Service in the Bush

Recently we were recognized as an official sign language group. This was really encouraging, but our goal is to help more deaf ones find the truth. So we've stepped up our efforts to search for deaf in our territory. Linden, the town we live in, is divided into groups of developed lots with houses on them know as “wards”. But, as you go deeper into the wards the houses get more and more spread out until you look around and ask yourself, “when did I enter the rain forest?” Such was the case last week. We started canvassing a residential area going house to house asking if people knew of any deaf ones in the territory and before we knew it...jungle.

Fortunately, we have a sister, named Crystal, in our group who's very familiar with the territory having grown up in the area. We saw a lot of simple one or two room “squatter houses” made from scrap wood and tin. “Squatter houses” are simple houses that people erect on unclaimed land and live for as long as they possibly can without anyone claiming some legal right to their land. Crystal told us that most squatter homeowners employ an ingenious way of making sure no one takes their land from them. They plant coconut trees around their house. Since most people don't have a backhoe or heavy excavating equipment uprooting the coconut trees is an extremely difficult and expensive task. So in effect, if anyone is trying to build on squatter land they have to first find a way uproot the trees and then they can try and level the house. Most people deem it to be too much of a hassle and so the squatters are able to secure a nice life for themselves. We also found it interesting that even though a lot of people out there have no electricity running to their house it seemed like everyone had a good stereo and/or tv running off of a generator. Priorities.

While we were out in the “bush” two young boys who lived in a little house there started is follow us. We have our theories on why this happened. They were either curious, concerned about our safety, or they just didn't get many visitors in their area and were just excited to see something other than trees. In any case, they led us down to the water and entertained us by diving in and showing us how they can make bird noises and whistles with their hands. We didn't find any deaf in that area, but I placed a few magazines with a man I found out there. And if nothing else...the kids were happy to see us.

Home-Foodsickness and Studies

Food and Service
Even though we love our preaching assignment here in Guyana, there are still some things about home we just can't help but miss. For example: food. I never thought that I would miss the simple things but after being away for a few months you tend to develop a slight craving for a decent slice of pizza or a good burger. I'm such an American. So, in order to deal with the “home-foodsickness” (new word) from time to time we take matters in our own hands. We go to the nearby market and search for necessary ingredients and make the best of what we can find. We've made some pretty good homemade pizzas, but we can't help but wish the people of Guyana liked pepperoni or Italian sausage enough to stock it in any of their stores. Oh well, chicken pizza it is. Burgers are easy enough to make here so we've done that a few times. Cat has also made roasted chicken and mashed potatoes. Don't get us wrong we like the local food (roti, cook up, bake, etc.) but having something more familiar has a real satisfying effect on you in unfamiliar surroundings.

Preaching here has been a real joy. Cat is still studying with a deaf girl named Kelita. She isn't going to school because there is no deaf school in the area of the country that we live in. So, Cat shows her flash cards of letters and simple words with pictures to match. Then, she shows her how to sign what is on the card. We visit with her for about an hour each week and in between visits her mother practices what she has learned with her. We have been amazed at how much this little girl is able to remember. With each visit she is progressing so much in her ability to sign her alphabet and to identify the signs for different things she sees. Her mother tells us now when she recognizes an animal or object she sees on the street or on tv she automatically will sign its name. You can imagine how happy both the mother and daughter are because now they are being taught to communicate with one another in a more meaningful way. Of course, she still has a lot to learn and she makes some beginners mistakes. For example, the sign for goat involves stroking your chin to indicate a beard and then moving your fingers to the top of your head to indicate two horns. Her mother told us they saw a man with a beard and Kelita caught her mother's attention and signed “Goat!” Her mother quickly corrected her. Recently, we showed her the My Book of Bible Stories DVD in ASL. We hadn't shown her this before because she needed some basic sign vocabulary before she could understand it. Nevertheless, she loved watching the brother sign the story explaining how Jehovah created the earth, and the plants and animals. Her eyes got real wide and she began mimicking the signs the brother was using and she was excited to see him using the signs we taught her. There is nothing like someone receiving the truth in the language they understand the best.

We live in a fairly rural part of the country. There are a lot of areas in our territory that don't have any paved roads, buses and taxis don't frequent often, and the streets are unmarked. Thus, searching for interested deaf ones can be a challenge. But, somehow we are always directed to where we need to be to find them. Last week, Cat and I were taking a break after we just took a boat to the other side of our territory. A young woman happen to pass by and had a brief conversation with us. I told her what we were doing and asked her if she knew anyone who was deaf. Coincidentally, her cousin was deaf and she was able to exchange information with us to go visit him. Today, I went to visit a deaf man that I'm studying with. Unfortunately, he wasn't home. But, just before I was about to get on a boat to go home I passed by a man and I noticed that his speech was garbled. I quickly stopped him and signed to him to see if he was deaf. Sure enough, he was. It took me an hour (including a bus ride and a boat ride) to get to a not at home, but it was worth it to find another deaf person.

and there are more zoo pictures

More Zoo Pictures!

More pictures :0)

Zoo and a great escape

While we were in Georgetown we got to visit the zoo and it was such an eventful visit it needed it's own post. The zoo had an AMAZING display of exotic birds. I have never seen that many Parrots and Macaws. There also was the Worlds Largest Eagle on display it is called the Harpy Eagle. It was Massive from talons to head it was at least 4 ft. tall. We were informed that they have been known to carry off small children. It reminded us of that blue bird like character from the Muppet show(Sam the Eagle). There was so much personality in its face and features that we took around 20 pictures of it. The wings span was quite impressive.

There was also a Jaguar it looks like a leopard but it actually is a spotted Jaguar it comes in all black also. I felt very sorry for the lioness that they had on display the cage that she was in was around 14'x10'. She kept pacing back and forth and had a limp. :( Now one of the most amazing parts of the zoo was the fact that in a pond surrounding the zoo was 15 West Indian Manatees or Sea Cows. These are an Endangered species but you can get right up to feed them and under no supervision. Only in Guyana is this allowed. It was amazing and really cool to get that close to something that is normally surrounded by glass and guards. I wanted to pet them but the ground wasn't to safe to step on.

The zoo is set in the middle of the Botanical gardens it truly has some beautiful flowers. I will have to do a separate post so that you can see some of the plant life. But now for the main event of the Zoo...the MONKEYS :0) They had on display several varieties of monkeys including howlers, capuchen and spider. Now the first time that we passed the monkey cages they were playing and one of the Howlers had gotten his hands on some Lay's potato chip's. He was devouring and fervently licking the bag and his fingers. It was like something out of a commercial. Then we moved past the cage and went on to look at some more animals. On our way back I saw a monkey running around outside of the cage. I thought to myself he's a little escapee. Then as was got closer I saw more monkeys running outside on the roof of the cage and one sitting on a branch that extended outside of the cage and he had a friend within the cage sitting on the same branch. After that we headed in the direction of the exit and informed one of the guards about the free monkeys and he shrugged his shoulders and said it happens all the time. Only in Guyana! Please note that we later found out that a zookeepers at that same zoo was eaten by a jaguar because he left the cage open. With those comforting thoughts we contemplate what could have eaten us while we were there. Kurt's bet is that he would have been carried off by a Harpy.

Hope that you enjoyed the stories.

Take Care Love,

Kurt and Cat

Georgetown

Hello everyone! So sorry for the delay...here is what has been going on. We made a trip to Georgetown (the capital) last week and stayed for a long weekend. It was really nice to have the opportunity to really get to know Georgetown.Most of our trips there we go to the different stores for groceries and then head home.On Sunday Kurt gave the talk at the Sign Language meeting. It was very refreshing to be in an all ASL meeting. A few things that we noticed about the group there were soooo many deaf. I felt like I was back in Brooklyn. :0) Also the skill level there was very high. I was very impressed! Having a deaf school nearby does wonders. The friends were very warm and friendly and so happy to see us. We made a lot of new friends and are very excited about seeing them all at the upcoming District Convention.

