Hagen Update: October 2009

Well, Steve and I just got back from Bolivia at 1 am this morning. After sleeping in a while, I have been busy trying to catch up on email and such after almost 2 wks offline. Here are some pics and stories from our time down there.

There were honestly a lot of things about the trip that we didn't enjoy (where we stayed for example), but we so enjoyed experiencing the culture and getting to know some of the people. I love all the bright colors in their blankets and clothing.

We traveled through the day and night getting down there and arrived exhausted, but one of the guys attending the conference took us back to his humble house for some rest. They took good care of us, and we enjoyed visiting with them - even though we couldn't communicate more than a few words. :)

They made empanadas (deep fried dough with cheese inside) and sweet coffee for supper.

Later that evening, we headed out to the "resort" where we were going to stay for the week. While the place looked nice enough on the outside, when we arrived in our little room, we were shocked by how filthy it was. We have stayed in tribal huts with dirt floors that were cleaner by far! We spent the first 2 hours that night cleaning. We didn't have any cleaning supplies other than an old broom we found, and the only water was from the moldy swimming pool, but we managed to get all the trash and old food out as well as much of the dust. We hauled the "mattresses" out and beat them to try to get as much dust out as possible before we tried to sleep on them.

We also piled all the extra mattresses in one room to try to keep the dust from those separated from where we slept. I don't think it worked very well, but it was worth the effort.

Let's just say that not much sleep happened during the week. It wasn't just us who were shocked by the filth of the place - even the tribal guys attending the conference didn't want to stay there. By that point, the money had been paid and there was nowhere else to go on such short notice so we were stuck with it.

It did look nice on the outside though:

Our little cabin (for Steve and me and my dad)

One of the rooms after it had been cleaned as best we could and we had borrowed sheets. Some of the challenges we had to work through was sleeping in the heat without a fan, bedbugs and other insects, only an occasional dribble of water to shower in, and having to coordinate flushing the toilet since it took at least an hour to refill the tank. The biggest challenge was the dirt, dust and grime that covered every surface. I was fighting sinus crud when we arrived down there, and I am sure it will be a shock to discover that it is hard to beat it when you living in filth with no sleep.

The training sessions went very well, and we had a GREAT translator to help us communicate (thanks, Dan!). Steve helped teach a little but found it a challenge trying to teach through a translator for the first time.

It was neat to watch my dad teaching these tribal guys about worldview in order to empower them to reach the other tribes of the Amazon. He has spent so much time in the last few years doing this; it was great to finally get to see it in person. We also learned so much from the sessions and from our interactions with these tribal believers who have such a passion to reach their own people as well as other groups in the Amazon.

One day we came out for break and discovered this turtle had meandered into camp.

It was extremely dusty there - even after 2 hard rains we had. Felt like we breathed dust all week.

On our off day mid-week, we took a bus up into the mountains to see some ruins and a little town. It was a LONG day on dusty roads with no airconditioning, but it was good to see a little beyond the "resort" where we were staying. It took us about 5 hours to get there, we stayed about an hour, went to eat lunch in the little town, then headed back. The most frustrating part was trying to capture the people and culture with the camera as we flew by on the bus in a cloud of dust. Was wonderful though to get to see some of Bolivia.

We stopped at this little road-side stand for breakfast - bologne and "cheese" sandwhiches. No comment needed. :)

I did enjoy the breakfast stop though since we could finally see a little of the people and culture.

Took this pic of a few of the guys. They have hearts of gold, and we learned so much from them in how they have partnered together to reach the rest of the tribes of the Amazon. We are hoping to implement some of those same principles with the tribal people in the Philippines.

the scenery from the bus was beautiful in spite of the dust we were breathing

the quaint little town where we ate a quick lunch before heading back

the national pasttime - learned young

stopped at a road-side stand for some peaches and got this cute pic

the narrow mountain road was an adventure in itself with lots of landslides

There were dozens of these crosses and memorials along the road to remember those who have died there. Hundreds if not thousands have died on this road through the years. (Sorry it's a little blury - it was tough getting any pics to turn out as we flew by.)

The ruins we saw were amazing. Pre-Inca they said. Weren't able to find out much info since we didn't speak the language - hope to do some research to find out more.

Everyone else hiked up there then turned around and headed back the same way. My dad, Steve & I figured that if we had come that far, we might as well see as much as we could. So we booked it to hike down around and circle the ruins while everyone else headed back the more direct way.

Isn't it breath-taking?

While the living situation was not what we had expected or hoped, our trip to Bolivia was overall a great experience, and we learned a lot from the guys down there that we hope to implement in the Philippines. Thanks for praying for us!