Jungle Pathway

Here's a little glimpse into what the surrounds are like here. Here you can see that this pathway leads into the jungle. It's quite something to have a jungle right behind the fence! So pretty isn't it :)

Paul

This is Paul. He's one of the workers at the school property. At the moment he's doing upgrades on the toilet block (making it into a toilet and shower block - it's made an incredible difference!), building drains and generally doing renovations around the property. This year he and Greg have also built an extra classroom and when the land ownership debates are resolved, in God's timing, they will start building the school on the property next door.

Paul has been working very hard this year – he’s worked some very long hours to get the building projects done and has not taken any time off. He's a really strong man and doesn't seem to be affected by the various sicknesses going around. Usually that is!

Last week he was very sick! He told me he felt weak, achy and had a headache but just assumed it was from working so hard. After a few days the pains got worse so he rested over the weekend, still thinking he had been working too hard. Monday brought a very different story! He woke up with fever and chills - typical signs of malaria - so he took the day off to go to the doctor. 

The doctor did the malaria check and found out that Paul had 360 parasites in his body. Yes, 360!!!!! That is off-the-charts high and it’s unfathomable that he had been working with that going on in his system! Anything over 10 is high and Paul had 360!! Apparently one of the doctors said, “Yu strongpela man tru!! Klostu bai yu kamap ded man!!” which means, “You are an unbelievably strong man, you’re nearly dead!” The nurses were horrified and couldn’t believe that Paul was even managing to walk by himself, let alone work. Most people would have been laid up in bed for days already. That just confirms how tough Paul really is!! He took the week off work, but it was a struggle for him to do that. When I popped in one afternoon he was there painting. I promptly told him to go and rest! He told me he realised that his body was too weak for working, but he was so sick of laying down that he thought he’d do a little bit J On Sunday he told me that he only stayed for about an hour because he got too tired. No wonder!!

It is very common that people get malaria here. There are a lot of mosquitoes and with the wet season upon us, there are even more. Many of these mozzies carry the malaria virus. Most people from PNG tend to have malaria in their system, which can stay dormant for many months before flaring up when they are a bit run down. I would say it’s as common as a cold/flu in Australia. We get colds, they get malaria. The people here also are not as ‘afraid’ of malaria as we white skins tend to be. Medication is available and you can get it relatively easily – and once you’ve taken the treatment, you feel significantly better – until it flares up again that is……

I’m praying that Paul’s vicious malaria will improve and that it won’t come back again. He did tell me he will go back to the doctor or hospital and get checked out again after he has finished the antibiotics, just to make sure he is better. With the severity of his malaria it’s possible one course of antibiotics isn’t enough. I’m very thankful he’s being wise. May God heal his body! 

A few cool people

I'm going through my photos from my phone camera at the moment. My phone is breaking.... the screen is slowly blacking out due to having received too many hard knocks in it's lifetime... and a few days ago my dear phone, that's been with me for 4 years, got treated pretty badly..... which didn't make my phone happy. Since then, it's been dying a slow, black death. Jono says it's got phone cancer. Whatever it is, it isn't going so well. Currently I can barely read messages and I certainly can't use it for browsing on the Internet BUT I can still receive and send calls and texts, so that's a great thing!!

As a result of all of this sickness, I downloaded all of the data on my phone. While browsing I came across this photo of Bob, Mum and me.

Bob is the General Manager of Lae City Mission. He and his wife Ann live at the top of the giant hill behind our houses. He's a great guy and such a blessing to all of the boys here - and us too of course!

Here we are looking hot and sweaty after walking up the big hill in the heat :) 

And now for my next trick.... truck driving!

Monday last week was an interesting day! I spent 95% of the day driving - first, two laps to the airport (which is a round trip of roughly 1 hour, depending on the road - more on that later), and then I took our ute into the repair centre in town before picking up our truck. Yes, truck. And to answer your question, no, I haven't driven a truck before. To answer your second question, yes, I do have a licence to drive a truck in PNG (because apparently my Aussie driver's licence allowed me to convert to a class 6 PNG licence which allows me to drive trucks). Suddenly, I can drive the truck. With no prior experience. In the rain. Through the most giant potholes I've ever seen - and believe me, I've seen some big ones!

It was a rather interesting experience to say the least! The guy at the repair centre was rather stunned to see that it was me - a white girl - coming to pick up said vehicle. He asked me a LOT of questions before, somewhat reluctantly I think, handing me the keys. With a prayer and a few deep breaths, I jumped in and started the vehicle. The first challenge was reversing the truck - which some of my co-workers have previously said is rather difficult. I managed fine, and headed to the exit, which brought me to the world's most massive pothole - well, maybe not the world's, but a HUGE one never the less.

