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![[Betsy Burgdorff]](../images/betsy.jpg)
SUBJECT: Betsy's Letter #18
AUTHOR: Betsy Burgdorf, her husband Ted, and the youngest of their three girls - Kara, work with her sister Becky Gates and family in Guyana.
DATE: July 11, 1997
Dear Family and Friends:
A lot of exciting things have happened since my last letter 2 1/2 weeks ago. On June 25 Celeste had 3 kittens. On Firday the 27th David arrived in Kaikan with the airplane. We have been waiting for 8 months for the plane to arrive, so it was a very exciting day! He flew in to Georgetown on Friday morning, and everyone told him it was impossible to get permission to fly into the interior on the same day you arrive in Guyana. But God performed a miracle, and by Friday evening, in spite of bad weather, the plane landed in Kaikan. About half the village was there to see it!
On Monday June 30th we had Kristen and Katrina's graduation. We had to postpone it 2 weeks, waiting for Becky and David to get back. The graduation was supposed to start at 6:00 pm, but there was only a handful of people at that time. So we waited till 6:20 to start, when more people were there. By the end of the program, the church was absolutely packed, with standing room only. We showed part of a video that Uncle Eddie took when he was there, and the people loved it. I'm sure they've never seen themselves on video before. There was even a close-up shot of Joy, the lady who died of the snakebite. It was a very nice graduation and Kristen and Katrina looked beautiful in their new dresses (black with red and pink roses, and a white lace collar). For corsages for the girls and the mothers, we just picked beautiful, frilly hibiscus flowers from our backyard. At the end of the program Becky handed out the certificates to those who completed our health class. There were about 16, and they were so proud of those certificates! After the program we had juice and cookies for everyone.
The next exciting event happened the next day, Tuesday, July 1. David had to fly back to Georgrtown to finish paperwork on the plane and get checked out on some flights. He can't land at other airstrips until he lands there with another pilot and gets checked out. Ted decided to go with him so he could find out how things were going on the adoption. Unfortunately the lawyer was gone to Canada for a week or so, so Ted was unable to talk to her. The US Embassy wasn't helpful at all with any information about adoption. They just said, "when you complete the adoption, then come talk to us". He did talk to the adoption board and got some papers on adoption. However all those procedures apply to local adoptions, not foreign adoptions. It seems for foreign adoptions you have to get approval from a Superior Court Judge. We continue to pray that God's will be done in this.
After leaving Ted at Georgetown, David picked up one of the local pilots and headed for Paruima to pick up Francey and Corwin. They were his first official passengers! I was afraid to get my hopes up, but we headed up to the airstrip to make sure we wer there when the plane arrived. When I heard the plane, my heart started beating fast, and when I saw 2 little heads in the window, I almost started crying. They did better once we got home. They were both very quiet and shy and cried several times the first few days, but by the 3rd day there were no more tears and they were talking more. Now, a week and a half later, they are feeling very comfortable with us and talking and playing. They are such cute and precious children, and I'm afraid we've all fallen hopelessly in love with them! It's so much fun having little ones in the house again. It's so funny watching Corwin play with cars and making all the appropriate noises, knowing he's probably never seen a car in his life! I guess little boys are the same all over the world.
I don't think they were used to eating with utensils because they really had trouble with their forks and spoons. I thought they were ambidextrous the first few meals because I'd see the fork first in one hand, then the other. But I think they just weren't used to using them. They use cassava bread as a utensil. They still prefer eating with their hands. Corwin eats anything we give him, but Francey is an extremely picky eater. She doesn't want to even taste soemthing she's not familiar with, and assumes she won't like it. Her automatic response if I ask her if she liked something is, "No!" even if she did like it. I'm trying to get her to at least taste new things. Being Americans and vegetarians, I'm sure we eat very differently from what they are used to.
We've been reading lots of stories to them every day. They love books, something I'm sure they didn't have much access to. Both of them point with their middle finger, something that is very cultural. We'll have to work on changing that if we take them to the States!
Their clothes situation was pretty poor, especially Corwin. He had only 3 shorts, 3 shirts, 2 underwear, and 1 pair of shoes that's almost too small. Francey was a little better off with a few more things. Ted picked up a few things in Georgetown, Becky gave me a few of Kristopher's shirts and things, and Heidi made a dress for Francey out of one of her dresses. Fortunately in the jungle you can get by with just a few clothes, so they're doing fine now. I re-did 2 of the girl's sweatshirts to fit them so they would have something warm to wear.
On Thursday July 3 was the Kaikan school graduation. Their big graduation is from "nursery", all the 5 year-olds. There were 6 boys and 6 girls, and they solemnly marched in with their graduation caps, each carrying a Bible. Not one of them cracked a smile, they were so serious, and so cute.
Yesterday was a sad day for us. Heidi and Lina left for Georgetown. David should be back today to pick up Katrina. Sunday night they leave for the States and Laurelbrook School. Even though we are sad to see them go, we are excited for them as they start this new adventure in their lives, and hope it will be a wonderful experience for them. David's sister Debbie will meet them in Miami and drive them to David's parents' house in Illinois, then on to Laurelbrook in Tennessee.
On Wednesday night the church had a farewell meeting for them. It was supposed to start at 5:00 pm, but it didn't start till 7:15 and went till 9:30 pm - very late for for us since we're usually in bed by 7:30! Kaikan will really miss those girls, and so will we! I must close. It's Friday and there is lots to do, and I want this letter to go to the States with the girls. Please continue to pray for us.
Love, Betsy
You may write to Betsy at: gates@andrews.edu