Oh dear, I've just seen the date on that last blog post - June 16!!! That's quite awhile ago, I think I may be overdue an update!

I'm back on the south side of the equator again, came back a week ago, after 3 1/2 months in Canada. That was a long time to be away, maybe too long. But it was time for me to be there, with my family. As I try to look back at those months now, so many assorted memories are there, so many occasions. Some sad, many happy. I was there for 2 funerals, I said goodbye to my sister-in-law Heather, which is why I went home, and also to my friend John, an unexpected loss. But I was there for some celebrations too, I got to go to 2 weddings, and I was delighted to be there for my grandaughter's first birthday, and make a cake for her. Also got to celebrate my Dad's 80th birthday. And there were so many other wonderful occasions with the family and friends. They were months of a LOT of eating - catching up on food that I miss when I'm here. But that means I have returned with a slight problem, I returned with a few extra pounds, on my person, not in my luggage! All due to a lot of great meals and the use of a car. However, the Ecuadorians don't see this as a problem, they keep saying - Oh you're fatter - you look so nice!!! This is a great culture!

I was able to do a little bit of travelling while I was back, to Muskoka for a weekend, then on to Quebec in the Laurentians to a cottage where some childhood summers were spent. Great times of catching up with friends and relatives. A weekend at my brother's cottage, where we relaxed and watched him work! And 2 days with my sister and daughter at the shores of Lake Huron, where I'd never been before. I can't imagine how I've missed that, it's so beautiful and so unexpected somehow, and so close to home. And above all, I got to spend a lot of time with Elizabeth, my best beautiful grandaughter, and get to know her, and see her start walking and talking. I could take up a great deal of space here, going on and on about how she's the most amazing grandchild ever....but I'll spare you that! But am I ever missing that child already!

And now I'm trying to readjust to life here. It is good to be back, it's been SO good to see my friends, and I've been well hugged and welcomed back to Ecuador. But it is an adjustment, I was in Canada long enough to get used to the ease of life there again. Now I'm back to noise and dirt, and no car (that will get rid of those pounds, I hope). Long lines to do everything. Not being able to understand half of what is being said, or to make myself understood at times. Being without running water (it went off yesterday and has just come back after more than 24 hours). And other minor inconveniences. But probably the hardest has been the return to an empty house, and feeling such a distance between me and the family. But I'm thankful for the technology that we have now, and this "aloneness" causes me to turn to my Father in heaven, who will fill those empty spots better than anyone.

There is work to be done, I've been visiting my patients one by one, catching up, and having new issues to deal with. And I'm realizing once more how inadequate I am for this job, on my own, but remembering that the ability to do this work comes from outside of me, the guidance and help I need every day comes from above. I could not be here doing this without my God.

I've been back in Canada for 6 weeks now, and am still struggling in some ways to adjust to North American culture. Somehow, although I am Canadian born and bred, and almost all of my life has been spent here, it's more of a "culture shock" to find myself back in Canada than in Ecuador. To be sure, I am enjoying my time here, I'm soaking up the fresh clean air, the cool, the quiet, the times I get to spend with family, visits with friends. It's a happy surprise to have to deal with any kind of officialdom, and find that I don't have to spend 2 hours in line, there aren't 20 pieces of paper to have ready, and arguments to have, and more lines to stand in. It is nice to go out without having to put on a money belt, or clutch my purse with both arms, or leave all valuables behind.

And yet . . .

