Our little village

This is an aerial view of our centre. The big building on the left is
the dorms for the students. The other big building in the centre is
the dining room, kitchen and meeting house. Our house is on the far
right, black with white windows. There is a small clinic, an office
and five other houses or flats for staff. As you can see we are right
on top of a hill and have an excellent view of the ocean and the town
of Madang.

Bilum

In Papua New Guinea babies take their naps in bilums (string bag).
Ada quickly adjusted to this new way of napping when the nursery
ladies introduced her to it, although her parents can't figure out how
to get her in to the bilum!!!

Lots of Squash

Lots of Squash! We visited the village where we stayed for five weeks
during our training in 2005 and we blessed a some food! Squash,
watermelon, papaya, taro, corn... more than we could eat.

Black House - 2nd try

Second try.

Our House

This is our new house (affectionately called the Black House), and we live in the top story.  It has a tin roof and the siding is made of limbun, a type of palm.  The tank on top of the house is one of our water tanks, where rain water is collected to supply water to the house. 

We would like to try to send a weekly glimpse into our lives here in PNG.   These will also be posted on our Blog.  If you would rather not receive these weekly updates, please let us know via email.

 

Box 872

Madang 511

Papua New Guinea

We have a slow dial-up connection, so please do not send large files.

Nativity?

Oh Joy, I can WALK!!

Riding in my little red wagon...

or pushing it as the case may be.

Tio Joel arrives!!

waiting at the airstrip



















content

learning to walk and more

1. Learning to walk with a bilum (traditional bag)
2. Peekaboo
3. Our back yard
4. So big

announcement

Well the time has come to let you all know about what has happened recently. I have pushed through 4 (four) top teeth. No sense in doing one at a time or just two. The front two are the furthest down but the next two are right there. If you already have a viral rash, a cough and congestion why not go through teething pains at the same time. Mummy and daddy wanted to take a picture but I told them that was a ridiculous idea since they are not dentists! I've also learned to climb up on things when daddy isn't watching. Bye, Aya - as I call myself.

Arrived and settling in

We have arrived in Ukarumpa and are getting settled into our new home. This is the view from our front porch. Heidi starts work at the clinic this week and Paul is meeting with the Community Development folks this week as well.

Departure time

Well we are off.  Due to a typhoon in Hong Kong our flight was advanced 12 hrs, so we are leaving Vancouver at 2:55am Tuesday morning.  We arrive in Ukarumpa, PNG on Friday afternoon.

happy campers

In 2 weeks...

In just 2 weeks, we will be in the midst of our journey back to Papua New Guinea.  In 2 weeks all the packing will be done.  In 2 weeks all the goodbyes will be said.  In 2 weeks many tears will have been shed.  In 2 weeks Ada will have already celebrated her 1st birthday.  In 2 weeks all the items on our long "to do" list won't matter anymore, whether they got done or not.

It's easy for me to live for 2 weeks from now.  I am working to consciously live in the present and find moments of joy in each day as I live in the "now", instead of already living in the future.  Though there are certainly many stressful and anxious moments as we prepare to leave, there are gems too - the last times shared with dear friends and our families, spending time with Ada and watching her grow and learn and develop.  Living life daily with Ada certainly reminds me to live in the present, as she does.

graduation

Images of Family

Photography by Oliver Rathonyi-Reusz    www.inviewimages.com

happy times with the flowers and cousin Judah

Ada is beautiful