We can’t believe we are getting up this early on Saturday. We are meeting at MBS at 5:45 a.m. to catch a 7:00 flight to Detroit. Most of the system equipment that we are carrying was loaded into Bill’s large suitcase, which weighed 68.4 pounds (70 was the limit). Geoff protectively carried his precious cargo, the Ozonator, in his carry-on luggage –he wouldn’t even let anyone help him carry it. It was even difficult to for him to let it out of his site when it needed to be checked at the gate because it wouldn’t fit in the overhead bin on the flight from MBS to Detroit.
From Detroit we flew to Atlanta, Mexico City and finally Veracruz. It’s a good thing the flight from Atlanta to Mexico City took 3.5 hours because it took us about 2.5 hours to figure out how to fill out the immigration paperwork. Do granola bars constitute “food”? Do prescription medications count as “pharmaceuticals”? Several of us met a lovely Hispanic flight attendant on the flight to Mexico City who after we complimented her on her cross ring, kissed her ring and said, “I love my Lord and do you want to hear what He recently did for me?” What evangelism!
We were relieved to see Eigner (pronounced eggner) and Tony waiting for us on the other side of the glass. We are not alone in Mexico! After greetings, introductions, loading 8 people and 18 bags into the van, we were off! It was a 3 hour drive to Acayucan and we arrived about 11:00 p.m. Central time. Acayucan is a bustling city even at 11:00 at night – shops were open, people were strolling around the city square and music was blaring from loudspeakers. Our hotel was located right on the city square and so were some of our rooms! Even though we were very tired, some of us had a trouble sleeping because the noise was so loud. But finally sleep did prevail. The first day. And it was good.
Sunday, April 11
Who knew that brushing your teeth could be such an adventure? To avoid getting sick from the bacteria in the local water, we couldn’t use the local water to wet our toothbrush, brush or rinse our teeth, or to clean the toothbrush. What to do? We all agreed that the best system was to hold a bottle of water in one hand and the toothbrush in the other so that there was no free hand to turn on the faucet. (As an added precaution, Ellen put her socks over her faucet handles, a trick that Geoff and Jerry wished they had used on Monday a.m.!)
We met for breakfast on the veranda of the hotel. But what to order – the menu is in Spanish and the waiter doesn’t speak English? Thus started the practice of eating whatever Eigner ate. For most of us today it was Huevos Mexicanos - scrambled eggs with onions, green and red peppers – the colors of the Mexican flag. Jerry thought he ordered pancakes and bacon but only a double order of bacon arrived. After that he quickly converted to the “eat what Eigner eats” system.
Church was at 11:00 with Padre Marco Polo presiding. The church was only a few blocks from our hotel. It’s a small building with no door and about 4 pews and a couple of rows of plastic chairs. There were about 15 in the congregation including a few small children. The music started from a CD player and Padre processed along with his ___ year-old son. His son sat in the front and assisted with communion. His daughter, age ___, ushered and passed the offertory “plate” which was a red velvet bag with a handle. We sang several familiar songs but in Spanish. Near the conclusion of the service, Padre welcomed us and explained the purpose of our visit. An older gentleman in the congregation stood up and said a blessing on our work and us. The people were very friendly and welcoming…many choruses of “Buenos Dias” were shared.
After lunch we were off to see our site…our work has begun. The installation site will be in the small municipality of San Pedro Matir with a population of roughly 5,000. It is about a 40-minute drive east of Acayucan near the coast. On the ride we passed several small villages with very primitive living conditions. It’s even difficult to describe. The countryside is beautiful with rolling green hills. People were selling fresh fruit and vegetables – bananas, papayas, oranges, pineapples, limes, tomatoes, etc. Also, people standing in the middle of the highway sold fresh fruit juice in bags.
We arrived at the village and met Matilde. The system is being installed within Matilde’s “compound” where she runs a very successful healing ministry. Success is measured in healings and miracles, not income. People travel from all over Mexico for healing by a combination of medicines (from Canada) and prayer. Those who can afford, pay. Those who can’t afford don’t pay or may pay in other goods or services as they can. God gets the glory for all healings.
While the inventory was being conducted, Karen and Ellen met with Matilda and Padre to discuss how to approach the educational aspects of the water system. Fortunately, Tony was available to translate. The decision was made to visit one school with approximately 40 students to discuss the importance of using purified water for specific purposes and the importance of washing hands thoroughly. We also discussed doing another training with a small group of local neighbors who would, in turn, train others in the community.
Also, Bill, Karen and Ellen performed some water tests on the water from Matilda’s well as well as the city water. In addition to testing for bacteria we also tested for other characteristics such as heavy metals and chemicals like nitrate that can present health issues for sensitive individuals such as infants and the elderly. The water from both sources tested ok for these characteristics but the bacteria test will take 48 hours to obtain the results.
It was about 8:00 p.m. when we finished with our work. We had dinner with Matilda, two of her daughters, and Padre and his family.
On the drive home our van was stopped by the militia and pulled over when going through a checkpoint. After a brief search of the back of the van we were on our way with clapping and cheers for Eigner who did all the talking!
We arrived at the hotel about 11:00. After a long, exhausting, exciting day, we all slept soundly. The second day. And it was good.
Monday, April 12
There’s a stranger at the breakfast table. Steve Patterson has joined us. Steve is a deacon and a retiree who, with his wife, moved to Mexico to spend the next 3 years doing volunteer mission work with the efforts of the Diocese of Arizona. Steve rode a bus for 8.5 hours through the night to meet us on Monday morning and accompany us to the site. Steve volunteered to come to our site just to see if he could lend a hand. He has experience working with similar systems throughout the Diocese of Southeast Mexico.
