Well today is our last day here. We will be flying home this afternoon and the sun has come out for us on our last day. It has rained almost every day but has been pleasant to work in and we have met a lot of loverly people, it willl be sad to leave but we will be glad to return to our loved ones left at home. Hopefully we will be able to come back in the future and help the good people of Suriname a little more again.

Our last parishes to visit Fr Kenny's

The roads to Fr Kenny's were a bit rough and ready with plenty of pot holes to avoid.

This section of road is under construction so we had to walk along carrying all we needed for the night.

There was a choice of two ways to cross the river: by boat with all our luggage,

Or across the bridge which is under construction. Hopefully it will be finished soon.

This is one of Fr Kenney's parish churches. Is this a good sign, the rainbow over the church where we had celebrated mass on Sunday?

Reddi Dotti & Casipura

These two parishes are part of Fr Dorus' ministry but we did not see them on our last visit.  We had to drive the cars onto a pontoon ferry to cross the river which was a new experience - the new bridge had a section knocked out four years ago and has still not been repaired.  When we arrived on the other side there was someone to greet and guide us to the village which upon arrival turned out to be the 'captain' of the village.  It was a special day for the village as the water treatment plant was opened that day so each home has water readily available without having to go to the river all the time and this is run on solar power.  It was a very small school of only 85 children from the surrounding villages and like Powakka there is a feeling of peace and calm surrounding you. We presented them with torches, sweets and some new toys for the kindergarten.  The staff and children were really grateful as there is very little in the way of equipment.  We travelled on to Casipura to the meet the captain of the village.  This is even smaller and has neither a church nor a school and has only fifty families.  The captain is still single if anyone is interested!  Parts of the roads are still muddy and we were so lucky as there was a tropical storm just we got off the pontoon. We were a little late leaving as we waited for the school bus to arrive to take two of the children across the river.

Gifts of sports equipment to children

Reddi Dotti school

Water treatment plant on site of original church

Pontoon ferry

Powakka Church and School

We spent three days on the church,  in Powakka.  We painted the windows, varnished the benches which we had sponsored and put the name tags on.  The electrics were a huge job for Chris and Bryan using very dodgy scaffolding which sometimes had a mind of its own.  Fr Dorus built a canopy on the front of the church with the help of Phil and Steve and then there was a joint effort to paint it.  While we working ont he church we spoke with one of the teachers and asked if there was anything the children needed.  When we returned to the village on Friday we came bearing gifts of footballs, skipping ropes, hula hoopswith the sports, volley balls and nets, large rope for tug of war, tennis balls and bats.  The children all had a doughnut and a fruit drink which we had asked the teachers to purchase and we reimbursed them as this was a special treat for them all.  The children were very excited and we spent two and half hours on a sports day which was probably all the more enjoyable as they did not have any lessons.  We also had the teachers running a race after the children had completed their races.  Some of the villagers joined us in the church for the presentation of the computer for the school and a keyboard for the church which can also be run on batteries so it can be used now as there is no electricity at present.  The school staff then presented each of us with a cup as a thank you for our efforts with the village. 

Brownsweg 1st & 2nd Feb 20012

Ronnie painting inside the church

Honor painting the window frames inside the church but needed the table to reach the top section

Fr Anton and Mary making a joint effort on another of the windows outside the church

Fran almost stretched to the limit to reach the top of the window standing on a rickety chair.

Visited the village of Brownsweg where we were based on our last visit to paint Fr Dorus' church.  When we arrived some of the people from the village had come in to give the church a spring clean and put the Christmas decorations away.  They stayed with us and joined in the painting and we had two very enthusiastic children giving us a hand, one small boy using a long handled roller with great panache.

Photos from Powakka

The array of chalices, etc which were transported in our luggage!

The children gave us a song.

The morning break.

One of the teachers preparing the lunch.

Presenting the laptops to Mr Ronald, the new headmaster, and Mr Fung who retired at Christmas.

The children washing their cups after they have had their milk.

Bryan and Chris taking a risk on the scaffold

The job of tagging all the benches.

Starting with the eye tests

Trying to explain how the chart works.

Eating in style!

Back to work

Starting to build the canopy.

Cathedral where we attended mass on Sunday morning.

We visited Powakka today

We went to Powakka today to varnish the new benches and put in some electrical lighting and sockets. We will be returning again tomorrow to continue the electrical work and start putting a toilet alongside the church.