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Saturday Post -- 26/06/10

Temperatures in the mid-30s. Heat exhaustion taking its toll. Forest fires as far as the eye can see. How’s that for a winter solstice? Monday was the shortest day of the year, yet climate-wise, it couldn’t have been further from the crisp, dark Decembers we’re used to. Though we’re obviously in a much more tropical climate, such temperatures are uncharacteristic of this time of year. Indeed, we haven’t felt the cool, and the moisture, of a south wind since late May. As a result, we’ve moved from a waterlogged summer into a bone-dry winter. Feast or famine.

I may have used a little dramatic licence with the ‘forest fires’ comment. In actual fact, people have been setting fire to large swathes of forestry surrounding FT and our home, though as they have just purchased the land and wish to build on it, this is only their right. But we’ve been given an intriguing insight into the machinations of the 'property market'. About a month ago, some Trinidad residents began taking over large sections of land owned by the university. And the government, no friend of the universities currently (they’ve had the cheek to stand up to the President, you see), were quite happy to let this take place. Keen not to suffer a similar fate, local landowners dusted down the ‘for sale’ signs and opted to cash their chips rather than lose everything.

Therefore, this once-tranquil spot on the edge of town has seen a deluge of settlers move in and prepare their plots of land for building. It’s like the Old West has come to Trinidad! But sacrificing the peace and quiet is more than worth it now that FT, and the church, are now part of a thriving neighbourhood – a legion of opportunities to share the Buenas Nuevas de Jesucristo now sit on our doorstep!

More selfishly, the fiery conditions have fortuitously combined with Kenny & Claudia’s arrival. In his time back in Scotland, Kenny has developed a keen interest in photography and it’s fair to say that his regular appearances on the balcony to take sunset shots have reignited (‘scuse the pun) my own interest. I was hoping to post some here, but the connection's unbearably slow, even for Bolivia. Will hopefully get them up in a separate post soon.

In the past hours, we’ve just bid a fond farewell to the aforementioned visitors from Scotland (see top photo). They very kindly took Amanda and I out for dinner on Monday evening and we thoroughly enjoyed catching up with them and filling Alastair in on our time to date at FT. As well as their business with Rachel, they were able to play an active role here and there, with Alasdair leading the morning meditations, Alasdair & Stuart attending surgery and Alastair poring over the FT accounts (good times!). In all honesty, a week is far too short a time for anyone to visit, but we feel exceedingly blessed by their time here – the closest thing to family we’ve been able to spend time with since we arrived. You can't have too many Alas(t/d)airs in this life!

Amongst all this excitement, work has plodded along as usual, with my work on the website ticking along nicely and Amanda now up to two surgery sessions per week. The attendance at the English classes has flatlined a little, so we’re opening them up to teenagers, as well as adults. Initially, the age limit had been introduced because the overwhelming interest was from those in their late-teens/early-20s. However, one quickly learns here that verbal agreements don’t tend to amount to very much, so we’re glad to open the door to the teenagers and, in doing so, supplementing their (pretty diabolical) school classes with the English-speaker’s perspective.

We’re hoping to compile the quarterly prayer update next week, so please excuse our blogging absence for a fortnight. If you’re a regular blog reader and you’d like to receive our prayer update by email (or if you're just up for a general chinwag) please be sure to email us at cramandaham@gmail.com.

Prayer
• For Craig, as he preaches this Sunday on 1 John 5:6-12.
• For our language studies.

Praise
• For a really refreshing visit from ‘The Cartsbridge Three’.
• For the arrival of a whole new neighbourhood and the great opportunity this presents for FT and the church.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda

Saturday Post -- 19/06/10

This week, as mentioned in the last entry, I’ve once again had the privilege of leading the morning meditations. And I do mean privilege. There’s nothing like delving deep into the Word of God and discovering new, exciting truths. Intensive Bible study’s a bit like exercise. At times, we’re a little lazy and can’t be bothered making the effort. But when you take the decision to just get on with it, you find yourself wondering why you don’t do this more often!

