March 2011

We were hosted by our friends Cam and Kinari Webb who made our time in Indonesia very memorable.  Cam is a rain-forest ecologist who does research and also teaches field courses for students from Harvard.  Kinari is the founder of Health in Harmony and is a doctor and visionary who oversees the work of HIH.  They have been our friends for over 15 years and it was a pleasure to see their work first hand.

Our minds are full of impressions and things we want to remember as we return home from Indonesia. Here is what we saw and did during our time in Borneo.

Regina, Brent and Erin Beidler with Dr. Kinari Webb on the docks in Pontianak, the gateway city to fly through into Borneo

Gunung Palung National Park – The work of Health in Harmony is focused on the villages that surround this 200,000-acre national rainforest park, which is home to 10% of the world’s remaining orangutans. This forest is the watershed for 60,000 people and is an important and challenged resource. Illegal logging is monitored in the park and although there are incentives to not log it continues unabated. We saw several factors that impacted the continued logging.

• West Kalimantan (regency or equivalent to our states) was recently divided in two with Sukadana (where clinic is located) as the new seat for one of those halves. This has created a bit of a building boom and, in the absence of Home Depot, wood is needed for building.
• Birds Nest Soup is a delicacy in Asia with premiums paid for the bird nests. Local folks have discovered that 3 story swallow houses can be constructed and insulated providing cool habitats for swallows that allow them to harvest the nests. People are paid $1500/kg which is huge money compared to what they earn in the local economy. These houses are mushrooming up everywhere and are taking building materials plus making an undetermined impact on the local swallow population.
• People continue to run into huge medical care bills for care at hospitals outside of the clinic. These bills are way out of whack with what people earn and what they can pay. For instance, one woman had some complications after a c- section that required her family to cut down 90 Durian trees (averaging 30-50 meters or 100-150 feet tall) to pay the bill. Trees are part of a family’s savings account and people often destitute themselves in order to pay for medical care.

We heard from Cam that rainforest trees grow, on average, 2 mm per year. If you figure out the replacement time for first growth forest we are talking hundreds of years. Conservation efforts are happening but the impact will be long term rather than short term.

We had the chance to go hiking in the forest one weekend. We traveled 45 minutes by motorbike to the trailhead and then had a two-hour hike up to a camping spot. The first third of the hike was moderate hiking and we were lucky to spot an orangutan high up in a tree- a rare spotting. The second third was up more steep terrain with some scrambling required. The final third was aided by knotted ropes that one could use to pull oneself up. We were glad to get to the top at dusk and spent the night in a treehouse listening to the night noises of the forest. We also saw red leaf monkeys, gibbons, a hornbill and lots of insects and plants that showcased the diversity of the forest. Coming down was much easier and we were able to admire the series of waterfalls that flanked the trail.

The big question that underlies much of the rainforest conversation is the difference between our first world mentality about maintaining forests for future generations which is undergirded by our ability to financially meet obligations in other ways and the developing world thought of needing to meet family needs today and the opportunities that exist to benefit families in the present rather than unknown opportunities in the future.

Health in Harmony – ASRI – The centerpiece of Health in Harmony is providing high quality, low cost health care to the people in the region with alternative means of payment available to all. Since its beginning in 2007, HIH has seen 17,000 patients for 25,000 patient visits. All of this in a very modest building with a very dedicated staff. Plans are underway to begin construction of the hospital, which is the next step. This will allow additional services to be provided long term at a local level and with better results than at the national health care service. Two cases we heard about the first day illustrate the success and continuing challenges faced by HIH. In one case a woman came in with very high blood pressure. She was quickly examined and by afternoon’s end had things well in hand. In the absence of HIH’s clinic she would not have had access to this easily managed issue. The same day a 22-year-old woman with three young children came in and was determined to have uterine cancer. The current facility has no ability to do endometrial biopsies (lab not available for testing) or to perform a hysterectomy. The woman currently has the choice to go to a national hospital but we were told care would probably run about $5000 – well beyond what she can afford. In effect, she has a death sentence because care is not available to her. When the hospital is complete this issue as well as many others can be dealt with locally and affordably. If anyone wants to make a big difference to the long-term health of the residents served by Health in Harmony money sent to the hospital fund raising campaign is a great idea. In spite of all of this we can say that the health care program at HIH is a raging success.

Ancillary programs at HIH – A number of other programs compliment the mission of affordable health care and rainforest conservation.

