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Last Updated: March 10, 1997
![[Betsy Burgdorff]](../images/betsy.jpg)
SUBJECT: Christmas, patients, health classes, Pathfinders.
AUTHOR: Betsy Burgdorf, her husband Ted, and three girls - Heidi, Kristen, and Kara, work with her sister Becky Gates and family in Guyana.
DATE: January 15, 1997
Dear Family & Friends,
I haven't written in one month, so it's time I write again! No plane came on Christmas or New Years, and Ted wrote last week, so I didn't write.
We were very surprised to see David on the plane that came in Dec. 18, and of course Becky was very happy. The kids were all happy as well, since he brought all kinds of goodies from the States: macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, string cheese, M&M's, etc. And of course he also brought Christmas presents. We had no idea we would get any Christmas presents, so everyone worked hard making gifts for each other. This will always be one of our favorite Christmases to remember, since it was a very "unmaterialistic" Christmas. The gifts were very creative and special. It was a fun Christmas.
Christmas Day in Kaikan is a community day. The community all got together at lunch for a meal at the school. They had put tables together to make one long table; then there was a separate table, decorated very fancy, for their special guests: Us! We were treated like royalty! We had brought our own cheap plastic dishes to eat out of, but that wasn't good enough. They served us on beautiful glass dishes.
After the meal everyone went to the soccer field for some games. First the women and girls played, then the men and boys. Heidi, Kristen, Kara, Lina and Katrina all joined the game. Unfortunately Kristen got hit in the left hand with the ball. If we had been in the States, we would have had it x-rayed. Ted made a splint of cardboard, and we wrapped it with an ace wrap. Her wrist swelled up and turned black and blue on the palm side. That was 3 weeks ago today. The swelling and pain are gone now, but now she cannot turn her hand completely so that the palm is facing up. This makes me suspect more than ever that she fractured her wrist. She wore the splint for 2 weeks, then quit because it wasn't hurting anymore. We just noticed last night that she couldn't completely turn her hand.
On December 28 our mattresses arrived. It was very nice for everyone to be on mattresses after 6 weeks of sleeping on the floor! Ted has made 2 bed frames so far, but there are several more to go yet.
Kara is now 10 years old, and she had a nice birthday. We all worked together to make a doll house, furniture, and some little dolls (Kaikan-style) for her.
We continue to see patients and have treated over 170 so far. Some of our more interesting cases, besides lots of malaria, were a lady having a miscarriage, and on January 1 a man came who had a firecracker blow up in his hand! Becky and I don't mind taking care of the malaria cases, but we let David and Ted take care of the gross things like that! We've also seen some hepatitis. One 16-year-old girl turned very yellow and kept throwing up blood (from swallowing blood from a nosebleed). They finally took her to Venezuela, where they diagnosed malaria!
When David arrived and saw how much time we were spending cooking and doing laundry, he decided something must be done. We all decided that we would rather have some time to help the village rather than spend all our time just surviving. So David ordered a stove in Venezuela, and it arrived last week. This has cut down considerably on the amount of time we spend cooking and chopping firewood. We've also hired 2 ladies (our 2 nearest neighbors) to do laundry for us. We thought about trying to get a wringer washer, but decided it would be cheaper just to hire someone to wash for us. The girls liked our primitive way of cooking and weren't too happy that we got a modern gas stove! Ted, however, is very happy, since he was the main one who started and kept the fire going, blowing through a tube for hours, getting smoke in his eyes. Every time we baked, it was a 5 or 6 hour job!
Now that we have all this time on our hand (ha!) we have decided to start health classes. This is something the village seems very interested in. Our first class was on Sunday, Jan. 5. Becky, Ted, and I are doing the class. We decided to start off with a basic review of the body systems before getting into more specific health topics. We had approximately 40 students at our first class, the youngest being 11, all the way up to 50 or 60 years of age. We told them that anyone could come to any of the classes they wanted, but that we would give a certificate to those who came to every class and took the tests. The vast majority want the certificate! We only covered 4 systems the first class. Ted did the Muscular and Skeletal, Becky did the Respiratory, and I did the Nervous. We tried not to make it too complicated, but I think we were still way over their heads. We'll try to make it a little simpler still for next week. I think all the big words kind of overwhelmed them!