This week’s passage was 2 Corinthians 1:8-14, allowing me to cover a range of topics. One of them was how we can glorify God in our workplace, something Amanda and I have been thinking a lot about recently. Thinking about Paul’s tribulations in Asia allowed us to explore the theme of suffering and I found this really useful, though, for the locals, suffering doesn’t appear to be the big hurdle that it is for so many back home. In the West, we’re keen to highlight issues such as Third World poverty in the discussion, but, having worked with individuals who face this every day – Christian and otherwise – getting angry at God for their lot never really appears to be top of their list of priorities. Perhaps our uncharacteristic identification with the poor man is a convenient ruse to avoid the real issue (and if you’re not quite sure what that is, I suggest you read Luke chapter 13 and verses one to six).

No word as yet on our carnets, so we’d appreciate your continued prayers on that front. Monday sees the latest national holiday (this time for the winter solstice – I’m not holding my breath for Glastonbury highlights), which tends to rub salt into the wind a little. Bank holidays, to my mind, just aren’t the same without a set of wheels. Nonetheless, we have a car and we will have an unexpected lie-in, and for both we are truly thankful.

And we also give thanks today for the safe arrival of our fellow workers here, Kenny & Claudia Holt, who, along with their children, Emma, Sarah and Joshua, finally made it to Trinidad on Thursday evening after ten days attending to various matters in Santa Cruz. Since last December, the Holts had been in Scotland on furlough. Kenny and Claudia had just got married when I initially came to Trinidad in 2000 and their friendship and wisdom – along with the rambling dissections of Rangers first-XI – have proved invaluable over the years. So we’re delighted to be working alongside them again.

In the next 24 hours, some more familiar faces will be arriving, in the shape of Dr. Alasdair Fyfe, Alastair Fergusson and his son, Dr. Stuart Fergusson (quite frankly, I can’t believe I’m adding the title ‘Dr’ to the name of an old mucker I used to play Scalextric with – talk about feeling old). The Fergussons are old family friends of ours and Alasdair Fyfe is a man whose presence one can never help but feel blessed by, perpetually brimming with wisdom, interest and encouragement. The Alasd/tairs (delete as appropriate) are here in their capacity as elders from Cartsbridge, the sending church of Rachel Peebles, who works in FT’s community ministry, though Alastair Fergusson also sits on the Foundation Totai UK board. Anyway, we will endeavour to link up with them in the next few days, particularly as they come laden with trinkets from afar – or ‘Priority Case #1’ as we labelled it. Just hoping the Dairy Milk bars can take the heat!

Prayer
• For our carnets. Nuff said.
• For witnessing opportunities with our non-Christian workmates.

Praise
• For the Lord’s guiding hand for Craig during this week’s Meditations.
• For Kenny & Claudia’s safe arrival.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda

Saturday Post -- 12/05/10

Months of eager anticipation. Tactics being finalised. The excitement building as the big moment finally arrives.

Yes, you guessed it – I finally moved into my new office this week. Up until now, I’d mostly been working from home, a minute’s stroll from the FT headquarters. Hardly inconvenient, though not quite at the heart of the action. This week, however, we took delivery of a new set of bookshelves for the library (which is based in the Education office), which enabled me to clear up the legions of books spread across the floor and create working space. And, crucially, it provides a permanent living space for all the Emmaus Bible course materials (for which Education is responsible), which had taken up temporary residence in Kenny’s study – and with Kenny returning next week, ten suitcases in hand, the last thing he needs is a study littered with dusty books.

When Maicol & KC return to the States for a break in the next couple of weeks, KC will be passing control of the Emmaus materials to me. With well over 200 books distributed and corrected in the past three months – not to mention the verbal feedback required for each corrected book – the administrative burden is significant, though one which we’re obviously delighted to take on. With the English classes having started and the website update taking up my mornings currently, I’m certainly not looking for work, that’s for sure.

Elsewhere, FT has teamed up with one of the biggest schools in town in an extension of its School Health Programme and Amanda was part of the initial group of nurses who visited on Wednesday. She will continue to visit weekly, along with the visits she and another nurse carry out every Thursday morning to the local maternity hospital. She’s really enjoying getting out into the community and helping FT establish a greater presence among the town’s residents – and, thus, have more opportunities to share the good news.

