SUBJECT: Pati's Letter #1

AUTHOR: Patricia Duerksen and husband Dale are retired and currently work with their two daughters and their families (Gates & Burgdorff), in a medical aviation program in the jungles of Guyana, South America.

DATE: May 1, 1997

Our trip here was uneventful. We spent all day at the Miami airport which wasn't too bad. I always enjoy watching people and it helps pass the time away. When we arrived at Georgetown I suddenly realized that we were back in the world we are used too...dirty streets with huge chuck holes, people selling their products on the street,open markets, dogs, horses, chickens in the streets and happy, unconcerned people milling around everywhere. One realizes that the USA is truly amazing, well ordered and clean. But that is the very reason that we come to places like this..to help show a better way. We slept in a room at the hospital with boxes all around, no toilet paper in the bathroom and mosquitos buzzing in our ears. It was so hot that a sheet felt too warm and my face stuck to the pillow case. A cold shower awaited us in the morning as there is no such thing as a water heater here.

Wednesday noon we went to the airport to get our plane to Kaikan. It was a little 6 passenger plane, and I wondered how we would get everything in. We were allowed 1,000 pounds which had to include the weight of both passengers and luggage. When we weighed in with all of our things and David's things, we were 300 pounds over, so we had to leave that much behind for a future flight. Then the packing in of people and baggage began. The pilot and David were in the front seat, then came all of our luggage piled to the roof of the plane where the middle seats had been, and in the very back in the tail section Dad and I squeezed into two little seats. We couldn't see the pilot or David, or even hear them talking. I can tell you that when I saw how packed that plane was it wasn't too reassuring. I still don't know how that little thing got off the ground!

Supper that night found the table filled with 13 people. When I looked at the amount of food I panicked. The kids dug in like starved little doggies, while 3 cats and a dog eagerly waited to lick up any crumbs that happened to fall down. Amazingly enough, everyone seemed to get enough and were satisfied. For breakfast it was the same scene repeated...I surveyed the amount of food and mentally thought, That's not near enough. But again I was wrong. After that I decided not to worry. We are doing fine. But believe you me, there are no scraps of food left, no food wasted. The one thing we have lacked here are green vegetables. The food consists of rice, root vegetables, bananas and the bread we make. It is a high-starch diet and yet the people are amazingly healthy here and strong. I tried to follow a young man to a patient's house yesterday, and he literally left me in the dust. It was up a steep hill, and he was just like a mountain goat while I huffed and puffed many feet behind. The kids run up and down as if it were nothing...Oh for the energy of youth!

Word has gone around that we will extract teeth. Yesterday we took care of several patints and last night there was many a person minus a tooth or two! Their teeth are horrid with huge cavities; many of them have only the roots left and that makes it a little difficult to extract, but with God's help we had 100% success yesterday. A million thanks to my brother-in-law, Joseph LeClair, for his donation of dental supplies...it is truly a heaven sent gift!

I love the beauty here. There are huge trees across the river with monkeys and other jungle animals hiding in the bush. On this side many little huts are hidden in amongst the bush. There is a large flat escarpment that we can see from our house. It is called the Savanna here. Betsy and Ted have climbed it and say that the view from there is breathtaking. The sun rises around 5:30, so I go out and sit by the river to have my time with my best Friend, Jesus. Birds fly around and one kind dives into the river for tiny fish which jump out of the water. It is so interesting to watch them. The one ugly thing here is the domesticated animals...Every rib can be seen and the dogs are full of sores. They are so thin that I really don't see how they survive. They look pleadingly at you with doleful eyes. It breaks my heart and I often throw them a scrap even though there are pitifully few scraps available. I can better understand Betsy's concern for the animals here. They are God's creatures too, and it is so sad to see any living thing suffer.

Ted has done marvels around here with his carpentry. He has made so many thing to make life more comfortable. Yesterday Betsy and I pulled out all the medical supplies that they have had more or less stored away. The table was so full that we had to eat standing up...it turned out to be an all day project. Ted made shelves while we sorted and organized. By 6:00 p.m. we finished the job and it looks so nice and makes treating the patients so much easier when you can find what you are looking for.

Tuesday night the itinerate pastor came, so we squeezed closer around the table and made space for him. We moved Carlos and Kris out of their room and made the bed for the Pastor. He will be with us for a week. Now we are 14 around the table. But we serve the same Lord that fed the 5000 in His time, and He seems to help us have enough food. He is a very enthusiastic young man and is really doing well by all his visiting. He walks days and days to get to his assigned villages, spends a week or so with each one, and then is on his way again. He is extremely dedicated and the Lord is blessing him and his parishes.

