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September 2005 Team members: Ann (Team Leader), Judy,
Cynthia, Dr Mark, Devair, Bob, Janice, Annie, Angela, Linda, and myself. Sunday,
September 5 It was very hectic in After landing in Once underway, we all gathered in the
boat “meeting room” for introductions and orientation with our Brazilian crew
and team members. The leader of Brazilian team, and I guess the overall team, is a dentist
- Dr Neto. He stressed that for the rest of the trip we are not the The boat had not gone far when we
stopped at a floating “Quik Trip” to get gas and other supplies. We were there a
while and most got off the boat to avoid the fuel fumes and take one last opportunity to
buy snack food and soda. For the most part I try to avoid junk food on trips like this,
but I did buy something. I discovered that ice cream bars melt fast on the Amazon! As we push away from the dock, a few folks start
singing the theme from “Gilligan’s Our first meal on the boat was
interesting. First, the food was great! (although some of the repeats got old before the
trip was over). An interesting part was the small size of the galley and the engine noise.
The motor was next to and underneath where we ate. It was literally like being next to a
plane with its jet engine roaring. It was very difficult to carry on a conversation. This
is just part of the experience. Phillip informs us to just scrape leftover food into the
water – “feed the fishes”. Sometime during this first day on the
boat, Ann was soaped up in the shower and the water somehow got turned off. [That’s
what she said – I didn’t actually “see” anything.] Our first of many
devotions was held on the top deck. Cynthia started us out with music on her guitar. She
served well as the guitarista for the entire trip. Monday,
September 5 Last night (the first night traveling
on the boat) was surprisingly a restful sleep. The low drone of the engines had a calming
effect. Using ear plugs, you could only hear the low tones vibrating in your head. Bilingual (as always) devotions began
a beautiful sunny morning. There was something said during devotions about the last trip
like this – some kind of conflict – spiritual warfare. I didn’t quite
understand it through the translation. Later I asked Phillip for a better understanding of
what was said. Apparently before the previous trip the pastor of the
It was the first time you could see
the There are plastic chairs on the deck
in front of the Captain’s “bridge”. Also right there is the top of a double
stairway from the lower deck. All of this is at the front of the boat which provides a
good view, a pleasant experience of just sitting there with the breeze in your face, and
the sound of the water being pushed. A couple of folks stood against the middle stair
railing, looking forward, raising their arms saying “I’m King of the World”
(from Titanic). That is until the Captain signals don’t do that – you’re
obstructing his view! We stopped at Nova Olinda – a
town of some size – not a village. We got off the boat and walked through the
streets. There are many shops in the market. It seems we happen to be here on a holiday. We left Nova Olinda and were traveling
once again. As we left the dock, so did another boat. It was sort of like “the bus”
carrying people and goods along the river. A speed boat came up along side it and
transferred three large stereo boxes (don’t know what was inside) from the small to
the large boat while both were still moving. He must have missed the departure time and
you do what you have to do to get your merchandise on the bus! The water level was low this time of
year. This made it more difficult to travel up the river. The difference between high and
current water level was around 50 feet! You could really see the soil erosion on the
banks. It was common to see houses on top of the banks elevated on poles 3-4 feet. This
way it was unlikely to be flooded even if the water overflowed the banks. The sun is very hot. It feels cooler
in the shade. I’m sure the air temperature is hot too, but it doesn’t seem that
way. It’s the sunlight striking your skin. If you look at a map, we are just a few
degrees south of the Equator so this shouldn’t be surprising when you think about it.
