SUBJECT: Betsy's Letter #12

AUTHOR: Betsy Burgdorf, her husband Ted, and three girls - Heidi, Kristen, and Kara, work with her sister Becky Gates and family in Guyana.

DATE: March 12, 1997

Dear Family and Friends,

Two weeks ago today, Mom and Dad Burgdorff arrived in Kaikan. We were quite surprised to see Grandpa with a beard! That's the first time in my life I've seen him with a beard. We've really enjoyed their stay, and it's hard to believe 2 weeks have already gone by. They've

The Water System built by Dad and Ted

been trying to adjust to the heat, humidity and chiggers. Dad and Ted have worked on setting up some bamboo rain gutters and rain barrels. They set up 2 rain barrels on a platform (at the big house), which are connected to pipes and a faucet in the kitchen. So now we have running water in the kitchen (at least during rainy season). We were hoping the villagers would bring us more boards so Dad and Ted could finish the house, but no luck. Becky has decided they'll never finish the house, and she'll just have to use sheets as walls.

We've put Mom to work teaching a sex education class. This is something really needed here. Premarital sex seems to be a big problem, even among church members. None of us here were too excited about teaching the class, so we were very happy when Mom agreed to do it.

On Sunday, March 2, we finally had a beautiful sunny day to have a Pathfinder Swimming Day. We had been wanting to do this for awhile, but the weather had been rainy for weeks. The kids had lots of fun, and besides swimming, we also did some relay races, carrying water to fill a basin, among others. That evening a Fer-de-lance (poisonous snake) was killed right next to the trail,

Dad George Burgdorff speaking

about 50 feet from the house. This one was smaller than the first one they brought us, only 4 1/2 feet long instead of 6 1/2 feet. They are sure ugly snakes! It makes me shudder to look at them.

Which reminds me, we finally figured out why Ted has lost so much weight here. (According to local gossip and superstition anyway!) It's because he skins snakes all the time, buries them in his garden (which causes his garden to die) and then eats without washing his hands. So if any of you want to lose weight, there's the magic formula!

On March 3, Becky and David hiked to Arau, a little Adventist village. I desperately wanted to go along, but I had a cold and didn't feel well. I wasn't sure I was up to a 5-hour hike after a 1-hour trip down river by boat. They spent the night and came back the next day. Becky said it was very beautiful there.

On March 5 David left for Georgetown on his way to the States to get his airplane. He made arrangements with the plane that came to Kaikan to get him, to make a side trip to Paruima and back before going to Georgetown. David, Ted and his mom wanted to go see what Paruima was like and to see about starting an Adventist academy there. This is where my parents are planning to go. When the plane came, it was bigger than we expected, so Heidi and I also jumped on the plane and got to go to Paruima. We only got to stay for one hour, but it was fun. Paruima is beautiful! It is bigger than Kaikan, and the church is about twice the size of Kaikan's church. We came back with a bag full of grapefruit and tangerines, which we never get in Kaikan.

One day I sent the girls to the store with a list of things to buy. When they came back, they said, "Why did you want 5 Tylenol tablets?" I said, "That wasn't on the list." Then it dawned on me. I had put down 5 oatmeals, and they sent me 5 Atamels (Tylenol). We got a laugh over that one!

Sharnela, a little 9-year-old girl, had come to church 2 weeks in a row wearing a nightie with a belt as a dress. After AY one Sabbath afternoon, I whispered in her ear, "Come by my house. I have something for you." When she came I said, "We want you to have something pretty to wear for Sabbath, and Kara would like to give you one of her dresses." We let her pick from 2 of Kara's dresses, and she chose a bright red one. That put a big smile on her face. She and her mother, Polly, moved to Kaikan a few months ago, and they are living with family here. They seem quite poor. Polly is an epileptic and ran out of medicine after she moved here. She started having frequent seizures, and one day she fell in the fire and burned her arm. We asked Don, David's brother who was in Georgetown, to send us some medicine for her. When the medicine arrived, I took it to her. Polly is a tiny little lady and overly dramatic. When she saw the medicine, her eyes got big, and she gave me a hug and thanked me profusely. It's little experiences like this that make mission life special.

Sister Lillian is a diabetic. She is 39 years old and is almost totally blind and has already lost

Sister Lilian's foot after the burn

one toe. Then she burned her other foot because she was sitting too close to the fire and couldn't feel it. She has become Becky's special project. Twice a day Becky climbs the hill to the airstrip, where her house is, to give her medicine and care for her foot. Lillian was very depressed and kept talking about dying. She lies alone in her hammock all day. She can't see to read, and she can't

The foot is slowly healing

walk. So Becky reads her stories and talks to her. Sometimes I go too, and we sing to her. The girls have also taken an interest in her, especially Heidi. Sometimes they stop by after school and sing to her or read her a story. We have prayed much for her, and she seems to be slowly improving. We are so afraid she will lose her foot. Please remember Sister Lillian in your prayers.

3-23-97

We have spent one week in Venezuela with Ted's folks. I won't go into detail, because Heidi did that. But we have had lots of fun on the beach and shopping. Every day we shopped till noon when all the stores closed. I bought some things for Pathfinders, and wealso bought quite a bit of medicines, including birth control. We were able to get some Depo-Provera, the injection they take once every 3 months. We also got the pills which are cheaper. Mom pitched in and helped with the Depo-Provera, which we really appreciate, and I'm sure some of those ladies in Kaikan will appreciate.

We are packing to leave this morning, Mom and Dad back to the States, and Ted and I and the girls back to uncivilization. I'm ready to go back! But we did enjoy all the luxuries such as hot showers, cold drinking water, broccoli, lettuce, pizza, ice cream, and "shopping."

Love,

Betsy

You may write to Betsy at: gates@andrews.edu

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Last Updated: May 13, 1997

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