Finally, we’ve included some pictures of the wallchart. Here is the finished article, all set for the big one. And in spite of Bolivian TV politics, so are we. One of the public channels (‘cooncil telly’ if you’re Glaswegian) bought up the rights to the entire tournament from FIFA. Except, it turns out that they went and sold all but the opener, the semis and the final to a cable company. The cable company duly promised to share the spoils among the wider population – and proceeded to keep the whole package to themselves. ‘Fair play’ indeed. The President likes his football almost as much as looking like the saviour of the people, so perhaps he can step in at the last minute. Whatever happens, I somehow can’t foresee a repeat of that hot, adolescent summer of France ’98, when Kenny Fisher and I set out with the goal of video-taping every minute of every game. If memory serves me correctly, I don’t think we even made it through the first weekend.

Prayer
• Carnets. We’re still waiting and the immigration people are still giving us the ‘mañana, mañana’ treatment. Pray for patience, yet movement at the same time. A national ID card is a must in many important areas here.
• For Craig as he takes next week’s morning meditations.

Praise
• For Amanda’s growing opportunities to work in the wider community.
• For workspace for Craig within the FT building.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda

Saturday Post -- 05/06/10

Recently, Amanda and I had the privilege of sitting down and enjoying the recent comedy ‘Zombieland’, which, as the title cryptically alludes, depicts a nation (namely, the USA) in which a dwindling human population battles to survive in the face of a sustained zombie threat. The film’s main protagonist, a twentysomething whose name escapes me, devises a list of rules for survival in the midst of such chaos. And the most important rule in Zombieland is: enjoy the little things.

Wise words in any context, though particularly apt in Trinidad, which at times resembles Zombieland, albeit without the zombies. The motorists are maniacal. Broadband is a waist size, not an internet speed. The week’s groceries aren’t so much whatever you fancy, as whatever the shops are stocking.

Thus, enjoying the little things is very much the order of the day round these parts. And nothing brings out the simple pleasures in life like a World Cup. No downloading of Lionel Messi clips on to your iPhone (youWhat?) down here. Oh no. Rather, I’m about 200 stickers away from completing the official 2010 Panini album. If this all sounds somewhat juvenile, then you should at least know that the majority of the town’s male population are at it as well. It wusnae me thit startit it, sur. If anyone out there has any spare Dutch squad members, feel free to pass them on.

On the same note, like good missionaries should, Amanda and I are in the process of turning a problem into an opportunity. Quite frankly, the availability of high-quality, durable World Cup wallcharts down here has been most concerning. And as I’m sure you are all no doubt aware, a World Cup without a wallchart is like Christmas without the Great Escape repeats. It’s just not on. So, we’ve opted to take matters into our own hands, with the aid of cardboard, glue and Microsoft Excel (though mind Bill Gates doesn’t find out I’m using Microsoft Excel for personal enjoyment – don’t want to validate my warranty or anything). Come next Friday, we’ll be all set. Brazil to win. You heard it here first.

The business of the week (what business there was – two local holidays in five days) has been dominated, for us, by my English classes, in which Amanda has kindly volunteered her services too. Over the two classes on Wednesday and Friday, 30 students turned up, and we're expecting numbers to increase as word spreads. We’ve been given access to the building’s main auditorium, which allows us loads of room and means I can have a whiteboard and projector screen on the go at the same time, allowing for increased flexibility. This week’s classes have simply been a chance to register the participants and assess, through simple conversation, the English levels of each student. Next Wednesday, we’ll kick off the main beginners curriculum which I’ve spent the preceding months drawing up.

That aside, Amanda has been kept busy this week completing monthly reports for the health ministry and my sermon on Sunday seemed to be well received. Next week, the main issue is likely to be our carnets which, incredibly, we are still waiting on, but have been promised of their readiness within the next seven days. With our carnets, we should be able to obtain our driving licences within days, meaning we can some day soon, at last, take full possession of our RAV4. That’s the theory, at least – something tells me I might be scribbling the name of a certain canary-coloured footballing outfit into the wallchart’s ‘winner’ box before that happens.

Prayer
• For patience as we await our carnets and the increased freedoms in mobility they should result in.
• For the Lord's continued guidance in everything we do.

Praise
• For the chance to re-charge our batteries with the holidays over the last couple of weeks.
• For a great start to the English classes.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda

They just keep doing it...