I am having some trouble reconciling my 2 worlds. There are some things that really bother me about this world, and the one that has prompted me to head for my blog is about garbage.
Yesterday was garbage day here in this part of Burlington. Garbage day has changed since I lived here - now you have an array of bins and boxes to sort your rubbish into, and that's great, there's a lot of stuff that is not taking up space in landfill now, and instead is recycled into another life. But around here it was also "big" garbage day - where you can get rid of stuff that is too big to put out for the usual collection. That can mean odds and ends of all kinds of junk, but now it also seems to be a good chance to get rid of what looks to be perfectly good household items, that we no longer want. I went for a walk the night before the big collection, and took a look at some of the discards, and I was blown away by the things that were out there - chairs, tables, couches, bookcase, a stroller that looked way better than the one my children got pushed around in. These were gently used things, much of it not dead or dying - it looked FINE! Often people cruise about in pickup trucks and help themselves to some of the good useable items, but there were 2 things that got me about all this. One that these things are so easily discarded - that couch looks just fine to me, maybe slightly outdated? Maybe not. That bookcase is in great shape, just a bit of candlewax dripped down the front. Couldn't see anything wrong with the stroller. Do we need to live with everything looking perfect and up to the current trends? And if we do, why can't the things that are no longer perfect and up to our standards be given to people who need them? Because the other part that troubled me was when on Monday morning everything that hadn't been salvaged the night before, was put into the garbage truck and crushed and made to disappear. I watched while a couch with a pull-out bed in it was heaved into the back of the truck, a lever was pulled, there were awful crunching sounds . . . and it was gone. It didn't appear to have anything wrong with it, and it was way nicer than any of my friends in Bastion will ever have, and I think of the household items that they live with, or without, and it somehow seems wrong. I know this is a different world, and even in my other world there are people who live with excess, but not in the part of that world that I know.

. . . one of my struggles and a place where my 2 worlds collide.

May in Canada

On May 2 I left Guayaquil and came to Canada, 2 weeks earlier than I had planned, and with 24 hours to get ready to leave my home and life for 3 months. My sister-in-law's health suddenly began to deteriorate, and it became clear that my original travel date of May 14 was too far away. So Friday May 1 was a day that passed in a blur of heat, activity, tears, and goodbyes. I had numerous trips to assorted bank machines to try to persuade them to part with some cash, there were meds to buy to be left behind for my patients, 3 months' worth of dressing supplies to be delivered, arrangements for my house and cat......! But the impossible was accomplished and I was able to leave on that plane the next morning.

And then I was plunged immediately into a whole new world, one in which a close and dear family member was coming to the close of her time here on earth, and all of the family drew close to walk this unfamiliar path together. And thus passed 2 weeks, most of that first week spent at the palliative care unit at the Brantford General Hospital, until Heather was transferred to a hospice, where the wonderful people cared so well for her and for all of us. That hospice became our home for just over a week, we took turns sleeping there, had family dinners, and generally took the place over. And were assured by the staff that that's exactly what they want to see. Heather steadily declined over those 2 weeks, but still had some good periods of being alert and able to communicate and be part of some get-togethers in her room. Although she wasn't able to speak, she still managed to communicate with very expressive eyebrows, and a whiteboard. Family and close friends spent some very precious hours together, talking, remembering, crying, and laughing. I am so thankful to have been given these times, that I was able to get back from Ecuador in time. I had prayed so often that God would make it clear when I should go, and He did. Heather left us early in the morning of May 17, and went home to her Saviour. And now we have a big gap in our lives to get used to living with.
The other part of coming home of course has been that I get to spend time with my little grandaughter Elizabeth. That has been such a joy, and has helped to balance the grief. She turned 1 year old yesterday, and I was there to be part of that, and we were remembering how hard it was to be so far away last year when she was trying to arrive, and it wasn't going all that well, and I was dependent on intermittent text messages to know what was going on!!! Yesterday was much better!! She's very cute, very smart and full of personality, and I'm allowed to say that - I'm the Grandma!!


It has been a bonus too, to be here for a Canadian spring. When I arrived the new pale green leaves were just showing, the fruit trees were in bloom, so were the daffodils and tulips, and magnolias. Oh and pansies! And I've been here for the lilacs and lily-of-the-valley. Things I didn't even realize I missed, but so lovely to be here for them. What a beautiful country this is.

