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| December 27, 2003 |
We've had a nice Christmas time. Ellyn is chomping at the bit to take the decorations down. If she'd had her way, they would have been put away on Christmas night! The boys and I are making her wait, but I think we're only going to be able to make it last until tomorrow. We had three other families over for Christmas, and we had a good time enjoying food and fellowship.
I've enjoyed sleeping in and generally kicking back the past three days. We unexpectedly had Friday off, and that was a bonus. It was one of those last minute government declarations. I've used the time to get some more done on the ping pong table I'm making for the boys. It's a Christmas present, but it's going to be a late one. Ellyn worked hard today with Ben, Krissy, and Matt. They were painting the house that the Shaylors are moving into. We have two new pilot families coming in the next couple weeks. All the more reason to pray for license renewals. Not sure how the DAC will view two new expatriate pilots when we're supposed to be hiring more Ecuadorians. But, these guys have been in the pipeline for years, much longer than our current licensing dilema has been going on. So, we're moving on in faith on this one.
Posted by David at 11:15 PM
| December 24, 2003 |
I'm getting ready to head home. I'm excited to try out our 'new' lawn mower. Youi may remember reading about the old lawn mower. A while back it became unusable. Well, first Ron brought a used mower deck and wheels down here with our church work team. We went to put the old engine on it, and it wouldn't run anymore. Bad oil leak and problems with the carb. So, after much debating over whether we should buy a new mower in Quito, or have the motor rebuilt, or buy a new motor, we bought a used motor. This afternoon I put the engine on the 'new' deck and it looks like I'm good to go. I'm glad, because the grass is getting looooong.
This morning I went into Puyo looking for a 'key' for the blade, so that I could mount the blade to the crankshaft. Couldn't find the right key, so am using the old one. I hope it works at least this one time. I can fabricate a new one later if I need to. At any rate, I met a mechanic who told me where I can find parts in Quito and Ambato for my old Kohler engine. I have it mounted on a gokart, and a rocker arm and valve keeper are both worn out. I'll look for the parts next Monday when I go to Quito to pick up my friend Bob.
I finished working on Reinaldo's computer last night about 5:30 PM. I ended up cleaning and lubing the CPU fan (commonly needed in this environment), adding 64MB of RAM, defragmenting the hard drive, un-installing a bunch of games (not in this order), and installing a free anti-virus program, as he had an old version of Norton that was giving him trouble. Oh, I also found two viruses that I had to remove. He's really happy with the way it's working now.
Today I pulled the fan out of the power supply on the Nate Saint School firewall computer and worked on it. It was a job to get it out, but finally it came free. Then I cleaned and lubed it before replacing it. That should keep it running a while longer. Eventually I'll need to replace the fan, but this will give me some time.
Posted by David at 03:20 PM
Sarayacu is a Quichua village a little more than thirty minutes by air from Shell. Presently, this community is battling against the oil company that has government permission to drill for oil on land around Sarayacu. You can read about their struggle at the Sarayacu web site. In addition to the oil that is desired from their land, there is also another struggle that they face. There are those around the world who are fascinated with which doctors and natural medicine. These people encourage the indians to pursue their old ways of shamanism. Obviously, from a Christian evangelical perspective, this is a step backwards. Rick LaBouef, Christian in Action missionary living in Shell, writes in his latest newsletter:
Sarayacu seems to be a place where the enemy has had a strong hold for a long time. İAbout 15 years ago the light of the Word was all but stamped out when this large Quichua Indian village, threatened to burn a Christian family out, forcing them to abandon their home. İUpon arrival we learned that thirty or so tribal leaders were, at that very moment, receiving a course on 'Traditional Medicine' sponsored by a University in Spain. İReal or imagined, we could feel a dark presence begin to cover us and the whole area. İSarayacu is led by a world-renowned wizard named Sabino Gualinga, known by many as 'The Shaman of the Amazon'. In politically incorrect terms, we found ourselves right in the middle of a witchdoctor convention...uninvited! As we met with the leaders, (and all throughout the trip) I was really glad to be with men like Onelio and Richard Murphy. That night we showed 'Elijah and Baal' twice in their native language and preached after each showing. Although a large crowd gathered, no decisions were made to receive Christ that we know of. İThe village Elders warned us not to return to Sarayacu.
