much.

We pulled back onto the road, headed for Belmopan. The rain started again. As we pulled into the open air market in the capital city, I noticed that the rain had stopped. We wandered the fruit stands and food shops and souvenir shops for 45 minutes -- far longer than was needed on this Monday morning that was still part of the Easter holiday. I was on a quest for Marie Sharp's hot sauce, a local carrot and habanero pepper concoction that many of us developed a taste for at Jaguar Creek. I was disappointed to find only two varieties: HOT and FIERY HOT. Back at the bus, Elizabeth told me she'd seen more varieties at the Chinese grocery next to the bank across the highway earlier in the week. Sarah and I checked it out, and added MILD and BEWARE to my collection.

We pulled out of Belmopan and turned east on the Western Highway, named for the direction it heads from its reference point in Belize City. This was the same road on which we'd turned west two days earlier, at the beginning of our day long dirt road adventure to the Mayan ruins at Caracol, the cave at Rio Frio, and the pools at Rio On.

This time, headed east on an air-conditioned bus, the temperature was about 20 degrees cooler and the skies began to rain once more. Almost like clock-work the rain stopped as we pulled the full-sized school bus into the tiny gravel parking lot of the Belize Zoo. The zoo, although small, lived up to Katie's advanced billing. [NOTE: you can check it out at: http://www.belizezoo.org/] It contained only animals native to Belize, in a natural jungle setting, with kicky signs hand painted on rough cut tree planks. Belizeans have no problem with taking themselves too seriously. We saw some magnificent toucans, including the keel-billed national bird of Belize and a pint-sized toucanette who hopscotches his way across his perch. We saw half a dozen different kinds of parrots and a majestic endangered Harpy Eagle named Panama. We saw black and spotted jaguars; a jaguarundi about the height of a house cat and twice it's length; coatimundis; tapirs; spider and howler monkeys; and a variety of pecarries (pigs). On my way through the gift shop I spotted more Marie Sharps. I picked up a green salsa version that Katie had told me about and an orange-based version that wasn't available at Jaguar Creek. I also added NO WIMPS ALLOWED to my collection. Unfortunately, I was still unable to find a bottle of COMATOSE to round things out.

When I got back to the bus, Gilbert -- our driver -- told me that Percy had called for me from Jaguar Creek and would be calling again in a few minutes. He relayed a message from Jan in the church office that we MIGHT be rerouted through Honduras and MIGHT need to spend the night in Houston. When I passed this message on to the team, the teens were, of course, horribly disappointed. Yeah. Right.

We pulled back onto the highway headed for Belize City and the airport. The rain had ended for the day, but the skies remained overcast and the temperatures were pleasant for the first time since our arrival. As we checked in at the Continental desk, Sue verified that yes, we would be diverted through Honduras, and yes, we would need to spend the night in Houston. 5 minutes later, I decided it wouldn't hurt to verify that information as Sarah and I checked in. This time the answer was no, we would fly on schedule directly to Houston and make our connection tonight to Knoxville. When pressed for more detail, the counter attendant explained that they had finally been able to locate fuel and a tanker truck to refuel our plane and eliminate the need for a refueling stop (!) in Honduras. The two hours in the waiting area passed quickly, with our surroundings looking more and more first-world. Shops and people with gaudy tshirts; Visa and Mastercard accepted here; sunburns and jewelry and world-weary faces ready to return from a vacation interlude. Finally we walked across the tarmac in the Belizean humidity we had become so familiar with and re-entered the air conditioned technological haven of our 737. Experience transformed into memory and almost immediately began to fade. I hope this journaling will keep it from fading too much. It's an experience I never want to forget.

Dan Terpstra

Water

We brought instructions for self-chlorinating water for Cruzcal's use and discussed them with him. He showed us elaborate plans for a health clinic that appeared to be prepared by an Engineer but they were for a facility that would be too expensive for Armenia's purpose. Cruzcal asked us if we would help with lay-out plans for a clinic on a 20 by 30-ft pad, which we said we would. After our discussion about the clinic and water situation we asked if he would show us the well he would like to use for the community.

There were two wells, both hand dug. One well was not protected and is apparently only used for washing. The other well was protected but very shallow. The water surface was only about 10 or 12-ft below the surface. We retrieved some water using the rope and bucket. The water appeared a little murky with a slight septic odor. At that point Dale and I decided we should retrieve a sample to see if the water could be treated to a point that is potable. We walked to the village store to buy some bottled water with the plan to use the bottles to collect a sample. On the way a young 10-year old girl, Iris, connected with us. She was full of questions and wanted to know what we were doing. When we told her, she indicated that her Grandfather's (Santiago Morales) well was better. She asked if we would collect a sample, which we agreed to do with Santiago's permission. Santiago did not understand English, so Iris acted as our interpreter. The discussion between Iris and Santiago appeared to be slightly heated but Iris indicated we had permission. We proceeded to his well to retrieve water, which Iris did quickly, but Santiago followed and appeared to be upset. Dale then asked Iris directly exactly what Santiago said. Santiago was afraid that we would sample and condemn his well. When he learned that we had no intention of condemning the well, he suddenly was very happy and was interested in how we could help. We promised nothing but indicated we would get word back to him concerning the water quality. Iris was a very sweet, outgoing and intelligent girl and we enjoyed her company for at least an hour while we were in Armenia, learning about her family and how well she was doing in school.