With nowhere else to go, I drove in. The ENTIRE truck fit in the hole, so my next challenge was to get this giant vehicle out in one piece. I managed and that's when the looks started! Other drivers started to notice that I was driving. Three things were clearly shocking them:
1. A girl was driving the truck
2. This girl was white
3. This white girl was alone

Now, many people in PNG sit in the back of ute trays, usually in groups of at least ten people. I was driving at peak hour in the afternoon so you can just imagine how many looks I got. All the way home - 18km - I attracted a lot of looks, people craning their heads to see and others tapping their mates to turn around and check out the truck with the white girl in it. It was a very interesting drive!

I was pretty happy to see the driveway when I arrived home :) The security guys at the gate were as stunned to see me in the truck, if not more so, that all of the people on the road. When I got to our compound gates, a pile of the LCM boys stopped what they were doing just to watch me go through our gates. I think they were seriously doubting I'd be able to maneuver the corners! Since I had made it that far, I figured I'd give myself one extra challenge, just for the fun of it - to reverse into the parking space which has posts on either side. I managed :) and was pretty happy with that!

God looked after me on the road that day, there's no doubt. I am so very thankful that He was with me, all the way, protecting me from any possible dangers and getting me home safely. Praise Him for His goodness!

The sky crying with me as I drove home from the airport after dropping Mum off. I often feel like the weather can anticipate my feelings and then goes out in sympathy. I like to think so anyway. 

Here is vehicle number 1 for the day - the Landcruiser

Vehicle number 2 - the Mazda BT50

It was actually very amazing that I made it to the repair centre in this car. All of the way to town, the suspension was shuddering terribly and considering the condition of the road and the rainy weather, it wasn't a smooth trip! 

Vehicle number 3 - the Mazda Titan truck

The security guys at the gate must have been wondering what I was doing, going in and out of the driveway so many times in one day - and driving every one of our cars! It must've looked pretty funny. The other funny part was that every time I got to the gate the security guy who opens and closes the gate had changed his shirt! It was definitely the same guy - he started with neon pink (my personal favourite), went to blue, then a darker blue and in the afternoon it was green. Maybe his shirt kept getting wet in the rain? Or he wanted to mix it up for his 'clients'?

This is my, 'Can I even do this?' face, which had been my 'crying at the airport for all to see'  face a few hours earlier.... hence the not-so-glamorous appearance

My view from the driver's seat and the most giant steering wheel I've ever been in control of 

Parked. Safe. In one piece.

When I arrived home, I sent my Dad a picture message showing him my new ride. He liked that. I told him he can just call me superwoman :)

Whoop whoop! I love it when I manage a new (somewhat challenging) task without any hitches. I must be honest and tell you that I did do a fist pump when I popped the handbrake on because I was so stoked! 

The look of relief that I had made it home without any troubles - just lots of stories :)

Dessert Night

I'm slowly catching up on blogging. It's been a rather busy time lately and blogging has been left by the wayside. Today I'm selecting photos and preparing for a blogging overload in the next week :) Let's see how I go!!

A few months ago (yes.... months....) Shannel took Art class. This Art class was art with a twist - kitchen art :) The three oldest kids each chose a dessert, found a recipe, collected ingredients for it - even going on a whirlwhird trip to town while I babysat Anna (finding out that ignoring her while she plays is the best policy for keeping her happy) - and actually baking it. These kids have spent time in the kitchen before, but this was a little different. These recipes were a lot more challenging and did test their skills a little. They passed the test with flying colours though and prepared a lovely evening for all of us on the compound!

Three happy bakers, with their treats 

 

Jono and his pavlova

Karlyn and her choc peanut butter slice

 

Sami and her melting moments

Caleb gives it all a thumbs up!

Louisa, almost too busy enjoying the treats to look at the camera

 

The head chef, cutting the cake!

It was a really fun night and everyone enjoyed the extra treats after dinner. Thank you Shannel, Jono, Karlyn and Sami for your huge effort! We all went away fat and happy :)

Some encouragement

It's Saturday. I'm just poking around the house. I love days like this! And right now I'm on the couch writing emails and doing randomly googling, which can be a waste of time but can sometimes lead you to cool stuff. I came across a few things that I thought I'd pop up here for you to enjoy too!

Now listen to that Sarah!!

Oh boy. Too true! A little pressure there.....!