But. . . . cold! Will this place ever warm up? Just wondering.

a bend in the road

The last time I updated this was the evening I was waiting for Kathryn to arrive. She did, and we spent 10 days together, visited old friends, took a trip downtown on the MetroVia, so she could see if it was still as bad as it was last year (it was), we spent 2 days out at Playas at camp, 2 glorious days of rest and relaxing, where I was able to stay on the beach as long as I wanted to, with nobody needing me for anything!! I read, slept, walked and played in the waves - it was wonderful! Then we went to Quito and Otavalo for a few days, and then suddenly the 10 days were all over and she was gone!

And today I booked flights for me to go back to Canada for a time. This is hard for me to write about, but this blog is about the journey I'm on, and this is part of that journey, and those of you who are following my progress need to know about the bends in the road too. While Kathryn was here with me, we got news that my sister-in-law is losing her battle with an aggressive brain tumour, and her time with us here is getting short. And so I'm going home, I need to be with my family now. It's hard to be so far away, with something like this happening, I need my family, and they need me. But at the same time it is hard to leave here, knowing I'll be gone awhile. There are so many thoughts in my head right now - who will do what I've been doing here, who will look after my patients, how will it feel to be in Canada for a few months, how hard will it be to adjust back here when I come back...? But I'm doing what I have learned to do, follow where God leads, and trust Him for all of this. He is faithful, loving, and will be with each of us every step of the way on this dificult road that this family is now walking. He has promised that - "I will never leave you nor forsake you". Never.
"But I trust in your unfailing love" Psalm 13
I am re-reading a book by David Jeremiah - When Your World Falls Apart. It's a good one.

It's all over, camp season is done, and it's kind of sad. It's a wild and crazy time, these 2 months of camp, people coming, people going, planning, buying huge amounts of food, more planning, groups arriving, groups missing bags, groups leaving....And then there's camp itself - all the kids, games, noise, cooking huge amounts of food, fun, crises both large and small. Serious times, too - devotions, counsellors spending time talking one on one to kids, campfires when kids often make commitments to God and allow Him into their lives, and stand up to tell everyone. Beach time, trying to keep track of all those bodies in the huge waves. And of course, music. We love to sing, and we do it with gusto!
In between those weeks of camp we come back to the city and try to fit in bits of normal life too, whatever normal life here may be! For me that means visits to patients, checking on progress, and going to doctor visits with people, as well as tryng to keep up with email and this blog!!!
So it's been chaotic, but very good. Looking back at it all now from this end of it, it has been a wonderful time, so many kids of all ages spending time at that camp, and being blessed by their time there. And it has been so good to watch the campers from past years now directing and leading and counselling younger kids. They all did a fabulous job, and I'm so proud of them!
The last week was for the older kids, and for me that was the best week, I really enjoyed that time. The whole week went really well, somehow it just all came together and was great. The speaker who came from Quito was excellent, the best we've had, in my humble opinion, he was real, and he geared his messages to his audience. He spoke, and the kids listened, all of them.
Medically, it was a peaceful week, almost nothing but the most minor of problems....until Thursday afternoon. I was at the beach and someone came to get me, a kid back at camp had been doing backflips and landed one badly and injured his arm. Sure enough, it looked pretty broken to me, but we took him into playas and got an x-ray done, and yes, he had broken both bones in his lower arm. Nobody in Playas is able to deal with such a problem, so we splinted it, gave him pain meds, and kept him at camp for the night, and sent him home the next morning. I'll tell the rest of that story another time, it's not over yet!!
When I got back from Playas after getting the x-rays, there was literally a lineup of people with problems - fever, headache, bumps, bruises, sprains - it just all fell apart all at once!
Then Friday at lunchtime, someone told me that Richard, the young guy who suffers from epilepsy, poorly controlled, had been sick since the previous day, not keeping anything down. When I went to see him, he was barely responding to us calling his name. There wasn't much I could do for him, and with his epilepsy I felt he would be better in the city with access to doctors, and we hired a pickup truck to take him back.
But..... on Saturday when we got home, I discovered that he was still very sick, his mother hadn't taken him to a doctor, and he was worse than he had been. I went to see him, and off we went to Emergency, my second trip there in less than 3 weeks - they're getting to know me there! He was stabilized and stayed in until Monday, he's better, but not himself, and we're still working on him, he's getting tests done and I think we may have found us a good neurologist.
So it's always something, and you never know what that something is going to be!! I was very happy to have a doctor from Nova Scotia around this week, he came with a group to work on the new house at camp, and I was able to have a couple of sessions with him, to ask many questions, and gets lots of useful knowledge, and on Saturday we went together to visit a couple of households where I needed some real medical input. What a huge help that was, and don't I wish I had a doctor around here more!!!
As I write this, Kathryn, my daughter is en route here for a visit, for 10 days. We're both looking forward to some time together, it's been awhile. Might even get some rest time in there too.
link to camp photos: http://picasaweb.google.ca/heathermoore21/Camp2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCNvat9iAm-6a8QE&feat=directlink

