Tsimari Update

Hello all,
We’d love to give you an update on what is currently happening in the community of Tsimari.

Bridges:
It has definitely been a long-haul for the bridge project, but we trust that God has his perfect timing for everything. As you know, we were able to complete the first phase of the construction of two bridges in the remote indigenous community of Tsimari in March-April of this year. In May, we hired a Cabécar friend of ours to cut the boards for the flooring of the footbridges. He spent the month of June in Tsimari with his chainsaw cutting boards for the bridges as well as for the floor of the school. Plans to complete the second and final phase of the bridges in July have been postponed until August-September 2009 due to complications in the health of the head engineer, Don Pablo.

School:

As some of you may remember, the school in Tsimari has been on our hearts ever since our first trip to Tsimari when we were told that the boards of the school building were “lent” by one of the elders of the community, who wanted them back. Thankfully, we were made aware of a donation by the Japanese embassy of the materials for five schools on the reservation, and were able to secure some of these materials for Tsimari.

Perhaps the most challenging part of building the school is the transportation of materials to the school site in Tsimari. Thanks to generous donations by the Village Parkway Baptist Church (San Antonio, Texas), Hospital Clínica Bíblica, and individuals, we were able to finance the flooring for the school (not covered by the Japanese embassy donation) as well as the cost of transporting the materials by helicopter.

Last week, we were blessed to be able to begin the process of building the new school with the help of some volunteer friends and the community. We were joined by Dustin Gauthier (Dan and Lori’s son), family physician Margaret Gill (One of our mentors from our residency program at Mayo), and Margaret’s three oldest sons: Sean, Erin, and Collin.

The process began with the transportation of the materials by external load (materials loaded onto a basket, suspended from the helicopter by a steel cable), which is a precarious process. We are thankful for the skill of the helicopter pilots who expertly flew the loads over the mountains to the narrow valley of Tsimari.

The goal last week was to finish the flooring for the school. Everyone worked incredibly hard and together we were able to finish Friday morning, the day before we were scheduled to hike out. The last day, we were able to deworm a large part of the community, as well as provide school supplies to the school children of Tsimari.

Although we have faced (and continue to face) certain challenges and complications in seeing these projects through, we are thankful for God’s faithfulness and His perfect timing in it all. It is thanks to Him, and to you all, through your prayers and support,that we are able to move forward in demonstrating God’s love and care for the people of Tsimari.

Thank you and God bless,

Judith and Alekcey

Disclaimer: The following pictures are not in chronological order due to technical issues!

Moving the construction materials to the pick-up site

Construction materials ready for helicopter transport

Community meeting at new school platform

Giovanni piñata

Enjoying a break after work

Parasite treatment, pain pills and school supply stations

Floor almost finished

Alekcey and Erin Gill squaring off floor boards

Hiking out

Cabecars and volunteers working on new school

Starting the floor

Rebuilding the latrine

Working on the floor support beams

Old school structure coming down

More support beams and team work

Old school building over new floor structure

Transporting school materials

The "Dang" Moment

This term was recently coined by a dear friend of mine as I shared with her a recent example of how something which I, at first, felt to be an incovenience, turned out to be orchestrated by God. A dang moment occurs when something unexpected and inconvenient changes our intended course of direction for that day. Our first response is often to think, feel, and/or say “dang” (or some variation) as our carefully thought-out plans are altered in ways beyond our control. It is an opportunity to trust in God and His goodness, even when we can’t see the sense in it all. Sometimes, but not always, God allows us to see His purpose behind the “dang moment”. Such is the case described below.

One Thursday morning, Alekcey, Giovanni, and I drove as far as the road would take us into the reservation, close to the nearby Cabécar community of Tsimiriñak. Our purpose that day was to evaluate the termite-ridden structure of the health outpost in anticipation of its renovation by a team in September. We were just about to leave when a group of “outsiders” arrived, including government workers from the National Commission of Indigenous Affairs and a few volunteers who had brought some donated clothes to distribute to the Cabécar people. We briefly greeted them, and were about to be on our way to leave them to their “paternalistic, look-at-the-poor-indians-and-aren’t-we-so-great-to-be-giving-them-things” activities, when one of the volunteers tells us that he left his rented vehicle in the middle of the road when he could go no further (apparently some malfunction with the four-wheel-drive), essentially leaving us trapped for the time being. Rather than volunteer to move his vehicle so we could leave and go on with our day, he asked us to wait until they finished with their planned activity with the community (essentially, handing out clothes). Faced with no other choice, we waited.

After a while of waiting, Alekcey decided that we should head over to the plaza to see what they were doing. Honestly, I had no desire to be a witness to yet another grab-fest of donated items, the majority of which I knew we would later see strewn on the trail. Sure enough, when we got there they were handing out thick, heavy sweaters that I knew the people would never wear in the warm climate of that community. I headed over to mingle with some of my Cabecar women aquaintances, while Alekcey spoke with some of the volunteers. He shared with them about our mission, vision, and development-minded approach. The volunteers immediately recognized the value in what Alekcey was sharing with them, particularly regarding why we don’t usually give things away.

Soon, we were all heading back to our respective vehicles, when Alekcey shared with me the volunteer’s receptiveness to what he had to say. I was immediately convicted – after all, hadn’t I been in that very spot a few years ago until I had the opportunity to be gently corrected in my way of thinking? It was at this moment that I began to recognize the greater purpose in our being “trapped”.

We invited the group over to our place in Paso Marcos for drinks, snacks, and a brief tour of the facilities. As we sat around the table in our dining area, we shared thoughts, experiences, plans, and ideas. By the end of their time with us, we had made new friends and government contacts, and were invited to the next meeting of the National Commission of Indigineous Affairs, which is the government entity over all the indigineous peoples of Costa Rica.

After they left, I sat down to reflect on the lessons taught to me that day, as God reminded me in His gracious and gentle way who I am and who He is.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Isaiah 55:8-9