Dear Family and friends, June 25, 2012
I can hardly believe that it is time again. Time again for what, you might ask? Well, news from behind the scenes of the Lello family adventures. We continually face funny experiences and serious ones too.
Most mornings we experience beautiful sunrises that spread across the sky illuminating the creator’s artwork. As I gaze out over the countryside I thank the Lord for another wonderful day he has provided. Today was no exception with work to be done and dirty clothes awaiting my tender loving care.
We usually have a nice breeze too so most of them get dry by the time evening comes. I looked at the bucket full of dirty clothes and with renewed energy began to tackle the pile. Soaking, scrubbing and rinsing are the first part of washing. Then comes the spinning cycle and since twirling them around my head didn’t work, I just rinse them, squeeze the water out and then on the line they go. As I was finishing the wash I noticed the water pressure coming out of the faucet was down to a trickle.
I mentioned it to John and he went to look in the big water tank that we have to collect our rain water. To his surprise the tank was near empty. We wondered where it all had gone. He then discovered the down spout was not connected properly and the water wasn’t going into the tank correctly. With a few village men they repaired the system and then we began praying for rain. We went down to Rosaline and Tokengo’s house to use water and take showers under their outdoor faucet. The girls loved it because it was a new way to get wet. For two days we went without rain and then the Lord blessed us with a whole night of rain. In life we take so much for granted until we have to go without for a while.
Since the clothes were swaying in the breeze I began the next duty of the day which was baking bread. I had been stretching the yeast because we would be going to town soon and I was close to being out. As I pulled the bag of flour out of the plastic container it is stored in I noticed little black things crawling around. Immediately I knew that the time had come to face reality of bugs. I quickly grabbed my strainer and watched as the flour gently flowed through the screening while the bugs stayed on top. Ya Who! I didn’t have to eat bugs after all and I thank the person who invented this straining contraption.
I was so excited to see the dough rising and new that if I didn’t burn it on the barrel stove it would be a real treat for Sabbath. Rosaline, the female nurse (Boo Boo to the girls) always would help show me how it is done on the fire. We have been baking bread for three months now and I think we have the process mastered. It turns out light and fluffy and is worth all the time it takes to mix and bake it.
This particular day Boo Boo and I were out in the cook house concentrating on rolling the dough into buns when all of a sudden a falling object fell into our mixing bowl from the roof of the cook house. We both screamed and looked in total surprise to find a big lizard staring up at us. I jumped back away from the creature while holding the bowl from a distance. Boo Boo grabbed the remaining clump of dough while I tossed the lizard out on the grass. “That was a pregnant lizard”, said Boo Boo. “How could she think of pregnancy at a time like this?" Being a nurse she noticed that aspect of the lizard but I didn’t care if it was pregnant or not, I wasn’t about to share my precious dough with any lizard.
While the bread was baking I went into the garden to check my growing plants. I am so proud of them and encourage them constantly. My corn is about 3’ tall now and my sweet potatoes are crawling everywhere. My cucumbers and watermelons have flowers on them and I noticed today a baby watermelon growing. Then there is my fragile eggplant that I started in my frying pan and transplanted in the garden, it is growing too. There are plenty of weeds that keep growing and I have been weeding and then putting grass clippings down on the ground to keep the weeds under control.
Just yesterday I had a little boy watching me weed in the garden and he just sat and looked and looked. He picked up a few weeds and then watched me some more. I have had others watch and offer to help but I do not think they weed their gardens. When they help me they just snap the top of the weed off and that is it. Oh! I cringe to think the root is still in the ground, but I just smile and thank them. But I feel good when the weeds are under control, but this garden is much bigger than the one we had in Kentucky so it will be a challenge. I am going to get big leaves and put them all over on the ground which will help with the weeds.
One of the most interesting and exciting times since we came here happened a week ago. I was teaching the girl’s school and they were both focusing quite well when we heard a knock at the door. Inviting the visitor to enter we saw an elderly man carrying a bag. I greeted him and he proceeded to pull a big, green oval shape out of his bag. I couldn’t understand everything he was saying, but with delight I asked him if it was an avocado, even though it was the biggest avocado I had ever seen. I have been missing them for so long and no one here is growing any. He proceeded to mention that this was a “muruk” that came from the bush. I then realized what I was starring at was a Cassowary bird egg. It was big and this man wanted to sell the two he had.
The girls excitedly ran off to get John while I just imagined what it would be like to have birds around for pets. Did I want extra work to add to my already busy days? When John returned he spoke with the man and finally decided that the girls could have both eggs and watch them hatch if they promised to take care of them. I agreed but knew want my role would be in this. The man insisted that they would probably hatch in 2 to 3 weeks and so we had to keep the eggs warm till then. Day and night I kept two water bottles full of warm water and placed them on the eggs. I guess it had its affect, because two days later, to our amazement while eating breakfast we heard a whistle coming from the box containing the eggs.
With anticipation and excitement we peered into the box and saw that the first bird had no intention of staying inside that egg any longer. We took pictures and videos of the bird hatching. It was the most amazing thing. I was stressing about what to feed the bird because I was not going to cut up worms or chew them for this bird or any other bird. Village people said that it would eat when his legs were strong. Even so I worried this bird would die. We had to get food for when it was ready to eat. John and the girls went to the village and bought some ripe bananas.
Two days later, like clockwork, the bird began eating banana chunks when I tapped the bottom of the bowl. He learned very well. This past Friday morning around 1am I woke up to discover the other egg cracked and like a good birth assistant stayed with it until 6am when the second bird decided to completely push himself out of the egg. It was chilly that morning because it had rained all night so I wrapped the bird in one of my kitchen towels to keep it warm.
John, like a good grandpa, made a beautiful cage for both the birds because we will have to take them to Wewak with us when we travel in a few days. What an experience that will be, but John says if the birds make it on the boat ride, the PMV and the return trip they will make it through anything. I am praying for a nice day for traveling and no rain.
Every morning there is so many people that come to the clinic for help. Quite a few of them have malaria, pneumonia and respiratory problems. As we visit people in the village we meet more that have health issues and we pray for them. People will come to us and want us to pray for them or their loved ones. God is so good though and has healed people from their sickness and assisted with the three deliveries in the past week of church members. There are a lot of babies here and many children. One thing that John and I are really praying for now is the Ama people. When we went to visit the people of Ama we also saw a few patients that we treated for malaria and others we expected to have possible pneumonia or TB. Two weeks after returning to May River three of them passed away and now we are told another one has a 50/50 chance of living. We were so sad for the people there. We really need to get medical help in the village soon. Please keep the Ama people in your prayers.
May God continue to be with all of you.
John, Pam, Abby and Alissa