• Organic Farm Training – The use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides and slash and burn agricultural techniques were and continue to be quite common in Indonesia. HIH has done and continues to do organic farm training and the results are very encouraging. Most of the farm training relates to vegetable production and residents are not only seeing improvements in their soil but also are finding markets for additional vegetables to be very profitable even without a premium price.
• Goats for Widows – Widows were identified as a very vulnerable group and a program was instituted to give goats to widows. The first two kids and 5 bags of manure are returned to the program to be shared with other widows, which will ensure the program’s continuation. Most of Brent’s time and some of Regina’s was spent at trainings held for these widow groups to talk about what is going well and what challenges they are facing. The age of the widows ranges from very young to women in their 60’s. They were delightful and Brent found that many had found good solutions to issues and were willing to share with each other. The conversations were lively and as always, with animal husbandry, good nutrition, clean housing and access to shade and water go a long way in ensuring good health. We were able to visit a number of widows at their homes and they were happy to show us their animals and their areas. Scabies is the main health concern and Brent helped to access Ivermectin for the worst cases where animals were in danger of dying as well as starting some experiments with local leaves and remedies that could be advantageous in addressing scabies if caught early. The manure from these goats is an important element in compost and the organic farm training.
• Reforestation – There is a sobering PowerPoint slide that shows the massive deforestation of Borneo in the past 50 years from almost complete rainforest cover to almost none. One of the alternative methods of payment for health care is seedlings, which are then used for replanting areas that have been cleared. Unlike the states where trees grow back in areas that are untended an invasive grass comes in to dominate instead. This grass is not edible by animals unless grazed at a very tender stage so it takes over with no advantage to anyone. HIH has replanted 20 acres so far with 38,000 seedlings and will continue the intensive long term work of continuing to replant areas that have been cleared. We were lucky to be at a Green Day celebration at the current reforestation site about 2 hours from Sukadana where 200 local residents came out to plant that day and to celebrate the current work being done. Local buy in from communities is essential to the continued success of reforestation.

Regina, Brent and Erin with Cam Webb

Other experiences and thoughts –

The end of many days brought a swim in the South China Sea – a 10-minute walk from Cam and Kinari’s house. The water was perfect bathtub temperature and after hot and humid days was a refreshing way to end the day.

The last evening Cam took us out in their dugout canoe. It was an interesting experience – tippier than a Western canoe and low in the water with 4 of us in it. Another interesting way to see the islands just off of Sukadana.

Cam and Kinari’s house has been made very comfortable. Rural Indonesia has electrification and although power outages are common most of the time there are lights and fans to keep one comfortable. We have photos of their house and bathroom facilities if anyone is REALLY interested in those.

The people of Indonesia are warm and welcoming. We were treated with great kindness and will always remember the people. Days started at 4 am with the calls to prayer (multiple mosques in town) and had a rhythm that was very fluid and warm.

Our last two days we spent in Singapore which we appreciated on a basic level for regular bathrooms, hot showers and air conditioning. We have to say that it is an AMAZING city, spotless, high tech and manicured to an inch of its life. It has the highest per capita income in the world and you can tell. We spent one day at the Singapore Zoo, which is unparalleled. Many animals are minimally contained so one can literally almost reach out and touch the animals. The orangutan exhibit in the middle of the zoo allows the orangutans to traverse the area by climbing along vines and nets above your head as you watch.   Health in Harmony is working in cooperation with a comic book that talks about deforestation and the impacts on environment and health.   Sales of this will benefit HIH’s work.

Visit Health and Harmony at http://www.healthinharmony.org/

In the little village of Taftsville, Vermont,  anyone out and about early on EASTER MORNING may notice a small cluster of pilgrims silently carrying a large wooden cross up the hillside behind the Chapel.   They may even hear strains of familiar Easter hymns echoing through the valley.

Each Easter morning for nearly 30 years, we have gathered at the Chapel for our sunrise service, or Resurrection Walk. We take turns, usually two at a time, shouldering the heavy cross as we make our way up the road. We stop from time to time to join our voices in song,  to meditate on the scripture story,  and to share the burden of bearing the cross.   It is a quiet and solemn journey, reflecting on our Lord’s burden on our behalf.

As we read of Jesus sealed in the tomb, we reach the end of our walk, and pause. Then, we read of the women on Sunday morning who found the tomb empty, and we turn around to the sunshine.  The  glorious valley opens out before us in the fresh morning light and we joyfully proclaim  “Lift Your Glad Voices!”   He has risen indeed, and we shall not die!  It is a joyful journey back down the hillside,  to enjoy a hearty breakfast and fellowship together, and gather for our regular worship service at 9:30 a.m.

