SUBJECT: Our Pathfinder Camporee

AUTHOR: Heidi Burgdorff, Age 15, lives with her parents, 2 sisters, and cousins in the village of Kaikan, Guyana, near the Venezuelan border.

DATE: May 13, 1997

On Thursday, March 27, the Kaikan Trailblazers Pathfinder Club was going to walk to Arau and have a Camporee with some other clubs. Some of my relatives were coming the day before that (on Wednesday), and were only staying a week. I didn't want to leave my relatives, so I decided not to go. Early Thursday morning Kristen, Katrina, and Lina started out with the Kaikan club. A few hours after they left, the Pathfinder club from Paruima arrived in Kaikan. It was too late in the day to start walking, so they decided to leave early Friday morning. They set up their hammocks underneath a hut by the volleyball court and relaxed. That evening we invited them over to our house for worship. We found out that they were told that Kaikan had a lot of malaria, so most of their club didn't come. Only 11 of the Pathfinders came. They ranged in age between 12 and 17. Anyway, we had a nice worship with them and became acquainted with them. I made several friends so I decided to go with them.

The next morning (Friday) Kara, Carlos , and I had our bags packed. We got into two motorboats and rode downstream for about an hour. The boats were piled with bags and people. We finally reached the landing and climbed out. We (Americans) put on our daypacks and they (Amerindians) put on their warishis (similar to backpacks woven out of reeds). Then we started the walk. We walked a couple hours in the jungle, filling our waterbottles at each creek, then we

Beautiful View of Mountains on our Arau Hike

reached the savannah. It was hotter on the savannah, but a much more impressive view. We could see Arau mountain in the distance so we knew how long we had to go. At about 11:00 A.M. we stopped beside a creek for lunch. They built a fire and put a pot of rice on to boil. We, being Americans, had our peanut butter sandwiches and other quick snacks. We stayed about and hour then we started walking again.

About 6 hours after we had started in the morning we were met by the pastor and some others who had made it to Arau before us. They gave us Koolaid and boiled, plain yucca. Carlos, Kara, and I weren't THAT hungry, so we politely refused. The other people were eating it like it was candy! When we finished our snack we started off again. Pastor Baccaus (who is the district pastor) told us we were almost there. We energetically followed him over hill after hill after hill. Finally about an hour later we saw Arau. When the Kaikan Pathfinders saw us, they raced out to meet us. I gave them my two daypacks (I had one in front in front of me and one in back) and followed Kristen and Katrina to where we were staying.

I was led down the trail to a hut. There were about 15 hammocks hung under the roof. I left my stuff there and went down

Our hammocks hung under the roof

the creek to cool off. A bunch of kids followed us (my cousins, sisters, and I) to the creek. We realized that we would have no privacy that weekend. After we bathed we went to the Captain's house and ate with him (we ate at their house the whole time we were there). The food was very good. When we finished we went back to our hut. I had a runny nose and I was feeling pretty miserable. I took some cold medicine then fell asleep. I slept in a hammock by myself. Lina and Carlos shared one, Kristen and Katrina were together, and Kara stayed in a hammock with another lady. It did get cold in the night, but we survived.

Sabbath morning we were awakened at 4:00 A.M.! I was very tired, but everyone was making so much noise that it was impossible to sleep. We were supposed to get up that early to "get ready for worship" at 6:00, but I don't think much was done to "get ready". All the females in the village assembled at our camp for a worship. After that we ate breakfast then went to Sabbath School. There were too many people (and the church was only half finished) so we had our services outside. During Sabbath School, Church, and AY (in the afternoon) we sang "Amazing Grace" and "Light of the World".

Catching a free ride in a Huarishi

That night we had a social. Everybody got together and played a bunch of games. We had a lot of fun, but it lasted until about 11:30 P.M.

Sunday morning we woke up at 4:30 (a little more reasonable!). That was a busy day. We ate breakfast, cleared part of the airstrip, went on a walk, they played soccer while we ate lunch, went to a double wedding, went to baptisms, went to communion, and went to a program. Ok, let me go into more detail about them.

The walk (we were told) was going to be short, so I wore shoes without socks (when we returned I had a huge blister!). We walked for over an hour until we got to our destination. It was a beautiful view, but we weren't allowed anywhere near the edge. "Somebody" was very paranoid. They gave everybody the option of going down a ladder to "get a better view". By the way they were describing it to us it sounded like it was very difficult and dangerous. Katrina and I decided to go for it. We started walking toward the path and "somebody" stopped us. He let others younger than us go, but not us. I think he thought that because we are Americans that we are totally helpless. Well, finally another adult whom we know better, allowed us to go. There was a short, steep trail leading down to a little ladder that couldn't have been more than 7 feet (maximum) high. The trail was steep, but even my 6 year old cousin Kristopher could have made it! (Some people really underestimate Americans!) Well, on the walk back down to Arau I skinned my knee (nothing major!) and "somebody"

Pathfinders take a break during hike

(all these "somebody"s are the same person, by the way) said "Don't worry, Lina will take care of it for you!" This person acted like I was a little kid! Anyway, enough complains!

The double wedding was interesting. It was supposed to start at 2:00. Well, the only people that were there at that time were the 2 pastors, Carlos, and myself. After awhile people started coming. Finally the 2 brides and 2 grooms showed up. Lina had the keyboard there, and she was supposed to play the wedding songs. Everyone stood up and Lina turned the keyboard on, but it wasn't working! We flipped it over, rearranged the batteries, etc. several times before it finally came on. During this time the pastor quickly came up with a few words to the brides and grooms so the silence wouldn't be embarrasing. Finally Lina started to play, but it was the wrong song. I told her, and she skillfully switched to the correct song. The wedding was similar to ones in the states. It was pretty nice.

After the wedding I was carrying the keyboard around because I thought we would be returning to camp soon. I was wrong. We went to the reception and ate until we were stuffed. Then I carried the piano to the creek where several people got baptized. After the baptism I carried it back to the "church" where we had communion. This communion was meaningful to me because my feet were filthy. I had gone barefoot for the afternoon (yes, even to the wedding!) and my feet were black. Thankfully I did the footwashing service with Lina, and her feet were dirty as well. When we were finished the water was black!

Pathfinders get swimming honors in Kaikan

After communion we ate supper and then went to another place for a program. Everybody took part in it. They introduced everybody and everyone said their "Thankyous" and told the village why they liked it. Several people, mainly our Kaikan choir, sang several songs. The meeting lasted until after 12:30 A.M. We were exhausted. We got to bed at 1:15 Monday morning. We woke uo at 5:00, ate breakfast, and started hiking again. I got very tired and hot. I told myself that I would never go on a long hike again, though I have already! After hiking 6 hours we got on the boat again. Unfortunately the water was low, so they could only take us halfway. They dropped us off on the Venezuelan side of the river and we walked one hour. It was one of the longest hours in my life. I expected it to be a lot shorter than it really was. Well, we finally arrived home. The Paruima Pathfinders stayed Monday and Tuesday night in Kaikan. Tuesday night we had a social with them. I found out that my parents were going with them when they returned to Paruima on Wednesday. After a little thought I decided to go with them, and....... Well, thats another story!!!!

Heidi

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

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Last Updated: May 13, 1997