HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2002-04-17, Page 16Back home
It was a happy homecoming for Lisa Pot as her husband
Freddy and their four children (clockwise from front left:
Rick, Ben, Jesse and Linaya) arrived at the airport to greet
her on her return from Venezuela. (Photo submitted)
saw a macaw with feathers in bright
red, yellow and blue. Toucans flew
overhead and huge orange and
purple bees buzzed alarmingly close.
We heard howler monkeys calling
through the trees, were snarled at by
super swift river otters, petted a
beautifully-patterned. ocelot, side-
stepped away from speeding iguanas
and stared for the next sighting of
freshwater dolphins which spouted
greetings to us each morning in the
river by the Smith house. Tarantulas,
alligators, giant catfish and
anacondas also Make their home in
-their rainforest and I was
disappointed not to have seen any of
them.
However, I did catch a piranha.
Helen and Digby loaded Linda and
I, their kids and three members of the
Maquiritari village (for a total of 12)
into their bongo (a dug-out canoe)
and we motored four hours
downriver to the campground.
Except, it's like no campground I've
ever seen! In the black of night we
arrived at a huge rock which led up
into the jungle and were told to
string up hammocks between the
trees and a few poles previous
campers had dug into the ground. I
just stood there, marvelling at the
Indian girls, who got right to work,
stringing up three hammocks in the
time it took met to get up one.
And I even had help. It was an
experience. Linda and I watched
Negro, the Maquiritari man, fish
with spears by the rocks. We were
told the Indian girls heard a jaguar
prowling across the river. The fire
was comforting after that bit of
information.
Yet, even as I write this trying to
make it sound like we were super
courageous, it wasn't at all
frightening. This is life in the
rainforest. People and wildlife
coincide comfortably. Helen and
Digby have learned that it is safe to
be out there and because of their
By Lisa B. Pot
Special to The Citizen
It was after I'd spent a night
sleeping in a hammock in the middle
of the jungle and before I caught a
Piranha in a tributary of the Orinoco
river that I wondered if I could be
anywhere more dangerous and still
feel so safe.
The Amazon rainforest is like that
— a study of contrasts. They confused
me, alarmed me and delighted me in
the 10 days I spent there with my
friend Linda VanWyk, of
Holmesville.
It was actually Linda's trip. She
wanted to go to see her sister Helen,
who along with her husband Digby
Smith and their three children are
missionaries with New Tribes
Mission in Venezuela. Helen and
Digby are in the support side of
missions. Specifically, they are dorm
parents, caring for the children of
Missionaries living with the tribal
people of the jungle. They
sometimes parent 15 children at a
time.
I was elated when Linda asked me
to tag along. I saw it as a great
adventure. And who wouldn't want
to spend time in the tropics in
February.
It took four planes to reach
Tamatama where the Smiths live.
The last plane was a small six-seater
that carried us two hours over solid
jungle, broken only by the winding
curves of the Orinoco River. We got
out of the plane to thick heat, biting
gnats and the smiling faces of
Linda's family. We would leave the
same way, except our skin was
browner and we looked like we had
a severe case of chickenpox from all
the gnat bites.
The rainforest is an amazing place.
It is rich in colour. The flowers are
never dull. They bloom in vivid reds,
yellows, oranges, pinks and purples.
The birds are equally colourful. We
By Kay
Lapp
Call
526-7264
The Municipal Council of Huron East
would like to congratulate the
Brussels Optimist Club
for their very successful
Jaws of Life Fundraiser
Your community spirit is greatly appreciated.
Mayor & Council
Municipality of Huron East
PAGE 16. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17, 2002
Woman finds Amazon a study in contrasts
Another world
A Yanomamo woman carries a load of yuca through the village.
a satellite dish hanging off the side.
Apparently, a politician has flown
into the jungle and bought votes by
promising the natives television.
Several huts sported dishes. Yet
dishes for eating are scarce. We
visited the hut where the woman
make cassava, a staple of their diet.
Bible Study was held at
Londesboro United Church on
Tuesday, April 9. The books of
Samuel are being studied. The
meeting for this week will be held at
Goderich Place.
WI members will have dinner at
Stickers Restaurant this Wednesday.
Mrs. M. Bean has invited members
to her home following the meal.
Betty Archambault has invited the.
Walkerburn Club to her home for the
meeting on Monday, April 22.
The Lions Club served an
enjoyable breakfast of pancakes and
Robinson's maple syrup at Auburn
Community Hall on April 14.