Doug

Sunrise

Today began at 5:00 AM with breakfast and into town to share Easter sunrise service with the Nazarene, Baptist and Evangelicals . The service was nice. We stood through it. Our contribution to the service was to sing "Lord of the Dance". We also doubled the congregation. Lunch as usual was delicious; we had quiche and vegetables. We returned and most of the group went to recreation and sorting dirty clothes to prepare to leave tomorrow. Doug and Dale went into town to talk to Cruzcal (or Cruz Cal?) who is on the Armenia Health Council. We discussed with him both a future medical clinic and the water system. We had an interesting time as we rode the bus in and back. The bus was on time both directions! It cost us $.50 Belize. We had quite an adventure visiting the village to get water samples and talking with a young girl, Iris, from the village. But most of that tale is going to come from Doug.

Dale

Saturday

Today was very different compared to our week days filled with HARD work. We got the chance to experience being tourists. Marcos (the same guide from the cave tubing adventure) took us to the Mayan ruins in Caracol. This Mayan city at one time (in 600-1100AD) housed over 170,000 people and was one of the three largest Mayan cities in this area. We explored several of the temples, ball courts, water reservoirs, and even the archaeological research areas. Awesome! Everyone had waited anxiously for this day and tour and no one was disappointed. Then, Marcos also took us Rio Frio, which is a cave but NOTHING compared to the cave that he took us to Sunday the 20th. It was a "look-through" cave that you could be inside and look out both ends. Had a nice stream and waterfall, many stalagmites and stalactites, and lots of slippery rocks for scampering over. Our final stop was at a series of pools, falls and rocks. We all cooled off in the water and falls. I felt very relaxed today and I believe everyone else was as well.

It is amazing to see all of the sites and to see the beauty of our earth. The beautiful earth that our God made for us. Also today it made me realize that we are killing this beautiful earth, and it is sad to see something as magnificent fade away while we sit here causing the problem and acting blind to this issue.

Tomorrow, (Sunday the 27th, 3 days till my birthday) our last full day here is going to be an early one. I am personally not looking forward to it, only because it just means that we are getting closer to our leaving date. I have fallen in love with this peaceful place, Jaguar Creek. YOU CAN'T MAKE ME LEAVE! Well, actually, I miss you all. I am looking forward to all of your "welcome back" hugs.

Happy Easter to all!

Peace-Love-Joy-

Olivia Lane Andrews Wood

Maundy Thursday

My stomach clenched up, as it tends to do when I begin feeling nervous or uncomfortable, when I first heard that each of us would go around our circle having our feet washed and then washing the person next to us. Scripture reading, song, and sacrament were no surprise, but this feet-washing ritual has never been part of my Maundy Thursday service before. It was not the thought of washing another’s feet that bothered me, but the one of Tim, my old Sunday school mentor and esteemed friend, bending down to wash my own. But when the time came, my heart pounding, feelings of peace and joy replaced ones of discomfort. Then I took my turn, gently taking Olivia’s feet into my hands and wanting to extend the moment indefinitely. Kneeling before her, I did not feel any sense of inferiority or oppression. Instead I felt light.

Looking back, I think the lightness came from not being so occupied with my own thoughts and concerns. One of my favorite poems by Sir Thomas Browne describes God visiting seashells along the ocean floor. With the first one, he finds it already occupied, too replete with itself to have room for him. He moves on until he comes upon “a shell disinhabited” that he then fills with himself. Too often I felt “too replete with myself” that there is no room for God, but during that moment of washing Olivia’s feet, I only felt replete with a peaceful lightness.

Afterwards I thought about what my experience meant for what we were doing in Belize and the nature of charity. What Jesus did by washing the feet of his disciples was to upset notions of hierarchy by reversing roles. It seems the goal of our mission trip is our attempt to be like Jesus, to reverse, if only for a moment, our privileged position as American citizens by serving the people in Belize. But while last night suggested this idea to me, it raised other questions. What does our work feel like to the people of Belize? How do Ms. Leona and the children at the orphanage feel about foreign strangers always coming for short bursts of time to help before they return to the comfort and safety of their homes? While appreciative, do they feel an element of the same discomfort that I experienced last night? Or is it even greater for them, being constantly dependent on others for their survival? What made my experience of the feet washing ritual so powerful, though, was first being able to receive Tim’s gift, his act of service, graciously, but just as important was being able to serve another.

The next day at the orphanage as Jordan and I picked up rags and buckets of soapy water, I saw little four-year old Lucretia come up and point to them. Remembering my experience of Maundy Thursday and my desire to serve after receiving, I handed her a rag, lifted her up to the window, and together we washed the windows around the house. Soon Jackie came over and joined Jordan. Throughout the day more children continued to gladly give, helping us finish our paint job. Unable to open the door and reach the sink because of our ladder, we appreciated Alicia rinsing our paint-covered brush clean. Hot and tired at the end, I gladly accepted Carolyn and James’ offers to wash our supplies. With my arm tired from the paint roller, I willingly handed my mop over to Ezekiel, who cleaned our floor with the seemingly inexhaustible energy of a 12-year-old boy.

