Full Tilt for Team Two

Gina Johnson on Ian's birthday morning.

We begin with Gina at sunrise, thinking of her son Ian who is celebrating his birthday thousands of miles away.

25 Brazilian boys and girls, realizing it was Ian's birthday, sang Happy Birthday in Portuguese in honor of Ian and Gina.

Happy Birthday Ian!



The scene is placid, but apparently the river for Team Two is very different than it was for Team One. Here is the report from the boat:

We were in Manaqueri yesterday, a small town on the shore of the Rio Solimoes. This river is radically different than the serene Rio Negro. The current is much faster and the water roils disturbingly. Only an extremely strong swimmer would dare entering, for fear of being swept away. The color is a filthy brown and when combined with the choppy current we are unable to see any if the marvelous reflections that we so enjoyed on the Rio Negro. The best comparison I can propose is the Yellowstone at maximum spring run-off, but massively larger.

Tiago surfing the Rio Solimoes

Small and sometimes large islands of floating plants pass by in an endless parade of micro-ecosystems. They are mostly less than 4 feet in diameter, but some are 60 order feet across, with the occasional 4-5 foot trees growing atop.

Faster boat passing by

Very large boats pass by, going up or down the river. Those ascending stay near the shore while those descending ate 100-200 yards out. A huge propane ship passed last night, going downstream. When its wake hit us along the shore, the waves swept chairs off the deck near the kitchen and a squeegee mop, too. The fearless Jacare dove in to retrieve the chairs before they sank, but couldn't get back to shore because of the current. Ediny jumped into our small aluminum boat and rescued him. They even found the squeegee floating further downstream. 

The dentist, Tiago, caught some small catfish and Ben caught 2 on the ice fishing pole that he brought (hey, it packs well). Paulo's 12 year old daughter, Glenda, is new on this trip. She caught a very big catfish on a huge hook and handline.

The school boat

The vaccine team in the morning was Debbie Irby and Mignon. They became Cirque de Soleil stars, successfully navigating lengthy planks of just 4-6 inches for long distances with no handrail. Phil and Barb Borman were the afternoon crew. They waded in to their sites, often in thigh deep, muddy, moving water. Phil thought about the huge anacondas we'd seen in the zoo on Sunday. That motivated him to reach dry ground expeditiously.

John Hutcherson and Rodrigo ran the ever bustling eyeglass clinic. Ben and Sam joined Nathalia for teeth brushing demos, fluoride application, and then did arts and crafts. Gina Johnson and Patti Bonness were my medical assistants. Cathy Welliver and Judy Hutcherson organized the pharmacy, including 10 boxes of new meds that just arrived. 

Don wrote:

Medical work was very slow, maybe 14 patients total. A very good young doctor goes there every Monday, Rafaela Nunez. The town is in good health. She was also with us and will be back later in the week. Her birthday is the same as Phil's.

I  saw a 23 year old woman with leprosy changes all over her arms and flanks. Gina provided wonderful anxiety relieving strategies to a woman who couldn't control her nervousness after seeing a nephew bitten severely on the ankle by a piranha. She was the perfect person to see at the perfect time. Just try to imagine the phenomenal string of events that led to Gina being right there on exactly the right afternoon.

Very few children were there as well. School is out because the water is at its  doors. Mud surrounds it now, and they'll return in a month. 

Sounds like Team Two is embracing the challenge of rougher, muddier days and is already rolling with whatever comes up. Semper Gumby. You are in our thoughts and prayers as you bless those you encounter.

In the meantime, Team One is making their way home. Tim, Angela and Jenn were stranded in Brasilia for 24 extra hours. They had all day to tour Brasilia today which was very nice. But sounds like they are ready to be home.  Stay tuned to hear more from Team One via the blog when they are back with technology!