Monday 30 March 2015

Bob The Builder.. Can He Fix It?

In reporting on the last month, I completely forgot the most amazing months the preceded. So here it is!

In New Amsterdam, our KH is old and really in need of a makeover that not even Trinny and Suzannah could manage. So, the decision was taken to bulid us a new one - thank you people who make decisions!!! We love you.

Guyana, due to their circumstances, comes under the Lands of Limited Resources (or Lands with no Money) arrangement. I never really appreciated the enormous love that is behind this arrangement until now - to all of you that contribute to the building work funds (you can tell I don't, as I don't know the name!), a huge THANK YOU. There is no way that we would have been able to raise the money to build such a beautiful building. We will look after it, we promise.

The arrangement in Guyana is that there is a team of ten bros and sis who travel around and work full time building halls. That is easier said than done when there are three roads in the country and no way of transporting through the country other than river-ways and planes. These guys are truly self-sacrificing and took me back to my Bethel days with their Kingdom Smile and persistent energy that obviously comes from other sources, not the rice that we perpetually seemed to eat.

Before the project I honestly had no plans of going to the build, as I am completely useless both practically and physically. As most of you know, I can't swing a hammer and even if I could, my arm would fall off. As the project neared however, there was so much encouragement for pioneers to get involved and get fully engaged. Again I resisted, but Dillon - our resident Paramedic American Dude - had to leave the country so I was asked to take over First Aid overseeing, which meant my being on site every day!!! Noooooooooo. Well, like the big fish and Jonah, so First Aid was with me... and thankful I am.

I have had the most fulfilling and physically grueling months prior to this trip to Qatar. Like Bezalel, my useless skills were transformed into Master Builder status - cough, cough. And my decrepit form was transformed into... well, I could swing a hammer at least. Actually I felt like a man-renewed for the first couple of weeks, but me being me, over-did it completely and ended up completely crippled and needing more First Aid than I was administering. The team were so kind though and never made me feel inferior or incapable (well, hardly ever Touissant!). It has been an absolute privilege.

Sadly, due to this work commitment I had to leave just as the paint was going on the walls. I hear the final work has been done and when I touch down on Wednesday, a new hall will be ready and waiting, eager for the first meeting - the Memorial!

Enjoy the pics:

The land was donated by a family in the hall. This represents weeks of prep work and the only time we benefitted from the use of a machine to shift ANYTHING!

Yep that's me...

Learned new skills: leveling sand; tying steel; staying awake on security; and bending ;)

Best overseer in the world! Like, ever!

This sis came to site EVERY DAY of the build and worked like the best of 'em

Health and Safety? Nah!!! I was up here shortly after.

The sisters were an absolute joy throughout 

Love this photo! We were involved (endlessly) in the Ransom, which is the mixing of concrete - concrete, stones and sand with water. Was back breaking work but everyone got involved and kept going morning till night

When the food just doesn't hit the spot in the kitchen... Run away for basically a KFC (Churches).  Luke was hanging his head in shame

In just 6 weeks there was a roof!

Rain or shine... 

The sister on the right is deaf and came every day to site. When she wasn't lifting and shifting, she was cooking in the kitchen. She was a mainstay of the build.

Progress...

Crystal worked almost every day in the kitchen as her husband was the overseer of catering. When she came to site though, man did she work!

Paul from Ghana, who lives in Guyana! Not only a man-mountain but also an artisan

Me and Dillon holding something... Yeah I learned nothing... I used it though!

And there she was when I left!

Here There and Everywhere...

So once again, I am rubbish… It seems all my blogs start with this. Perhaps my blogs should be quarterly or annual event!

It has been a weird few months - full of disruptions: welcome and unwelcome, necessary and unnecessary. Once again I have found myself half-way across the world in the Middle East, in what is fast becoming my second/third/fourth home. Returning this time has been a lot less of a challenge and has been familiar in many ways. The crazy sights of Doha, the dry heat and sand in the throat and the sounds and smells of the souq (market) are now home-from-home.

This time I have been the guest of the British Council - a charity organisation that works to teach people English in far-flung places. They were hosting a conference and my client was the project manager for the whole thing. They have been the most gracious hosts; giving me an apartment (rather than staying with client) and every kind of subsistence allowance possible to ensure I was not out of pocket. This has been a real blessing as there wasn’t too much in the account to pay for taxis and lunches etc.

Staying in an apartment has afforded me a much greater freedom than before, so I have been able to meet up with ‘friends’ a lot more regularly than previous times. This has definitely kept me more balanced and my head has stayed above the water of insanity. They are an amazing bunch here who manage to keep their zeal despite not being able to meet or operate freely. I wish I could tell you their stories, but alas, I can’t for reasons of prudence. Their enthusiasm for the ‘cause’ and their endurance is honestly amazing and many of the ones who come from other countries are having experience comparable to us in Guyana, despite the circumstances. I wish I could have been out with them more in the Field, but again, due to security I wasn’t really allowed to. Fond memories tho.

Here are some pictures of the last month:


I had the privilege of being involved in a wedding of a lovely couple out here. I even got a buttonhole for my efforts :)

Food!!! I love curry and was nice to have some proper Indian fare.

Brunch is a tradition here in Qatar - a left over from the British. I had to sacrifice and have all you can eat glorious food and free champagne for 4 hours.

My good friend Stephen took me out for a desert trip in his buggy. Was hilarious, almost as much as what he was wearing. We invested in some local scarves, which we were thankful for - that sand whipping across really hurts!

I don't know what I was doing there...

Oh yeah... we are cool ;)

Typical lunch here - really healthy grub with four foot of bread!!!

Can you see it? I didnt try it!

The souq!