Children and Violence
• The average teenager will have
seen 18,000 murders on TV by the
time he or she finishes high school.
• The greater the levels of exposure
to TV violence, the more children
are willing to use violence as a
solution to conflict and to perceive it
as effective.
confidence, we felt safe as well. I
only felt fear the next day after
catching the piranha. This foot-long
fish .wasn't frightening, despite his
red eyes and razor-sharp teeth. It was
going swimming with the Smith kids
in the same spot where I caught the
fish that made me nervous. But I did
as they did — made lots of splashing
noises to scare the piranha away.
The nature was extraordinary. I
would sit on the rocks watching the
sunrise in the mornings and could
not help but praise God for making
this remarkable place. It is an
absolute feast for the eyes and the
ears — the jungle is alive with
symphony of sound.
Also extraordinary were the
people — missionaries and tribesmen
both. Helen and Digby have found
contentment in the jungle, and I'm
not talking in the trees. I'm talking
about the jungle inside their house,
raising other people's teenaged kids!
They have formed deep relationships
with these kids, guiding them
through their lives with Godly
wisdom and encouragement.
It's a busy life for them. Helen
spends hours cooking, cleaning and
building relationships with over a
dozen people. Digby contributes as
well, and is also in leadership for the
mission base of Tamatama, which is
home to several missionary teachers,
support staff and over 40 missionary
kids. Yet, they still made time to
show us around the jungle.
Besides the camping trip, they
took us through three tribal villages.
We visited the Maquiritari village
first. Here, we saw the most dramatic
contrast of all — a palm roof hut with
Warning Signs of
Kidney Disease
• High blood pressure
(hypertension)
• Puffiness of the eyes, hands
and feet
• Passage of bloody, cloudy or
tea-coloured urine
• Presence of protein in the urine
• Excessive foaming of the urine
• Frequent passing of urine
during the night
• Passing less urine or difficulty
passing urine
• Fatigue
• Loss of appetite or weight
• Persistent generalized itching.
— News Canada
It is made from the yucca root, which
is peeled, ground and then drained
because the juice is filled with
strychnine.
We saw jungle gardens while
walking up to the Piaroa tribe. The
women have huge gardens by their
village and deep in the jungle where
they grow yucca, squash, tomatoes,
plantains, bananas and pineapples.
They weed with machetes. We saw
women coming back from their
gardens, their bongos loaded with
baskets of plantains and yucca. They
would then carry these enormous
baskets wrill a strap wound around
their foreheads while the men
followed behind, carrying only a
machete.
The last tribe we visited was the
most traditional. It was a village of
Yanomamo. These people are
considered the most primitive,
culturally intact tribe in the world.
The village we went to was showing
signs of westernization, since
villagers do trade with the
missionaries upriver. However, we
saw women weaving, homes with no
windows or furniture, and kids and
some adults unclothed.
A Yanomamo-speaking
missionary does hold church
services in this village each Sunday
and many of the villagers joyfully
attend. However, others are still
bound by their belief in spirits, living
in fear of displeasing the evil spirits
and incurring their wrath.
I felt honoured to be given the
chance to see how these people live
and I did take pictures. But I
struggled with it. I felt like an
intruder and worried I might be
exploiting their "differentness". So
when I talk. about them, or show
pictures of them, I want to encourage
people to appreciate their uniqueness
and their ability to survive so cannily
in the jungle. Most of all, I want to
encourage people to pray for the
spiritual and physical Well-being of
these amazing people. Also, to pray
for the missionaries who witness to
them that they may find that delicate
balance of teaching them about new
life in Jesus Christ without
destroying their culture.
It was among these people I saw
another interesting contradiction. A
Yanomamo man came to Helen's
house. He was wearing a 'wana', a
kind of Yanomamo tool kit in which
they keep their arrow tips and
firemaking sticks. We asked him to
open his up and out came a box of
matches. Some modern practices
really are handy.
The biggest contrast was in me. I
went there with no desire to ever
become a missionary. I left desiring
to be one. Not in the jungle, but here,
among my own people. Perhaps
that's what I am trying to do with
this story. I want you to see another
part of God's creation and be
amazed, like I was. I•want you to
hear about the Yanomamo and feel a
kinship with them, like I was. I want
you to discover _the adventurous
spirit within yourself, to go out and
experience life, always being open to
what God is teaching us through the
world and its people, like I did.
This -is just a start for me. Most of
you are farther ahead in your mission
work, whatever it may be, thari I am.
It's an adventure in itself, isn't it?
(Photo submitted )