I will never know what Lucretia and the other children felt today, but it is my hope that they felt some of same divine lightness that I did. Leaving Belize, I do not know how much of our work here contributes to an overall reversal of the unfairness and injustice that divides the First World from the Third World, but today I worked side-by-side with orphaned children in Belize with all parties giving and receiving and depending on one another in a beautiful pattern of reciprocal charity.

Medical Musings

The orphanage seems a cheerful if somewhat crowded and chaotic place. Most of the smaller children seemed playful and full of energy. All of them smiled back at me and many asked questions about what I was doing when I took their blood pressure, pulse, and respiration rate. Dale had told me not to tell them I was counting their respirations, and several asked me what I was looking at as I watching them breathing. They also tended to wiggle and giggle when I took their blood pressure, and I had to repeatedly ask many of them to sit still. One nineteen year old girl named Elana has been blind since she was fourteen. Her parents did not take her to the doctor soon enough when she was going blind or possibly it could have been prevented. One wonders what the future holds for her, since she can only stay at the orphanage until she is twenty-one and is not receiving any education or training on how to take care of herself. Her parents abandoned her. Some other children at the orphanage have likewise been abandoned. It may seem easy to condemn parents for doing that, and it may be beyond our understanding how they could abandon their own children, but perhaps we should try to understand rather condemn. If it is already difficult for them to survive, having a handicapped child may be too much of a burden to bear. Even if drugs or alcohol or abuse are involved, the powerlessness and hopelessness that results from grinding poverty may be the root cause.

Shirley Moore

Medical Team Report

Today the medical team did physical exams at King's Children’s Home. Before starting to see the children, we worked on cleaning up and organizing the infirmary. In the morning, Dale and Bob saw about 30 children who had been selected by Miss Leonnie. Sumner and Shirley helped by doing height, weight, temperature, blood pressure, etc. Most of the children were healthy, although a few hand ringworm or dental problems that needed attention. Dale talked with a 15-year-old who already had one baby and was pregnant with another. Not all of the children were present today because some had gone to be with their families for the Easter weekend. Some of the children are not orphans but stay at the orphanage because one parent is dead and the other works and cannot care for them. But they go with their parent on a holiday.

After lunch, Dale and Bob left for Roaring Creek to talk more with Penny Digman. Dale stayed a good part of the afternoon to talk with Penny about treatment of asthma and diabetes and Penny brought her back to Jaguar Creek. Shirley M. and Shirley K. finished cleaning and organizing the infirmary until the medical team closed up shop around 2 pm. Miss Leonnie had requested that we organize the infirmary and get rid of expired or otherwise not useful medicines. She apologized for not having the room cleaned up for us, but she has her hands full taking care of the children.

Laundry Report

Antonio promised us a short, easy day today. He was half right. We finished by about 3:15. But it was anything but easy. We had a big crew. Tim, Doug, Daniel and I made up the regulars who have been part of the laundry crew all week. Chuck and Sarah have been in Armenia all week, but took time on Wednesday and Thursday to help with the medical clinic. Elizabeth and Olivia joined us for the first time today, and Sue, Rita, and Rita's Sarah rejoined us after helping on Monday in pouring the slab. Jordan, our other regular, took the day to play with the kids at the orphanage. That made a dozen of us.

We started the morning working on three different tasks. Some started hauling sand to mix into concrete – a skill we had practiced a lot on Monday and Tuesday. Another crew continued our work from yesterday, building the forms that would hold the concrete for the 8 x 8 inch beams that run the perimeter of the laundry, suspended 9 feet off the ground by the columns we poured on Tuesday. A third crew learned a new skill: building a 4x4 inch steel skeleton out of rebar to reinforce those beams. In the US all of these tasks would have been mechanized; here they were all done by hand.

The concrete crew was most efficient, finishing first in their assigned task of hauling 21 wheelbarrows of gravel to the porch of the Development Center, and mixing it with seven bags of Portland cement. In anticipation of completion of the forms, they started adding water to the mix.

Meanwhile, the rebar team finished tying each of four steel rods to a steel harnesses spaced two feet apart for 96 linear feet of reinforcing, and finally the carpenter crew finished building the last of three forms for the day. Of course, as soon as we tried to position the first one, we discovered that it had been built backwards. We had to tear it apart and reassemble it. After all the forms were in place we discovered a warp in two of them that required some in-place adjustments to make sure the final product actually WAS an 8x8 inch beam.

During all this activity the temperature kept climbing and the concrete began to set. A weeks worth of fatigue and exhaustion took its toll. Several of us looked like walking zombies. Chuck took a spill with a load of gravel and ended up with several magnificent bruises. Doug lost a ladder and ended up swinging from the forms like a monkey. Most of us were running on autopilot.

After we placed the forms and braced the tops and bottoms, we started filling them with concrete. One five gallon bucket at a time. We had to work fast, because the concrete had already been mixed for 2 hours. At the halfway point we took a break for lunch around 1:00. Grenaches – small fried flour tortillas covered with beans, cheese, grated cabbage and fresh spicy tomato salsa. Delicious! Lazarus used to sell them on the street. His plate looked like a multicolored flower with 6 beautiful petals. He called it a plate of roses. Pictures to follow.