It’s humid too, but it’s not like the oppressive August humidity you find in the
There was lots of excitement at
spotting several pink, fresh-water dolphins. You could see them when they jumped out of
the water. They really are a light pink in color. Everyone was trying to get a good photo,
but it was difficult since they were only out of the water 1-2 seconds. We branched off the Phillip said three weeks ago the water
was half way up the 40-50 foot bank. The water is falling fast. Eventually the canal we
came through will be unusable. Some crew members pulled a long heavy
electrical cable from the boat up the river bank. This was hot-wired into the village
electrical grid. This saved the boat from having to run a generator for power. There was a
building at the top of the river bank which housed a truck engine powering a generator. The Brazilian team went into town to
talk with the locals. Back at the dock just feet from the tied-off boat, boys are swimming
and diving into the water from a huge water-logged tree trunk. This served as the swimming
pool diving board. Girls wash clothes with a brush and soap. It’s interesting to
watch how people bathe in the river. They will lather up and just leave it sitting for a
time while socializing. Then they jump in the river to rinse off. The dock is a wooden structure with
heavy planks for the surface. In some areas (like where most of the people are washing and
swimming) planks are missing exposing the structure underneath. The dock as a whole floats
on huge tree trunks. I’m curious to know how long those trunks have been there. The
dock is tied off to the shore with two large ropes so it doesn’t float away. To
bridge the small gap between the dock and dry land is a wooden beam. You have to “walk
the plank” else get your feet wet. The task now is to prepare the boat as
a floating medical clinic. I helped Angela and Janice stock the Pharmacy – a small
room with lots of narrow shelving. We unpacked the drugs from large boxes and placed them
on the shelves alphabetically. We settled on the title for me of “Pharmacist
Technician” because it sounds impressive and would look good on my resume! We passed down plastic chairs from the
top level of the boat down to the dock. Until building supplies are emptied out of the
“real” waiting room, the dock will have to serve. Triage was performed in the
village, and then people were sent down the steep river bank. Patients filtered down to the boat. A
scales and blood pressure station were set up on the dock. The boat had different rooms
for dental, lab work, pharmacy, and 2-3 examination rooms. We had three translators
assigned to working with the health care team. The local kids had fun playing with
toys that Judy brought – play therapy. There was an alligator’s head where you
pressed on the teeth. One at random would cause the mouth to snap shut. This was a popular
one. A froggie hand puppet sang a song. Even the boat Captain got a kick out of this.
There were toy medical instruments and blowing bubbles. The light breeze made lots of fast
moving bubbles. Dr Mark was looking all over for a
scalpel. I said I had a multi-tool with a blade if he got real desperate, but he found
something. As I stood outside the Dentist’s room I heard a loud cry of pain emanating
followed by a few seconds of whimpering/crying. A minute later a 10-yr old girl emerged
holding a small towel to the outside of her mouth – no doubt minus a tooth. This was Monday afternoon and served
as a trial run of the clinic process. Improvements will be made for tomorrow. The big boat had two smaller aluminum
boats with motors. Six of us (Mark, Phillip, the Captain, Carmen, Ann, and myself) took
one of these boats to a nearby village. At the time, I didn’t even know what’s
going on. “Hurry and just get in the boat!” Sounds like an adventure to me! We
traveled about 10 minutes down river to some houses. Carmen got out and spoke to someone
(President? Of village? I never understood). We stayed sitting in the boat. Then we all
went back. Much to-do about nothing, but it was a nice ride. Soup for dinner made from leftovers.
It was real good with bread. It was dark outside and candles were on the tables for
lighting. Since the boat was not moving, small gnats gathered around the candles. If the
lights were turned on, they would be everywhere. You had to watch to make sure you didn’t
get extra protein in your food. Devotions and team meeting was good.
Hit the sack. Tuesday,
September 6 Devotions at Bob and I will work on the building
construction (since we are the unskilled labor). A number of people helped to unload
supplies from the waiting room onto the dock, then up the steep river bank. Even at this early hour it was getting hot and
humid, and this was difficult work for us gringos. It was hard for Bob and I to carry a
door and frame. One of the local men carried one on his head by himself! I had to stop
twice to rest carrying a 18(?) liter can of paint. After a while I whimped out and decided
to let the men more capable than I to carry the heavy loads. Even at that we are sweating
like pigs and it’s not yet Bob and I pretty much work under the
guidance of the boat maintenance man. At least he’s a familiar face. At one point I
showed him the multi-tool I had brought. He said something that I didn’t understand,
but he used the word “specialty”. I agreed (even though he couldn’t
understand me) that it was a specialty tool. The three of us wired the building over the
course of the next few days (it would not meet In the afternoon, Bob and I were given
the task of nailing 6 large nails (3 x 3) on all the hinges of the window and door frames.
The nails don’t go in very far. They stick out crossing each other in three pairs.
The wood was so green that the sap ran after a nail was hammered in. The frames are set,
shimmed, and then mortared around the nails to hold it in place. We’ll finish around
the other cracks tomorrow. About a mile down the river, a rain shower moved through, but
it barely sprinkled on us. After work, some of us swam and bathed
in the river. It’s the same place where others swim and wash, clothes are washed,
hair is cut, dishes are washed, leftover food is tossed, and somewhere the sewage has to
be expelled. You want to take a shower afterward to clean off the dirty river water, but
it’s THE SAME WATER (except with minimal filtering)! Devotions were long tonight. Everyone
took turns saying what special experience happened to them today. Wednesday,
September 7 Today Canuma is celebrating
Independence Day like Nova Olinda did on our way here. The actual event occurred in 1722.
