Raining buckets

Last Saturday night, the sky dumped buckets of rain on Guyana.

Guyana has two seasons...rainy and dry. See if you can tell which season we are in?

As we walked the 30 minutes to church Sunday morning which was across the river in Rosignol, I snapped these photos of the houses that had literally become islands for their inhabitants during the night.

Check out their smiles! Are they real or fake?

Can you see the sign that says, "Egg for sale"?

Out for a morning stroll?

This river is usually a street.

Aha! Here's the pig that I told you about that is usually feasting on the rubbish at the back of the Rosignol market. The rain didn't seem to get him down!

But down is exactly where this cow is...down in the trench. We're wondering how it is going to get out of here. Maybe it'll have to wait until the dry season comes in a couple of months.

He is calmly munching all that green foliage in front of him (is it a she?) and doesn't seem to realize he's in a bind.

And this enormous pig was running along side of us as we walked.

Later, that day we drove towards the elders apartment in New Amsterdam when we heard all the streets around their apartment were flooded and water was running through their apartment.

The elders' apartment is on the left. The water just came right through the front doorway.

People were walking everywhere through the water. Most people took off their shoes and went barefoot unless they had boots like this gent.

The elders all have boots that today weren't tall enough to keep them dry as they walked through Cow Dam.

We found Nanda and her daughters ankle deep in front of their house.

When I learned their entire apartment was ankle deep in water, I had to see for myself. Can you imagine how it was jumping out of bed in the morning with a splash? They left the whole mess behind and came to church. What do you think of that?

By Monday, we were getting very worried about what Jade and Travis' house was like. We knew their food and fuel supply were gone so we loaded up our bags, put on our boots and hiked back to their house to look for them.

Here I am trying to walk gingerly so as not to splash mud all over myself. Also, I was keeping my eye on that alligator trench that is just off to my right. It is the one I stepped right in and was up to my waist in muddy water.

The back view of me is better.

Burt had his arms full and when he arrived at their house and ...

Here's what it looked like!

Do you think they slept dry? The slats on the sides of their house fit about as close together as the logs did on the pioneer houses...and there is no glass in their windows.

We left our muddy boots on their front porch and went inside to unloaded our bags. I cried as I hugged and kissed her sweet always cheerful face.

She immediately began to share the bananas I had brought to them with her little brothers who live close by. I know that everything I bring them will be shared with them because they have so little to eat, also, and Jade is very generous.

When we turned to leave, Travis tried to arrange the submerged boards of the path to his house so Burt could find his way from their front step back to the path that was more like a river.

Then, he led him by the hand as he carefully walked the submerged boards.

Meanwhile, 13 year old Rudell, one of Jade's 5 little brothers, surfed the muddy waters while wearing only a shirt. I know for sure because I saw!

He was having the time of his life. Check out the muddy drips of water all over his face and hair!

We turned to leave and left the 3 of them smiling on their doorstep with Coolie, another of Jade's little brothers.

Oh, Rudell, you are just having too much fun!

Their water buckets were empty and there was nowhere to refill them until the waters subside.

As we trdged the 30 minute walk home, I realized how much those scratchy boots hurt my feet and ankles. But my heart was happy that we were there to help them. We love them as if they were our very own!