Real Life. Real Trauma. Real Blessings.

I must admit that I was feeling quite confident as we left for our second trip out to Shakay. I had survived the first trip quite successfully (in my opinion) and I was sure it would go even better the second time around. 

I mean I was prepared for everything – I had made numerous lists, so that we would have everything we needed, and I had lived out there and all had gone well - how much different could it be!? 

I realized very quickly that it could be ridiculously, hilariously and traumatically different…

Lets start with the mud.

Now, I don’t want to brag but I am quite good at walking in my rubber boots and out in the community they are my favorite and most needed commodity. They make me feel confident that nothing is going to climb up my legs and bite me and they keep me from worrying about where I am stepping… 

On that note, after finding some boys to drive us up river in their boat, we had almost made it to Shakay when they pulled the boat over to shore. They were ‘borrowing’ their dad’s boat and they were nervous about the last set of rapids we would encounter. Their motor wasn’t the best and we had the boat weighed down pretty good. They asked if we would just wait there on the shore and they would take our stuff up to our house (which was just a couple of kilometers upriver) and then they would come back and get us, just to be safe.

 A Watusa. Basically a large rodent with large teeth that can swim. The boys circled round and round in the boat hoping to catch it... fortunately Adam told them that having a live watusa in a small boat wasn't the greatest idea... whew. crisis averted.

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Of course, we weren’t going to argue with that logic so we all climbed out of the boat. Adam knew that there was a trail we could use that would get us in front of the rapids, so to help the boys out, he told them we would just walk up ahead to make it easier. 

Such a nice guy. 

So, we start up the trail (which was nice for the first 15 seconds) and then.... 

it became a muddy death trap that sucks you in and eats your boots and anything else unfortunate enough to fall in its depths… 

Adam walked ahead holding the dog and Sophia’s hand while I trudged along slowly behind them with Samuel, our sun hats and the water bottles. 

Adam was way ahead and being quite impatient… he kept turning around and saying, “What are you doing? Are you coming?” I was a little perplexed at his attitude, and I wasn’t sure what the rush was (apparently the boys didn’t really know where we were walking to and Adam was afraid they would drive past us and we would be stuck…. Information that would have been useful to know beforehand! Not that I could really go much faster). 

Anyways, he was obviously worried so I told him to go on ahead and we would get there as quickly as possible. So he disappears from view just about the time that Samuel starts to fuss…

at this point, my sunglasses are sliding down my face and my hat is obscuring even more of my vision – I am sweating and trying to walk through knee deep mud so I was a little annoyed that Samuel was starting to cry. 

I look down and realize the reason that he is upset is because we had left his boots stuck in the mud a ways back… oops. So I walk back to get his boots but my hands are full and I am supposed to be hurrying and mud is everywhere – I decide it is just going to be to hard to put his boots back on - so I pick him up and start walking, carrying Sam and the boots…. 

I hear Adam again up in the distance yelling, “Jess, where are you? Are you coming or not?” Ugh. I mean really, it’s not like I was sitting under an umbrella sipping lemonade!! I was doing my best! 

I told him I was coming and then I got stuck in the mud…great. Adam runs back and sees I am carrying Samuel and I am stuck and he is just laughing at me… 

I am getting a little agitated at the mud I won’t lie. 

He takes Samuel and says the boat is just up ahead so I tell him I will get there… not to worry. Right. As soon as he leaves I fall and my boots are so stuck in the mud that I can’t pull them loose, but I really don’t want to get my socks dirty and pull my feet out… 

I don’t know how to get out of the mess and I am trying to pull out sticks and branches to help me but none of them are strong enough to pull out a huge pregnant woman so I gave up and just sat there. 

I figured eventually Adam would realize I wasn’t coming and would come back to get me. He did, laughing his head off – I wanted to laugh but the mud smelled, I was filthy and I was still stuck. He helped me out and we made it down to the boat… 

I had told myself before the trip that this time I wasn’t going to be dripping wet looking for the towels and dry clothes but we were all so nasty after our muddy adventure that we had to bathe before we could go up to the house!! 

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That evening after the kids were asleep Adam and I were talking about our muddy catastrophe. He was just laughing at my inability to conquer the mud and I said “seriously, who knew you had to have some kind of class to teach you how to strategically walk in the mud!?” He said, umm well I think it would be common sense not to walk right down the middle of the path… (well maybe, but I guess I didn’t have any). 

I said, “by the way, why did the mud smell like poop?” He just stared at me and started laughing again and said, “because it is poop.” “WHAT?” He said, Jess, it’s a cow path…that’s why it’s so deep and nasty because cows are constantly walking that way.”

GREAT. So glad to know that now…I started laughing so hard I was crying… I just wish I had realized that while I was bathing because I would have washed my hair…

 Damian and Tatiana's youngest daughter

 Janelle (Esteban and Hermocina's daughter) riding their horse down from the farm.

