Great Commission Air provides emergency medical air transport and air transport for Christian missions and humanitarian relief projects in north-central Guatemala (the Ixcan and surrounding regions). This MedEvac was from the town of Sayaxche in the Peten. Our friends, the Stoltzfus family, called on behalf of the clinic there. The patient was a young man, critically injured by stab wounds during an armed robbery. Though not the typical villager that we more commonly serve, this man's life was in the balance and saving it meant getting him to Guatemala City fast.
Thank you for helping to make flights like this possible. Please continue to support this ministry with your prayers and donations.
http://www.GreatCommissionAir.org/donate.php
Showing posts with label Mayalan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mayalan. Show all posts
Monday, January 28, 2008
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Rebuilding the Latrine
Tuesday, December 11:
Latrine Rebuilding:
Two men from the community stopped by, presumably at the bequest of the Directiva, to help build a new latrine. Our old one, built into the side of a hill about 100 feet down from the house, was about ready to fall over. They had a pick and machetes in hand, nothing else. I explained that the hole was good and deep with a concrete footing (constructed by our good friends and volunteers Ezra and Josyah Jay) and all it needed was a new floor and framework for the walls. They wanted to make walls with boards but I explained that we preferred to use blue tarp because it allowed air to pass through and allowed light to enter, thus reducing the number of bugs – mostly cock-roaches – that would take up residence.
The existing structure collapsed with a slight push as it was mostly eaten away by termites.
They began their work and I mostly let them do their job, asking them to fabricate a door at a particular location but allowing them to do what they felt was right. What they did was mostly right, except that roof sloped towards the uphill side of the latrine, emptying rain water into a spot that would not only drench anyone entering the structure through the door but also would puddle on the uphill side of the hole, eventually, I fear, filling the hole with water during the rainy season. They also used a rotten, termite infested piece of wood for part of the door frame. I gave them two metal hinges and a set of screws, but the used nails on the hinges instead, bending them in half to secure the hinges, as the head of the nails would otherwise have gone through the screw holes. Instead of building the new framework on the cement footing, protecting it from termites, they dug holes outside the concrete and sank the corner posts into it. I hate to cast aspersions upon men that came to help, but, the workmanship can only be described as, shall we say, rustic. At one point, one of the guys came up to the house and asked if we had some rope to tie the roof on with, which I did not understand. He found some short lengths of barbed wire and was heading downhill when I decided it was probably time for me to intervene. They had put the old corrugated roofing over the frame they had constructed and put a couple of 2x4’s on top of it to hold it down. They were going to use the barbed wire to secure the 2x4’s on top to the 2x4’s underneath, a technique commonly used, I guess, on their own sheds out in the fields. I suggested that we use nails instead, and they agreed that it might work but said that they didn’t have a ladder in order to get up there to hammer them in. I ran up the hill and got one out of the house and brought it down. I held it up while one of the guys climbed with a clutch of nails and hammer. Before I could figure out what he was doing, he had nailed through the 2x4 on top of the roof, through the roof and into the 2x4 beneath the roof!
Jennifer reminds me that these two particular Mayan hicks, as I would have called them, also survived 15 years of civil war, evading the Guatemalan army in the jungles with their families – those that were not killed. Instead of going to school and learning all of the things we take for granted, they were surviving, mostly, by their wits, doing what they had to do moment by moment, day by day. Not planning very far in advance and rarely ever using tools more sophisticated than machetes and shovels. I need to keep these things in perspective.
Audio Bible in Mam – Proclaimer:
Before they finished, I found out that one of them, Mr. Andres, was in charge of the local Evangelical CAM church. CAM is Central America Mission and is very popular here in Guatemala. His church is near the end of the runway and had existed for a very long time without a roof. I noticed that he spoke Mam and asked if he would be interested in an audio Bible that would speak the New Testament in Mam for his congregation. This is a “Proclaimer” Device donated by “Faith Comes by Hearing”. It is about the size of a carton of cigarettes and can run on a build-in solar panel or charged by an internal crank generator. I ran up to the house and grabbed the one with the label “Northern Mam” and brought it down for him to hear. He agreed that it was fine Mam and said that they would like to borrow it for their Bible study on Sunday morning at 8:00 am.
Wednesday, December 12:
WX: 8:00 am, partly cloudy, 70 degrees, no wind.
Breakfast: Eggs, plantains, toasted buns with butter.