Yeah, these guys were laughing at what I was wearing...

Steve bought a guitar -this guy has mad Irish musical leprechaun skills

Doha, from the MIA Museum

Like a Boss!

The happy couple! And a sword!

 

Thursday 4 December 2014

Back To Guyana I Go...

Ok, well I wrote this last week - better late than never:

After four weeks of business suits, stifling heat and crazy driving in Qatar, it is back to business suits, stifling heat and crazy driving in Guyana! See what I did there. 

Four weeks of working has come to an end and now I get to escape back to the ‘real’ life in Guyana. Qatar has been fun, don’t get me wrong, but it is a surreal place and just non-stop when it comes to work. People don’t live in Qatar for the heat, the food or the culture - they move here because it is a tax-haven, they get amazing bonuses and the salaries are about twice or three times the norm. So, of course, what do people do here? Work. Work. Work.

Go play golf and talk about work. Go to the restaurant with people and talk about work. Art gallery? Sure, lets go with work people and meet with the director and arrange… Blah blah. Its just never ending. Weekends are for wimps, evenings for pansies. People come here and work their little booties off for two years and then get out of Dodge as quick as they can with a little nest-egg in their pockets.

It has been nice though - a little trip abroad, some good food and no humidity (no mossies!!!), change of scene - but I am done now. I have spent some time with a lovely bunch of people but I sadly can’t tell you a lot about that due to political reasons. People’s lives are really interesting here, especially those who are in the same ‘club’ as we are. Its funny seeing 24 year olds driving around in porches and BMW’s and using platinum cards. Despite that, they are trying to keep themselves in the ‘club’ and do their best.

Ill put a few pics up when I get back to the apartment. I fly out tomorrow - 32 hours from Qatar to Guyana and then a 4 hour drive to my house. Ugh… Later people. Hope all are okay.  x


Griffin

Sunday 26 October 2014

Just Found This...

Its an old blog post about Robin!

http://griffdoesguyana.blogspot.com/2012/10/going-extra-mile.html 

So nice reading that and saying that I am going to leave it in Jehovah's hands... He has very good hands and this weekend was the proof!

Off for a lil rum now

Two Cool Things...

Hey all

September saw the arrival of two Scottish lads - Tim and Simon - who are going to be keeping me company for a little while. Actually, Simon was here for two-odd weeks as he has a wedding to be getting on with and this was his last hurrah with Tim. Tim, though, hails from the same congregation as my mum and brother and is staying until December. It was so lovely having some British (they are getting annoyed when I refer to everything as 'English') banter in the house and some real ripping of each other apart. Sounds strange but when you are trying to be ever-so-polite all the time to the locals or trying to navigate the cultural and satirical differences between us and the Americans, well, some Britishness is a welcome shot of reality.


So... Cool Thing Number One...

We have just enjoyed our new one-day Circuit Assembly. As with everything, Jehovah has been very kind in reducing the two-day to a one-day. The talks were on the mark and everyone was really fresh and eager. It also makes the interpreting a lot easier with half the talks!

This was a very special assembly for me because we saw Robin get baptized. My instagram followers all know Robin's face as I have had the pleasure of studying with him for the last 6 months or so. I have known him for the last 3-odd years, as he has been studying since he was young. He is Deaf and has been supported and helped by so many different brothers and sisters over the years. Due to some family problems, he stopped coming to meetings last year and got into the worldly Deaf scene. We didn't give up though and gradually he saw the friends he had for who they really were and asked me to re-start his studies... well, since then he has been on fire and yesterday saw the culmination of all his hard work and Jehovah's spirit. He is going to be an amazing elder! Since becoming a publisher, he hasn't reported less than 40 hours in a month and he has several active RVs on the ministry. He is a pleasure to be around for all of us and we all fight over who gets to work with Robin, as on a study you can just sit back and he can do it all. The real work starts now for him, but he will do it with a smile on his face, I am sure.


Robin 3 years ago when I first went on his study...



So nice seeing these two getting on and DZ signing to Robin

The obligatory shot

The YES

The BREATH

The TEARS
Bro and Sis

Eeny Meeny Miney Mo...






And Cool Thing Number Two...

We took a trip to Kaieteur Falls (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaieteur_Falls), which is one of the wonders of Guyana. Its claim to fame is that it is the world's tallest single drop waterfall and is four times higher than Niagara Falls (thanks wiki). Its actually something that most Guyanese wouldn't get to visit, as it is nestled deep in the interior and you have to take a flight to get there. Over the last 3 years I have booked it 3 times and each time was cancelled... At last!

So, tickets bought, off we went, with Denzel and Michael along for the ride. It was their first time in an airplane and they loved it!



Enjoy the photos. Im off to Qatar again on Thursday for some work, so will have some pics to share I am sure. Here it is the start of rainy season and mosquito month so will be glad to be out of the country for a couple of weeks.

Later!

Tim doesn't seem to understand why we ask him everytime he is heading out the door what he is going to wear... "Whaaat" is his usual reply...
Michael didn't know what to make of this stripey Care Bear and the guy with the weird hair




Proof



A determined tourist

Sponsored by Apple

Yep... they are tall

These boys got all artsy

Ignoring the 'stay ten feet away from edge' signs

This was our plane - 13 seater, including the co-pilot seat. I wanted Denzel to get the co-pilot seat but some Dutch man nabbed it.

They let you get right up to the edge - not at all like Niagara!

DZ showing off his country like a good Amerindian

Hoping to kick-start his modeling career


Michael got on with these two too well

Pretty chuffed

Playing it cool on his first ever time in a plane


The rainforest was as beautiful as ever

They fly you around the falls to get pics and stuff and then you land and walk to viewing sites

Good day all round... Special memory