3 down, 1 to go

...that's weeks of camp I'm referring to - we've already got the end in sight. Since I last wrote on this blog we've had 2 weeks of camp for children, one for the kids from Bastion, then a week off, and last week was for the children who live in the little community of Arenal, right around our camp. This was a first for us, but it was felt that we've been a presence ( a very noisy presence too!) for 3 or 4 years now, and it was time for some outreach to the community that we're a part of. At Christmas there was a program one Saturday for the kids and parents, and that was a huge success, but how would a week of camp be? It was a bit of a challenge to get registrations at first, up until 2 weeks ago there were still only 20. It was understandable, the parents don't know who we are, it's a very Catholic community, what would they be letting their kids in for?? And to have them stay overnight too?? So here we are, with 20 kids signed up for a camp that holds 150 kids, plus staff. And a team coming from New Jersey, all ready to help out at this camp in Ecuador. It was looking like there would be 2 or 3 staff to each kid! But by the time Saturday rolled around, God had been working and 90 kids in all were welcomed at the gate by drums and Barney and a couple of other characters all dressed up in very warm suits (poor guys inside nearly died of the heat!). There was a group of 26 kids from Arenal, a group from the town of Playas, some boys from Burke Horst's soccer team, and a handful from another community outside of Playas. And a group of kids from another church in Bastion. So with leaders and directors and cooks and a nurse, we had a full camp for the New Jersey group to be part of. And it was a great week! All these kids from an assortment of backgrounds all got on fine, and had a wonderful time, singing, playing, hearing stories from the Bible, learning memory verses with actions! And playing on the beach and eating lots too. There were only a few sick ones, compared to the week for the Bastion kids where we had a virus go through, producing high fevers and very miserable little kids.

I had a delayed start to the week, I was to have left on Sunday morning with the group, but had a message saying that one of the ladies (a school mum who goes to church in block 6) was "mal" and asking for prayer. Turns out she had severe abdominal pain, so I went to see her on my way to church, and then never got to church, or camp either. Her pain was so bad that I felt she should go to hospital, and not wait until Monday to see the doctor. So we rounded up a taxi to come and get her, and took her to emergency, my first experience with emerg here. And really it wasn't a bad experience, other than it taking awhile to get on with it. I had to remind them that she needed an ultrasound, but once it was done, things began to move! She had 2 enormous ovarian cysts, one of which was twisted, and had to come out. So before I knew it, I was signing papers authorizing them to do surgery, and she was up the elevator and into the OR before we had time to get used to the idea. And half an hour later the surgeons called me to the window of the OR suite, and there in a basin were the culprits - one grapefuit sized cyst and the other one even bigger! You've never seen anything like it - poor lady, no wonder she hurt.

So she's much better now, went home after 3 days, and is doing well. And I went to camp the next day, where it was much less exciting, but more fun!