Solar Panels:
The peak of the house is situated almost due North and South. I have already placed three solar panels on the East facing slope of the roof to take advantage of the morning sun, which is often quite strong. The afternoons are frequently cloudy, so putting many panels on the West side does not make sense, however, I took one of the 50 watt panels that I had not yet placed on the roof and mounted it on the west facing side, hoping to increase the charge on the batteries in afternoon – something the east facing panels do not do well at all.
Latrine:
Reinforced the ties for the tarp that covers the walls of the latrine with nylon string. Since the door was attached in such a way so that it swings wide open when not latched, I created a type of hook for securing it from the inside.
Reinforced the nylon string fasteners on the latrine tarp to hold it firmly in strong winds.
Visitors: Freddy Viatoro, the Guatemalan who owns the ranch several miles to the West – Rancho Palmera, stopped by just at dinner time (I common practice for him). He brought his son, who is celebrating his 14th birthday and his 15 year-old cousin, Juan Carlos.
Thursday, December 13, 2007:
Breakfast: Eggs, biscuits with Jam, coffee
Spent the morning determining that the PicPac packet radio decoder was defective.
Lunch: Peanut butter and jelly biscuits
Spent good part of PM recovering from gastro. distress.
Examined problem with Cessna Regulator issues:
When #1 Regulator selected and field on Front alternator is on, over-voltage is indicated on amp-meter
Measured voltages:
When #1 Regulator is selected, 24 volts is present on the #2 regulator input (0 volts on #1)
When #2 Regulator is selected, 24 volts is present on the #1 regulator input (0 volts on #2)
Apparently the wires on the switch are reversed.
Front alternator field winding voltages:
When #1 regulator selected, 24 volts is present on field on the front alternator.
When #2 regulator selected, 19 volts is present on the field of the front alternator.
Rear alternator field winding voltages:
When either regulator (#1 or #2) is selected, 20 volts or 19.5 volts respectively is present on the field winding.
There should be a shunt resistor for each alternator (and the battery) in series with the amp-meter.
Unexpected Visitors:
So say visitors are un-expected is the norm. All visitors are un-expected because nobody calls ahead, few have phones and few plan that far in advance anyway. Freddy Viatoro, a big Guatemalan rancher that we knew from several years ago, stopped by just after dark, as is common for him. He brought his 15-year-old cousin Juan Carlos, and his son, who was celebrating his 12th birthday. Freddy owns the ranch several miles to the west, Rancho Palmera, where he raises beef cattle. They have about 150 head. He spends much of his time in the city of Huehuetenango (pronounced wheywheytenango) where much of his family lives. Of course, we insisted that they stay for dinner, even though all we had was a pot of boiled cabbage with carrots and three pieces of fried chicken. We were about to go out and buy some more bread when one of our neighbors arrived, unexpectedly, with a load of food:
Angelina lives in the big house/tienda owned by Don Andres (Don – a title of respect). She lives there with the other daughters-in-law of the Don Andres. Angelina’s husband, like most of Don Andres sons, works in the US. It was her daughter Olga’s 12th birthday and so they had a LOT of extra tamales. She brought over about 8 or so, still hot and very tasty. These are not like the tamales in the US. The Mayans use real banana leaves and real corn dough (masa). Each one contains about 1 cup of masa and into each one is placedpiece of roasted chicken and mole, just about the size of a grape. These are steamed and kept hot in a container until eaten. Good food.
Latrine Rebuilding:
Two men from the community stopped by, presumably at the bequest of the Directiva, to help build a new latrine. Our old one, built into the side of a hill about 100 feet down from the house, was about ready to fall over. They had a pick and machetes in hand, nothing else. I explained that the hole was good and deep with a concrete footing (constructed by our good friends and volunteers Ezra and Josyah Jay) and all it needed was a new floor and framework for the walls. They wanted to make walls with boards but I explained that we preferred to use blue tarp because it allowed air to pass through and allowed light to enter, thus reducing the number of bugs – mostly cock-roaches – that would take up residence.
The existing structure collapsed with a slight push as it was mostly eaten away by termites.