Like Gary Linker's stinking puns, Andy Murray-baiting and skyrocketing divorce rates, you know it's a World Cup summer when Nike Football unveil their biennial tournament ad. And, as ever, this year's is a stormer.

Saturday Post -- 29/05/10

You spend the whole of the year waiting for holidays and then, come May, two come along at once. Or, at least, that was always the way of it back in the UK. Here, too, May is prime time for free time, but the way things are turning out around here, it’s a wonder the Bolivian authorities don’t just give us the whole month off!

Monday ended up being a general strike in Trinidad, with a plethora of issues bringing the public to a standstill – not least the as-yet unresolved electoral tensions, with La Paz in seriously uncooperative mode in the weeks following the government’s defeat here. Today (Friday) is Día de la Santísima Trinidad, essentially Trinidad’s equivalent of a town gala day. Indeed, I’ve just arrived back at the flat and taken a time-out from a parade of all the town’s schoolchildren which began at 9 o’clock and which was not even a quarter completed by the time I left at Noon. That said, one’s endurance is rewarded by a seemingly endless stream of cultural colour and light – you won’t find ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ floats here.

And that same folkloric flair graced the corridors of the Fundación on Wednesday afternoon in which the official inauguration of the new operating theatres took place (and, yes, no work was done then either!). As alluded to last week, a programme of cultural dances was a highlight of the afternoon and yours truly was there at the centre of it all, doing for Bolivian bopping what James Bond did for feminism.

Of course, the main event was the inauguration itself. The construction of the operating theatres was funded by Iain and Ruth Sommerville – Scots who moved some years ago to Canada. Alas, Ruth passed away a couple of years ago but the operating theatres have been named in her memory. Iain and his daughter Carolyn, who have visited along with Iain’s sister May Young (Scotland) unveiled the plaque outside the operating theatres. I was asked to give a closing prayer and then, after a buffet of calibre, we set off to review the couple of hundred pictures that Amanda and I had spent the afternoon taking for the Fundación.

And here are a few of them now...

Elías (church elder and basketball coach) and I pre-kickoff.

Amanda with the nurses.

Me with Ana (FT secretary), my partner in crime, just before the dance.

And the dance itself.

Though our effort was nothing compared to these boys. They had swords and everything.

Iain and Carolyn, having just unveiled the plaque.

Amanda with our friend and choco-baiter, Maicol.

One of the many construction workers, posing in front of his handiwork. The continued building work has provided steady work for many such guys.

A quick mention, before signing off, to our old friends Chris and Carolyn Sampson, who this week furnished us with a package including Milka chocolate, McCowans Highland Fudge and, crucially, my first pot of Shock Waves! They responded to the call with typical aplomb. Who will be next, I wonder? I took a couple of extended moto-taxi rides yesterday and I can report that not a hair was out of place when I got back. Perhaps Wella will find our blog and reward us for the free advertising they’ve been getting. Though they might ask me to kindly remove the dancing pics. Can’t be having that.

Prayer
• For the English classes, which begin this Wednesday and Friday. Pray for a comfortable switch to teaching mode for Craig (five months is a long time) and a sense of diligence for his students.
• For Craig as he preaches on 1 John 4:1-6 this Sunday morning.

Praise
• For a great celebration of the Lord’s work here at FT on Wednesday afternoon.
• For Amanda’s developing relationships with the health workers here.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda

Saturday Post -- 22/05/10

I have to admit, halfway through Sunday afternoon I was beginning to doubt if we’d manage. But, sure enough, we managed to move all our items into the new flat (getting by with a little help from our friends) and, in the process, make something resembling a home out of it all. As promised last week, then, here are some shots…

Amanda preparing lunch on one side of our L-shaped kitchen (this is the room we painted)…

…and me in my default mode washing dishes on the other side.

Our new bedroom. Those doors at the back open out on to…

…the flat’s pièce de résistance, our new balcony. Already proving ideal for my morning quiet time.