Please pray for the people of Sarayacu. Satan will not give up the jungle easily, and today a resurgence of witchcraft is occurring. Although missionaries have brought Christianity to many and even some shamen have found Christ, shamen, or "witch doctors" are being encouraged by Western European/American groups to practice their old craft, and money is being funnelled to create a cultural reversal to undo the Christian work. Tourists pay big money to see these shamen go into drug induced frenzies, and the "politically correct" Westerners claim the indians should still rely on the shamen. This means they should seek their shamen to tell them who to seek revenge on for an illness or negative action...and revenge killings result many times. This is obviously contrary to seeking forgiveness though Jesus Christ! So different from the story of Steve, Mincaye, and Tementa.
Posted by David at 09:39 AM
| December 23, 2003 |
Lance says he'll race the TdF for two more years. I can't wait!
Posted by David at 08:45 PM
Grrrr. Who needs pets? Last night the dog chewed through the phone cord while Ellyn was talking on the phone. You'd think a year and a half old Beagle would be past that by now! And then there's Lucy the Macaw. We put up icicle lights along the front of the house. She has been spending quite a bit of time on the roof in the past few months, and I was concerned that she might damage the lights. Well, that's what happened yesterday. She chewed off a couple bulbs and some wire, and now we have a couple feet of lights at the end that don't light. All I can say is that it's too bad the lights weren't on when it happened. The shock might have let her know that chewing the lights is a bad idea.
Posted by David at 11:51 AM
| December 22, 2003 |
I'm not a pilot out there laying it on the line, day after day. But I do know they are thankful for safety in their flight operations, and for your prayers. They face challenging weather conditions daily, and in addition, equipment malfunction can also come into play. Last week one of our planes needed to divert to a long civilian runway when it was discovered that one of the flight control surfaces could not be fully manipulated. The elevator could not be moved aft of neutral, as something was restricting its movement. Darryl was able to safely land the plane in Macas without harm to anyone on board or the plane. We pray daily for safety as the planes operate throughout Ecuador. I know many of you do also. Thanks for praying. I know our prayers make a difference.
Posted by David at 11:29 PM
I just had to share this photo that Bruce took the other day. He was in Ishping waiting for the weather to clear at his next stop when he captured this moment. Thanks, Bruce, for all the great photos you take during your busy day.
Posted by David at 11:21 PM
18 Dec 2003 13:00:50 GMT
FEATURE-Battle rages with Ecuador Indians over jungle oil
By Amy Taxin
QUITO, Ecuador, Dec 18 (Reuters) - In a steamy jungle of winding laurel trees and sprawling palms, a battle is raging between Ecuadorean Indians trying to protect land rights and oil companies who want to drill in the Amazon.
In the northern Amazon, Indians are suing a U.S. oil company over environmental damage they say ruined their land and made people sick. Further south, indigenous demonstrators have led violent protests to keep firms off their property.
Ecuador is one of Latin America's least stable nations and has a powerful Indian movement. But it is also one of the region's most promising nations for oil development with a government eager to tap five billion barrels in reserves.
Analysts say it could be tough for Ecuador to attract investment unless tensions are eased with indigenous communities, who make up nearly half the people in the Amazon and are backed by a powerful national left-wing Indian movement.
Dressed in a pink robe and sashes of nutshells, Secoya Indian Elias Piayahuaje is one of 30,000 plaintiffs who accuse U.S. oil giant ChevronTexaco
"There's no way for the Secoya people to get their life back," said Piyahuaje, 47, leader of the 400-strong tribe. He said oily pits left by a Texaco subsidiary continue to leak a black sludge into rivers when it rains in northern Sucumbios and Orellana provinces, the heart of the country's oil industry near the Colombian border.
