Hard missionary life?

Last week’s Monday the Finnish team went to a small community of about 500 people, called Hauraruni. From Georgetown it’s about one hours drive to Hauraruni. In the 70’s some pioneers came (Philip Mohabir, sister Elma, Elsworh and others) and started with machetes to fight the jungle. Today there’s a childrens home, a bible school and a primary school besides the scattered houses.

We were spoiled in Hauraruni. Sometimes we had three women cooking for us! We got different Guyanese dishes – cookup rice with seasoned fish, roti and curry, choi men and chicken. When Elsworth picked us up on Wednesday he laughed and said that we’ve been experiencing hard missionary life in Guyana.

But we got to do some work too in Hauraruni. Some Swedes has sent a swing and a climbing scaffold. Together with some strong Guyanese men we build these during Tuesday and Wednesday. It was good to be outdoors and to do some use. On Tuesday we also spent some time with the children. We sang songs togheter, played games and just spent time with them.

Hauraruni only got electricity from 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.! But at least I and Jonas got accustomed to the Hauraruni lifestyle as soon as we got there. At 9 o’clock on Monday I was ready for bed. On Tuesday I would have been, but Kencil - a guy in about my age - had invited us to him to listen to some Carribean music. He also taught me some Creole. If some guys try to mess with me I’ll say “I is a bad woman, dun mess wid me, I gun buz yah head” – nice finnish talk, right? They say I sound as a Jamaican – at least it’s better than to sound as a Finn.

Wakapao

It took us 4 ½ hours to reach to the Indian village Wakapao. The trip included a bus trip to Parika, from where we went with speed boat to Supernam, a lunch break in Henrietta and then an interesting speed boat trip to Wakapao. We drove in a small kind of canal or river surrounded by mangrove trees, after the landscape changed to swamps. We pasted some children in canoes coming home from school. I was amazed about people living so far away from civilization. Finland has been helping to build a church there and a small clinic, which they really appreciate. The Indians live a simple life. I think it has to be a great culture shock to come from Wakapao to Georgetown – maybe bigger than to come from Finland. We spent only a few hours in Wakapao with the Amerindians. We had to leave as long as the sun was up. Before we left we got to taste some coconut milk - nice!

Team arriving to green Guyana

There was a blackout last afternoon when I was writing, so I hadn’t time to write about Guyana. We arrived on Saturday to a very hot and humid Guyana. It’s much more green and warm than I remember. The world championship in cricket took this year place in the Carribean, just before we came. They had some games in Guyana too. Me and Gunilla noticed a lot of good changes due to that, new roads, a lot of cleaning has been done, new houses, malls and restaurants.

We were welcomed at church with roti and curry – nice!!! I’m staying with pastor Elsworth and Carmen Williams, with whom I lived last time also. It has been so wonderful to meet a lot of friends and people I know. Yesterday we all went to church, at 8 a.m. Jonas commented “You don’t need to go to disco – you can come to church” There is a lot of dancing in church – great! (Well, I tried to take it easy with my foot) In the evening we were to the sea wall with other young people from Guyana. A lot of people go there to hang out, especially Sunday eves. We walked along the wall (that the Dutch once built).

In a few minutes we’ll be heading for Hauraruni. There’s a childrens home we’ll visit. We’ll be back on Wednesday. We’re all good and enjoying ourselves (so far as Lena said)!

Sunny Barbados

"Where are you going?", the Barbice taxi driver asked again. "Just Home", we replied. He laughed when he understood it was the name of the guest house we were going to. Three days we relaxed on Barbados. The sea is so relaxing!!! If you're stressed you should come here. The water is just perfect. We swimmed and floated around for hours in the warm water. (Gunilla in the water on picture above). Like Moomin Dad explored the sea, I discovered that the sea actually had a changing character. In the afternoon it was gentle - big waves rolling in. In the mornings it was more playful, and maybe more dangerous... On Friday I had a bit of a adventure. I was enjoying the sea, floating around on shallow water. I had seen a small rock in the sea and thought I should watch out for it. But silly me wasn't careful enough. Suddenly I felt a pain like somebody cutting quickly with a knife over my foot. I jumped out of the water, Lena run for help while me and Gunilla tried to stoop my foot from bleeding. The stone had cut a about three cm long wound. It was sewed with eight stiches. Gunilla ensured me that he did a good work, although it did not seem so good at first when an old lady patted the wound with a small wadding. I was afraid she wasn't going to clean it more. Luckily it turned out that she was only a nurse and soon my doctor came in - a relaxed and humorous young man;) I guess the Finnish doctors are usually quite formal and don't tend to make jokes while operating... My foot is supposed to be recovering well. The wound wasn't deep and I believe the doctor made a good work. On Friday I'll go to get the stiches taken away. It hasn't been hurting.

Lost in Vantaa

It isn’t always easy when the small town girl tries to go the big city. I woke up at 4 a.m. today, heading for Vantaa. I got luckily off the train at Tikkurila railway station, waited for my bus more or less patiently with a warming cup of tea in my hand. I jumped on the bus and thought that I’m getting good at this; finding my way easily in this new town. Suddenly I realized that the bus seamed not to be turning where I expected it to turn, it just continued to drive along Kehä III… But maybe it would turn soon… or not… hmmm…

I ended up taking a taxi from Myyrmäki to Helsignin pitäjän kirkonkylä, arriving almost an hour later than planned to the countryside part of my home town to be. But better late than never I got to meat my class. The pupils asked “Varför tog du inte buss 55?” Well, I tried…

I’m looking forward starting to teach grade five and six, and the children seamed to be sweat (aren't children often easy to love?). Some guys reported about a floor ball team I could join – I guess I don’t need to be scared for not having anything to do in my spare time. In August I’ll move to Vantaa, but before that there are other adventures!