After a short lunch, we were back at it by 1:30. Intense effort on everyone's part got the forms filled with concrete. The extra concrete was embedded in the walls we built yesterday, and all gone by 2:30.

A little more time cleaning and sorting tools and we were ready for "closing ceremonies". We thanked Tono and his crew for the opportunity to work with them and for their patience this week. We gave each of them a "Mission from God" T-Shirt and took our formal group picture in front of the laundry building. After that, we piled into the LandCruiser and the back of the pickup truck for the four mile trip back to Jaguar Creek for soccer (Sarah and Jordan and Tono's work crew) or swimming (the rest of us weary old fogeys).

All in all, a productive, gratifying, fulfilling, awe-inspiring and exhausting week building the laundry facility for the people of Armenia.

Dan Terpstra

Orphanage Report

The KCH team arrived ready to paint. The living room was Mama Leonnie's choice. After 45 minutes and our dismay at the color she had chosen, Leonnie came in and said "Hey, he gave you the wrong paint." We all said, "Thank God".

After waiting for incorrect color to dry, we resumed with the correct paint and finished around noon. Katie came by shortly after we had cleaned brushes, rollers, etc., and we all got a ride via the medical and construction site in Armenia and arrived "home" at 2ish. We spent the rest of the afternoon trying to cool off - some by swimming in Jaguar Creek. All in all, a very good day.

Laundry Report

Today we started by mixing mortar so we could finish laying cinder blocks for the side walls. We had three or four walls to finish pouring and finished before lunch that was around noon. We got to eat a very good lunch that replenished our electrolyte and sodium reserves. After lunch we started measuring the lengths we needed for the horizontal forms We then built three forms and set them in place. We were done by around four thirty and got back to Jaguar Creek around five. It was a very rewarding day and we made a lot of progress.

Medical Team Report

Today's medical clinic at the Armenia community center was less hectic than yesterday, with around 60 patients seen, the majority of them children. There was enough time today for Sue, Sumner, and Sarah S. to hand out toothbrushes and clothes and sing nursery rhymes with the children. Still, Bob and Dale saw a steady stream of patients through the morning until the pace slowed in the afternoon.

One particularly heart-rending case was a 6-month old baby named Miguel Barera whom Dale noted with a serious heart defect. The mother said that she had seen a pediatrician who said he needed heart surgery. The family needs $400 Belize to even start the process of getting the surgery. Miguel is much smaller than a normal 6-month-old. Dale treated him with a nebulizer because he was having trouble breathing, but it didn't help as much as she thought it would. She referred him to Penny in Roaring Creek who has a fund for Knoxville Children's Hospital. Dale hopes that Miguel can travel to the US for the surgery.

At lunch time, Dale discussed community health issues with Filaberta who is vice president of the Health Council of Armenia., a village organization. Filaberta said the number one concern is clean water. They expect the new well will be completed in two months or so, and it will have a purification system. Doug was brought into the conversation and described different ways of purifying the water in the meantime. The water people are currently using is well water that is contaminated. Filaberta will take the different options described by Doug to the Health Council who will decide how to proceed.

Another local person, Erica, had been helping with intake interviews and translating today and yesterday. Erica's mother Odelia was also helping yesterday. Dale showed Filaberta and Erica how to test blood glucose levels, among other things. Dale also left Filaberta with three bags of supplies and will send educational material on clean water for Filaberta to use to educate her community.

The community center has a library with several shelves of books. During a slow moment, Shirley found a book entitled "Christian Ethics" that contained the following:

"Justice distributes power so that the weak become stronger and better able to care for themselves. Charity meets people's immediate needs in ways that keep them dependent."

Although we are meeting immediate needs, such as acute health care, during this mission trip, we hope that we have to some small extent empowered the people of Armenia, or if not, will be able to help do so in the future. But the underlying poverty and lack of power is a long-term problem that will not be solved easily.

Laundry Report

The essence of the laundry team goals was shown to us as we rode home from the work today. Along the road to Jaguar Creek was the line of women and children heading to the river for water and to do laundry. Particularly heart touching was the young girl and boy, apparently siblings, who at 4pm in the afternoon, with the temperature at 100 degrees were walking up the 300 ft hill leading from the river, each hauling a five gallon bucket of water to take home for evening use. They were barefoot and walking on the hot asphalt. Think about that for a moment and realize how incredibly lucky were are with our lives and what a great thing our congregation is doing to help change the daily lives of these wonderful people.