For breakfast Eigner was eating a plate of papaya topped with yogurt and granola – and so did we! We also had fresh papaya juice mixed with orange juice. The fresh fruit is fantastico!
At the site, Geoff and Jerry started working on the construction of the system and Lowell and Bill went with Eigner to a nearby town to purchase some additional materials. Karen, Ellen, Tony, Padre, Matilda and her grand-daughter, Leslie visited the local school to meet with the Principal to ask permission to educate the students on the proper use of clean water and the importance of washing their hands. No appointment was necessary – we just drove over to the school when we were ready. The school is a kindergarten with about 15 children – all wearing uniforms. The school was a small cement building, no doors, no a/c, few desks and very limited educational materials/resources. We were received enthusiastically with the Principal offering to invite the parents to also attend and learn with the children. Could we come tomorrow at 10:00 a.m.? Absolutely.
Then we were on to the next school. The next school? We thought there was only one. Turns out we went to 4 schools - 2 kindergartens, 2 primary schools – one of which had over 100 students! So, in addition to the session tomorrow at 10:00, we have another one scheduled at the primary school with about 15 children at 11:30, one at 5:00 Wednesday at a primary school with 102 students and one on Thursday at 10:00 at a kindergarten with 60 children.
We also went “downtown” to meet one of the Municipal officials to explain what we were doing. The building was a small cement building with 2 rooms. One room was empty and the other was sparsely furnished with only a desk and a few plastic chairs. On his desk was a laptop computer that was the only piece of equipment in the building.
We were again received enthusiastically, which was a good thing since about 5 police officers with machine guns were standing right outside the door! The official welcomed us to the village and expressed support of the Anglican Church and our activities. Karen and Ellen were especially welcomed as the first people from the US to visit his office and the downtown area. He is writing a book on the history of San Pedro Matir and took our pictures to be included as part of the history of the village. He also gave us a brief history of the village, showed us the original, handwritten deed of the first property in the village, and showed a brief slideshow of the village history on his laptop computer. After several pictures were taken for historical purposes, we were off again….but to where?
As we left, it was lunchtime and the streets were busy with uniformed school children going home for lunch.
We bounced along on dirt roads that were really the city streets and found our way back to Matilda’s. Again, the living conditions that we saw along the way were indescribable and yet, the people we had met seemed happy and relaxed. The children are friendly, clean, curious, and playful just like children should be.
The pace of life here is much more relaxed. The people aren’t driven by schedules like we are in the U.S. – things happen when they happen (which we would come to understand more clearly tomorrow!)
Progress on building the system is going along very well. Although the bacteria tests require 48 hours the results are already in for the water obtained from the well – it is full of harmful bacteria – which our system can purify.
After another long day we arrived back at our hotel at 8:00 p.m. and met for dinner at 8:30. Dinner is not like the US where service is prompt and meals are eaten quickly. In Mexico, things happen when they happen. It seems that although we are sitting at one table, each order seems to be taken and prepared individually. There’s no waiting for all to be served before eating your own meal – you could be waiting a long time! And, getting the bill is another adventure – who knows when it will come and when you’ll receive the change. Needless to say, it was about 11:00 when we retired to our rooms. The third day. And it was good (but long).
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Eigner arrived for breakfast early and ordered our breakfasts immediately in hopes that it would arrive at about the same time we would. A nice plan but not perfect. Most of the food arrived fairly promptly but the coffee arrived as we were ready to leave. Oh well.
We arrived at Matilda’s at 9:30. The water building looked different…the floor was painted blue! The local workers had worked all night to prep and paint the floor so that it would be dry when we arrived the morning. It looks beautiful against the white walls.
Our first school visit was scheduled for 10:00. But, things happen when they happen. We (Karen, Ellen, Bill, Padre, Tony, and Matilda) left Matilda’s about 10:30 and arrived at the school around 10:40 – right on time! The children brought their chairs out of the classrooms and we all gathered on the cement playground area. Several parents were also in attendance. Tony translated our presentation to the children who were attentive and enthusiastic. The parents and teachers had many questions particularly about the Living Waters organization, our training, etc.
On to the next school. Oops – we’re early. We arrived at 11:20 but were warmly welcomed nonetheless. We went into the classroom with about 15 primary students sitting at wooden desks – 3 children to a desk. There are only a few posters on the wall and very few books. There is a computer and projector in the room but it is not used. The teacher’s desk was just a small wooden table. Eigner did the translation this time and the children were actively engaged asking and answering questions. They were very interested in learning about how the water purification system works.
As we were leaving we saw another classroom with a computer and projector hooked up. Courses on geography, science, history, etc were available and used. However, a course on English is available but couldn’t be used because there was no one in the village who could speak English to teach the course.
Several students said they wanted to tell us something – they wanted to tell us “goodbye and thank you” in ENGLISH! Several children followed us out of the classroom and wanted to shake our hands and continue talking. One of the boys said that they liked to play soccer on the field behind the school. As we were leaving we saw the “field” – a dirt area with bumps and weeds growing sporadically. It’s hardly what we would consider a “soccer field”.
Progress on the building and the system progresses. Electricity is now running from the city to the building. The churn and related piping is attached to the board, the Rotoplas tanks are sitting on bricks stacked 3-feet high. The table for the sink at the bottle station is built with 2x4’s that really measure 2’x4’!
We arrive at the hotel at 10:00 p.m. just in time for dinner! The fourth day. And, it was good (but long and we are so sore we can hardly move).
