It was a good week–filled with meeting and working with new people and with the warm feelings generated by helping someone who needs it.  One of the frustrations of trips such as this is that one hardly ever has the opportunity to see a finished product.  However, one learns to play the hand you are dealt and trust that someone down the line will have the opportunity to say “Done!”

Godspeed.

Work continued at the two houses today with the main activities being application of drywall compound and sanding of previous coats.  The teams were further split to begin work on House #3 and House #4.  Our part of the work on House #3 involves placing underlayment on the first floor and installing new  basement windows.  The work on House #4 includes removal of the flood damaged portions of the house, basement , and garage.  Larry and Phil went there today and were joined by four people from Rochester Presbyterian (Also in town on a mission trip this week. 

We have made excellent progress this week with the tasks assigned to us.  The drywall work at houses #1 and #2 should be finished tomorrow.  The underlayment should be done at house #3 tomorrow as well.  We are to help move some materials into house #4.  Various team members will be leaving tomorrow in assorted directions.  The Lakeside van will probably be home about 6:00 PM on Saturday.   

Progress has been very good for the last three days.  So much so that the group will be split into smaller teams on Thursday and tackle two more locations.  One is a house that needs underlayment for new flooring and the other is one that needs substantial cleanup.  Another possibility is installing basement windows in a third home. 

FPCJC folks provided dinner for us this evening and invited us to join them in worship.

The other ten of us were engaged in installing subfloor (All of it is now in place), finishing the installation of the drywall, sanding earlier coats of drywall compound, reinforcing a set of steps,hanging a bedroom door, and cleaning up the basement and yard from flood debris.  Each team got to spend some additional time with the owners of the two homes and share some more of their stories.  

After returning to FPCJC, we cleaned up and enjoyed a delicious meal prepared by Gay.  Worship was led by Kay.  There are two Kays, one Gay, one Ray, and two Johns on the trip.

Day 1 is just about history.  The day dawned sunny and cool and reached a high in the low 80′s during the afternoon.  This morning we all went to a house about 10 miles from Johnson City.  The house had experienced about 3 feet of water on the first floor during the flood of the Susquehanna.  We set to work on a variety of tasks.  Several folks began to install underlayment (luann) on the entire first floor (living room, entry hallway, bathroom, kitchen, and bedroom) while another group of folks began installing drywall in the bathroom.  A third group was putting an additional coat of drywall compound on various areas of the first floor while still another two men were pressure washing the outside of the house.  About midafternoon, five of us went to another house–back in Johnson City–and started to insulate and drywall a kitchen at that location.  While working there we met one of  the homeowners and he repeatedly expressed his gratitude for our help.  

We made good progress at both locations and returned to “camp” at The First Presbyterian Church of Johnson City (FPCJC) to clean up, eat, worship, and rest up for tomorrow when we will return to both houses for a continuation of today’s activities.  During dinner, the homeowner of the other house stopped by and introduced herself.  It turns out that she is a lay minister in the community and a member of the FPCJC.  she told us her story and repeatedly expressed her gratitude for our assistance.  

FPCJC was built in 1916.  It is a fairly large building with a membership of about 120.  Normal  Sunday attendance is about 70.  One member of the choir is 96 and still drives to church (as well as other places).  

That’s all for now.

Grace and Peace,

The Lakeside tribe

We all arrived safely in Johnson City about 6:30 PM after 11+ hours on the road.  We are staying at The First Presbyterian Church that dates to 1916.

We continue to have a full schedule for the day.  First stop, the Csonkapapi school. A young lady sang a beautiful song (Hungarian), followed by a group of Sr. High playing Ziteras, some pieces with singing. And the younger youth put on a skit about the environment and how it has been polluted, and working on cleaning things up and taking care of it. They were all very good.

Then off to Fornos, where a filtration system was installed last year at the school.  We visited with Ester and Szaboles and their two children. (Szaboles is a pastor.) They live next to the school and David and Mary Beth stayed with them during the installation and education sessions last year. We then went over to the school to talk with the principal and check on the system. The sediment filter did not look like it was being changed often enough. (There is a lot of iron and rust in the water and it builds up in the filters.) The filtration system is installed in the kitchen.) The children are taking home bottles of pure water (normally 2 liters). But the rest of the village has not been given access to the pure water. So there was some discussion around making the pure water more accessible. Not resolved, so will need to be followed up on. Lots of politics!