Our laundry facility team worked hard in that 100 degree heat, with several of the members showing signs of heat exhaustion by lunchtime. But all did fine after taking on fluids and we accomplished the mission for the day by getting the forms off the columns poured yesterday (and they held) and then half of the concrete block walls constructed. One of the real benefits of the day was that the medical mission workers were at the same location as us, so we got to experience the 100+ men, women and children coming to the clinic and all that that entailed. We had several first time construction workers with us today, including the incomparable Cynthia Browne. She used more hammer strokes per nail than anyone during the past 3 days. And she wants to come back again. Silly girl. I don't think that it was mentioned yesterday that we had an opportunity to drive by and see the location of the new well being drilled. It's a first class facility and the plan ultimately is to have water brought to the homes in the village as well as the laundry. But, as our Jaguar Creek host pointed out, few of the villagers will be able to afford the hook up or cost of the water. And that's still years away. The village only got electricity 2 years ago. Some STILL do not have electricity because of the cost. So, to make a long story short, we're doing some really good stuff down here! We're all exhausted physically by the end of the day but are consistently being renewed spiritually by our supportive team. If Tim didn't tell you earlier in this post, the locals are helping us a lot. Don't get me wrong, we're giving it our all, but they add an extra dimension to our efforts. (meaning they know what they're doing). As we said earlier, we're doing some good stuff and we Really, Really, Really enjoy your letters. Keep us in your prayers.

With lots of love,

TimBob and Jordan

Orphanage Report

The "love letters" of support, encouragement have been AMAZING. They have lifted spirits when the heat has knocked us for a loop. Thank you so much to everyone who put forth such effort and love in your notes, letters, and cards. The team that worked at King's Children Home battled the stifling heat with the hugs and smiles from the children. Part of our team continued with the ongoing painting project but today more of the teenage residents assisted with painting. The highlight of today was the highly anticipated field trip to Blue Hole National Park for time in the water. Shirley F and Shirley K were instrumental in coordinating this trip. We took thirty six children to Blue Hole ranging from 9 months old to 19 years old. The children had a fabulous time swimming - lots of laughing and splashing. The field trip would not have been possible without the extra "life guarding" efforts from other team members (i.e., the laundry crew). The children crave the individual attention and affection. They constantly ask to be read to and sit with amazing attention despite that the readers often are melting from the heat. Ezekiel (a nine year old boy) tells me throughout the day that my face is TOO WET!! The children are well cared for but as in many big families one on one time is precious. So whether we are reading or painting or folding an amazing amount of laundry you are never far from our thoughts. Your prayers are felt throughout the day and without you this experience would not possible . I now understand the true meaning of Brothers and Sisters in Christ, for that I will be eternally grateful.

Peace In Christ,

Elizabeth

More Medical

People came and waited on benches made of planks we had used for concrete forms and concrete blocks until they could register. Then they waited inside on benches made of planks and concrete blocks to be weighed, measured, and blood pressured. Then to another bench to wait for Dr. Bob or Nurse Dale. Today I was pharmacist. It was very different from pouring concrete. We improvised a lot to have enough pill containers and bottles for liquid Tylenol. I learned how to write "Dos vez al dia" and other useful pharmacist stuff. There was no point in labeling medicine for Mayans who don't speak English because Mayan isn't really written in any consistent way. I also had to tell many people "manana" for things we had run out of. Because the room had concrete floor, walls, and ceiling, it was very noisy. Typical pediatric office noises multiplied to cacophony. During the slow times I circulated and tried to distract the little children from the torment of waiting by talking to them if they were old enough and spoke English or just making faces at them. Great fun. The response was incredible and almost overwhelming. The volunteer translators, including a Peace Corps volunteer, were indispensable. One of my outstanding memories was of an old man who was just beaming as he left with his bag of antibiotic capsules.

Chuck

Medical Report

This was the first day that the medical team worked in Armenia. We started out very disorganized. Many of the things we needed had been inadvertently left at the previous clinic. We arrived and had not before set up a clinic on our own, and it took much longer than anticipated to actually start seeing patients. There was confusion about how to get people registered and take vital signs. There were so many people! I had worried that we would not see anyone! We saw 103 people, 69 children. Bob and I consulted with each other when we needed. It was almost all acute care - people who had fevers, rashes, coughs, chicken pox, and other illnesses. The people were gracious, and our translators were wonderful. We had Spanish and Mayan translators - there are two Mayan dialects here. We saw people in improvised exam rooms with curtains for privacy, usually seeing whole families together. One time I saw a mother and 6 children, sorting through their problems, one at a time. They had intestinal parasites. It was good that I figured that out by the second child. We have run through many of the medications that we brought and are buying more. I am sure we will be over budget by the time we leave. I had the opportunity to talk with the women who are on the health counsel here about diabetes. They were appreciative of the information, were responsive, and asked questions which showed that they had understood the material. The heat is amazing, over 100 today. We remind each other that we have to drink, we even count how many times we pee each day! It has been wonderful to read the letters from home. It helps to restore my spirit at the end of a very exhausting day.

Dale

Laundry Report

As I sit here, nursing my sore muscles and writing this email, Tim, Jordan, Cynthia, Olivia, Sue, and our new friend Steven (a local 16-year old boy working with us on the construction crew) are playing a tense and competitive game of hearts. Every so often, in the middle of a sentence, I hear a raucous bout of laugher, and I can't help but smile. Even though we are all sore and physically exhausted, evenings here at Jaguar Creek are relaxed and time is well-spent in the company of our fellow church members.

