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Travels and More Travels

This year has been an unsettled year, with one journey following another. Since the beginning of this year the time I have spent in my home base between travels has been less than 8 weeks, and it does not look like slowing down for the rest of the year.

Mobile Hands in Buenos Aires
What have all of these travels been about? Each one seems to have a different reason and focus. Ushuaia was to renew my visa and get in touch with Rix, the man in charge of raising up the new YWAM base down there. Now in a few days I will be heading to Buenos Aires once again to help build some walls and fit some doors for the YWAM Counselling ministry in preparation for their soon-to-start school. This is a part of the (unofficial) Mobile Hands ministry.

Wedding in El Salvador
Upon returning from Buenos Aires I will have two weeks in the base before heading to Chile to take a flight through to El Salvador. Two very good friends that work in our YWAM base in Puerto Madryn are getting married; Paul is from Peru, and Maricruz is from El Salvador. It was one of my desires to be able to be present during their wedding, as Paul is probably my best friend on the base, and I am very excited to be able to be there, made possible only because I had accumulated sufficient air-points from my travels before reaching Argentina in 2004.

Miami, The States, and Computers
An unexpected bonus from this flight is a 3 day stopover in Miami. It has been almost two years now since I felt God ask me to give my laptop computer away. During these two years the work that I have been doing on computers has actually increased until during this year alone I have built over 8 websites for different YWAM bases and ministries here in Argentina. Working without a computer has been difficult, often involving using anything available at the time with a portable USB drive that has all of the programs I use installed on it, and paying for time on internet and computers where a local computer is not available. The prices of computers in the USA are much lower than South America, so my stopover will allow me to once again get another laptop.

Meeting Friends in Chile
Returning to Chile at the beginning of October after the wedding in El Salvador, I will be catching up with someone I met in China who happens to be flying in to Santiago on the same day, before heading back to Puerto Madryn for my longest stay this year. If no other travels arise during this time I am looking forward to enjoying almost two full months back in Puerto Madryn.

Land by the Beach (well, 5kms near)
This extended time will actually be very useful too. Some other amazing news is that I have just placed a deposit down on a 1 hectare (100m x 104m) block of land just outside the city of Puerto Madryn. This is something that seems almost too much to believe, and if you had asked me only one month ago if I thought it was possible that I would be the owner of some land here in Argentina I would have simply laughed and walked away. Of course, there are still ongoing monthly payments before I actually own the land outright, but there it is in my name. An amazing event that still has me reeling.

So the two months that I hope to spend back in Madryn will be helpful to begin the process of clearing, fencing, and starting to build on this new land. Naturally all of this takes money, and right now I have no idea where this will come from but the one thing that I do know is that what only a month ago seemed impossible is now a reality today. One of the most exciting things about this for me is that I have always wanted to be able to bring people that I have found on the streets home to offer them a place to stay while they need it. Having my own land and home will give me this opportunity, and I am very excited about it too.

Visiting Australia
Finally, for those of you living in Australia and nearby, I am heading back there early December and will be in that area of the world for three months, traveling a little to visit you guys.

And thus ends a year full of travels.
Regards, Rob.

Earlier Travels
PS: The travels during the early part of the year?

Well, there was 2 months in Peru with the project, “With Peru in the Heart” where we were working with different churches all over the two northern cities of Chiclayo and Trujillo.

Then 3 months were spent in Bariloche helping to translate for their first Discipleship Training School and build and improve the house where they were living. During this time was also one week in Buenos Aires building mezzanine floors for the YWAM Counselling ministry.

Then the two weeks down in Ushuaia.

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Back in Madryn – But Going Again

I guess it has been a while since writing something here. Life in missions seems to get really hectic at times. Even when I was travelling there seemed to be more time to write than now-a-days. At the end of every day, when I normally write something, I am exhausted and just want to sleep. Yet it is right at this moment that the people in whose house I am staying want to talk with me. So another hour or so of chatting and finally I collapse into bed, exhausted. The next day it starts all over again.

With each day like this, time for getting to the internet is limited and when I do get there, it is normally only enough to read my emails and answer just a few. The time available to write something more involved is just not there, and although a laptop would make things easier, I am yet to enjoy that luxury. So for now there will remain a 2 month gap. The events of Peru will have to remain written only in ink in my daily journal.

Now that I am back again in Puerto Madryn, there is more time to be able to write. However, in a couple of days I am on the move again. Bariloche is my destination, where a new YWAM base was opened one year ago. In Bariloche they are starting their first Discipleship Training School, which I will be helping in, and we will also be building a new room onto the house to help out with their need for more accomodation.

So here I am in Puerto Madryn, and three weeks later I’m off again. No wonder I love this life so much.

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Last Bathroom Photos

These are the latest pics of the bathroom, just before I left Puerto Madryn on my way to Peru. The shower floor is still not done, and there is a huge kink in my main sewage pipe which I made while trying to replace a broken T-joint. The problem was that my friend who knew how to do it was not with me at the time and so it ended up flattened.

Flattened Pipe
The flattened pipe. Doh!

The business end of the bathroom
The business end of the bathroom.

The shower floor (unfinished)
The shower floor still needs to be tiled yet.

The ceiling (also unfinished)
The ceiling will be finished with plasterboard.

The windows already fitted
My first window that I have ever fitted is working perfectly.

From the house area
Looking through from the main house area to the bathroom.

The outside of the bathroom
The outside of the bathroom with an 800 litre water tank on top.

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Stuck in the Bathroom

For the last two weeks I have been stuck in the bathroom and have hardly left. There from the morning until midnight most nights, and rarely a moment to eat. What has happened to me? Some exotic disease or a severe case of the runs? Nope. Building.

From virtually nothing we have made a bathroom in only a few weeks. Most of the time I have been working alone on the project, although at times Fabian and others have come along to help out. Their help has been invaluable. The following photos tell more of a story of the development of this new part of the Prayer House…

Preparing cement
Tues 11th: Gabriel and Juan Pablo prepare the concrete for the roof.

Getting it to the roof
Tues 11th: Helping get it up to the roof.

Fabian on the roof
Tues 11th: Fabian loads the roof with concrete over the foam bricks.

Tiling the shower
Tues 18th: Nothing beats matches as a gap measurer for tiling.

Fabian tiling the walls
Tues 18th: Fabian tiling the shower walls.

Putting in the window
Wed 19th: Putting in the window. It is held there by cement.
Grouting the tiles
Thu 20th: Grouting the shower walls.

Lorena painting
Thu 20th: Lorena helps with painting the walls (yep, white walls).

Ernesto putting in the dividing wall
Thu 20th: Ernesto puts the dividing wall in between the shower and the bathroom.

There are more photos of how the whole thing looks as it is mostly finished… but I forgot to take them. Doh. They will come in another post later on as tomorrow I am heading towards Peru (also another post yet to come).

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Keeping Busy in the Bathroom

During these last two weeks I have hardly spoken to anybody, have slept very little, have not been near town, and have had my emails piling up without being answered. What has caused me to be so involved? A bathroom.

The bathroom walls
Plumbing and preparing the walls.

Nope, I am not talking about diarrhoea or anything like that. We are currently building a bathroom – the last part of the Prayer House that needs to be done before it is completely finished. As everybody is heading off to Peru or Bariloche within the next two weeks, there is very little time left to get it finished.

Starting from scratch
The base of the bathroom – our starting point only a few weeks ago.

So I now have a goal of having the bathroom completed to operational stage by this next Friday. There may be a few extra details to finish after that, but it needs to be ready to use by then. Once it is in use we can finish off the details with more leisure.

Right now the walls are rendered but need their finishing coats, the electrical cables are installed but are awaiting the painting of the walls first, the floor is poured but needs to be raised with a small wall for the shower areas, and the roof is in place but needs concrete poured into it. A wall for the water tank needs to be built on top of the roof too, and the final plumbing sorted out, plus floor and wall tiling.

Bringing home stuff on the bike
Necessity drives… bringing needed items home by bike.

In reading the things written down here it sounds like there is a fair bit to do, but there are a bunch of people helping me out and based on the progress of last week I believe it is possible. So after today we are going to be going flat-out on it until it is done. And then I can rest.

The Plumbing

Preparing walls for pipes
Gabriel prepares the walls for the water pipes.

Marking the pipes
Marking the pipes for cutting.

Cutting the waterpipes
Cutting the waterpipes with my new grinder/cutter.

Connecting to the mains water supply
Juan Pablo helps me connect to the mains water supply.

Preparing the Roof

Danny helping with the roof
Danny helps us to lift up the concrete beams to the roof.

Gaby helping out with the roof
Gaby helps me to lay the beams on the roof.

Placing the beams
Placing the beams on the roof with Gaby.

Paul preparing the roofing beams.
Paul cuts the dags off the roofing beams.

Rendering the Walls

Rendering the walls with concrete
Rendering the final part of one wall.

Fabian helping render the walls
Fabian helps tremendously with rendering the walls.

Juan Pablo helping out
Juan Pablo helps mix the concrete for the walls.

Other Related Stuff

Getting sand
To get the rocks and sand that we need, we make trips down to the local dry creek bed and bring it back one wheelbarrow at a time.

Vicky painting
Vicky helps out by painting the main front door.

Paul making holes in the wall
Paul helps me prepare the electrical installations.