The neighboring lake’s water level is down quite a bit.

There are many greenhouses around, and in some cases so many that it’s pulling the water table down faster than its being replenished.

Note: most homes in the areas we have been have either their own well, or have access to a public well, but pure water has to be purchased.  He. Many of the homes (and schools) have outhouses, and in some cases I use that term loosely.

It was a beautiful drive to and from Fornos. The roads are terrible with lots and lots of pot holes. So you are constantly weaving back and forth across the 2 lane road trying to avoid pot holes, bicycles, people walking, horse & carts, and oncoming traffic. Joe handled it beautifully, while filling us in on history tidbits as we traveled. Plus lively conversation about our visit at the school. We saw our first storks looking for food in one of the fields being plowed.

Back to Csonkapapi to pick up Kathy and Attila and off in the opposite direction to Szaloka (Solovka) for dinner with Joseph and Ilona Batory. We first got a tour of their farm with lots of animals (chickens, doves, pigs, curly haired pigs, cows & a young calf, a couple of dogs, some kittens, and some farmland already planted (potatoes). Iona has a wonderful garden started. Dinner was a wonderful stew and fresh bread and an assortment of desserts (rolls with either a cheese mixture, poppy seed, or a walnut mixture). Lively conversation. Joseph and Judit (who was also at the dinner and was Mary Beth’s translator at Szernya) will be coming to the US in May to attend Clean Water U and Solar School. So much discussion on how to continue putting in water filtration systems and what would help in installation, education and follow-up.

Tired, but another good day!

Colder today – especially the wind. The geography is pretty flat with not a lot of trees. One person said it’s like the wind off the north pole with nothing but a barbed wire fence to stop it.

Since I’m finished with the education classes at Csonkapapi, I joined Mary Beth at Szerna for her third day. Livia also joined us, which was a most welcome addition. We got there 45 minutes early and there were already 20 plus kids already in the school waiting for Mary Beth in anticipation! All I can say is wow – 70 plus children and adults in a small classroom. MaryBeth ended up starting the class 15 minutes early. Scripture was the Baptism of Jesus (and remembering your baptism) followed by the either a small smooth stone for the small children or a glass bead for the older children, youth and adults. some songs and review and then outdoors to play some games and burn off some energy. We were able to split into 2 groups so the games were more age appropriate. Was fun watching both groups. (I played photographer during this time.). On to “The woman at the well” story and related activities and then making germs. We were able to split out into two groups after the bible story, so that helped a lot. Definitely an energetic group and a little more restless the last day.

The “celebration” for Szernya Roma school will be at 1:00 on Monday.

When we returned to Csonkapapi, Mary Beth and I walked over to the school to see how the filtration system installation, which was where David was working. They were close to being finished (or as Attila said – a few minutes more.) So we explored the school, which is first grade through ninth grade. Every time we checked in with Attila, he said “a few minutes more” – so we walked around town for a while.  (new mottos: “it’s complicated” and “a few minutes more”)

Joe spent the day learning how to make fresh bread (from scratch) and bake in an outside oven (wood fired) – which he brought back and shared several loaves with the group (which was very good!!!). He was excited and but tired. The other news was there were stork sightings.

We had dinner with Attila, Livia and the girls. (Cabbage rolls prepared by Livia’s mother.) Mary Beth, David and I hung out for a while and played Pictionary and Phase 10 (card game) with Livia, Deborah, and Leah.

Kathy spent the day traveling about and picking up Burkhard, who is the PCUSA mission liaison for Eastern Europe. After she picked up Burkhard, they went to the closest border crossing (Hungary to Ukraine), but it was closed, so they had to drive around to another border crossing. Very late night for them (and a long day for Kathy).

Another good day (even if it is complicated)

God is amazing!

After breakfast (Kathy made scrambled eggs), ham and sausage, fresh bread, juice and hot tea or coffee, Mary Beth, David, and Kathy were off to Szernya.

After some prep work for the afternoon class, we were off to explore Csonkapapi some more. This time we found a couple of side streets to wander down. It’s interesting watching people’s reactions as we wander through. We took a picture of a couple of Roma men with their wagon and horse. They stopped and chatted with for a short time and wanted for us to take another picture of them with their horse and wagon and me. They were quite pleasant. People put their unwanted items out (appliances, radioes, and other items) which the Roma people take away and seem to find a way to use. As we continued to walk we found one store and two bars, and a stork’s nest (located on top of an electric pole). The storks haven’t returned yet, but we are hopeful that we’ll get to see one before we leave.