We also have a bathroom, living room/hallway and dining room – the latter rooms are as yet unfurnished, but I’ll post all pictures on Facebook for those of you who prefer the spartan look. The work over the weekend was exhausting – those high wooden ceilings alone take hours to dust – but I think it was around lunchtime on Monday that the thought suddenly dawned on us: we have our own place! Needless to say, we just feel incredibly blessed to have been provided with such accommodation within just a few months of our arrival and it all just feels like another affirming pat on the shoulder from the Lord himself – they’re getting to be quite regular, them!

Back at the Fundación, it’s been another busy week. The Campaña drew to a close on Wednesday. Amanda certainly benefitted from the experience, though naturally is enjoying being back home before sunset. There won’t be surgery next Tuesday in its usual slot as we are preparing for the official opening of the new operating theatres on Wednesday, in which I will be unleashing my (in)famous moves on an unsuspecting FT staff as part of a folk dance – performed, thankfully, along with another dozen or so locals.

I’m a little more in my element when preparing Bible studies and this week I was tasked with leading the Fundación’s morning meditations for the first time. All staff members attend this session, which is completely voluntary, before work begins. Each week the focus is just a selection of verses from a book of the Bible that is worked through and this week we came to the very last dozen verses of 1 Corinthians. If you’re familiar with Paul’s epistles, you’ll know that the endings can be a little scattergun – you can more-or-less visualise him pacing up and down the room, dictating frantically to his scribe every last greeting he can remember, with the last post mere minutes away. 1 Corinthians is similarly non-linear in its closing moments, but it allowed for a wide-ranging, and no less thought-provoking series of meditations this week, taking in subjects such as what it means to be watchful, how to ‘love’ in one’s workplace and the doctrine of saints (regarding which, there is obviously a fair amount of confusion down here). And today I chose to focus on chapter 16, verse 22, in which Paul pronounces a curse upon those who don’t love the Lord – an open-goal for a gospel-related meditation, and I just pray my execution was more Wayne Rooney than Dimitar Berbatov.

Prayer
• For both of us as we start sign language classes this weekend (I know, not another language!).
• For patience as we face continued delays in obtaining our carnets (we can’t obtain driving licences without these – the process should take a few days but it’s fair to say that the recent elections have thrown quite a spanner in the bureaucratic works).

Praise
• For continuing professional development for Amanda, and patient safety, during the Campaña.
• For the Lord’s guidance in leading this week’s morning meditations.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda

Saturday Post -- 15/05/10

It’s been a long time coming, but winter finally arrived in Trinidad this week, with a strong south wind howling through the city on Saturday morning and only really dying down over the last few hours. Temperatures are pleasantly 20-something as I type, despite a blazing sun and a sky that several European airlines would doubtless currently kill for. If any of you ‘northerners’ fancy a trip to Trinidad some day, our winter is about as offensive to Caucasian sensibilities as a Last of the Summer Wine DVD boxset.

And from that northerly direction has swept into town another force of nature: American ENT specialist Dr Richard Wagner, along with three medical students from the States. Since Monday, they have been hard at work with Diego and FT’s nurses in the new operating theatre for the Fundación’s annual Campaña, during which time many of the more complex surgical cases to have been observed by Diego are addressed. Of course, Amanda has been at the coal-face with the others and will be fully engaged there in the afternoons (and evenings, if necessary) up until next Wednesday.

Meanwhile, upstairs in the Fundación’s education headquarters, I’ve been engaged in the not quite as exciting (though no less important!) task of kicking the library into shape. Poor library. It is not lacking in high quality reading materials in health, education and Biblical education – it’s just that they’re currently as easy to locate as a Masonic surprise birthday party. As well as this, it’s fair to say that, considering the wealth of resources to hand, usage among FT workers is minimal – awareness needs to be raised. Furthermore, storage is an issue, with new shelving urgently required for bigger books. So the challenge is not a small one but I can imagine worse tasks than being blocked at every turn by literature.

Thoughts of work, however, will take a back seat over the next couple of days as we begin the process of occupying our new home. The kitchen is finally completed (due to the time restrictions imposed by the Campaña, I’m afraid we raised the white flag after the first coat but the Fundación’s manual labourers have done an excellent job) and tomorrow we will go on our first Saturday shopping trip in which, for the first time, we have to buy a kitchen’s worth of grub. Sounds a worthy investment to me. By Sunday we hope to have all our household goods in place and the time will have indeed come to start making a house a home. Will endeavour to post the requisite cheesy snaps next week.