While in Georgetown we received some bad news. The Government here in Guyana denied our request for an extension to stay, past our initial allowance of 3 months. So we decided that we are going to leave Guyana in 2 weeks and stay a week in Suriname. This is a neighboring country; they speak Dutch and have their own Sign Language. For those of you that are curious about their Sign Language you can see the “Would you like to know more about the truth” Dvd in Suriname Sign Language on Watchtower.org. So while we are there we plan on visiting the congregation and the Branch. Right now our future here in Guyana is very uncertain with the Government's refusal of an extension. Our length of the stay is all dependent on what they give us when we re-enter the country. So please continue to pray for us we really appreciate all of your support.

Now on to fun things ;0) While we were in Georgetown we got to go the Pegasus Hotel. This is a fancy hotel that caters to foreigners.We went there for dinner while our hosts Don and Sarah Campbell went to a wedding. So the hotel is really nice and the food was pretty good. I had a Cheeseburger and Fries and Kurt got a steak sandwich and fries. Let me tell you that cheeseburger was heavenly LOL ;0) Next time we are going to swim in the pool it looked so nice and clean. The pools in Linden are too dirty to swim in.

Hope you all are well. Love Kurt and Cat

Reunions, new studies and RAIN!

So last week we had the arrival of my friend Alysse this is a funny story...A few months before Kurt and I moved to Guyana I received an Instant Message from a friend that I haven't seen in 4 yrs. She told me that she heard that I was going to be in Guyana and that she would be serving there also. I thought that was a huge coincidence and I was excited to see her again. Well we got to chatting and she told me that she was in contact with a brother named Phil Thomas. Surprise, Surprise were going to be serving in the same area and even crazier (in a good way) living in the same house. Only Jehovah's organization is this small. :0) This past week and half we have been catching up and marveling about how different things are since we have last seen each other. If you would have told us 5yrs ago that we would be serving in Guyana in the same house and I would be married we wouldn't have believed you. Having another Californian in the house has been great ;0) and even better having another skilled signer is a blessing from Jehovah.

This week we have the privilege of the circuit overseers visit. Brother and Sister Stevens are a very nice Guyanese couple. Today we enjoyed the pioneer meeting the information was very timely. We all need to continue to set goals and be in a forward motion in our service to Jehovah. He also brought out that we have two ministries an internal and an external. So we need to also pay attention as pioneers not only to the people we are helping to learn about the truth but also to try and encourage those in our congregation. Very good points that I am trying to work on for the next few months :0) There is plenty of work for us to do. No complacency here ;0)

Another bit of news is I have a new deaf bible student! Her name is Kelita and she is sooooo smart and adorable and 7 years old. She doesn't attend school because they don't have any programs for deaf in our area. But her mother has been teaching her some basic ASL. I come and visit her 2x/week. We are currently going over the alphabet is ASL and English as well as various signs for things that she can use every day. It is really nice to have a parent that is so involved and willing to reinforce what she is learning with me. I hope that I will be able to start a study with her as well. My goal is to bring her to next Sundays meeting.

We are currently in the Rainy Season so that has been a challenge. We have become weather men and are about as successful at predicting the weather as the news is in the states ;0) LOL Sometimes we will just get the clothes on the line and literally 3 minutes later have to run and take them off as a Noah-esque torrential downpour hits. :0( Last week our clothes took 4 days to dry. The humidity Is so intense here that things never feel 100% dry, even us! So we are keeping our sense of humor alive and generally up to mischief as one would expect. Hope you all are well, please update us on how you all are doing!

Love Cat and Kurt