There’s a lot of “trash” around, but from what I understand, the people of Csonkapapi are cleaning things up. (Yeah!) The canals / creeks have garbage around the edges and the wate is not very clean. Many homes still have outhouses, some have septic systems (which don’t work very well), and with some, the “dirty stream”is piped or flows directly to the canal / creek. We came across a public water well, (which was located in the middle of the street min a way that you had to drive around on one side or the other). Unfortunately, someone contaminated the well with motor oil (or something similar) and the well is no longer useable.

Day 3 of the education classes at Csonkapapi was our wrap up day. Before we started the session, Livia practiced with them the songs and poems they were going to do in church on Sunday. They sounded wonderful. We read the “Woman at the Well” for our scripture lesson followed discussion and the class doing drawings of their interpretation of what they heard. (John, chapter 4) We sang the songs we have been learning and reviewed when to use pure water and when it is not necessary to use pure water, including some games with true / false answers. They also made “germs” out of modeling clay. Most creative and a lot of fun, including the adults. They did quite well! We finished up outside with an activity where one person has glitter on their hand and then shakes the hand of the next person, and they shake the next person’s hand and so on. It’s amazing that 10 to 15 people down the line can still get the transfer of a few pieces (just like germs). Of course some had it on their faces or in their hair, or where ever they touched with that hand. Quite effective. The English teacher from Csonkapapi translated today, and did a great job. It was the first time she had worked with translated for someone that spoke English as their native language. Miriam also helped lead some of the activities and also did a great job.

The “celebration” at Csonkapapi will be on Monday during their mid-morning break.  They invited us to the school on Saturday, as they want to put on a program for us. I will certainly miss working with this group.  They are all wonderful!

Mary Beth had another good day at Szernya – I’m not sure how she does it with that many children across such a wide age range. The water filtration system is up and running! Yeah God!

We ate with Attila and Livia and the rest of the family and hung out for a while.

Another amazing day!!!

After a breakfast of fresh bread, ham or salami and cheese. Hot tea or coffee and great conversation, we’re ready for the day.  Kathy, David, and Mary Beth head for Szernya (both for the installation of their filtration system and their first day of the educational classes).

Joe helped me prepare for the afternoon class by painting the headings for the “hands on” banners, one in English and one in Hungarian.

Once we had finished preparing, we explored Csonkapapi for a while. Joe’s originally from Hungary so is full of all kinds of interesting historical and cultural facts. Everyone here has some sort of fence and it’s painted the color that represents their culture. There are benches outside most home’s fences so people can sit and visit. Cars were not used by the public in the Ukraine until the 1990′s (unless you are a government official) and it was the 2000′s before new cars arrived on the scene. We haven’t seen many cars, and most get around by walking or riding bikes. And there are still horse and carts / wagons. People are busy getting ready for spring, pruning back their grape vines (which almost everyone has) or preparing their gardens and / or fields for planting. Washing is hung out on lines to dry.

Day 2 of the classes went well. More children showed up. We learned about germs, washing hands and other interesting facts. One of the activities utilizes a UV light which shows where you missed getting the germs when washing your hands. It was priceless watching their faces and reactions, including the adults, when their hands were observed. It was such a hit we did it later on after they put their hand imprints on the banners with paint and then washed up. I do believe it got the point across. (hmmmmm maybe we should do this activity at home???) The kids (and adults) are fun, interested and engaged, which has enhances the experience.  Livia translated again and we’ve been having a blast. Miriam, her daughter, also helped us out today with some of the activities. (We missed having Mary Beth with us…….but we continued with the song she taught the group.)

Mary Beth and David got back to the group around 6:30. The system is pretty much installed at the Roma School. And Mary Beth had 73 show up for her class. (the school enrollment is 70). She had a lot of 3 to 5 year-olds. Sure made it challenging.

Livia’s mother cooked dinner for us…cabbage soup and spaghetti. It was good!! And of course the conversation is always spirited.

Our hosts – Attila, Livia, and their daughters, Miram, Deborah, and Leiah have been great!

It was a good day!