Dale wasn't here even an hour until he was in his jeans and out scouting for garden spots. He has cleaned up all of Ted's previous spots and replanted. He has a real challenge to keep ahead of insects, fungus and blight. But he is undaunted and plugs along totally optomistic that it will all grow...sure hope he is right. We are all anxious for greens and tomatoes! He has cleaned around all of the Papaya trees and they look very promising.

May 10...Sabbath. We woke up to a rainy, cool morning. We would be celebrating Mother's Day in church so all the women would be "working." I would have the Sabbath School lesson, Becky would have the sermon, Betsy would have a poem, then Becky, Betsy and I would sing a trio. Several of the natives were in charge of programming. Bless these little ladies hearts. They spent hours last week embroidering red hearts for every mother. As we came to church they sewed on the little hearts. What a labor of love. Of course Becky and I were nervous having to give the major part of the program. Becky's sermon was exceptionally good and she had us all in tears including herself. At the end of Sabbath School we were amused as they announced that a men's quartet would sing...up walked 7 men! In the afternoon we continued with Mother's Day program. They announced that there would be a "try-oh". What in the world was that? We all looked at each other. Becky, Betsy and I were supposed to sing again, and we finally decided that she was saying "trio". So when we got up to sing everyone said "Amen", and we were on. By now it was sundown and we were singing from a very tiny little song book and couldn't see the words, so we moved over to a window where there was a little more light. We got through the first two stanzas alright, but by the last one I could hardly see, so I more or less hummed my part as the girls struggled to finish off. But the congregation didn't seem to mind (they probably didn't understand the words anyway) and they gave us a loud "Amen" as we sat down. We walked the 15 minutes home with the little light left and a light rain. It was a wonderful day and we were all blessed by the little group here. They are such an unspoiled group of people and have so little of life's commodities, but they are happy and love the Lord and bring cheer to each other. I'm sure that Jesus is happy with their attitude, and I hope that I can always be content with what I have and not long for the things I don't have. Contentment is such a wonderful virture, and I know that it comes from Jesus, and I ask for a large "bushel" of it from Him.

During the night it rained very hard, and we were so glad because our barrels were almost empty. Not that we don't have water here, but it IS nice to have it come from a faucet rather than carry it up in buckets from the river. This morning (Sunday) our family honored the mothers again by doing all the cooking and the dishes and the general clean up. So that is how I am able to continue this letter to you. With 7 children in the home it can become havoc in no time, but it can also be cleaned up in no time!

We are enjoying our time here and quickly fitting into the schedule. Dale fixed a wonderful Mother's Day present for me. I had found a lovely spot up on the hill behind the house to have my morning worship--but it was overgrown by jungle. So this morning he cleared it off and much to his surprise there was a stump just the right size to sit on...made to order. He came and took me by the hand and led me up to the spot. It overlooks the river and huge jungle trees and the large escarpment. It is so private and beautiful and Jesus and I will meet there every morning!

Betsy is busy this morning with Pathfinders. They need an honor in swimming, so she and Ted are teaching the older group this morning. She will have a class every day for each group until Wednesday. She makes such a good leader, and the kids love her. Ted has been working so hard on the grounds around the compound. He didn't even come in for breakfast until nearly 9:30. No wonder he is so thin.

Wednesday, May 14, and everyone here is madly trying to get their letters written. David's computer has been busy for hours and so has our word processor. When you can only send out letters when you know a plane is coming you waste no time washing dishes, making beds, etc. Dad and I have had problems with this word processor as it is exceedingly sensitive to moisture and will suddenly just blank out. We have to cover it up for a few minutes until the moisture slowly leaves. It is most frustrating. This is the second time for this paragraph as I was doing a spell check and hadn't saved it as yet and poof...it was gone. Don't remember all I wrote before but I guess you'll never know so it won't hurt! David and Becky are busy packing for their trip to the states. They plan to be there for about a month and this will include Katie's graduation from the academy. David hopes to get his plane ready this time and he and Becky will fly it back here to Guyana and Katie will come on a commercial flight. The villagers here have been coming all morning to say their tearful goodbyes. They have certainly learned to love David and Becky and are so apprehensive that they aren't returning. When we tell them that the children are staying here with Grammie then they relax and smile and know that they will without a doubt be back. So before I lose this letter to moisture I will say goodbye until next time. We love you all and pray for you. God is such a wonderful Father and does so much for us that I want to do my part to be ready and get others ready for His soon coming.

Love, Patti Duerksen

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

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Last Updated: March 10, 1997