Now this week is off and then we're back to camp next week, with the older youth from Bastion. This is the week that my home church ForestView is sponsoring, I know many will be praying. I'm looking forward to seeing what God will do with this group.

Once again the weeks have flown by, more than a month has gone by since my last post. So much has happened.....the school year ended, the grade 6 class graduated, although some of those kids look far too small to be heading for high school, but that's where they're going in April!

And the camp season is upon us, with all the work, and lack of sleep, and and happy times that that means! The first week is over already, plus a long weekend of preparation and teaching for all who will be working at camp as counsellors and helpers. We have had 2 groups from Canada come and go, one group came to camp and the other went to Santo Domingo de Onzole, in the jungle, to work on the crumbling school there, fixing it up. An astonishing amount of food has been purchased, transported to camp, and eaten! Last week was for the "adolescentes", junior youth, there were about 150 or 160 there, and can they ever move food!! Carlos and Alex were the directors for the week, and they kept everybody on the move, with a schedule that would have worn out strong men. This included waking everybody up at 3am on the first night, to go out and play games - not the most popular of sports! On Friday morning we all headed off for a VERY long walk along the beach, stopped after 1/2 hour for a picnic breakfast and devotions, then another long walk further along, a stop to play games, and then finally the walk (or run) back to camp. This turned into a race for those who were up for it, first ones back earned a pile of points for their team. I was NOT up for the walk back, so returned by bus and was there with water for the returning victims! There were a few casualties of that morning for this nurse to deal with.

Visiting groups often means missing luggage, which has to be retrieved when it eventually arrives, and both of last weeks' groups arrived without some bags. With everybody who lives here fully occupied last week, I was the one who had to do the retrieving, and I now consider myself the missing bag expert! My experience in not taking "no" for an answer from guards at the hospital served me well at the airport too. All bags were successfully got and sent to their owners, 4 of whom were far away in the jungle.

And I now have an adventure of another kind to add to my list. On my way back to camp after one of my airport trips, I was robbed, thus joining the ranks of the many Ecuadorians who have been robbed. I was waiting for the bus to Playas, at a place that is well known for being dangerous - I wasn't alone, and I've been there before. As the bus arrived, Ivan went to put under the bus the suitcase I had retrieved the night before, and as I headed for the door of the bus, I was surrounded by a bunch of guys who came from nowhere, and they just crowded tight around me, so I couldn't get on. I had no idea what was happening, until I finally got onto the bus, took my backpack off and there were 2 zippers wide open. Oh no, that's not good. So with a sinking feeling I looked at my purse, and it was open too, and with the sinking feeling getting deeper, I put my hand in and of course, my wallet was gone. Not a happy find anywhere, but it felt like a disaster being so far away from home. In my wallet were my credit card, bank card, driver's license, the all important and just renewed Censo (the Ecuadorian ID card I have to carry with me), and assorted other stuff, including cash. So we raised the alarm and were dropped at the police station, and details were taken and we all knew we'd never see any of it again. Ivan went on to camp, and I crossed the road and got a bus home, to deal with my missing stuff. Cancelled my cards, and within an hour of doing so got a call, and the end of a very long story is that most of my cards were returned to me. I paid for the privilege, but I was so glad to have that censo back that it didn't matter. There is cause to think that I may have paid the thieves for my stuff, but hey - I got it back. Problem is I had cancelled my bank card and I was completely unable to pursuade my bank in Canada to reinstate it, so I have a slight cash flow problem until my new one comes, but that's in sight. So I have new experience under my belt, and am now rather more wary than I was, I've learned a new techique for carrying a backpack, and at the end of it all I'm very thankful. I was not threatened at all, didn't even know it was happening, and I'm fine. All I lost was stuff, inconvenient - yes, but not the end of the world. I eventually went back to camp that evening, and went back to many hugs and lots of TLC. And that was a reminder of what is more important than stuff. And although it didn't feel like it at the time, I know that God was still watching over me, and kept me safe.