There are some speeches then a parade. Each unit marches by itself to the officials’
grandstand where it turns to present themselves and bow. A drum corps played a pounding
rhythm for all the participants. The parade entries reflect different social and cultural
aspect of Brazilian life, as well as many different organizations. We wore yellow and
green ribbons and sun visors. At the end of the parade were the local Methodist kids that
the Brazilians team members had been working with. The combined American and Brazilian
team was asked to join in the parade. We formed into rows, marched in step, and took our
turn in front of the reviewing stand. Brazilian parade marching is different than a Back at the construction site we
helped spread a level sand base to pour the floor. It was tamped with a weight to compress
the sand. I could only do this for about 10 minutes! I finished putting nails in the
remaining door and window frames. This afternoon the boat undocked and
then tied a large rope from the stern of the boat to the dock. To go back in time, last
evening I noticed the dock as a little crocked – that is – sloped. I didn’t
think that much about it and didn’t know why it was. In hindsight, the river level
had dropped about 2 feet in 2 days and the side of the dock was grounding on the bank. The
boat was going to pull the dock away from the bank and reset it. At first they attached 2 large ropes
and PULLED! The water churned at the back of the boat as the engine strained to pull the
immovable dock. Several times they tried. They even used the heavy walkway plank as a
fulcrum to pry the dock from the land side. Nothing seemed to work. One of the ropes
eventually snapped. Luckily the group of people on the dock had moved to the bank just in
case something like that happened. Then they attached many ropes, eventually pulled it
loose into the river, and then floated it back in place. If the boat had not been there, I don’t
know how the townspeople would have got it off the bank. There were no other large boats.
It would have made the dock much less usable – and it was used for everything! So I coined the question “How many Methodists
does it take to move a dock ten feet?” Answer: a boat load. Working under the guidance of the boat
maintenance guy was a little challenging. He was a rough looking sort, not real sociable
or talkative. But he was a skilled electrician and hard worker. I once heard him softly
whistling “The Old Rugged Cross”. There was not a translator at the construction
site, so communication was by pointing and pantomime – certainly not by spoken word.
Bob and I did not speak Portuguese and he not English. Communication was difficult. I was
basically a “gofer” – very unskilled labor, but it helps him work more
quickly and effectively. To get my attention he would snap his fingers or make a sound
– psst psst. Bob usually had a better idea of what he wanted than I did and they
worked better together. As long as I was doing something, I felt I was being
productive. I asked Phillip how to say “Yes
boss” in Portuguese – it’s “Si chef”. That afternoon when he
pointed at something and spoke words I did not understand, I nodded and said “Si chef”.
He smiled and said something to the other workers and all had a good laugh. I used that
phrase several times. Toward the end of today, Boss and I
finished the wiring. We ran an electrical snake over to the electrical box. He spliced in
two new runs, tripped the breaker, and the lights can on. Success! Most of the Brazilian men dressed in
cheap vinyl flip-flops, shorts, and oversized T-shirts or tank-top. It is better if the
material is non-cotton. Between the river, rain, and sweat, clothing is always wet. A
synthetic fabric is cooler and dries more quickly. That way it’s no big deal to be in
the river for some reason. You’re in and out, and drip dry. This evening after dinner, we three
guys were in our room. I’m lying in my bunk reading a book about ready to go to
sleep. All at once eight of the women come into our tiny cabin – talk about standing
room only. There were 11 people in the space of a couple of square yards. Apparently
Phillip had “procured” a bottle of Coke for the ladies through the kitchen
window. The head cook had baked a chocolate cake. The topic of conversation was whether or
not “we” should steal, er, I mean procure, er, accelerate the partaking of this
nutritious food element. Team leader Ann really wanted that cake. After sufficient debate
it was decided not to do it. I refer to this incident as the “Invasion of the Amazon
Women”. Thursday,
September 8 Morning devotions are determining that
the “team song” is evolving as “This is the day that the Lord has made…” We have done it several times. We alternate between
English and Portuguese, one as an echo. The original plan for today was to
take the boat 12 miles down river to another village to conduct a medical clinic. The
water is too shallow to risk it, so some of us will go in the two speed boats. All the
feeder streams are dried up. We traveled a while and stopped at a village to pick up a
woman and her young daughter as a guide. We traveled further and eventually come to the We set up clinic in a school. The
walls were slotted to allow the air to move through. There is no Winter here. Lots of kids
around. There’s a triage area where a
problem statement and blood pressure is obtained. I then “escort” the patients a
few yards to the other room for them to sit until their turn to see Dr Mark. I even did
triage for a short time while Cynthia made a split for a broken wrist (he fell out of a
tree). Janice found a boy with a splinter which I extracted with my multi-tool. This is my
first and only medical procedure. Mark said I can charge extra since it was a foreign body
extraction! Other patients include a woman with 16 children (not all with her) and a
teenage boy who fell on a nail that poked his eye 4 years ago who now has headaches. We
saw 38 patients in all. One cute little girl was holding a
parakeet. The big photo op was a man who had killed a large monkey to eat. They also had a
live fish, about a foot long, in a bowl with a little water. It looked like a big bottom
feeder with armor. In the It was on the trip back that I doubled
my sunburn into a burning crimson red. My red legs were a source of amusement for the team
members. The sore muscles and sunburn are a nuisance at best, painful at worse. After we got back from the village it
seemed so hot I just stayed in the room resting/reading for a few hours. The rooms at best
have air blow-in that is slightly cooler than outside. To call it air conditioning as we
know it is not an accurate statement. Hot is hot and there’s no way around it.
