10.14.19 Tragedy in Yap

Rachelle Bergeron (Haemmerling), the Acting Attorney General, was killed at home last night after a run with her dogs. She is from the US and arrived in Yap in August 2015, shortly before I left. While we had little time together, she was a great help with the refugees and was committed to helping the people of Yap, especially women and children.

She married Simon Haemmerling in Yap almost one year ago. Simon is a pilot for PMA and works with Amos, our friend. Rachelle was planning on coming back to the US soon.

What a senseless loss of a good person. 

Here is the message from Amos asking for help to offset the costs of transporting her body back home. If you are so inclined, please consider helping. People like Rachelle and many others are instrumental in helping make this a better world for all of us. It is heartbreaking to see that violence causes that work to be finished all too soon.

Dear Friends of Simon and Rachelle,

Most of you have heard by now of the tragedy that occurred here last night.  The family has decided to bury her in the US.  This will come at a financial cost to Simon and Rachelle’s family. 

A friend of Simon, Joseph Adams, has set up a Go Fund Me.  If you are interested in helping them out financially, please click on the link below.

Thanks,

Amos

https://www.gofundme.com/f/rachelle-haemmerling-funeral-costs?teamInvite=kfYKLcl2fNED10CEi1SrlqXJWX9dd9fr9x7MJg2DjZZuIyM9FI3mjxQGpYUJDw85

Rachel is on the far right end.

This photograph was taken at my farewell dinner.




May you rest in peace Rachelle. And Simon, may you find peace in God's work.

07.21.19 Visit from Yap friends

This week I had a very nice visit from my friends that live in Yap, Heidi and Amos and their four beautiful children Tommy, Raina, Honora and Theo. It was great to see them again. The visit was all too short. They are on their vacation - one every three years from the mission in Yap. They drove over 3000 miles in three weeks visiting friends and colleagues and supporters. I was thrilled they made the time to stop here and see me.

They were interested in the Revolutionary War and were definitely in the right place. After lunch we first started at Bates farm for Kimball's ice cream then we were off for our road trip. The kids were great. They are fun and well behaved and very adventuresome.

Our first stop was the North Bridge in Concord - "the shot heard around the world" for American freedom. They spent some time talking to the park rangers and soaking up the history and the kids enjoyed the wide open space to run and play. From there we stopped at the Minute Man National Park and walked along Battle Road. The next stop was the Lexington Green and the old cemetery behind First Church. By this time we were hungry again and had a tasty dinner at Mario's in Lexington.  It was so very nice to see them all again and reestablish connections with all six of them  Theo was just a baby when I left so he would not remember me, but Tommy, Raina and Honora did. That made it special for me. And they all remembered Shorty, who was happy to see them again. They were very helpful in getting Shorty organized for his travels to Boston and they filled me in on some of the back stories of getting Shorty into his kennel.

Here is Amos, Heidi and Theo, Raina, Honora and Tommy (kids l to r).



North Bridge.




Monument - Minute Man and plough.

Theo                                                                        Theo and Honora

                     


Honora                                                                        Raina with a dragonfly


            

Raina                                                                   Tommy and Theo

             


Tommy                                                                   Raina and Honora

              




Climbing trees. Look closely. Honora is giving Theo a boost.

 

Minute Man National Park.               We found a turkey and the kids were watching three in the field.

  

Climbing trees was a frequent activity. They all were comfortable climbing! And Raina was wearing a skirt!



    

Theo and Amos were far ahead of us as we wandered through the old historic cemetery looking at gravestones. The oldest was from 1691.



It was sad to see them leave and I do hope we will all meet again sometime soon!  Amos is a pilot for PMA, a mission organization with headquarters in Guam. They provide a great service for the people of Yap. Heidi teaches Bible classes and home schools her children as well as several local children. They work hard, make do with little, and are a warm and loving family. May God always keep them safe in their travels and work.

06.12.19 Video of PMA Sea Search in Yap

My friend Amos, who is a pilot on Yap for PMA (Pacific Mission Aviation) received notice that an outrigger canoe that was sailing from Guam to Yap capsized.  Here is his video which shows the provision drops they made until a ship could rescue the three men.  You may be impressed by the precision of the supply drops and the safety equipment carried by the men on the outrigger.

The video is on YouTube. The link works by using the Control tab and click and a secondary link appears for you to click. It is a well made video that shows the men in their rafts waiting for a rescue. They are 400 miles off a remote island in the Yap State.

https://youtu.be/vyRYV7msqWs

04.17.15 Fais

Fais. What can I say. As much as I enjoy Ulithi, I really like Fais. It has warm and lovely people and a beautiful shore line which is treacherous to navigate and cliffs to climb to enjoy a spectacular view. It is also as hot as the dickens. And they continue with the nu-nu tradition (leis) which I also enjoy. A garland of sweet smelling flowers is such a treat.

