I just got back from O.E. (Outdoor Education) and I'm sick, exhausted, and so glad I went. I spent 12 days in a small village with all the HS students and staff. There were a total of 82 westerners there and I was in charge of a group of 9 students. We spent time learning the local language (with help from our host family) and their culture. For example, as soon as we arrived, we discovered that they love to hold your hand as you walk up and down the trails (girls-girls and guys-guys). We flew in on several small airplanes flown by our very own MAF and SIL (Yajasi) pilots. Most of the planes fit about 9 or so people plus we had separate flights for our baggage. You can imagine how many logistical things had to be worked out. While we were there, we also did several work projects, including building a fence, moving a huge wood pile, finishing a hydro-electric pipe system, and moving mud (not easy). During the two weeks, each group hiked separately to a smaller village for three days and spent time with the locals. My group had a great time getting to know the people in our village - I made a friend who was constantly by my side. We did a Kid's Club, which included songs in Indonesian (even though most of them only speak the local language, not Indonesian) and we performed a skit about the Prodigal Son after which we gave them coloring sheets and crayons to go along with the skit. Then we played games and gave out candy and bubbles and other stuff. We had to cook all our food on a camping stove and for veggies, we had to rely on what we could buy from the local people. We bought a lot of greens and green beans and cucumbers and they gave us bananas and cabbage, which we traded back to them because we had too much food. One night, we tried to cook our veggies over the open fire, but we weren't skilled enough to keep the fire going so a couple of local men helped us cook. After the three days in the smaller village, all the groups regathered and had a pig feast. We watched how a local man shot the pig with his hand-made arrow and then chopped it up. After that, they put the pig in a pit with hot rocks and vegetables (wrapped in banana leaves) and steamed it. Wow was it delicious. I've never tasted pork so good. The whole two weeks, we slept on wooden floors and used outhouses that we dug. Both of the girls' outhouses had to be moved after they filled up half way through the two weeks. The guys didn't have that problem, though. Every morning and evening, we were ministered to by two guys who came from the States. It was very refreshing to have "outsiders" minister to us. On one of the last nights, we showed the Jesus Film and the rain held off until right when the movie ended - God is good. Overall, it was a great time, even though we all came back exhausted. And to top it off, we all have amoebe and maybe worms and I have a sinus infection. But not to fear, we have lots of cheap medicine here - and you don't have to hassle with a prescription. We all came back on Friday and went back to school on Monday. The students have three projects they have to finish up describing what they learned during the two weeks - Anthropology, Geography, and a journaling project. It was a great learning experience for all of us and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to see the heart of Papua.
One of many tropical rivers through the mountains
The students in my group doing Kid's Club
My living quarters - mine is the one with the orange towel. We hung mosquito nets over our sleeping bags to keep the bugs away.
The Caravan plane that I flew on coming back to Sentani
One of many tropical rivers through the mountains
The students in my group doing Kid's Club
My living quarters - mine is the one with the orange towel. We hung mosquito nets over our sleeping bags to keep the bugs away.
The Caravan plane that I flew on coming back to Sentani
