IT'S A SMALL WORLD

This week the new mission presidents for our church were announced. Each year in June, one third of the missions get new mission presidents.  One hundred and ten new presidents were announced and take their positions starting  July 1^st.  One of those men is a good friend named Kai Hintze who is from our neighborhood back home. He will be presiding over the El Salvador San Salvador/Belize mission.  We know he and his wife will do a wonderful job with the missionaries. We are sad we will not be able to say goodbye to them because they will be leaving before we return home.

Another president called is a man named David Berrett.  We recognized the name because over the last couple of weeks he has helped us with some legal documents we have been working with here in Indonesia. He is a lawyer for the church living in Hong Kong.  Two weeks ago Eileen accidentally woke him up in the middle of the night trying to get some legal advice on a project. Unbeknownst to us, he was not in Hong Kong but in the states on a work related trip.    Despite the fact that I woke him up, he was extremely gracious and helpful.  He will be presiding over the India, Bangalore mission. 

When talking with our daughter Becky, she asked if we had seen the list of mission presidents.  Becky told us us that she had eaten Thanksgiving dinner at the Berrett home the first year she was attending BYU.  She also reminded us that this was the same Berrett family whose son was serving in the North of France as part of the Belgium mission, while we were living in Belgium.  Becky, knowing that she would be with us over the Christmas holidays arranged for a present to be delivered to their son for Christmas.  Russell and Becky got up very, very early Christmas morning and drove from Brussels to the north of France and delivered the gifts like Santa Claus. They made it back home before the rest of the family woke up Christmas morning. 

It is strange how small the world can seem at times.   We have had interactions with the Berretts, a family that we barely knew, from more than a decade ago, on three different continents.  It is a gentle reminder to us of the importance of being kind to people.  You never know when someday your paths might cross again.  We know we have a lot of room for improvement in the area of being kind to people. We are trying to work harder in this category of relationships.

A VISIT TO THE PASAR

Valentine’s day was this week.  For many couples it is a time for love, romance, and plenty of good memories.  As a couple we have a history of difficult Valentine’s days, it has been going on for years.  One year I (Eileen) even broke my back on Valentine’s day.  Russell was out of town and I spent the night at the hospital ER.  The worst day of Russell's professional career was on a Valentine's day.

This week has been no different than past years.  On Tuesday I went to a neurosurgeon to discuss some health issues I have been having.  The good news is that the price was great.  EEG-$28, MRI-$300, Neurologist visit-$30, Neurosurgeon visit-$50.   Lunch at the hospital-$25.  (Lunch was great but not cheap).  Unfortunately the “episode” I had about a month ago recurred yesterday and I think put a scare into Russell.  Something similar ocurred when I was in Jordan about 8 years ago. After many doctor visits we never really figured out what happened. 

The week also brought an end to a project that we have been planning for close to three months. It was a sad ending to something we were both very excited about.  The project was supposed to start next week.

We have been saving our pasar (market) pictures for such a week as this one.  So, since we don’t have much else to talk about . . . enjoy our visit to the market.  The local market is one of my favorite places to go on Saturday morning.  We love to look, but don’t always buy.

THIS IS A WEEKLY SUPPLY-ABOUT $10

ANOTHER WEEKS PURCHASES

THE MEAT IS CHEAP, WE HEARD THAT THE MORE FLIES ARE ON IT, THE FRESHER IT IS
DON'T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU HEAR!

POTATOS AND OTHER ROOT VEGGIES

RAMBUTANS, DELICIOUS, BUT TOOK US FOREVER TO  GET RID OF THE ANTS

CHICKEN ANYONE?

WHERE ELSE COULD YOU GET YOUR CLOTHING SEWED WHILE SHOPPING FOR FOOD?

USE  YOUR IMAGINATION!

REALLY, THIS WAS FOR SALE AT THE MEAT COUNTER

MEAT IS MEAT, ORGANS ARE EATEN ON A REGULAR BASIS HERE

OUCH, I THINK SOMEONE CHOPPED OFF MY FEET!
THERE IS ALWAYS ROOM FOR JELLO

LOTS OF GREENS AVAILABLE

NOTICE THE LADY SLEEPING IN THE BACK

FISH COUNTER

BREAD DELIVERY MAN

WE LOVE THE BANANAS HERE, WE BUY THE LITTLE KING BANANAS

NO PROBLEM CARRYING WHATEVER ON YOUR MOTORCYCLE

MAKING DOORS AT THE LUMBERYARD/STALL

UCP PHOTOS MOJOKERTO

These photos were taken by UCP photographer. They were of her wheelchair ceremony in Mojokerto.