Today gave us all good reason to be tired. The laundry crew, of which I have been a proud part the past two days, worked our tails off today. Although we had a slightly easier day than yesterday, and let me stress the word slightly, we worked hard from roughly 8:30 AM to 3:30 in the 96-degree afternoon. After a delicious breakfast of fresh banana bread and sweet yogurt, we drove the four beautiful miles to the work site, Jordan, Tim, Mateo (the night guard here at Jaguar Creek and a wonderfully pleasant man), and I riding in the back of the pickup truck. Without pausing, we hopped out of the truck and began working. While Tim, Chuck, Dan, Doug and Antonio were busy building forms for the cement pillars we would be putting up, the real strength of the team (being Jordan, Daniel, Sid and me) was busy transporting concrete blocks onto our already built cement base. Let me tell you, it's harder than it looks.

After building the wood forms for the cement pillars, we went through the tedious, hot, and arduous task of propping them up, supporting them, and making sure they were as level as we could make them. Given that there were six pillars, it took quite a while to put them up and make them stable. After doing this, we moved some wheelbarrows worth of gravel in preparation for concrete-mixin', but since our stomachs were rumbling louder than the 18-wheelers transporting citrus fruit nearby, we decided to break until lunch arrived.

Lunch was eaten in wonderful leisure. Lunch consisted of the most delicious potato concoction I have ever eaten (don't tell my mother), some of the best tomatoes I have ever eaten, arguably the freshest homemade bread I have ever eaten, and some juicy (but not the best) watermelon. We all made sure to enjoy it, for we knew that the hard work of concrete-mixing would follow. After a wonderful lunch, we mixed the concrete (my arms are still sore) and watched in awe as Lazarus poured it into the forms from the top of a teetering ladder. When we had finished pouring the six pillars, we gratefully began packing up the tools, preparing to head back to Jaguar Creek for a luxurious dip in the crisp water of the creek.

Hi Mom! I love you!

Sarah Terpstra

Orphanage Report

Today, I went to the orphanage with Shirley F, Shirley K, Olivia, Cynthia, Sumner and our two friends from Chicago. It was a hard, hard day. Ms Leonie lives in this flat cement block building with the 50 plus kids in her charge. They swarmed around us as we tried to paint their rec room and hall. It was so hot and muggy again. There were fans in the room, but Ns Leonie doesn't run them because electricity is so expensive. Her typical bill is $500 a month, without the fans.

The children, and their stories, took a real toll from me. First I met Crystal who is 13 years old and who painted alongside us all day. Her father is dead, and her mother doesn't want her. She has lived in 5 foster homes, and thinks the children's home is PERFECT because it has TV. I wanted to take her home with me. I also wanted to keep Edgar, aged 10 months. He is a shiny fat faced bulldozer who spent most of the morning crying for one of the kids to pull him around the dirt yard in a milk crate by a rope. Trinidad who was 8 has lived there since he was a baby and serious James aged 9 has been there his whole young life as well.

Ms Leonie told me she has migraine headaches at the end of many months. That is because she doesn't have enough money to pay the bills. It costs $5000 US to run the home each month and she only has firm commitments for $3000 of income. Some months it comes, sometimes it doesn't. On the bad months, she delays paying the electric bill, hoping something will arrive before she is cut out.

Our group is holding up okay at least in spirit. The heat is truly oppressive and is taking its toll on us. Elizabeth had to stay home today. She was vomiting and showing general symptoms of dehydration, but was feeling better by dinner tonight. I have a feeling that she won't be the last. Please pray for us. This is getting really hard. I sobbed upon return from the orphanage. It was terrible to experience the bleakness of the kid's experience. Tomorrow we are taking them swimming. Hope this makes sense - I wrote it without my glasses!

In Christ,
Sue Byrne

Medical Team Report

The medical team (Bob, Dale, and Shirley) spent another day at Good Samaritan Clinic in Roaring Creek. During the morning, Bob and Dale saw patients, including many children. Shirley unpacked and organized surgical supplies from Intervol and helped fill prescriptions. Some of the people who had tested high for blood sugar yesterday came back for another test after fasting.

After lunch, Dale taught a class on asthma, attended by 10 adults (9 women, 1 man) and 3 children. Dale had the participants test their peak flow and explained how to interpret the results. Like yesterday, the audience was very attentive and responsive and asked good questions. Dale discussed inhaler use and medications with individuals. After the class, Dale and Bob saw more patients.

Shirley discussed the electric power situation in more detail with Ralph. He said it costs about $25 US a day to for gasoline to run the generator, or about $500 a month. He estimates public power would cost about $200 a month. The power company would charge him $5750 to bring power to the clinic. Ralph said he could wait them out until they brought the power in for houses that might be built, but that it's a chicken and egg problem since people are waiting to build until there is power. At a savings of $300 a month, it would take about 20 months to pay back the cost of having power brought in. Ralph can't get a loan from a US bank to pay for bringing power in, and a Belize bank would charge 12% interest.

Penny said she is in need of a storage building for the clinic.

Ralph said they have about 5 dentists visit per a year for a week each and that they would like to get it up to one week a month. They do fillings, extractions, cleanings, and crowns, but can't do root canals because followup would be required.

Ralph said they are planning to build ten cabanas, two bathhouses, and a kitchen area in June. These facilities will serve to house visiting mission groups and local church retreats. They will be able to house 45-50 people.