They began their work and I mostly let them do their job, asking them to fabricate a door at a particular location but allowing them to do what they felt was right. What they did was mostly right, except that roof sloped towards the uphill side of the latrine, emptying rain water into a spot that would not only drench anyone entering the structure through the door but also would puddle on the uphill side of the hole, eventually, I fear, filling the hole with water during the rainy season. They also used a rotten, termite infested piece of wood for part of the door frame. I gave them two metal hinges and a set of screws, but the used nails on the hinges instead, bending them in half to secure the hinges, as the head of the nails would otherwise have gone through the screw holes. Instead of building the new framework on the cement footing, protecting it from termites, they dug holes outside the concrete and sank the corner posts into it. I hate to cast aspersions upon men that came to help, but, the workmanship can only be described as, shall we say, rustic. At one point, one of the guys came up to the house and asked if we had some rope to tie the roof on with, which I did not understand. He found some short lengths of barbed wire and was heading downhill when I decided it was probably time for me to intervene. They had put the old corrugated roofing over the frame they had constructed and put a couple of 2x4’s on top of it to hold it down. They were going to use the barbed wire to secure the 2x4’s on top to the 2x4’s underneath, a technique commonly used, I guess, on their own sheds out in the fields. I suggested that we use nails instead, and they agreed that it might work but said that they didn’t have a ladder in order to get up there to hammer them in. I ran up the hill and got one out of the house and brought it down. I held it up while one of the guys climbed with a clutch of nails and hammer. Before I could figure out what he was doing, he had nailed through the 2x4 on top of the roof, through the roof and into the 2x4 beneath the roof!
Jennifer reminds me that these two particular Mayan hicks, as I would have called them, also survived 15 years of civil war, evading the Guatemalan army in the jungles with their families – those that were not killed. Instead of going to school and learning all of the things we take for granted, they were surviving, mostly, by their wits, doing what they had to do moment by moment, day by day. Not planning very far in advance and rarely ever using tools more sophisticated than machetes and shovels. I need to keep these things in perspective.
Audio Bible in Mam – Proclaimer:
Before they finished, I found out that one of them, Mr. Andres, was in charge of the local Evangelical CAM church. CAM is Central America Mission and is very popular here in Guatemala. His church is near the end of the runway and had existed for a very long time without a roof. I noticed that he spoke Mam and asked if he would be interested in an audio Bible that would speak the New Testament in Mam for his congregation. This is a “Proclaimer” Device donated by “Faith Comes by Hearing”. It is about the size of a carton of cigarettes and can run on a build-in solar panel or charged by an internal crank generator. I ran up to the house and grabbed the one with the label “Northern Mam” and brought it down for him to hear. He agreed that it was fine Mam and said that they would like to borrow it for their Bible study on Sunday morning at 8:00 am.
Wednesday, December 12:
WX: 8:00 am, partly cloudy, 70 degrees, no wind.
Breakfast: Eggs, plantains, toasted buns with butter.
Solar Panels:
The peak of the house is situated almost due North and South. I have already placed three solar panels on the East facing slope of the roof to take advantage of the morning sun, which is often quite strong. The afternoons are frequently cloudy, so putting many panels on the West side does not make sense, however, I took one of the 50 watt panels that I had not yet placed on the roof and mounted it on the west facing side, hoping to increase the charge on the batteries in afternoon – something the east facing panels do not do well at all.
Latrine:
Reinforced the ties for the tarp that covers the walls of the latrine with nylon string. Since the door was attached in such a way so that it swings wide open when not latched, I created a type of hook for securing it from the inside.
Reinforced the nylon string fasteners on the latrine tarp to hold it firmly in strong winds.
Visitors: Freddy Viatoro, the Guatemalan who owns the ranch several miles to the West – Rancho Palmera, stopped by just at dinner time (I common practice for him). He brought his son, who is celebrating his 14th birthday and his 15 year-old cousin, Juan Carlos.
Thursday, December 13, 2007:
Breakfast: Eggs, biscuits with Jam, coffee
Spent the morning determining that the PicPac packet radio decoder was defective.
Lunch: Peanut butter and jelly biscuits
Spent good part of PM recovering from gastro. distress.
Examined problem with Cessna Regulator issues:
When #1 Regulator selected and field on Front alternator is on, over-voltage is indicated on amp-meter
Measured voltages:
When #1 Regulator is selected, 24 volts is present on the #2 regulator input (0 volts on #1)
When #2 Regulator is selected, 24 volts is present on the #1 regulator input (0 volts on #2)
Apparently the wires on the switch are reversed.
Front alternator field winding voltages:
When #1 regulator selected, 24 volts is present on field on the front alternator.
When #2 regulator selected, 19 volts is present on the field of the front alternator.
Rear alternator field winding voltages:
When either regulator (#1 or #2) is selected, 20 volts or 19.5 volts respectively is present on the field winding.
There should be a shunt resistor for each alternator (and the battery) in series with the amp-meter.
