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Saturday, 17 May 2008

It took a trip to the other side of the world to get started blogging! We're visiting our daughter Sarah (junglewife) and her family in Indonesia, and she just got me set up to blog this afternoon. Hopefully, when we get back to Quito, Ecuador, we'll be able to keep on posting pictures and stories.

We just got back from a trip to the hydro plant that supplies electricity to Wamena in central Papua, the western half of the island that used to be called Irian Jaya. Dan has been working here as a pilot for MAF since last October and all of our family was in the U.S. for Claire's birth on March 15.

Dan, Natalie, Marabeth and Roy at the Wamena hydro plant

Dan, Natalie, Sarah and Claire in the sling at the hydro plant

Natalie loved to run around and see all the flowers, find places to hide, and say "Hi" from an abandoned pipe for the comstock for the water powering the hydro plant.

Dan and Natalie look out of an abandoned pipe

The guard told us that the four generators each generate two megawatts of energy. The first two were installed in 1982-86 and another two in 2002-2005, and three more are supposed to be installed starting next year. So Wamena will have lots of energy, and well as much of the central valley of Papua.

Wamena, the largest city in the world served only by air
(no road or water access)

Dan was only in the States for a month for Claire's birth, since he had to get back to work flying small planes into the Indonesian jungle for medical and relief work. Marabeth and I arrived with Sarah, Natalie and Claire to Jakarta on May 7, and the four of them went on to Wamena, while I visited Singapore for 6 days to see if the HCJB Global activities in the Asia Pacific region might allow some of our family practice residents from Hospital Vozandes-Quito opportunities to practice or teach medicine. There are many options to follow up on. Then on Tuesday, May 13, I connected with the rest of the family in Wamena. It's so great to be able to hold Claire, and read stories to Natalie!

Claire smiles at Marabeth!

...while Marabeth smiles at Claire!

During the day I am helping teach medicine and AIDS care to the nurse, Ben Bogle, who was left to keep the mission hospital here running while the staff physician is in the States for 6 months. Ben is very sharp and wants to learn, so it's really a privilege to be able to share a bit of what I've learned in Africa and Ecuador about taking care of folks living with HIV/AIDS and all its consequences.