Effects of the Drought

In our updates over the last few months we've mentioned the drought that has affected PNG so profoundly.

Just before the drought started, we attempted to turn part of our vegetable garden back into grass:



But it didn't rain for weeks.  The view from our house ended up looking like this:


 
Of course the colour of our grass is not of great importance in itself, but it shows how much deviation there has been from the usual weather patterns.  This is the only time in our nine years of living in this house that the grass has been anything but green.

We are now well into 'wet season' and are happy to report that it has certainly been wet.  The grass is green again, and the new grass is finally starting to spread:



It is exciting to see our local vegetable market overflowing again with strawberries, cucumbers, beans and other faster-growing fruit and vegetables.  However we're aware that the people around us are still struggling to eat a balanced diet and to get all the nutrients they need.  It will be several more months before the staple food, sweet potato, is ready to be harvested.

The following picture is of the water tank at our house that normally stores our drinking water.  After getting emptier and emptier over a period of months, the tank started to rust.  Not only does the water now come out brown, but there is also a hole half-way up the tank, meaning that it doesn't get more than half-full.   At the moment we're drinking water from a tank that we filled with river water during the drought, so it's important that we filter it before pouring it into our glasses.  For more details about what it will mean to replace our water tank, see this informative blog post by our colleague, Catherine Rivard




If you would like to pray for us, we'd be most grateful.  Here are some ideas:

-We continue to look to God to provide for our financial and practical needs, including a solution to our water tank issue.
-Many Autoshop staff are currently on home leave.  Please pray for those who are still here and covering a wider-than-usual range of tasks .
-We thank God that the second semester of the school year has got off to a good start for Levi and Heidi.  Two of their teachers will leave the country at the end of this school year; please pray for others to come and replace them.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Here in Ukarumpa we are all enjoying a two-week break from work.  Andrew and I were both very busy in the weeks leading up to Christmas, so are grateful for this time of rest. 

We have also had the excitement of a visit from my parents:
             

Thank you very much for your encouragement throughout 2015.     

One Way to Wash your Clothes during a Drought

Step 1: Add clothes and detergent to your washing machine (which, as you will see from steps 5 and 7 below, will already be full of water) and turn it on.

Step 2: Open the lid when the final rinse cycle begins.  Pour in water collected from the dripping tap.  Close lid.



Step 3: Gather as many buckets and other containers as you can find

Step 4: Collect the rinse water in buckets until the cycle finishes.


Step 5: Take clothes out of washing machine. 

Step 6: Refill washing machine with the water from the buckets.  Save the water that came out first (ie the dirtier, smellier water) for flushing the toilet.


Step 7: When showering, collect as much water as possible into buckets and pour it into the washing machine (while feeling grateful that your solar-heated shower is hot, which is often not the case during more usual weather patterns).

Step 8: Wait until you have a full load of laundry (which will take longer than usual, as you will wait until your clothes are really dirty before washing them, and you have stopped using cloth nappies/diapers).  Go back to step 1.

Ironically, after these photos were taken it rained so much that our tank overflowed.  We are rejoicing that it has been raining regularly over the last couple of weeks.  The weather is certainly not back to normal yet though; even if the rain continues it will be a long time before food production returns to normal levels. 

Video of us, plus Financial and Drought Update

We put a video together to show you what we do here in Papua New Guinea:

We would appreciate prayer regarding our financial situation.  It has become clear lately that our income has dropped to around only 90% of our needs.  The Wycliffe UK Personnel team are concerned for us and have recently been in touch and advised us to bring this to the attention of our supporters.  If you would like more information about this please let us know or visit our website.

We know many of you are concerned with us regarding the drought here.  This unusually dry period is expected to peak between now and December.  Please continue to pray for the people of Papua New Guinea at this time.