This Easter morning, April 24, we will be leaving the Chapel at 7:00 a.m.  for our traditional Resurrection Walk.   We hope all who are able will join us for this special time together.

STATEMENT OF FAITH

 We believe God is the Creator and Master of all things.

 We believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God and displayed all the fullness of God in human form.

 We believe that Christ’s coming announced the Kingdom of God; His death on the cross paid the penalty for our sin; and His resurrection makes sure both our present freedom and our future hope.

 We believe each individual must personally accept the salvation offered by Christ, and show that decision by repentance and baptism.

 We believe God’s Holy Spirit gives life, direction and wholeness to everyone who receives salvation.

 We believe the life of the Lord Jesus and the Word of God (the Bible) reveal the truth of God, and are our guides for daily living.

 We believe that the Church is the Family of God with Christ as the head, where all members are called to share their love, time, possessions and spiritual gifts.

 We believe Christ will come again to fulfill the Kingdom and bring his people into eternal joy in the world to come.

MEMBERSHIP COVENANT

As members of Taftsville Chapel Mennonite Fellowship
We covenant to:

 Live a life of simple obedience to the will of God.

 Open ourselves to the guidance, direction, instruction and encouragement of the Holy Spirit to conform us to the image of Jesus Christ.

 Be willing to be used for the strengthening of the Body of Christ, including the willingness to boldly tell others of salvation in Christ.

 Labor together in understanding and meeting human needs in our local community and in our world.

 Refrain from the use of violence, and be peacemakers in our time.

 Regularly meet together for worship, study, prayer and encouragement.

 Give systematically and generously of our financial resources, our time and our spiritual gifts.

 Annually renew our commitment to Jesus Christ and affirm our covenant with one another.

Last week we spent the entire week on one electrical upgrade for a 42 year-old woman with cerebral palsy. Virginia is confined to a wheelchair, but is trying to live on her own, and in her own home. She is unable to work and has a yearly income of less than $8K a year. Our first task was to upgrade her electric service panel. (where the power comes in at the meter) The existing panel was very likely the original – which would make it 60 years old. The box had only two screw-in fuses and only 12o volts. One of the things Virginia had hoped for was an electric cooktop, so that she could reach the controls and the pans from her wheelchair without reaching over the flame of her gas range. Because she didn’t have 240 volts required for a cooktop we had to first upgrade her system. Some of the wiring was so old that when we removed the old panel the insulation on the wires going into the house just crumbled, and when we tried to reenergize the lines, the new circuit breakers tripped. That meant half a day of repairing the old wiring, which was inside the concrete block walls.

Since the walls were concrete (and houses don’t have basements down here) Eli ran the wires for the new cooktop on the outside walls through metal conduit, then through the wall into the kitchen. First she fitted and attached the conduit, and then we had to pull all the wires through. Scott was able to find a used cooktop (donated) and another CHRPA worker came and installed the cooktop in a new countertop.

Since the electric service panels in Arizona are installed outside (and are usually 6 feet high) Virginia would not have been able to reach the circuit breakers, so we installed a “sub-panel” in her bedroom wall, low enough that she can reach the breakers from her wheelchair. That job was probably more complicated than the new outside panel since every circuit had to be rerouted through conduit and into another new panel mounted in an interior wall in the house. When the work was done and our mess cleaned up, Virginia allowed us to take a picture of her with her new cooktop. (She was practicing her stirring)

This week we started another upgrade for a young couple in South Tucson. They are trying to work on their home themselves and are doing a nice job, but the electrical system had been “monkeyed with” and was beyond his ability (or finances) to correct. We started that job yesterday and reached the inspection stage today. Assuming that our work passes we will return late tomorrow to begin connecting the existing wiring to the new service panel. Just so you understand what I’m talking about every time I mention a “service panel”, here’s a photo of one of our earlier jobs:

This afternoon we went to look at our next upgrade that we’ll begin tomorrow morning. The family currently has no gas to their home, and consequently no heat – and from what we saw, it’s doubtful that their furnace would have worked anyway. That seems insignificant after my mention of 80* temps, but earlier in the winter months the temperatures can get into the 20s and teens, and homes here, especially those of the people we work for, are poorly insulated, if at all. A leak was discovered in the gas line (imbedded in the concrete floor) and they didn’t have money to have it repaired, so the gas company shut off the gas and removed the meter. CHRPA will soon be replacing the gas lines AND the furnace. The family’s water bill was in arrears, and so the water was shut off too. A “good Samaritan” (sort of) neighbor, came by and turned the water main back on for them, but the water department discovered the “good deed”, and now the water has been shut off again and a lock placed on the main. That problem will have to be addressed by the family. So at the moment the family has no gas, no water, and a dangerously defective electrical system…AND a leaking roof. So Eli and I will repair the electrical problems, CHRPA will repair the gas line and replace the furnace, and CHRPA will contract with a roofer to replace the roof.

