Trip to Guyana or Attack of the Ants.

On Dec 9, 2013 we flew to Guyana to meet with Julio Acosta (the Area Welfare Manager) and our partner organizations in Guyana.

 

The smaller building is the Pegasus Hotel, this is where we stayed during our trip to Guyana.  The larger building is the new Marriot Hotel that is still under construction.

 

This is the view from our room on the 7th floor.

These picture makes the water look blue, it really wasn't,  The water is brown from the sediment that washes down the river.  We were at the mouth of the Demerara River.

 

This is a container ship coming in to port.

 

Turtle statue near the Pegasus Hotel.

 

Native Amerindian building.  Constructed near the Pegasus Hotel.

 

 

We visited Leslie Gadogan Permanent Secretary Ministry of Health.  He was in a meeting when we got there for a 10 am meeting so we didn't get to meet him until 12:30 pm.

President Collin Goodluck presenting the wheelchairs shipping list to Leslie Godogan.

 

We also met with Bernice Mansell with the Bernice Mansell Foundation.  This is a partner for distributing clothes, etc. that are donated.  We met with Cynthia Massay of the Ptolemy Reid Rehabilitation Centre.  She took us on a tour of the facility.  We partner with them on distributing wheelchairs.  They have a prosthesis making operation and also a shop to fit and repair hearing aids.  This in addition to working with children with disabilities. 

Santa Clause at the Ptolemy Reid Rehabilitation Centre Christmas party.

 

Some of the children and families at the Christmas Party.

 

We went to several of the participants in the Food Production Initiative.

 

Sister Daniels with her coop and chickens.

 

Roger Ramnarain at Mrs. Lewis's chicken coop.

 

Brother Buetler (Senior Missionary from Dayton, Idaho), Julio Acosta, and Sister Griffiths daughter in front of Sister Griffiths' chicken coop. 

 

Common sight in Guyana, cows beside the road, at least these weren't in the road.  At the end of the day they return home.

Crossing the Demerara River bridge.  It is a floating bridge.  It is closed twice during the day so it can be opened to let ships go up and down the river.

One of the meetings we attended.  The seated couple are the Carter's it was their wedding anniversary that's why she got the flowers.

 

 

 We got to play for a couple of hours.  So we went to the Georgetown Zoo.

 

Small pink bird I don't remember what it was called.

How would you like to tangle with this fellow out in the jungle?

 

This one is a Harpy Eagle.

 

This monkey liked to show off any time someone came near the cage.

See the ripples, there in the center of the picture is a hump on the surface, that is a Manatee.  This is where Elder Moore in getting this picture stepped in a red ant hill and got covered with ants ending up with over a dozen ant bites.  Sister Moore said she had never seen Elder Moore dance that good or do the Highland Fling before.  She also enjoyed beating Elder Moore, she said it was just to get the ants off (well I'm not so sure that was the reason, she enjoyed it too much).

The grass was very wet  and there was standing water when we went to the zoo so we had to walk the plank.  Sister Moore the Circus Kid walking the plank (this is a lot wider than a tight rope!!!)

 

We went down to Berbice to the New Amsterdam Hospital.  There we had a meeting with Allan Johnson the CEO.  The meeting was to discus the possibility of a Neonatal Resuscitation Training Project.  As we started talking about the training he stopped us and said that the Matron should be in the meeting so he went and got Annette Luyken.  We then started to explain the training again and the Matron said that the Medical Supervisor should also be in the meeting so Dr. Sharme was invited in.  They were all very enthusiastic about the possibility of a NRT project with their hospital.

 

We visited with Elder and Sister Carter in Berbice.

 

This frog was in Elder and Sister Carter's bedroom.

 

Before we left Guyana we were invited out to dinner.

 

The group of us at dinner with Ray Seebarran, he is the Georgetown Lions Club President.  A project was just completed where the local branches of the Church made New Born Baby Kits which the Lions Clubs in the area are handing out to the local Hospitals.

Starting in the front then going clockwise:  Elder Beecher, Sister Beecher, Sister Moore, Elder Moore, Julio Acosta, Elder Buetler, Sister Buetler, Ray Seebarran (He hosted the dinner.  He said we were the least expensive group he had ever taken to dinner.)

 

Before we leave the trip I must tell of our return.

We flew out of Guyana to Trinidad on Caribbean Air.  In Trinidad we had to go through immigration and customs so we could change to Liat (a small Caribbean Air Line).  When we checked in at Liat they changed our flight to a later flight, we were supposed to leave at 10:10 am (this flight left at 11:45 am).  So we had to wait in the airport for our new flight at 12:45 pm this flight left at 2:45 pm.  We saw our luggage taken to the plane but when we got to Barbados and finally got to claim our luggage after 2 hrs. in immigration our luggage was not there.  We filled out the claim form with 6 other people whose luggage didn't make it.  We had to have someone called to the counter so we could make our claim.  After 8 days in Guyana there weren't very many clean clothes in our apartment to go home to.  Our luggage did make it the next day and was delivered to our apartment.  Can you just imagine Elder Moore on the phone with the driver telling him how to find our apartment when he barely can find it himself?

 

Yet it still was a very interesting and rewarding trip.  We will do it again next year.