Tuesday, May 27, 2008 at 10:14 AM

Back At School

TEACHING - We have come to the end of the first week back in classes at our school.  I think our school is the only school in the area that is able to resume classes this soon, but we still only have a small fraction of the original number of students attending.  We have been told that more students will probably be returning to school next week.  It seems odd to have students back so soon, but the cultural way of doing things here is to get back to normal as soon as possible after something bad happens. The teachers on our team are each teaching about 10 hours a week, and our headmaster has given them freedom to teach whatever they want related to the natural disasters.  One teacher has been teaching some basic survival skills he learned as a boy scout. 

PRAISE - When we came home from the hospital after our son's recent birth, our doctor told us we could come back for his official birth certificate after 10 days.  The earthquake occurred 14 days after his birth, but we had not yet picked up his birth certificate.  This document is required to register him as a US citizen at the US Consulate office and to obtain his passport and visa.  On Tuesday of this week, I sent a text message to one of the English speaking nurses who had taken care of us at the hospital.  We wanted to make sure she had made it safely through the earthquake.  She came to our house the same day to visit us.   She told us that she had been at the hospital during the earthquake but that no patients or caretakers had been injured there.  All the patients have  been moved to hospitals outside the city for now. She said that her apartment building had fallen down and that for now she is living with her mother.  She was wearing borrowed clothes that didn’t fit her well, so one of our Chinese friends helped her sort through some clothes left behind by some teammates of ours who have already returned to the US. She found a few things that she could wear, and it felt good to be able to help her in a tangible way!  She also told us that the building where our son was born and where his birth certificate was had been declared unsafe and no one was allowed to enter it.  I assured her that I didn’t want anyone to risk their safety to get the birth certificate but that I would like to know as soon as it was possible to re-enter the building.  On Thursday afternoon, our nurse friend came to see us again, and don’t ask me how, but she had the official birth certificate!  We are so thankful for the Father’s provision yet again!  We hope to go to the US Consulate in about 2 weeks to get his paperwork taken care of and also to get immunizations for him and also for his sister. 

PRAYER - Please be thinking on behalf of the 8 teachers remaining on our team who have 2 more weeks of teaching before traveling back to the US.  It is a very emotionally draining time being with students and reaching out to people in our community who have been affected by the earthquake.  I personally have been at home with our kids during this time, but the rest of our team has spent time going into town to take pictures and taking food and water to families near our school who are without.  I see that they are very weary and spent.  Thank you for continuing to think about us.  We are still so thankful for our safety and provisions and for the opportunities to help a few others in our area.  It is very fulfilling to be able to give a cup of cold water in His name. 

Wednesday, May 21, 2008 at 9:27 AM

Team Update

Over the weekend, things have started settling down here for us. We are experiencing fewer aftershocks every day, and last night we had electricity for the first time that was not produced by our generator. Today we have had electricity and water all day long instead of the six hours of electricity per day we have had up to now. We are thankful for this good progress!

There are many stories I would like to include about the Father’s care and provision within the last week. I hope to send out some of that information and fill in the gaps in the days to come, but for now we are safe and have had many opportunities to show forth His love to others.  The people in this country like to move forward past unfortunate events and give very little time for healing and recovery the way we do in America. Yesterday, students started returning to campus, and today classes began as usual. Only about twenty percent of the students returned, but among them were a brother and sister who have lost their father in the collapse of one of the hospitals.  Please be thinking of us;not just for our safety, but for opportunities to reach out to teachers, students, and our community. We appreciate all of the phone calls to our parents and e-mails expressing concern for us. Thank you for interceding on our behalf. 

Friday, May 16, 2008 at 3:23 PM

Report Written by the Team  

Friends and Family,

It is Friday morning, May 16. Our family and team are all fine. There have been many rumors, and even what seems to be misinformation reported in major headlines in the US. It is especially difficult to separate fact from rumor when we are getting information translated to us. We were told that a city of 11 million an hour away from us had a problem with polluted water and would not be a good place for us to go for shopping or shelter if we are asked to leave in the days to come. The fact is that the larger city does have good water, as of now, and the city is "almost business as normal" according to a US Consulate official we spoke with yesterday by phone. The headmaster of our school has already sent vans (and probably plans to in the days to come) to the larger city for supplies that are needed.

We have also heard the information that was reported about the damaged dam upriver. Our headmaster and the US Consulate office have both assured us that the dam is "okay" for now. It has been worked on, and much of the water has been diverted to relieve pressure (it seems that the dam is now holding around one fifth of the water that had been behind it before the earthquake). Our headmaster told us that he is receiving hourly reports about the condition of the dam, and his own family (including his elderly mother, wife, 2 sisters, and 2 sons) remain on campus with all of us.