This island  had sustained less damage, but is poorer than the Ulithi atoll. They remain in reasonable good health and I ate very well here. We had rice, pork, tuna caught that morning marinated in soy and a spice, and luncheon meat and sweet potatoes. They also prepare a drink of pounded coconut that is refreshing in this heat.

The water tanks were donated by the EU as a separate project. They must still be installed to a smaller tank (? I was told) and rain gutters are to be placed that will connect with this system. Hope I get to see the finished product, but this step was a long time in coming.

Sunrise near Fais.

Large water containers. I am always amazed at the resilience and resourcefulness of some people and places. The Micronesians, just like others that I have known, do not complain and simply get back to work. These containers are heavy yet the men just lifted them from the water and carried them to where they needed to be placed. And they still walked really fast when they carried the containers.

 

 

Melissa and Carlos.

Baptist Church from Yap volunteering on each island. They brought three chainsaws. This helped a lot. The islanders would have one very difficult time using a machete on these large trees.

Fresh tuna. Lunch.

Trees starting to turn green. This is a breadfruit that survived.

 

Clay showing his pictures. He came on the boat with us. As he is a local, he helped with everything.

Eli and Joshua cooling off before we head back to the ship. Yes, I was in there in all of my clothes. We were wet from just the boat ride, so why not?

 A pet bird.

Solar panel goes for $300.00.

Madeleina. She is a school teacher who helps me and makes sure I get fed and enough to drink. She is lovely.

 

04.17.15 health surveillance and recovery efforts: Mogmog, Fedrai (Ulithi atoll)

Mogmog is a very traditional island and Yapese men are required to wear a thu and women are required to wear a lavalava. Both genders are topless. With the destruction of the homes and pubic buildings, the ban on clothes has been lifted and both men and women are wearing shirts and hats for protection from the sun. In addition, the men now have nice heavy clothes to protect their hands from injury.
This was a good visit for us - they have a doctor here - Dr. Arthur, who is a very kind and helpful person. It was a pleasure to meet him.

Fedrai permits any type of clothes, women are very likely to wear a lavalava with a shirt, the men have mixed attire. Fedrai has no health assistant and the people depend on Dr. Arthur (Mogmog) or Mark (Falalop) for help with their medical needs. Dr. Arthur asked me to check on some, so I did.

Here are a few pictures from Mogmog:

The man on the left is Will, a Peace Corps volunteer teaching on Fais. He is helping with off loading the ship of supplies. Notice men with hats, shirts, gloves and one with a bandage on his ankle.

A Micronesian living in Hawaii who came home to help with the relief effort. He forgot his shirt and is really sunburned front and back. A very nice man whom I enjoyed a brief conversation. He used up all ofhis vacation time to help as well as all sick leave.

Hats and gloves and shirts are very helpful.

Melissa and Carlos setting up the tetanus shot dispensary. Yes, on the beach, under a coconut tree. In the shade and a breeze.

Love the hat, shades and thu. Modern and traditional.

Her home was destroyed but she still has a big smile.

Unharmed shrine.

Tetanus protection. He just received his injection.

 

 

Sun protection.

Cute little girl.

Couldn't resist looking for the puppies.

Americans are by nature very, very generous. There are donations on every island from Americans. These boxes include hygiene supplies. Wish USAID could provide some supplies to the asylum seekers - the menin the green boat. The best contributions are monetary so the needed supplies canbe purchased and delivered.

Fedrai:

Neighboring island to Fedrai. See the damaged trees. It is uninhabited.

Clarissa, a Peace Corps volunteer. She teaches in Fedrai and will stay there as her home is functional and the school is in session. Exccept, of course, when the ship comes to  shore.

It is not easy in a lavalava.

 Healthy and cute baby.

Men unloading the motor boat from the ship.

She is doing well and has her teddy bear. The children do not appear  tobe traumatized by the typhoon, but we will have to see what happens during the next storm. That  may be more telling. Right now, they are playing and doing normal childhood activities.

Trevor, my little buddy. He is my tour guide and helped dispense candies to the small children. When I gave Dixon (next picture) a task (distributing mosquito repellant) Trevor looked disappointed, so I had  to think fast. He was quite happy  as a tour guide and they both have givenme some very beautiful shells.

Clarissa, one of her students and Dixon, who wants to be a doctor. Hope he studies hards and makes the effort. Not an easy goal coming from the islands, but it is achievable.

Pink shirt and grass skirt, this young girl is hauling some supplies home.

 

 

Albert received his tetanus shot. Love Carlos with his head gear.

 

The Church was mostly undamaged. Roof remains intact.