Prayer
• For the house-move, that we would be guided as we start to live independently for the first time since arriving in Trinidad (no Co-op round the corner like in Tollcross, y’see).
• For concentration and energy for Amanda (and everyone else, of course) in the final days of the Campaña.

Praise
• For a successful transition to our new schedules – good to be busy!
• For the change in climate and the brief, welcome respite from the heat that it brings.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda

Saturday Post -- 08/05/10

Like a frantic hack dashing from Tory Central Office, I’m just a few minutes in the door from our three-month review meeting with the board. It was a great chance to reflect on our time here so far and plan for the coming months.

Amanda is to continue practising her Spanish writing and reading in the mornings, through her independent study and classes, and her speaking and listening in the afternoons, through her work in the Fundación. She’ll go to class for one more day of the week (Monday-Wednesday and Friday), while on Thursday mornings she continues her work with the head nurse, Cintia, at the local maternity hospital. She’ll continue to co-lead her Sunday School class with Jo.

Meanwhile, I will cease going to the classes in the mornings but will continue to set aside an hour each morning for Spanish study. In the afternoons, I’ve been given the green light to start the English classes in the Fundación, which I hope will take place twice a week. There may also be opportunities to take classes in local schools. I’ll be lending a hand in the Emmaus course, where currently, only three staff members are distributing and correcting increasing volumes of books on a part-time basis. And I’ll also be chipping in with the morning meditations, chairing one week in four. This is the period at the start of the day when the workers gather and the chair gives a ten-minute thought for the day based on a particular Bible passage.

Finally, I’ll be aiming to breathe fresh life into two areas that have fallen by the wayside a little over the past year: the Fundación’s library and – of particular importance to y’all out in cyberspace – the website. And I’ve formally been granted leadership of the Education division on an interim basis, which is likely to become a permanent ‘appointment’ in a few months’ time.

Additionally, we’re both hoping to start going along to sign language classes, which take place for an hour every Saturday in town. Given that one of the staff members is deaf, and that ear/hearing care is very much at the forefront of FT’s health division, this should be of real benefit to us.

So, we are really grateful to have left the meeting with a confirmation of our thoughts/prayers. Amanda certainly was looking to make further strides in language and I had been going a bit stir-crazy in the house during the afternoons, albeit keeping a close eye on important international affairs on TV. Looking at our new schedules, the Champions League theme-tune may be a distant memory this time next year.

A week is a long time in Bolivia, as Harold Wilson didn’t quite put it, and this has certainly been notable in several senses.

Not long after posting last Friday’s update, we received a phonecall from Jo concerning some friends of hers who were looking to sell their car. The couple popped round on Saturday morning to let us have a look and, by Tuesday morning, we’d agreed to take ownership of their 1995 burgundy RAV4. It’s great to have a sturdy, reliable vehicle to get around in, in a town with enough potholes to swallow a small country, and to maintain the Cunningham family’s proud Toyotastic traditions! More than anything, however, we’re really thankful to be gradually recovering our independence as a married couple.

This is also aided by the house-move, which moved up a couple of gears this week as we purchased a couple of essential kitchen items and prepared the kitchen for its paint-job. We’re on schedule to move into our new apartment next weekend. Tomorrow we’re off on a mad quest for all those basic household items you take for granted. Ikea haven’t quite set their sights on Trinidad yet, so we’ll just have to go with the local equivalent: visit every market going and barter hard.

However, it’s looking increasingly as if I’ll be left holding the Dulux, as on Monday the 10-day annual Campañakicks off, during which Diego and the team of nurses will be addressing a slew of the town’s more complex surgical cases with the aid of a team of ENT surgeons from the US. And helping in post-op will be Amanda. It’ll be like ten election nights in a row, except with clear and positive results at the end of it all. I tell you, you politicians have got nothing on my missus!

Prayer
• For Amanda as she faces an exhausting, and exciting, week in surgery.
• For Craig as he sets out in his new roles from Monday onwards.

Praise
• For a positive meeting with the board and a clear vision for the next few months.
• For the Lord’s provision of a car and a few other items to make our new house a home.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda