Karen's Rus Rus Report #2: Taking It All In

 Carlos, me, Westley, and "19-Zulu" on the ground in San Pedro Sula. 

19-Zulu is the Cessna 206 that MMS Aviation recently restored for us.

Temperature Differences (February 16)

I know it's cold back there in Ohio (19 degrees) but it's rather hot here in Honduras! I have no idea what the temperature actually is here, but it's hot enough that you just want to lay in a hammock and sweat.

Right now, there is a fire directly across from the house here. The people in this area burn off the vegetation on a regular basis. No one knows why. It's just always been done that way. I look across and wonder how in the world they don't burn down their wooden houses at the same time! It makes the air quality very bad all over the village but they are used to it.

Denise just cooked us a wonderful meal. We have our large meal at lunch time.

Hospital Tour

Wes took me on a tour of the Rus Rus hospital and grounds. MAG has made many improvements that are evident.  Yet there's so much work yet to be done! It is amazing what Geraldina (the hospital's indigenous nurse) does all on her own here in Rus Rus' little hospital. And Wes has done an amazing job of organizing and gathering supplies they can use. Come Monday, when the IHS team starts getting flown in by Wes, it will be very busy around here!

Wes, Denise, and Carlos expect many people to come to the clinic from villages some distance away. There is one building by the hospital that is empty and they'll put mattresses on the floor for those who come and need to stay. There will be families traveling together and they'll need to build fires and cook. There is one little, open building that is used for cooking. Families have to care for their own family members when they need to stay at the hospital for any reason. The hospital has one room set up for overnight care.

Village Visit

Carlos (MAG's Director of Pastoral Ministries) took me to visit many of the villagers living closest to the hospital and airstrip this morning. Andrew Tonn, the photographer who'd recently visited Rus Rus taking photos of all the villagers, gave Carlos permission to make prints and we delivered them to the folks in the photos. 

 Carlos (seated) shares photos with a family on their front porch.

 

The locals have come to know and trust Carlos and they welcomed him (and me) to their porches to visit a bit. There were many smiles as everyone looked at and received their photos. I understood little of the actual conversations though I picked up on a few words and sometimes caught the gist of what was being talked about. Oh how I wish I could speak the language!

Delivering Help and Hope

Prior to Westley and Denise bringing the airplane to Rus Rus and MAG's reopening the hospital in 2010, the villagers had been promised many things over the previous decades by many people only to be disappointed and deserted. Consequently, it has taken some time for Wes and Denise, and now Carlos, to earn their trust and acceptance. But those three have done a great job consistently demonstrating the love, care, and compassion of Christ to these people and the people are responding.

Bobcat Repairs And A 4-Wheeler That Starts!  

Oh yeah! I took a picture of Carlos helping Wes repair the "Bobcat" using some of the parts I brought along. Wes and Denise are also ecstatic to have the 4 wheeler starting again instead of having to kick-start it every time! 

Carlos (left) helps Wes (right) make repairs to the Bobcat.

 It's so worth carrying in all the "parts" over in your suitcase when you see our missionaries regain the use of things they need so badly and have to do without--until someone can come down and bring what is so desperately needed. Technically, it would be possible for them to have a postal box in the town they fly to for groceries and such but the mail system is unreliable, things are often "inspected" by postal workers and may never reappear, and let's face it...it's just too expensive to fly several hours into town and back for the mail at $250 per hour of flight!

Morning Starts With The Chickens, The Monkey, And Checking For Scorpions

Morning comes much earlier here than in Ohio. The light of dawn starts around 5:30ish as do the clucking chickens in the yard and Jack the monkey on the porch! Jack is getting a bit too feisty in his adolescence to roam free on their screened in porch all day, but he does like to reach out of his cage, hold on to my fingers, and talk up a storm! So funny!

I did remember to dump out my shoes (to remove any transient scorpions) before putting them on this morning. Now that's something we don't have to do back in Coshocton!

Thanks so much for your prayers. Lord willing, I'll file another report soon.