 Sophia got to sit on the horse - she was so excited!!

 They don't have fences so the cows just go wherever...these were running straight toward us ☺

 On Sunday they told us that there would be a fair in town. We were so excited .... apparently this is the fair. This man comes to town and sells fish, bread and oranges ❀

Pedro, the older man, is the father of 6 of the children whose families live in Shakay. He was ill and a boat was coming to take him down to the doctor with our boss, Russ.

 Purchases from the fair

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The baby.

Our friends Damian and Tatiana came up to Shakay from their home in Guadalupe (another Shuar community closer to Zamora) with their 4 children a day after us. Tatiana was also pregnant but was about a month ahead of me. They were just going to stay in Shakay during the kid’s summer break and would then return to Guadalupe so that Tatiana could have the baby at the hospital there. 

However, she went into labor that night and had the baby there in Shakay. We found out Sunday morning that she had given birth in the middle of the night. I could hardly believe it. 

I decided that I would make them lunch and go over and visit and make sure that they were all ok…I showed up about 11 am with lunch and found all 4 of her children plus some cousins all hanging out and causing mischief. They told me Tatiana was in the back room so I went in and there she was, laying on a bed made out of wood planks…

She looked awful and I didn’t see the baby anywhere – I asked where the baby was and she pointed behind her (she was laying on her side) so I looked behind her and there it was, a little baby girl. I touched her face to make sure she was alive and she sighed really big. 

I asked Tatiana how she was, and if there was anything I could do. She was in so much pain she couldn’t even respond. 

I have never felt so helpless or scared. 

She asked for some water, of which they had none, so I walked back to our house and got her some bottles of clean water and some Ibuprofen. I went twice a day until we left and took them lunch – every time I went I was afraid the baby might be dead. 

But Tatiana improved daily, thank God, and the baby seemed ok although she was never holding it or feeding it when I came over. 

I asked if she was eating ok and she always said yes… I just took her word for it.

I don’t know what traumatized me more – the fact that their was no way to know if they were ok? Or the fact that no one else in the community cared that she had just given birth at least a month early. 

Her husband was out playing volleyball – the other women never came by…I realized that it’s just a cultural difference. 

It’s hard to survive out there and lots of people (babies especially) don’t usually make it so I guess in order not to get too attached they stay distant from one another. Maybe that was why she was never holding her baby. 

Either way, it was really hard for my emotional pregnant and empathetic self.

Tatiana's baby girl.

The little room they are sleeping in (this is the only bed for their family of 7). The baby was hanging in the blue thing next to the bed.

Damian and Tatiana with two of their kids. This was the day we left - She was looking a ton better.

The muddy path I took to there house everyday (lots better than the first one) but don't worry, I walked on the sides ☀

The sweet potatoes they were going to eat for dinner...Sam said, "What's that?"

Church.

The Shuar are getting really excited about learning the Bible stories and I think the excitement is becoming contagious. We had a great time of fellowship and teaching. Adam started storying through the life of Joseph and a couple of the men even came over mid-week for a Bible study on raising/discipling their kids. We also found out that their was an older women in the community who was telling all the women and children that we were from the devil and we had devil children and that no one should come and visit us or be friends with us. Apparently she is pretty influential however, she came to our last meeting and she even participated in the story telling!!

Bible Study with Lucho and Esteban

Betti's 5 month old son - her and her husband Lucho are 16 and probably 20, respectively, and have been coming regularly to church. Their son was sick with bronchitis while we were there.

 Ricardo and two of his children

 Other Shuar in Shakay -- we don't know them personally yet but the woman in orange did come once to church!

 Sophia actually got to ride this horse!!

 They love having their 'hola friends' over, as Sophia calls them.

They taught Sophia some games you play while singing - she loved it.

Coloring, Coloring, Coloring ☺

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The trip was hard, long and difficult. But the Lord was ever faithful, ever present and blessed and protected us beyond belief. We survived wasp stings, lots of bugs and lack of rain – Samuel falling out of the boat without a life-jacket and almost drowning – and on our return home our little wooden boat actually split in half when it hit a rock and Adam had to furiously bail out water the last 30 minutes of the trip.

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 Where Sam fell out of the boat... Adam jumped in after him and he was just swimming up to the surface perfectly calm. He didn't choke or inhale water...I was panicking trying to drive a motor...but I got it stopped and all was well. What a miracle.

 I was going to learn to knit this trip...as you can see, the kids got ahold of the yarn and it didn't really work out ♥

 View of our side of the river from the sandbar.

 That's our house up on the hill.

 Me at 30 weeks!!

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 Another view of our house from up-river ☀

Thank you for your prayers and thank the Lord for his many angels that were watching over us and protecting us. What a trip.