The lawsuit so far hasn't spooked investment, analysts say, citing a new $1.4 billion pipeline built this year by private oil firms. But companies are keeping an eye on an eventual ruling that could affect the industry, they said.
Texaco, which merged with Chevron in 2001, says it followed accepted procedures during its two decades in the Amazon and paid for a $40 million clean-up that was approved by the Ecuadorean government after its contract to produce crude with state oil company Petroecuador ended in 1992.
Texaco no longer operates oil blocks in Ecuador.
SOUTHERN AMAZON
Ecuador's government is hoping for a second oil boom now that the new pipeline has been built -- which could double the nation's crude output -- to reduce the poverty blighting the lives of 60 percent of its people.
But more than 125 miles (200 km) further south, Argentine oil company CGC and U.S. Burlington Resources Inc.
Achuar Indians have protested against oil development by kidnapping workers and holding demonstrations, saying they must protect the pristine forest where they've lived for decades. They are betting on an ecotourism project instead of oil.
"We've seen proof, we don't want what has happened in Sucumbios and Orellana to happen to us," said Achuar leader Milton Callera. "Our government can't resolve this problem."
Another group, the Quichua-speaking Sarayacu, say they oppose any oil development projects.
Burlington since 2000 has admitted it can't move forward on its exploration schedule due to area protests. CGC, which won its contract in 1996, halted operations this year after workers were kidnapped by Indian protesters.
"We're sandwiched between the state and Sarayacu and we're the only ones who are losing in this whole story," said CGC's representative in Ecuador, Ricardo Nicolas.
The Energy Ministry has signed pacts to aid several indigenous communities that do support oil activity.
"When the companies begin activity again, we will take precautions and order civil authorities and police to lend their support," Energy Minister Carlos Arboleda told reporters, while accusing foreign environmental groups of rousing the Indians.
INVESTORS WARY
The government aims to attract $6.4 billion to double oil output to more than 750,000 bpd over the next eight years. Oil is already Ecuador's biggest export and accounts for 20 percent of its economy, according to the Central Bank.
But oil sector analysts say the country will have a tough time competing for investments with countries like post-war Iraq, despite its ample crude reserves.
"How can they go to a company asking for bids if they haven't resolved the problem of the moratorium on oil development sought by indigenous communities?" said Rene Ortiz, president of Ecuador's private oil industry association.
One reason Ecuador has been unable to convince jungle dwellers of the benefits of oil is that the cash it generates is channeled to the central government instead of the Amazon region, where 78 percent of people are poor.
Standing outside his rundown cosmetics shop, Santiago Alomoto, 25, points to the broken stone tiles lining the street in jungle city Lago Agrio as evidence that those who live in the crude-rich Amazon are often the last to see its benefits.
"All the oil and gold that's in the earth should be exploited," said Alomoto, who is not Indian but a long-time jungle dweller. "But the wealth should stay right here."
http://www.alertnet.org
Last Friday our planes made a couple flights out to the Waorani village of Tiwaeno for a church dedication. The airstrip was marginal, and the guys had a tough time with the conditions. Here's a photo of Bruce landing! Dave spoke at the dedication, and help nail up the sign for the church. Hope in Christ. Bruce attended the service as well, and came home with a very nice head dress. It's actually the one the guy at the far left in the photo is wearing.
Posted by David at 03:19 PM
You've probably seen pictures of George on Palm Beach with Nate Saint's airplane. He was one of three Auca (Waorani) indians that met the missionaries on Palm Beach in January, 1956. His name wasn't really George, but that's what the guys nicknamed him. Nate actually took George up in the plane! Can you imagine what an experience that must have been for George?! He'd never traveled anywhere other than by foot or canoe. Soon after, Nate and the four other missionaries were killed by the Waorani indians. Later, George fathered a son whose name was Tementa.