Sometimes the “cool” air was not even working. Later this afternoon some of us on a
side trip to a farm, taking a speed boat to get there. It had horses, a tethered monkey,
and many birds/fowls (peacocks, chicken, ducks, geese, etc). It used to be a farm, but is
now being converted into a fish farm. On the way back to the big boat we saw grey
dolphins. At the construction site, all floors
are poured except the bathroom. We are painting inside. 80% of the exterior stucco is
done. To be honest, most of the work on the building is performed by the boat crew and
local labor. Bob and I are just sort of “around” and help where we can. This evening Bob gave a
devotional/witness about his calling to be a lay speaker. He asked if others would like to
share: Phillip (family of faith), Karol (struggles within family), and Mark (control). Friday,
September 9 This morning I thanked Karol for her
witness at last evening’s devotion. As a gift, I gave her my F.R.O.G. (Fully Rely On
God) bracelet for encouragement. Today is the last day to work on the
building. There’s still a lot of finishing work to do so I get to work. It seems like
I’m doing more today and working harder than any previous day. Maybe it’s just
the heat. I spend several hours painting inside and out. At There is a long devotion tonight with
communion. We took turns presenting individual team T-shirts to all the Brazilian team and
crew members and saying a few words. I gave one to the “Boss” whom I had worked
with on the building. As an additional gift, I presented him with my multi-tool. He
accepted it, smiled, and said something in Portuguese. All the Brazilians laughed a great
deal. Translated he said that he appreciated it and said he wanted it the first time he
saw it! I’m glad I gave it to him. A later devotion story was that the
Brazilian dentist was on this same trip as Ann last year. He was not a Christian back
then, but is now. His wife is accompanying him on this trip for her first time. He gave a
very moving account of how God touched her life this week – day by day. Saturday,
September 10 It’s a lazy morning. We’re
still traveling on the boat toward We have arranged for brunch on a
floating restaurant (on restaurant row). This is in the middle of nowhere! People have to
travel via the river to get here. After we ate we took a water taxi over to a tourist
market selling trinkets. It seemed to take forever to travel the final leg to the hotel.
Maybe it was the anticipation as well as the heat. I killed some time reading in our small
room. We arrived at the hotel at We got on a bus and head toward the
market to buy souvenirs. Since dinner is late, some folks wanted to get a bite to eat
before then. We stopped at a hamburger place at a VERY busy modern mall. By the time we
got in and out of there (for questionable food) we only had 20-30 minutes for shopping.
Didn’t have time to buy much. We toured the Opera House which is a
key attraction. It was built in the 1800s(?). It is a beautiful building – very
fancy. You had to wear slippers in some rooms because the floor was such an intricate wood
pattern. All the materials were shipped from We met Neto for dinner. This place had
multiple buffets with different types of food. We all stuffed ourselves. Phillip said that
the average minimum monthly wage is R$300, the average rent is R$700. This means that most
people work more than one job and/or multiple people live together and pay rent. Phillip’s
web site: http://phillion.multiply.com, email phillion7@qmail.com. Sunday,
September 11 The incoming flight at the It’s good that this was such a
crazy, mixed up day. I didn’t know how I would feel with today being 9/11. This day
back in 2001, I was in Monday,
September 12 The airline put everyone up at a
Holiday Inn. By the time the bus gets there and a huge group checks in, it’s Once we got to The End |