About three weeks ago we worked for Melvin, who lives in a very old mobile home, also without heat, and with only an extension cord run in his bedroom window for power, and to run an electric heater. Our “nightmare scenario” here is hearing the client tell us that a neighbor down the street “who knows a lot about electricity” came and tried to repair his electrical problems. That always sets our teeth on edge. Well it seems that Melvin’s “friend” came by to repair not only the electrical panel, but also the furnace. He tore into both, got in over his head on both, and then left – never to return. Melvin said his furnace hadn’t worked for over 5 years! And more than half of the plugs and lights in his home hadn’t worked for about the same period. Eli and I tackled the electric and found it beyond repair, and so we replaced the entire electric panel, and the feed into the home. When we were done and began turning on the new circuit breakers Melvin walked around the house and kept repeating: “I can’t believe it…I can’t believe it.” You mean THIS works now? My microwave will work? The lights work? Later the next week Tim, one of the staff workers, replaced the furnace with a new one. Then he replaced Melvin’s front door. The work request that we had received from the county “Council on Aging” said to “Repair or replace” the front door. Which option would YOU have taken?

Melvin’s living room floor also had a few holes, so another CHRPA crew was there two weeks ago and repaired his floor.

CHRPA has been in existence for 22 years, and there seems to be no end to our job security.

And on the subject of CHRPA….here’s a link to their website. Take a look! http://www.chrpaz.org/

Thanks for your continued prayers and financial support.

Ted & Eli

The CHRPA office is the green building behind the red van. They just moved in last summer. Before that the “office” was a large closet – now a laundry room – in the VS (voluntary service) house. Our RV, our home, while we are here, is behind the Cholla cactus in the foreground. Our truck that was stolen was parked right where the van is in this photo – and we were in our RV at the time! (The guy wasn’t timid. It was 2:30 on Sunday afternoon.) The shop is on the left, and that’s where we keep all the tools and supplies when they aren’t on one of the trucks. A Curved Billed Thrasher lives in the Cholla and sits on top of the plant and sings for us almost every day, if we are around.

Below is another perspective. Looking from East 30th Street, the Shalom Mennonite Church is on the left, the VS house is straight back, and our RV is obscured by the 5th wheel trailer on the right. You can see the shop beyond the hedgerow on the right.

Things have come together for us here now, our new truck runs well and provides us with more room and more tool storage than our stolen one did. It’s much more comfortable on our backs too.

The word went out after our truck was stolen, and as of today CHRPA has two “new” (old) trucks to replace it. Last week TEP (Tucson Electric Power – the local electric company) came by with an enclosed utility body truck that they donated. Meanwhile the pastor at Shalom Menno Church who comes from Ohio contacted some friends in Kidron and the Kidron Electric Co. donated one of their vans to CHRPA too. The question of how the van would find its way to Tucson came up and a local Sunday school class decided to use some of their mission funds to finance the trip and a couple from the church drove the van down. It arrived two weeks ago, and is already part of the “fleet”.

Outside we discovered more exposed wiring and dangling light fixtures. An addition that had at one time housed the water heater and the washing machine had been removed, and now a very old water heater was sitting about ten feet from the house with water pipes and gas piping hanging overhead. The washer was outside at one corner of the house and the dryer at the other corner. (It is not uncommon in Arizona to have the water heater outside the home.  Appliances are often outside or in a shed.)  In addition to this, in the bathroom the toilet bowl was broken and leaking and the shower valve had broken off in the wall.

We decided a new hot water heater should be installed at the back wall of the home with an enclosure. We would move the washer and dryer to the same corner. The client’s son arrived and helped to explain to Ion what we would be doing.  Ion became very agitated, signing that he did not want the hot water heater moved and insisting that he did not want a new hot water heater. His son said he did not know why his father was being difficult.  We tried to imagine what it might be like to be deaf, to have people you didn’t know arrive and start making decisions about your house and being unable to participate in the conversation. So we backed up and tried to carefully explain what was happening.  Normally some of this would have taken place on the phone before we arrived at the job-site, but because Ion is deaf the CHRPA office had not been able to call him.  Eventually we discovered that Ion thought the funding through TMM had been used up for the new roof and that he could not afford to pay us for moving the water and gas piping and installation of a new water heater. He thought that we were contractors, and that we would sue him if he could not pay. Through his son we explained that CHRPA is a non-profit agency, that we were volunteers, not sub-contractors. He still seemed to have trouble grasping that concept that anyone would help him for free, but finally he agreed reluctantly to our plan. Surely for him, things were out of (his) control. (CHRPA receives grant money from the state, the county and the city for the materials for home repairs for low-income clients.)  Ion’s annual income is around $10,000.