A couple weeks ago a pile of parts lay in our hangar. Only they weren't parts for a Cessna. When put together they became an ultralight, in this case, a powered parachute. Tementa, a Waorani, and Galo, put it together. The engine is still being overhauled somewhere else, and I'm not sure exactly when that will be here. The aircraft is a project of I-TEC. Tementa flies the ultralight in Waorani territory. The idea of the I-TEC people is that powered parachute will allow the Waorani to fly for themselves, and be a little more independent, and less dependent on missionary aviation. Imagine! The first Waorani to fly, George, has a son who is the first Waorani to learn to fly an ultralight!
George was a bit of a renegade, and he was later killed by the same group that killed the five missionaries. That meant that Steve Saint, and Tementa both have something in common. Both of their fathers were killed by Waorani. Here's a photo of Mincaye, Steve, and Tementa. Mincaye was one of the men who speared Steve's father, as well as Tementa's father. Can you imagine? Because of God's love and forgiveness, these three men can stand together today as brothers. Some of you may recognize Mincaye's name, as he was part of Steven Curtis Chapman's recent Live Out Loud Tour.
When Tementa was a young child, he was attacked by a dog. He was badly hurt, and some of the people wanted to 'throw him away'. That's their term for abandoning a person to die. But some of the Christians took care of him and brought him back to health. Tementa, as a teenager, was the first Waorani person that Pat Kelly, SIL missionary, taught to read. Tementa became a Christian and went on to be a respected leader in the Waorani community. He continues to walk God's trail.
Posted by David at 02:38 PM
| December 21, 2003 |
Bit hard to do nothing isn't it? But, sometimes that's how I feel on Sunday. I'm just hanging around. I've been laying on the couch napping, and then reading. I've finally got the finishing touches done on the templates for this web log, and I think I'm finished with the move to the new host. Along the way I even managed to take care of a couple of glitches in the layout of the pages that have been a problem for a long time, but that I couldn't seem to solve before. The sun is coming out a bit, and I can even see some patches of blue sky, something we haven't seen much of in Shell the past week. Might be time to throw some Tri-Flow on the bicycle chain and go for a spin.
Posted by David at 03:59 PM
| December 20, 2003 |
The weather was decent today, and we had three planes flying. Usually there is only one pilot working on Saturday, but today a couple other guys pitched in. They were able to get quite a bit done. I'm sure the people who couldn't move anywhere on Thursday and Friday were thankful. Friday afternoon about 3:30 PM Dave McCleery tried to squeeze a quick flight in, and got caught short. He took a missionary family out to Makuma who had been waiting all day to get in. Then he took off for Yuvientsa, hoping to get out a health brigade. Unfortunately, the weather closed down both here, and in Makuma, so he spent the night in Yuvientsa.
This afternoon I took a quick trip up to the north VHF repeater site. I was going just for the exercise, but ended up taking some measurements for Bruce. He's re-building the repeater, and when he heard I was going up, he asked me to take a couple measurements so he'd know how much coax he needs. I took along my harness and climbed the 60' tower. The view from the top was great, and I could see past Shell, deep into the jungle.
Posted by David at 11:08 PM
Whew! I have just finished uploading everything to the new server. It doesn't go very quickly over our connection at about 36K! That's especially true when there are two or three of us using the connection at the same time. At any rate, I now have the formatting of this web log as my last task. I'm not sure why it's such a mess, but time will tell. At least I was able to import all my entries from October 2001 until now.
Posted by David at 11:14 AM
| December 18, 2003 |
I've switched to a new web host, and am in the middle of transferring the files. Unfortunately the new host got a bit ahead of me and changed the DNS server entries on me. I wasn't ready for everyone to be directed to this server just yet. But, we'll make the best of it. I'm working right now on importing all my old entries.