RUSSELL GIVING SPEECH IN INDONESIAN

CUTTING FOAM PAD FOR WHEELCHAIR

OUR WHEELCHAIR SUPPLY

THIS YOUNG MAN HAD THICK CALLOUSES ON HIS KNEES FROM CRAWLING

BOTH ON STRETCHERS

CAME IN ON A STRETCHER, LEFT IN A WHEELCHAIR

NEW FOUND FREEDOM

SHE ALWAYS HAD A SMILE

DO YOU WANT A STICKER?

CRAWLING TO GET IN POSITION FOR WHEELCHAIR

ELDER KEPLER OFFERING A HELPING HAND

IT WAS A STRUGGLE-BUT I MADE IT

THIS IS YOURS

JUST FITTED FOR WHEELCHAIR

MOTHER IN YELLOW

CAME WITH A CRUTCH-HOME WITH A WHEELCHAIR

PROUD DADDY

UCP STAFF-DONE WITH ANOTHER DISTRIBUTION CEREMONY

SPRINGS AMONG THE SNAKEFRUIT

We spent most of this past week around Jogjakarta (aka Jogja) in Central Java.  The main reason for going was to visit the water project near there, which I will address later. We also met with our wheelchair partner (United Cerebral Palsy) and the ophthalmology doctors at Gadjah Mada University with whom our church has two projects.  Jogja may be my favorite city to visit on Java.  After being in Jakarta, Jogja seems like it is out-in-the-country.  Yet back home we would consider it densely populated.  One night while we were there Eileen and I sat out by the pool during a rainstorm and just watched the lightning.  While the thunder was quite loud it was surprisingly relaxing.

The clean water project that we have in process is located between Jogja and Magelang, up on the side of Mount Merapi.  Merapi last erupted in 2010 and created quite a bit of destruction in the process.  One consequence of the eruption was the change in water sources.  Rivers and springs changed location.  In many cases existing water sources dried up and water pipes were broken beyond repair. 

Unlike other recent clean water projects here, we are not bringing water down from a single source on a mountainside, fanning out to many distribution points.  This project has us taking water from 16 springs to a like amount of villages.  Only one of the sources is of sufficient size to warrant a pipe size over 2 inches in diameter.  In total, about 11,000 people will be served by this project. (Upon completion the number of recipients was found to be under 7,000). We will bring the water to tanks located in each village from which the villagers will pipe the water directly into their homes.  Unlike prior projects where we built bathing, washing and toilet facilities (aka MCK), although originally planned for 38 MCKs, we decided not to build them after a review of MCK utilization in past projects. 

The villagers provide almost all the labor, digging all the trenches, hauling building materials and mixing cement.  After project completion, a committee of the village leaders will manage the water system.  They will collect fees from the users (on average about 50 cents per month per household) and maintain water collection dams, pipes and tanks.  Cooperation from the villagers has been very good and they are appreciative.  Not having running water for a couple years can do that to you.

KOKO, OUR 70+ YEAR OLD ENGINEER

This area near Magelang is known for its Salak plantations.  Salak (aka Snakefruit, the skin looks like snake scales) grows at the base of large palm-like plants.  Unfortunately for those who get close, the plants are covered with long, sharp thorns.   Yes, this Elder has found out the hard way. 

DIGGING TRENCHES DURING THE RAINY SEASON IS NOT FUN
BUT THE VILLAGERS HAVE BEEN VERY WILLING TO HELP

SALAK THORNS AND FRUIT

RUSSELL AMONG THE SNAKEFRUIT

BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPE, RICE FIELD AMOUNG THE SALAK

THAT'S A MAN DOWN THERE IN THE RIVERBED.
THERE IS A SPRING AT THE BASE OF THE CEMENT
WALL THAT IS NOW COVERED BY SEVERAL FEET OF
SAND.  WE GOT IT CONTAINED AND PIPED JUST THREE DAYS
BEFORE THE RIVER BED FLOODED.  

SCHOOLKIDS

BANANAS GROW UP NOT DOWN

DON'T SLIP ON THIS BRIDGE

SNAKEFRUIT THORNS

ELDER BARNARD UP AGAINST THE BAMBOO

A GIFT OF SNAKEFRUIT FROM ONE VILLAGE

PUTTING WATER INTO THE OLD SYSTEM UNTIL
OUR NEW ONE IS FINISHED

SCHOOLKIDS, I MISS MY GRANDCHILDREN