I'm excited to report we've been doing more and more preparation for leaving for PNG! Just a few minutes ago we were outside taking photos of our outreach groups. Hopefully I will be able to post that soon.
We are 24 in our school (20 students and leaders) and we are divided up into 2 outreach teams. There will be many people from the community coming to join us to assist with clinics and assisting with projects in PNG. The ship only hold 50 people total, so we are split into 2 outreach teams A & B, or Team Brillantly Bold and Team Awesomeness as we like to call them. We will be trading back and forth in staying on the ship and staying in the villages for 2 weeks at a time. I think there is one point where team A will be in the highlands (central) for 4 weeks and Team B will be on the coast for 3 weeks at one point.
I went shopping yesterday for some items for the ship and picked up: baby wipes... (need to go back for more for limited shower use) Baby powder (for the humidity), hair ties, band-aids (50pk). I still need to get lots of hand sanitizer, and a water bottle that won't get moldy. Oh, and get some anti-sea sickness pills.
Did I mention that I went to the doctor and got my cholera "vaccine?" it was actually a drink that didn't taste the greatest, but reminded me of dental floride. When I left the states I didn't think I would need to get cholera, but we will be visiting some villages that have had an outbreak, so I will take one more dose of that 10 days before we go.
I also found out that we will be flying out of Townsville to Cairns and then to PNG.
But!!!!! The excitement is beginning to build on our teams more and more....
On Monday night, we have outreach prep and we spent the time learning some songs to sing in pigeon (sp?). It was so much fun. The words are very phonetic , so it's a matter of wrapping one's brain around that. The 3rd item down is a video of us learning one of the songs. Grace, one of the staff here, who is from PNG instructed us on how to pronounce the words, which was really helpful. She explained that she is so excited that we are having a heart for her country and actually bringing hope and good news since there are so many bad or negative associations with PNG.
Nathan (with guitar), Kylie, Brandy and Angelica
Our team and the world map on the wall
Learning to sing in Pigeon
Last week we also had the opportunity to be taught by Tabitha who has a heart and passion for community development. She challenged us to think about our worldview and what factors affect our thinking and perspective.
She gave us an exercise to break up into 2 groups where the Americans would interview the Aussies and Kiwi's (New Zealanders) and the Canadians were interviewing the Europeans. We were given the task of asking open ended questions to find out about their culture, customs, what's important to them, their way of life. I must admit it was quite a challenge to ask questions that didn't compare American culture and look at differences, but we learned about holidays, morning tea, history, important holidays, food and sports as well as relationship with natives/aboriginals. Apparently Rugby is huge in both countries and they consider Australia and New Zealand to be in a sibling rivalry of sorts.
It was an enlightening experience to find ways to be introduced to a new culture, especially without comparing them to your own. I actually feel I know more about my perspective and worldview from that exercise than learning about it in school, and it will be great to practice that in PNG.
Other events this week were a S'more night at the Coopers, one of the families (staff) right outside the base. It was a great opportunity to have a change of scenery and relax at the end of the week. There was a small bonfire and it was great to try to instruct some of the Europeans on how to roast a marshmallow. Sven in particular (from Switzerland) was hilarious to watch as he kept burning his marshmallow on accident.
Sven with his marshmallow and Kayla (USA) in the background
Annalisa (Faroe Islands) Brandy (Canada) Jade (Australia) and Angelica (Canada) skewing marshmallows
Hanging out and catching up
My DTS family: Brigitte (Switzerland) Brittney (USA) Sonia and Nathan (Australia) and Sven (Switzerland)
Briggie, Marnie (Canada) and Christina enjoying marshmallows and laughs
On Saturday we also had a car wash as a fundraiser to help acquire the remaining funds for our outreach. It was such a cool experience, asking God to bless our efforts. We really made the priority of building relationships in the community instead of having the focus on money. We had a car lot attendant and a hostess to talk with people while their cars were being washed, and answering questions about our cause and the medical ship. Here's a shout out to the community of Townsville who were incredibly generous, as we raise $560 in 4 hours! A record for car-washing fundraisers! WOOO HOOOO!
Christina and Angelica (Canada) with advertisingBrandy (Canada) Kylie (Australia) and Angelica
Simon (Germany) and Guy at the BBQ for "snags" aka sausages
Squeaky Clean!
Tim, one of our fearless leaders....
Brandy and Sven using plenty of soap!
Haha! Making sure things are staying "cool"
Nathan, our car lot attendant
Kayla and Kaylin (both from Oregon), our advertisers
Kevin (Scotland), Marnie (Canada) and Briggie (Switzerland)
There's also been great excitement as we've watched much needed funds come in over the last week. We're celebrating together!!! Thank you all who were praying for that!
That's all I have for now, but stay tuned for more "Australia Adventures!" I hope you've enjoyed it!
If you could give any feedback I would greatly appreciate it. Please feel free to leave feedback here on my blog or on Facebook. Please let me know what you think of the information or have any questions regarding the medical ship, PNG, or my exciting adventures here in Australia!
Thanks so much!
God bless,
Christina
If you are interested in knowing more information about supporting me or being involved, please contact me at christyp20@gmail.com
This is wonderful Christina! I look forward to hearing more as you go into PNG.
ReplyDeleteAndrea