In the Humaitá area (think of it as a large, watery county) clinics were con-ducted in the villages of Carapanatuba, Baetas, and Uruapiara over five days. The Indian name Carapanatuba means the place of the big mosquito. No kidding. You get the idea.
Typical Amazon weather prevailed--hot, humid, with sudden drenching down-pours.
From the left, Darrel, Dr. Rolney, Paul Bachmann, Mara, Katia, Dentist Adilson, Simone, Wagner, Nildo, (then I'm a bit unsure who is who, but including--) Marilia, Adriana, and Erika of MIB (Mission to the Interior of Brazil), and other volunteers from Uruapiara. MIB evangelized and taught new converts, while Asas de Socorro volunteers treated bodies and teeth. Darrel and Paul Bachmann were the pilots for this mission.
Dentists Adilson and Rosa worked steadily through the day, and then by flashlight at dusk.
There was only one medical doctor, the young, laughing, guitar-playing Dr. Rolney (pronounced "Ho-NAY"). His beautiful wife, Michele, who is a psychology student, came along to help. Rolney and Michele celebrated their first anniversary right after this mission. Rolney treated 420 patients in five days! I asked if there were a particular ailment that many villagers had, and he said, "Skin." You really don't want to hear the details.
Mara, the lovely redhead above, organized the mission. She is a social worker, part of the Manaus team of Asas de Socorro. Monique, on the right, is a bonus gift of having her parents, Jefferson and Lenir, tranferred to Manaus. A graduate in computer technology, she has a fine eye for detail and organization which has helped enormously with the move to our new Amazon Mission Base. Both of these lovely Christian young women are still single.
On the first night of the mission, the team arrived at Uruapiara. An alligator (jacaré) had been noticed by people bathing and washing in the lake. Nearby, one had eaten a dog the previous week. They are hungry now because the water level is high and the fish are hard to catch. On the second day, a sixteen foot long alligator came up on the bank and charged toward a mother with two children. She rushed to the house screaming for her husband, who ran out with a shotgun and killed it.
This was in an area a quarter mile from where missionary pilot Paul Bachmann had lived when he was a young boy. He was paddling around in the lake reminiscing and showing people the area when he struck up a conversation with his former neighbor, who had shot the alligator. He was offered the tail, which he brought back to fillet for supper. It was tough and stringy, with a somewhat exotic taste.
These little boys are making a play village with a stream of water running through it. Darrel told them they looked like engineers laying out a village. They chuckled, but their chests were puffed up with pride.
This, the second mission to Humaitá for Asas de Socorro, was a continuation of the clinical support and evangelism to a very needy area, in cooperation with MIB missionaries. Called a "discipling mission", the rich harvest of souls from previous efforts are being nurtured in what it means to have Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