Morning Musings

I'm sitting on a landing about 30 feet above Jaguar Creek itself. It's 6:03 Tuesday morning. Quiet time is hard to come by. The temperature is pleasantly cool. The sun is up. The air is humid, as always, with a slightly ominous portent of the sweltering heat it will contain later today. I listen over the steady rumble of the waterfall about 100 yards away for the mornings announcements from a myriad of birds and other jungle critters proclaiming the morning.

Jaguar Creek from this perspective is every bit as beautiful as the web site led me to believe. The creek itself is crystal clear with sand and sharp coral-ly rocks on the bottom. It ranges in depth from about a foot to several great swimming holes chest deep.

The creek was salvation for half a dozen of the laundry construction crew yesterday afternoon. We worked harder than we thought we could hauling concrete all day. When we got back to camp, Daniel, Jordan, Doug, Tim, Sarah and I all headed for the creek. The water was biting and refreshing. 76 degrees, the same water and temperature as in Blue Hole National Park half mile away, and in St. Herman's Cave, where 7 of us had a cave tubing adventure on Sunday. We splashed in the swimming hole for a while until we got used to the water, then decided to explore upstream. We braved the current and the rocks to work our way to the top of the waterfall - really about a 5 foot cascade where the river narrows to about 10 feet across. At the top of the cascade we waded through several pools, culminating in a pool about 10 feet deep that simply disappeared under the rock. We were at the source of Jaguar Creek!

The physical beauty surrounding us here is truly breath-taking. Reverence and awe are cheap emotions here.

But when we venture out into the "world" outside Jaguar Creek, it is all too easy to see the crushing poverty that leads people to destroy this very beauty for the sake of survival. There are no easy answers and too many hard questions. And the beauty of God's creation envelopes them all.

Dan Terpstra

Laundry Report

The day at the laundry started out with everyone full of energy and ready to tackle the job at hand. However, as we got into the grueling work, that energy level seemed to decrease dramatically. The first day at the laundry was a big day, which included forming and pouring an 18 by 30 foot concrete pad. All concrete mixing was done by hand. We provided a large team (11) for this day because of the quantity of work that had to be accomplished. If it weren't for the locally provided team of 4 workers plus Antonio, I don't believe we could have ever accomplished the entire pad as we did.

We were able to perform the mixing under a roof but the pad itself was in the full sun. It did not take long for the temperature to rise. We made sure everyone drank plenty of water and that no one would push themselves beyond their limits.

Everyone worked very well together. When somebody became tired of shoveling concrete, someone else would automatically step in. When somebody was exhausted with the wheel borrow transfer process, someone else would step in. There was also a great camaraderie that developed between the local workers (all quite young - - in their teens or early twenties). They would pull simple stunts that would bring smiles to everyone's faces. When Sumner wanted to be more involved, one of the local workers helped her carry a five gallon bucket of water to help her feel part of the effort.

At then end of the day, everyone was quite exhausted and in need of refreshment. Some went to the Blue Hole National Park for a swim in a beautiful deep pool where the creek rises out of the ground, some of us, including yours truly, went swimming in Jaguar Creek and with a water temperature of 76 degrees was very refreshing, and the others simply showered and cooled off.

We feel truly blessed for the opportunity to perform this mission and appreciate the level of congregational support that allows us to complete this work.

Doug Allen

Orphanage Report

Five of our team went to Kings Children's home today. The day was mostly getting acquainted. We were received so warmly. The children were delightful and seemed to crave our attention and touch. Ms Lioni is called "Mamma" by all the children and the children pretty much interacted like brothers and sisters - some bickering, tattling, rough housing, and playing but also helped take care of each other. Oh, and the mountains of laundry we helped to fold - and that was just one day's laundry.

Another group of 16 from Manassas, VA, came after lunch and scrubbed the walls and the bathroom in preparation for painting tomorrow. Tomorrow we will go back and start painting the hallway, living room, and kitchen.

If there was just some way to ignore the heat, but at least we were not shoveling concrete.

Shirley Frykman

Medical Team Report

Today's medical team (Bob, Dale, and Shirley) spent the day at Good Samaritan Clinic, run by Penny and Ralph ("Grandpa") Digman, in Roaring Creek. Penny is a nurse/midwife. Consultations at the clinic are for a donation of $2 Belize ($1 US) per family. We first worked with Herb and Shana (from Bemidgi, Minnesota) to unpack medications and supplies. Herb is a pharmacist who is here on his own with his children. Part of Herb's effort this week is working with a local anti-drug program. Dale and Bob then saw patients for the remainder of the morning. Bob removed an infected cyst from a man's face, treated a young man for a sprained ankle, and diagnosed a young girl as anemic, among other things. Dale saw women and children. She diagnosed and treated asthma, migraine headache, allergies, and other problems. Shirley assisted with prescriptions and with the children and took pictures.

At lunch time, Bob and Shirley talked with "Grandpa", who is working on building a Learning Center between the clinic and the church that will assist children with homework and will have computers. Good Samaritan currently uses a generator for electricity. They can power the clinic or the church, but not both at the same time. Grandpa said it would cost $5750 to bring in electricity.

