Greetings Everyone,
SO much has happened in the past ten days. We finally got some zoom and endured the usual two hour wet trip to Wale where I did a day teaching Sunday School teachers and a three day conference on Marriage and Parenting. Phil did an hour’s walk further down the coast to liaise with a catamaran with engine trouble and came back with a coral cut that developed into a tropical ulcer which we are still trying to get to heal.
We returned to Damunu where they gave us an INCREDIBLE farewell — a major production with song, dance, drama, speeches from visiting dignitaries and tearful farewells then of course a feast. Even the school was closed so the teachers and students could attend.
The next day, just on dawn, Pastor Sigi’s wife and daughter came out in a canoe weeping uncontrollably. I thought someone had died. But NO. The whole family had been so upset at our leaving, especially Sigi, that Julie came out to express their grief. It was a VERY moving experience. In the end Sigi and Julie decided to come with us to Sudest Island while we visited the churches there. Phil installed an new HF radio in a very remote village on the eastern tip of the island. After sailing to Sudest we had another two hour very rough dinghy ride to the village. Phil took his GPS and clocked the dinghy speed — we sat on 19-20 knots when we were not dodging reef. Phil was worried that the jarring would harm the radio but all went well.
When we returned to the yacht they got Phil to check why the government radio wasn’t working. We cannot doubt that these people value the work we do with them. It is proving very hard to say goodbye.
Today we sailed to Jelewaga on the south coast of Sudest and will spend a couple of days here doing some work.
God bless you all,
Pam and Phil