Unexpected Visitors:
So say visitors are un-expected is the norm. All visitors are un-expected because nobody calls ahead, few have phones and few plan that far in advance anyway. Freddy Viatoro, a big Guatemalan rancher that we knew from several years ago, stopped by just after dark, as is common for him. He brought his 15-year-old cousin Juan Carlos, and his son, who was celebrating his 12th birthday. Freddy owns the ranch several miles to the west, Rancho Palmera, where he raises beef cattle. They have about 150 head. He spends much of his time in the city of Huehuetenango (pronounced wheywheytenango) where much of his family lives. Of course, we insisted that they stay for dinner, even though all we had was a pot of boiled cabbage with carrots and three pieces of fried chicken. We were about to go out and buy some more bread when one of our neighbors arrived, unexpectedly, with a load of food:
Angelina lives in the big house/tienda owned by Don Andres (Don – a title of respect). She lives there with the other daughters-in-law of the Don Andres. Angelina’s husband, like most of Don Andres sons, works in the US. It was her daughter Olga’s 12th birthday and so they had a LOT of extra tamales. She brought over about 8 or so, still hot and very tasty. These are not like the tamales in the US. The Mayans use real banana leaves and real corn dough (masa). Each one contains about 1 cup of masa and into each one is placedpiece of roasted chicken and mole, just about the size of a grape. These are steamed and kept hot in a container until eaten. Good food.
Pet Scorpion Escaped
Friday, December 21, 2007:
WX: 7:00, 65, Cleared early, no wind, very humid.
We are planning to depart for Guatemala City today. Expect to stay at an empty condominium in San Cristobal next to Doug and Sarah Johnson. We’ll pick up packages waiting for us there, including our satellite tracking system and try to obtain a cellular, wireless internet modem from our cell service provider: Tigo.
Pet Scorpion Escaped:
While I was getting the plane ready for our flight to Guatemala City, Jennifer called me on the cell phone and asked if I had let the pet scorpion go last night. We kept this one (of the many we have encountered and killed) partly because of his size. It’s length was about five to six inches, stretched out, and had very large pincers.
We had a little excitement the other night. We had not fed our pet scorpion for a couple of weeks. I was out in the yard in the dark, starting-up the little generator when I noticed the very bright reflection of two eyes on one of the house pilings. I came out with a plastic container and captured a very large wolf spider. I put the open side of the spider’s container on top of the open scorpion container, expecting a fairly short meal preparation time of about 10 seconds, but the spider, possibly sensing the imminent consummation of his condition made a dash for a very slim opening I had accidentally created while tapping on the plastic, trying to get him to fall off the ceiling of his container, as it were. He ran across the table in my direction at an extremely high rate of speed, then jumped off the table very close to my feet, causing me to quickly backup in a reflexive action, causing me to know over the bench that I had been sitting on. It was all quite comical. I put the scorpion’s lid back on and placed his container back on the shelf, offering my condolences regarding the loss of his meal. Perhaps because of his advanced state of hunger – or perhaps because of the example set by the aforementioned escapee, and, perhaps due in part to the fact that I apparently failed to secure the lid with enough force to ensure his security, our little scorpion mascot disappeared at some point late in the night. Keep in mind that the shelf he was on was directly on the other side of a wooden divider from our bedroom. The divider was made of loosely spaced boards, any one of which he could easily have passed through. On the other hand, our floor is also composed of loosely spaced board, any one of which he might have simply fallen though to the ground, sixteen inches below that.
I don’t recall everything Jennifer said, exactly, but I think she questioned the wisdom of keeping a pet if I couldn’t properly care for it. I was saddened by the sudden disappearance of our pet, to say the least.
We piled into the 336 and headed off to Guatemala City. The air was a clear as could be and we quickly climbed from sea-level to 9,500’ and made a bee-line for Guatemala City. From our cruising altitude, we could plainly see almost all of the volcanoes in the country, from Pacaya, rising 8,372’, south of Guatemala City to Agua, at 12,335’ and Fuego and Acatenango, both rising about 13,000’. Farther to the south-west, near Lake Atitlan we could see the volcano Atitlàn and San Pedro. Much farther west, near Quetzaltenango, and San Marcos, Tajumulco rose clearly in the distance to 13,845’. The active volcanoes, Pacaya, Fuego, San Pedro and Santiaguito did not seem to be producing any smoke at all this day. There had been days when I could see thick plums of smoke and ash rising high into the sky, into or above the cruising altitude of most airliners, causing air traffic control to deviate some flights in order to avoid the extremely abrasive and dangerous ash clouds.