After lunch, Dale taught a class on diabetes attended by 18 adults (16 women, 2 men) and 5 children. The total class time was approximately 2 hours. Dale talked for 30 minutes and then asked and answered questions. When answers to her questions (or lack thereof) revealed that the class participants had not understood something, Dale repeated and simplified the material until it was understood. There were many questions about proper diet and about the harmful effects of diabetes. Dale was gratified by the appropriateness and responsiveness of the questions. Some people who spoke only Spanish had their children translate for them. While Dale talked, Penny and Shirley started medical records and took weight, temperature, and blood pressure measurements. 7 to 8 people had high blood sugar (over 200), and three were over 500. Dale and Penny talked with them about diet and taking medication and appropriate, as appropriate.

A set of 23 pictures with captions will go with this report when we return home or if we are able to upload them from an Internet cafe in Belmopan.

Shirley Moore

Monday Reports

Today was the first full day of service in Belize and it was very busy and very rewarding for all involved. There were three teams at work today including the medical, orphanage and laundry. The experiences provided by the medical team are summarized by Shirley Moore, the experiences of the orphanage team are provided by Shirley Frykman, and I will attempt to summarize the experiences of the laundry team.
From the Belize Team, Doug Allen

Sunday in the Jungle

We arrived at Jaguar Creek just at dark, tired, hot, but excited. We couldn't see the jungle, but we could hear the chorus of insects and the waterfalls in the surrounding creek. And the humidity of the jungle settled on top of us like a blanket. We quickly ate dinner in the dining hall---a wooden structure complete with peaked thatch roof and screened walls and settled into two open dorms with bunk beds, and mosquito nets.

During the night, howler monkeys made themselves heard by the girls dorm, but the men had other problems - a kinkajou - which is kinda like a raccoon, pelted their dorm with nut shells for some time, and later Chuck discovered a live scorpion inside. It was quickly dispatched.

Morning brought our first view of the jungle with its rich color and dense foliage. Following breakfast we left for church in a sweltering, standing room only bus. We headed into Armenia to worship with the locals at the New Apostolic Church.

The church was housed in a one room small white building. Free range chickens pecked around under the church windows, and a skinny stray dog sat under the massive bouganvilla bushes that lined the path to the entrance.

Seven children of Mayan decent sat on the front steps smiling a welcome to us as we approached the church. We took pictures with them. It seemed like everybody had a camera!

Inside, there were 4 ceiling fans, for which we were all grateful. We opened the service singing Rock of Ages, all verses in English, followed again in Spanish. The first notes sounded so bad to my ears that I actually laughed. We did improve as the song progressed. We heard 3 sermons. Each was delivered by a different brown skinned young man wearing a white shirt buttoned all the way to the top. All were in Spanish, but the church had brought in an interpreter who dutifully translated the sermon line by careful line for us. Having us visit was clearly a big deal for this tiny church, whose number was doubled by our visit.

Thelma, aged 11, whose birthday is on December 25th sat behind me. She is just 3 months younger than Sumner. She whispered to me all through the service, trying to interpret faster than the interpreter. She had a ready smile and knew all the words to the hymns---in Spanish and English. She touched my earrings and asked how much they cost. Her ears were pierced but she had no jewelry. I left the earrings with her - my first Belizean friend.

Communion was served, and they invited us to the table. We felt blessed to be spending Palm Sunday here among these people who were welcoming us in grand style. It reminded me of Christ's Palm Sunday entrance on a donkey. That week for Him started out with such joy, and yet had many twists and turns before its fateful conclusion. It made me wonder what awaits us here in Belize as we journey toward Easter.

Much love and peace to our church family back home---we feel you are with us at every turn.

Sue Byrne

Safe in Jaguar Creek

This message is to inform everyone that the mission team has arrived safe and sound at Jaguar Creek. We met up with Shirley and Cindy in Belmopan so that they are now with our group as well. We arrived shortly after dark at Jaguar Creek but saw much of the country side on the way in. We look forward to seeing the local sights and getting our bearings tomorrow.

They served us a wonderful dinner shortly after arrival and provided us further detail on the purpose of jaguar Creek and our schedule for the week. Tomorrow morning we will be worshiping with a local Spanish congregation in Armenia.

We feel the prayers and support of the congregation behind us and look forward to a productive and spiritual week of service.

For the Belize Team, Doug Allen

Belize and Jaguar Creek

During Holy Week of 2005 (March 20 - 28), 18 members of our church went on a mission trip to Belize. The entire adventure, from fund-raising to final return, is chronicled at: http://fpcor.org/belize.html. The team members included:
Dan Terpstra,
Sarah Terpstra,
Syd Murray,
Shirley Knight,
Shirley Frykman,
Jordan Greenlee,
Chuck Hadden,
Dale Hadden,
Daniel Harris,
Doug Allen,
Elizabeth Andrews,
Olivia Wood,
Sue Byrne,
Sumner Bryne,
Shirlely Moore,
Cynthia Browne,
Bob Dunlap, and
Tim Myrick.
The trip was documented as we went by emailing messages back to the church. Those messages are chronicled here as they were originally posted, and have also been transcribed to this blog, so they can be kept in the same place as other church related adventures of our members.