Posted by David at 03:43 PM
| December 15, 2003 |
I am drawing a blank for a title for this entry. OK, there. I just made one up. Now, on to the rest of what I have to say. Why am I writing this? Why are you reading this? I'm not really sure. Guess I want you (whoever you are) to be able to get a glimpse into what I do in this corner of the world. Nothing special. Just different. The boys are in bed. Well, Taylor is. He's probably asleep. Dustin is probably still reading. He's turning into a night owl like me. It's 10:16 PM, and he has school tomorrow. I need to go tell him to turn off the light. Ellyn is watching a movie in the living room. The lights are out, with the only light coming from the Christmas tree. It's such a cozy atmosphere at Christmas when the living room is lit by a couple candles and the lights on the tree.
This morning Reinaldo Bernal came to me and asked for help with e-mail. He has an account with a local ISP, but they are experiencing technical difficulties and told him they wouldn't have e-mail service until January. I told him he could have an account with us. For him, the $25 a month fee is very expensive. However, there are several MAF families that are pitching in to cover it for him. Reinaldo and his wife are from Colombia, and work with the Waorani people. He has started and runs the Waorani Bible Institute out in Damointaro.
Just before lunch I shutdown the firewall computer, disconnecting our LAN from the Internet. I wanted to use compressed air to clean out the computer. When I took the cover off, it was obvious that the computer needed to be cleaned. It was also obvious that the CPU fan was toast. Often we clean and lube fans that aren't working well. This one wasn't in good shape at all. A quick trip up to the PC graveyard in the attic yielded a replacement fan. This is a fan for a Pentium I processor, and it plugs into the power harness, not the motherboard. Not a common item any more. And within a few minutes our vital link with the rest of the world was up and running again.
I was just getting ready to walk out the door after lunch when Ellyn discovered the load of wash in the dryer had soot all over it. Not again. This happened before, and I had to clean the dryer. This time I got some info from Ron, as well as a different orifice for the burner, and went to work. The orifice needed to be smaller, so the flame would be hotter. After lifting the lid, taking the front off, and removing the drum, I was able to reach the goal. It was soon all back together again and working. Now to see if the soot will wash out and we'll dry the load again.
Now you know a little bit about my day. Oh. We also had three planes flying today. Weather was OK, and the guys got done what they needed to. Moved some community health workers, brought out some medical emergency patients, and more. Oscar had is practical exam with a DAC inspector today. Shouldn't be too long before he has his mechanic's license. Then we'll have two Ecuadorian mechanics. Also, Daniel Soria flew down from Quito today with Mike. He's joining MAF, and will be our first Ecuadorian pilot in about a year.
Posted by David at 02:00 PM
| December 12, 2003 |
This is the latest news on our licensing situation:
"Good news to report on our license renewals. Yesterday and today we have received renewals on all our licenses. There were some more strings attached, however. The licenses were renewed for only 90 days (until March 10) and by then Civil Aviation wants a plan in place to achieve an eventual level of 50% Ecuadorian technicians. It is almost sure that they will want that to happen much more rapidly than is possible with consideration to MAF candidacy policies and the realities of support for national missionaries. So, we're not in the clear yet but we are working on another path that would solve this problem as well and, hopefully, we can have that in place before March. Keep praying!"
I was feeling better by yesterday, but still not at 100%. Today I feel much better, and I'm thankful for that. I think I'll try to get in a short bike ride this afternoon. I'm training for a climb of 19,000' Cotopaxi on January 7, so I certainly want to be able to get back to that. Here are a couple of links with info and photos about the climb. http://www.muellerworld.com/ecuador/cotopaxi.html and http://www.ecuadorial.com/cotopaxi.htm.
The Ecuadorian teacher strike goes on. The effects are being felt close to home today. The road between here and Puyo is being blocked by the teachers, with burning tires blocking the road from traffic. The police are there to keep order, but not to stop the teachers from blocking the road. Go figure! I won't ride by bike in that direction today, that's for sure.