The last of our things finally arrived Sabbath. Becky still has things in Georgetown, but at least all our things are here now. We finally have all the school books here, so we are getting serious in school at last. The kids are all going to the school now (except Kristopher), but taking their own books and doing their own work. I give them their assignments every morning before they leave for school. I am making lesson plans to make sure they finish all the work by the end of the school year. I finished all the lesson plans for Kristen and Katrina, and they should finish if they can stick to the schedule. I still need to finish for Kara and Carlos, but I figured it was more important to make sure Kristen and Katrina finish this year, since they are to graduate from 8th grade. I don't know how much Heidi will finish, but I figure if it takes her an extra year to get through high school, it's not the end of the world. We will just consider that she took a year off to be a student missionary.
Last Sunday was a sad day for us. Our little Porky Babe (puppy) died. We knew he wasn't feeling well Sabbath because he wouldn't eat. About 5:00 AM Sunday morning I got up to go to the bathroom and found him standing on the stairs. I could tell he was having trouble breathing and could hear him wheezing. At the bottom of the stairs I found 2 puddles of blood. The smell was awful! I knew then that he was dying. I let him outside, and then he disappeared. Some kids found him dead by the path a few hours later on their way to school. We don't know if he got poisoned or had distemper. The bleeding was from the rectum. He just went so fast! He was such a smart dog. In the 2 months we had him, he had already learned sit, shake, speak, stay, go around, and lie down. We will really miss him, but we've decided not to get another dog here. Every few days we had to dig out jiggers and egg sacs from his feet. They would just be loaded. Twinkie won't let us hardly touch his feet, and sometimes he can hardly walk. Becky would like to send him back to Georgetown.
No work has been done on the house in over a month. Ted got impatient waiting for them to come finish the house, and decided to do it himself. So yesterday he started working upstairs to put in the inside walls for the bedrooms.
We are starting up a Pathfinder Club here. Our first club meeting will be next Sunday, from 1:00 to 3:00. (Our health class is from 3:00 to 5:00, so Sundays will be busy days!) I am the deputy director, but for all practical purposes I'm the director, since the director knows absolutely nothing about Pathfinders. We had a registration of sorts last week and had 58 kids sign up to join the club. That includes some 8 and 9 year old pre-Pathfinders. Wow! This will be even more challenging than doing Pathfinders in Chowchilla. The only resource they have here is an old AY Manual, over 20 years old. A bunch of pages are missing, and the requirements have all changed anyway. I'm kicking myself that I didn't bring my Pathfinder books! I did bring the AY Honors book, so we will start with some honors at least. Dues are about 5 cents a week, and registration is 10 cents. This is what was suggested, but I don't see how we're going to get the kids in uniform at that price! I'm going to have to talk to the parents and see if they'll be willing to pitch in a little more. You can understand how even a one or two dollar registration fee seems exorbitant to them when an average wage for a day's work is $7.00. We haven't priced material yet to see what it would cost to make uniforms, but I'm sure it will be cheaper than what uniforms cost in the States. I've requested an AY Manual from the Conference but so far have received nothing. That probably means they don't have one! In spite of the difficulties, however, the village is excited about getting a club started, and I'm excited too. Please pray for us in all our new ventures.
Heidi has had hives for 3 days now, and we can't figure out why. Otherwise, we're doing well. We miss you all and love you lots.
Love, Betsy
PS: Wish we could have been there for Vera's wedding. I'm very happy for her.
PPS: David left Kaikan last Wednesday. He'll be going to Trinidad to teach a class. Next month he'll come back here before going to the States to get the airplane. He found a bunch of mail for us stacked up at the conference office. I don't know why they didn't send it on to us. Thanks to all who sent Christmas cards! We should be getting the E-mail today hopefully.
You may write to Betsy at: gates@andrews.edu
Last Updated: March 10, 1997