My landing at La Aurora Airport in Guatemala City (Elevation 5,000’) was designed to impress any pilots that might happen to be within view or taxiing into position for take-off. As it happened, the crew from the AGAPE hangar, another missionary aviation organizations, was out on the grass next to the west taxiway, portable radios in hand, watching my technique as I approached and landed using my typical short field technique. It is all the more impressive when you consider the length of the runway here, at 9,800’ and the amount of runway we actually used to land, about 800’. The guys there gave me the thumbs-up as I exited on the first taxiway exit – “Kilo”.
WX: 7:00, 65, Cleared early, no wind, very humid.
We are planning to depart for Guatemala City today. Expect to stay at an empty condominium in San Cristobal next to Doug and Sarah Johnson. We’ll pick up packages waiting for us there, including our satellite tracking system and try to obtain a cellular, wireless internet modem from our cell service provider: Tigo.
Pet Scorpion Escaped:
While I was getting the plane ready for our flight to Guatemala City, Jennifer called me on the cell phone and asked if I had let the pet scorpion go last night. We kept this one (of the many we have encountered and killed) partly because of his size. It’s length was about five to six inches, stretched out, and had very large pincers.
We had a little excitement the other night. We had not fed our pet scorpion for a couple of weeks. I was out in the yard in the dark, starting-up the little generator when I noticed the very bright reflection of two eyes on one of the house pilings. I came out with a plastic container and captured a very large wolf spider. I put the open side of the spider’s container on top of the open scorpion container, expecting a fairly short meal preparation time of about 10 seconds, but the spider, possibly sensing the imminent consummation of his condition made a dash for a very slim opening I had accidentally created while tapping on the plastic, trying to get him to fall off the ceiling of his container, as it were. He ran across the table in my direction at an extremely high rate of speed, then jumped off the table very close to my feet, causing me to quickly backup in a reflexive action, causing me to know over the bench that I had been sitting on. It was all quite comical. I put the scorpion’s lid back on and placed his container back on the shelf, offering my condolences regarding the loss of his meal. Perhaps because of his advanced state of hunger – or perhaps because of the example set by the aforementioned escapee, and, perhaps due in part to the fact that I apparently failed to secure the lid with enough force to ensure his security, our little scorpion mascot disappeared at some point late in the night. Keep in mind that the shelf he was on was directly on the other side of a wooden divider from our bedroom. The divider was made of loosely spaced boards, any one of which he could easily have passed through. On the other hand, our floor is also composed of loosely spaced board, any one of which he might have simply fallen though to the ground, sixteen inches below that.
I don’t recall everything Jennifer said, exactly, but I think she questioned the wisdom of keeping a pet if I couldn’t properly care for it. I was saddened by the sudden disappearance of our pet, to say the least.
We piled into the 336 and headed off to Guatemala City. The air was a clear as could be and we quickly climbed from sea-level to 9,500’ and made a bee-line for Guatemala City. From our cruising altitude, we could plainly see almost all of the volcanoes in the country, from Pacaya, rising 8,372’, south of Guatemala City to Agua, at 12,335’ and Fuego and Acatenango, both rising about 13,000’. Farther to the south-west, near Lake Atitlan we could see the volcano Atitlàn and San Pedro. Much farther west, near Quetzaltenango, and San Marcos, Tajumulco rose clearly in the distance to 13,845’. The active volcanoes, Pacaya, Fuego, San Pedro and Santiaguito did not seem to be producing any smoke at all this day. There had been days when I could see thick plums of smoke and ash rising high into the sky, into or above the cruising altitude of most airliners, causing air traffic control to deviate some flights in order to avoid the extremely abrasive and dangerous ash clouds.
My landing at La Aurora Airport in Guatemala City (Elevation 5,000’) was designed to impress any pilots that might happen to be within view or taxiing into position for take-off. As it happened, the crew from the AGAPE hangar, another missionary aviation organizations, was out on the grass next to the west taxiway, portable radios in hand, watching my technique as I approached and landed using my typical short field technique. It is all the more impressive when you consider the length of the runway here, at 9,800’ and the amount of runway we actually used to land, about 800’. The guys there gave me the thumbs-up as I exited on the first taxiway exit – “Kilo”.
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Flying the Rio Negro Pass into the Ixcan lowlands
My family and I departed Guatemala City to return to our home in Mayalan in the Ixcan region of the Quiche department. The flight through the Siera de Chama Mountains is always breathtaking, especially this area over the Rio Negro where I frequently find a break in the clouds that allows me to descend into the Ixcan lowlands. Images like this may give you an idea of how remote this area is and how difficult road transporation can be. Many villages here have no road and rely on airstrips for emergency medical transportation, as well as more common cargo transport.
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