Posted by David at 11:15 AM
| December 11, 2003 |
Ecuador's school teachers are on strike once again. Yesterday it got a bit violent in front of the Presidential Palace. Read more.
Posted by David at 05:47 AM
The guys figured that the strange noise is HC-BQV's new engine was nothing to worrry about, and Steve did the Return To Service (RTS) flight yesterday just before lunch. That means we know have three planes flying, and they are able to concentrate on the priming of HC-BXB.
Posted by David at 05:43 AM
| December 08, 2003 |
I've been feeling sick all day. Upset stomach and Montezuma's Revenge. Not sure if I have a bug or ate something bad, but I'm hoping it passes quickly. I was up to Chaupi to climb Iliniza Norte over the weekend. I went with several other missionary guys, and we had a great time, with good weather. Yesterday it was nice to just hang out with the family, including a trip to the river with the boys and a couple of their friends.
Today the guys finished with the new engine install in HC-BQV, and then ran it up. They heard a strange noise, so by the middle of the afternoon they were taking the head off of one of the cylinders. I haven't what the outcome is yet. Hopefully it's not something major. As soon as this engine is running, they're going to start putting the primer on HC-BXB.
In a couple more days, on December 10, most pilots' licenses run out. Only Dave and Dan will still be able to fly, with their licenses good until the end of January. Keep praying for this situation. Oscar, our apprentice mechanic who sat for exams last week, is getting a bit of a run around in his efforts to get his license.
Well, I'd better get going. I'm not going to last much longer tonight.
Posted by David at 09:27 PM
| December 04, 2003 |
To be honest, I've been avoiding this. I'm not sure why, but I have little motivation to write, and I think it's been over a week since I did. We went to the beach over Thanksgiving, leaving on Wednesday, and coming back on Sunday. It takes almost nine hours to drive there, and it's only 310 miles. We had a really nice time getting away from Shell--being around different people, reading, swimming, exploring the town--it was refreshing. When I went to work on Monday morning, and it was raining, I realized how much I enjoyed being somewhere else. Normally the rainy cloudy weather here doesn't bother me a bit.
Maybe I don't want to write because I'm tired. I've been up 'til midnight or later the past three nights. Part of that was trying to catch up with e-mail after being away from it for five days. Last night, Sandy Toomer, who used to fly here, was over after dinner to visit. That got late. I used to stay up this late a lot, and the past couple months I've stopped that. After three late nights, I know I don't want to start that again.
So, in an effort to get some rest tonight, I'll wrap this up soon. One of the things we do with the boys is ask them what was their high and low for the day. I'll give you mine for the week. My high was spending time at the beach, enjoying the waves with the boys, and seeing how much more Taylor enjoyed it than he did the last time he was there two years ago. My low was that Dustin got sick while we were there, and missed the last day and a half of sun and surf.
Steve, Darryl, Fred, Dan, and Bruce all flew today. We don't have that many planes flying, and they shared three planes. Bruce had to unexpectedly overnight in Arajuno last night, and was to have the rest of the day off. But when he showed up at the hangar around 3 PM to write a prayer letter, Fred asked him to take his last flight. Fred wanted to be home on time to make sure he was at the Christmas program early to get the sound system set up. I felt bad for Bruce having to suddenly make a change in plans, but he did it. He had three stops, and picked up four patients. A snake bite victim, a man sick with diarrhea and vomiting, and two mothers with sick babies. Bruce should get some time off tomorrow, but he's not too hopeful that will happen. There continues to be much flying that needs to be done.
Dave McCleery came back from Quito this afternoon. Our Operations Permit expired today. We're supposed to have a three week provisional permit, and then our actual permit after that. We're praying that will happen.
Posted by David at 10:03 PM
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David and Ellyn Hoffman
c/o Alas de Socorro • Casilla 17-11-6228 • Quito, Ecuador • South America
dhoffman@maf.org • http://www.thehoffmanfamily.com/shellthoughts/index.html