We had also heard that our city was being "evacuated," but it seems that the people within the city have been advised to go to live with any family members they may have outside the city if it is possible. Originally, we thought this warning was given because of the danger of the damaged dam, but we have been told that fewer people in the city will cut down on disease and sewage problems. There are also many damaged buildings in the city, and 2 more buildings fell down after some stronger aftershocks experienced Wednesday night. Apparently, there are still many people and bodies buried in rubble throughout the city, and there is a fear of the "stench." This is the word given to us by translation that we take to mean the possible outbreak of disease.

Our school is located outside the city in a more rural area, and no warnings have been issued for us to leave at this time. (Even the US Consulate officials told us by phone that they are not advising us to leave at this time.) We have been told, however, that the patients and staff of hospitals in our city have been moved to other cities. This is probably because of the lack of power and water and the danger of buildings that have been damaged during the earthquake and some of the stronger aftershocks Monday and Tuesday. This does create a problem for us because we have not yet received our son's birth certificate from the hospital where he was born. (One hospital in collapsed on Monday, but it was not our hospital!) We are not sure how or when we will be able to get his birth certificate, but it is a necessary document for registering him as a US citizen and obtaining his passport. We also need our official marriage certificate from the US to complete the registration process, and we are not sure how reliable or prompt the mail service will be in the days to come. When we spoke with the US Consulate official yesterday, he offered to travel to meet with us and assess our situation. We have told him about our need for travel documents, and we are hoping the Consulate will be able to help us obtain something temporarily until we can get all of the paperwork together. Our son would have no problem traveling to one of the larger cities in case of an emergency.

As far as our daily life this week, we were very fortunate that we had made a trip into town just 3 hours before the earthquake to buy 2 backpacks full of fresh fruits and vegetables. We still have quite a bit of those, in addition to several cans of vegetables another team member was able to purchase on Wednesday. The school has brought bottled water, milk, eggs, and bread to our home several times, and they are providing 3 meals a day to the remaining workers, students, and teachers on our campus. As mentioned before, our campus sustained very little damage during the earthquake, including our power and water infrastructures. We have had electricity for at least 2 hours a day since Tuesday, produced by our school generator. When the power comes on, we also usually have running water and internet service in a few offices around campus. Last night, I was able to wash 3 loads of laundry, and 4 members of our team enjoyed hot showers at our house. We currently have 3 of our team members living at our house indefinitely. Our family is the only part of our team that does not live in a 3 story apartment building. No one is allowed to use any buildings over 2 stories high until after a thorough inspection has been completed. With less than 3 weeks of school left, we are planning to house our team members until they are prepared to travel back to the US in June.

Besides the food our school has given us, several of us have pooled our food resources at our home, and several students’ families have sent things to us such as vegetables and processed nonperishable meat. In addition to that, one branch of our school, called the International Baccalaureate program, has cancelled the rest of their school year, and 15 foreign teachers in that program are leaving for the larger city on Saturday. Last night, 3 of those teachers brought us their entire supplies of food! We are expecting much more today. We have well over 100 bottles of water, 70 plus eggs, and at least 24 liters of milk (it doesn’t have to be refrigerated until after it’s been opened). We have more food in our house right now than we’ve ever had since we came here! I am concerned that we won’t be able to eat it all before it goes bad. Our freezer is slowly thawing, and we are using our meat as quickly as possible. Everything I’ve taken out of the freezer so far has been solidly frozen!

Our headmaster wants to resume classes as soon as possible to help get students back into a routine, and to try to get life back to normal. Amazingly, some parents are in complete support of that because our campus seems to be the safest place in this area. Some high school students left school Monday after the earthquake to check on their families in town, and their parents sent them back to school where they would be safer. Many family members of the teachers have also come onto campus to get away from the tall apartment buildings in town. We have experienced many aftershocks, of varying degrees, since Monday. They seem to be worse at night when it’s dark and quiet in the house. I’m sure they seem worse then because we notice them more. For the first 2 nights, it seemed that we woke up during every one, but there have been fewer the last 2 days.

As of now, we plan to remain in our home at our school. Our headmaster is keeping us informed of conditions in town and the damaged dam situation. He has assured us that he will not keep anyone on campus if it becomes unsafe. He also assured us that anyone who does not feel safe, or feels they need to leave, is free to go. We would really like to be able to stick it out here at least until the school year is completed. Please continue to keep us in your prayers. Our biggest concerns right now are for our son's birth certificate and travel documents, diapers for the kids, and continued access to bottled and tap water (we have had no problems getting water up to this point).

I still find myself wondering how and why we were so fortunate to have not been injured. The Father has been so good to us and has protected us in so many ways! It will take a while for us to comprehend all of the recent events we have faced, but our first and continued response is that of thanksgiving! Thanks so much for remembering us. Our parents have told us how many people have called or asked about us, and we appreciate every one of you.