SOJOURNS & SUNRISES

SANTIAGO SUNRISE

We began the week with a Monday miracle. We were required to be in our apartment from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm for a gas company check making it hard to accomplish all we needed to in the office to prepare for our travels the next day. We felt we were doomed for time by living on the fourth floor. Whether they started on the ninth floor or the first floor, we were right in the middle. Élder Lamb was in the lobby as the gas company arrived and our kind front desk clerk sent him to our apartment first. Voila! We were in the office working at the usual time.

Élder Lamb makes days at the office more fun when he orders pizza for lunch to share with the Self-Reliance volunteers in the office next door.

VALDIVIA

We flew from Santiago to Valdivia for a ceremony for one of our humanitarian projects. Valdivia is such a beautiful city situated right on the river.

With lots of yummy food!

The community of Valdivia has the highest population concentration of people with disabilities in the region with 3,849 disabled citizens. These people are considered vulnerable, living in situations of risk determined by economic resources, lack of family support, and access to health services. To obtain needed technical aids at a national level requires long wait times and limited coverage. The donation of wheelchairs, electric lifts, and clinical beds will prevent the progression of various health complications and help these citizens recover functionality and develop independence. The items were donated to the municipality which will loan the equipment to patients who are waiting for their permanent equipment. This allows redistribution of these technical aids benefiting these disabled persons who are waiting for a permanent replacement.

President Godoy, our local church leader picked us up at our hotel on Wednesday morning. Our first stop was Escuela Diferencial where the ceremony was held.

Then on to the municipality warehouse where the items are being temporarily stored. We look forward to receiving pictures as the items are delivered to individuals throughout the city.

Then on to the municipality offices to meet the staff where we were served grilled cheese sandwiches and cookies.

We spent all afternoon working from our hotel room on our laptop. We were glad to be inside as the wind started to howl and the rain poured down. Locals call Valdivia “Valdi lluvia” Lluvia means rain in Spanish. We enjoyed dinner with the stake president and his wife that evening.

ISLA CHILOÉ

We left in the fog Thursday morning to make the five-hour drive south to Castro. That involves leaving the mainland on a ferry to go to the island of Chiloe. As soon as we checked into our hotel, we headed to Sodimac (a Home Depot-type store) with a prayer in our hearts that we would be able to buy all the items we needed for our Williche project. We found a kind employee that helped us order through the store system which allowed us to pay at the store. This is important as our credit card is almost impossible to use for online purchases. We traveled to the island to purchase the items because purchasing them at our Sodimac in Santiago would have incurred expensive delivery charges. Refrigerator, Check. Cabinet with sink, Check. 60 chairs, Check. We were almost there but had no luck with the ten tables. We spent the rest of the afternoon going from store to store looking for tables. A Chiloe resident came to our rescue, finding a local family business that will build the tables and charge less than Sodimac. Now to figure out how to pay for them since they do not take credit cards.

QUEILEN

On Friday morning we picked up the branch president, Carlos Sanchez, and his wife Andrea and headed south to the town of Queilen. There was frost on the ground and the curvy roads were slick. The temperature was below zero (C). There we met with municipality leaders to discuss a possible project with their rural clinics. Sanai Donoso Vidal, a thirty-something-year-old counselor in the Relief Society presidency (the women’s organization in our church) joined us in Queilen. She had arranged all the meetings for the day. She is from Santiago, is a young mother with two-year-old and four-year-old girls, and is an active community advocate. Little did we know the adventure that awaited us for the day. We go off on these trips never quite knowing what to expect.

ISLA TRANQUI

After our meeting at the municipality, she joined the four of us in our small rental car and directed us to park at the pier because we would be taking a passenger ferry. Remember we were already on the remote island of Chiloe. Now we needed to cross to the island of Tranqui. A small car ferry is sometimes available but, on this day, we rode in the water ambulance.

When we arrived at the opposite shore, we climbed into her truck that she left earlier that morning when she made the trek across the water to introduce us to municipality leaders in Queilen. Did we mention that she is six months pregnant? She took us on an all-day four-wheel-drive trip, all around the island, up and down steep gravel roads. The scenery along the way was breathtaking!

We visited three rural postas (health clinics) so we could assess the needs firsthand.

On our second stop at San Jose, we parked the truck, walked down a narrow path, then on to a little wider road along the beach, and finally on to another road that led to the clinic.

We ended the afternoon at her humble home where she served us hot sopapillas served with avocado, ham, cheese, walnuts, homemade jam, and honey. We were overwhelmed by her generosity and desire to improve her remote community. We made our way through her yard, past the sheep, geese, and chickens and as we pulled up to the dock at 4:25 the last water ambulance run for the day was already leaving. She jumped out of the truck and waved to the pilot who came back to pick us up. Whew! Then we had an hour and a half drive back to Castro. What an amazing day and, the possible beginnings of an amazing humanitarian project! We had another ah-ha moment wondering about the possibility of telemedicine carts like those used in the bush in Alaska.

CHILOÉ SUNRISE

What is the advantage of having to set your alarm for 6:30 am on a Saturday morning? A beautiful Chiloé sunrise and tranquil ferry crossing back to the mainland.