Alto Corrientes and Conambo - Mud Bath with a Ball Pt 1

Who doesn't like playing in the mud?

Who doesn't like playing in the mud?!  I realized rather quickly that mud transcends all cultures.  Whether you're north or south of the equator, the appeal of mud is universal.  What started out as a 45 minute PE class for these students turned into a mud marathon that left all so dirty that classes had to be suspended so that the kids could go down to the river and bathe.  What started out as a cornucopia of colored shirts turned into a sea of brown!  . . . But there were smiles all around.  We'd been in the village of Conambo for 2 days and it had rained most of the time, but none of this seemed to dampen the kids' spirits.

Welcoming committee from Alto Corrientes

It was my first trip to Conambo and one of the things that I remembered most was the sea of mud in front of the school building where we stayed.  Conambo was to be the last village that we'd see this week as we'd just arrived from Alto Corrientes.  As with the other 4 villages that we'd traveled to, we were going to see the Compassion kids and others that wanted a checkup.  I've mentioned in the past how each community seems to have its own personality.  On one hand there's Alto Corrientes, a small community that seemed very dysfunctional and on the other hand, Conambo, a vigorous community with strong Christian leaders.

Sara, myself, and Jonas

Our week began in Alto Corrientes, an Achuar village on the Rio Corrientes, about 35 minutes by plane from Shell.  Traveling with me were Jonas Lopez, a missionary with Compassion, and a family practice resident from Quito, Sara Zapata.  We were to stay for a couple of days and on the third day, fly to our next destination, Conambo.  Alto Corrientes is a small village with only about 8 to 10 families and about 12 children sponsored by Compassion.  There were, however. many more that aren't sponsored that we were able to see.

Why we do what we do. . .

I'd mentioned that I felt like the village was 'dysfunctional'.  What I meant to say was that there seemed to be alot of strife and apathy shown by its inhabitants.  Although we saw all 12 kids, it was almost like pulling teeth to have them come down to see us.  The parents didn't seemed to be interested in what we were doing or saying and were often absent.  While there, I found out that the Ministry of Education last year had actually closed the school down because parents weren't sending their kids to the schools and were mistreating the teacher that was living there.  It was now open again and Alto Corrientes was blessed with a new teacher who was from the community and had a heart for the Lord and the kids there.  I got to meet he and his wife and talk with them.  He's from Alto Corrientes and was eager to make an impact in his community.  What was truly gratifying was to find out that one of the reasons he was so eager was that HE had been a child sponsored through Compassion in the distant past.  He knew how important Compassion's ministry had been to him, and he wanted to be sure that the kids in Alto Corrientes received the same benefits that he had.  There is no pastor there and the person who'd led Sunday School classes for the community had left so he gladly volunteered to be the leader. 

Calixto and his wife

We did get to visit with the health promoter, who is also a believer and learned that he was having a hard time getting the people to come to Sunday School so I ask that you pray for this community.  I could feel that there was a spiritual battle going on there and many didn't realize it.  There are so many wonderful children there that need the continued presence of a Christian leader so please also pray for the Christian teacher there, 'Gustavo'.  More, later, from Conambo. . .

Oscar, my shadow most of my time in Alto Corrientes

Jonas, telling the story of Lazarus

Capt Chad Irwin in our taxi as we arrived in Alto Corrientes