Juan Pablo with cement smile
Juan Pablo waiting for the next call for cement.

Purchased stuff
Water tank, floor and wall tiles, cement and cal – all needed for the bathroom.

More purchased stuff
A full house – foam roof bricks, toilet and lots of tools needed for the bathroom.

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The Ships are a Comin’

Every summer our small-ish little town is inundated with cruise ships. These ships come from the north starting in Brazil and heading to Ushuaia and from the south starting in Chile and heading to Brazil. Every now and then there are international ships travelling around the world too. In every case the ships normally stay just for the day and our streets fill up with the thousands of tourists housed by those huge homes on water.

The streets of Madryn
The normally empty Sunday streets had people today.

Today was one of those days. We had an Argentine ship that came to port today.

The ship at berth
The ship at berth will remain only for the day.

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Christmas Has Arrived

This current school of Discipleship is comprised of mainly foreign students, so as Christmas gets closer they are missing the feeling of Christmas from back home where there are lots of decorations and other signs of Christmas around them.

Christmas preparations
Katy and Nicole preparing their decorations.

Not happy to let things lie, two or three students set out to make a difference and surprise the rest of their class. So they set to work, using the Prayer House as their base, making up a whole range of creative decorations.

Then, on the night of the 7th after everyone had gone to bed, they set to work decorating the classroom with everything that they had made. The next morning as each student woke up and made their way through the room to the bathroom they were presented with an amazing surprise.

Merry Christmas
Feliz Navidad is Spanish for Merry Christmas.

The whole room is now colourful and Christmassy with lots of creativity, a fireplace, Christmas tree, and plenty of decorations. Thanks Katy and Nicole – you guys did a great job.

The decorated room
The newly decorated classroom during breakfast.

Christmas tree
Our very own Christmas tree.

A fireplace too
Even a fireplace to warm ourselves by.

Baby Jesus
Baby Jesus in a manger.

Chinese Jesus
A baby Chinese Jesus – adds to the multicultural feel.

Sheep and angels
Cute sheep and two angels also adorn our walls.

Origami decorations
The girls even found an origami book to make some flowers.

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Windy, Dusty

Well, living down here in the Patagonia, one of the things that tends to be pretty common is the wind. The old-timers around here tell me that about 20 years back the wind never ever stopped all year round. If there happened to be a day where the wind did not blow, everyone stopped what they were doing and had a BBQ to celebrate such a different day.

Now-a-days it is not that bad, although this time of year sees a fair bit of wind. The difference with having a windy day here is that the air fills with dust and makes it very hard to see where you are going… both for the dust in the air and the dust getting into your eyes.

Of course, as I am often riding my bike, this dust makes not seeing even more critical… and the wind is strong enough to cause me to ride angled in to it – which causes a sharp swerve back to upright again when a truck passes me by and cuts off the wind for a moment.

Dust
Looking at a city clouded by dust.

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Fixing Cars

It is now almost 20 years since I was officially a motor mechanic, and most times I keep this news quiet. But somehow the information gets out and before long my skills are called upon to help somebody out who is in need. Since on our base we only have one car this is not very often.

Today however, there was a serious problem with Jorge’s car as the speedometer suddenly stopped working and he was about to embark on a 6 hour journey early the next day. A quick look at it revealed the most common problem – the speedo cable had broken. So we headed down to the local shop and for 10 pesos had a new cable in our hands. I tried to fit it on the car while it was parked in the street, but without the tools and better access it was impossible.

No problem for Jorge. Within minutes we had arrived at the home of one of his friends – a pastor and also a mechanic. Although this guy had no available time to help fit the cable, he loaned us his workshop with a pit in the floor so we could fix it up. It only took 10 minutes once we were in to have it all sorted out and fixed, although the oil leaks managed to stain all of Jorge’s and my clothes in the process. Good thing they were all old.

The workshop
The only photo I remembered to take. The workshop.

Returning home, Jorge and I were very happy as the speedometer was now working again. Being a mechanic is both a blessing and a distraction, but if it can help people out when in need I am happy to help out every now and then.

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Pramway

There is only one car in our YWAM base here in Puerto Madryn. That belongs to Jorge and Isa, our base directors. Everybody else has to walk. Most people tend to walk the dusty main entrance road to the Quintas, hoping that somebody will pick them up along the way. It works most times.

One couple recently had a baby and have discovered that people rarely stop to pick them up while pushing a pram. Not only that, but the dust and danger of walking along that road is something that they also wish to avoid. So while they still have no car, the trail way that I always use on my bike has also become a pram-way for these guys.

I met them half-way along the way one day as they were on their way home…

Pramway
On the way home from the city – with baby.

Pramway to Quintas
Almost home on a hot, hot day.