Tuesday morning Ted and I began working on the electrical part of the job and two other volunteers began digging trenches to re-route the gas piping.  Ion was much calmer. Much of the time he was outside watching us work, although still with an obvious degree of skepticism.

Wednesday morning we arrived and a smiling Ion held the door for us and welcomed us in. Again he watched as work progressed.

Thursday morning there were three of us on the job instead of four. Ion eagerly joined in the work, assisting with the installation of the new hot water heater and enclosure, and even climbing up on the roof to help with the piping. As the repairs took shape his whole demeanor had changed.  He was positively beaming.

On Monday Ted and I will complete the new circuits that we have run. There will be new receptacles in the kitchen, living room, bedroom and bathroom. The swamp cooler will be properly wired with a switch on the living room wall to operate the cooler from inside.  There will be new receptacles for the washer and dryer outside.  There is a new hot water heater in an enclosure and two new exterior light fixtures. The shower will be fixed and a new toilet installed.  All repairs that Ion could not afford.

Ion is smiling.

We have spent a lot of time – and money :O( – replacing many of my stolen tools and have our truck relatively well equipped again. From time to time I remember yet another tool that I have lost. I had brought a carpenter’s tool belt along, just in case we had a carpentry job in between all our electrical jobs. In the apron was a very old brass plumb bob (some may not know what that is) that belonged to my father. Clearly that was a tool that could never be replaced. When we sorted through all the tools that were recovered I found my carpenter’s apron, and in the pouch was the plumb bob! :O)

In 1987 I was working my first major MDS project in Maine and it seemed like just about everything that could go wrong did. I was getting very discouraged. A veteran MDS leader came up from Pennsylvania to help me and said something that I never forgot. He said “Whenever we are involved in any project and the adversary isn’t out there furiously trying to subvert our efforts, we have to wonder whether Jesus is in it or not.” It’s difficult to find that reassuring when we are in the midst of trials, but nevertheless the past weeks have affirmed for us that this is indeed God’s service.

In our first post I said that the theft of our truck and the loss of my tools felt like the adversary had won a skirmish. Now, a family is taking hot showers for the first time since they’ve lived in their home. Their roof doesn’t leak, their plumbing works, the lights work, they are warm and they have a refrigerator and a kitchen range. All things that most of us take for granted. The mother was so excited about her new range that she wanted to roast their first Thanksgiving turkey. She wanted Eli to explain to her how to do it. All that feels like a huge victory to us. :O)

This past week has brought good news and bad news. On Wednesday we got news from The Tucson police that our utility truck had been recovered. The bad news was that when Scott (the director of CHRPA) went to reclaim the truck he found it to be beyond repair. All four tires were flat, and even the rims were bent. It appeared that the truck had run into a tree or a pole as well. The good news was, miraculously, most of the supplies and wire was still on the truck, as were many of the tools! We wonder if it wasn’t a joy ride for some young kids, rather than the targeted theft that we first thought. (there were also whiskey bottles found in the truck.) The bad news was, that the thieves seemed to be attracted to my tools. Some of the new tools that belonged to CHRPA were still on the truck, while almost all of my power tools and four tool boxes were gone. Of course CHRPA is out one truck now, too.

We spent much of the week working at the home we wrote about in our first entry. First, the roof leaks were repaired, and Eli replaced many of the ceiling lights that had been filled with rain water. Elinor and I replaced the old, fused electric panel (the melted one) :O( with a new one with a larger capacity and circuit breakers. While I removed the old propane water heater and installed an electric water heater, Elinor chased a bunch of faulty circuits and switches in the house and repaired them. While we were making the electrical repairs, other volunteers were repairing the plumbing, the toilets, sinks and installing a tub surround for the shower. While all that was going on, Scott was advocating for the family with Family Services for Pima County and found that the family was qualified for a new refrigerator and kitchen range. On Wednesday we picked up the appliances and delivered them to the family. We wired a new electric circuit for the range and completed our wiring jobs.

Dec. 27, ‘07- Jan. 3, ’08: We made the long trip . . . Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas, Texas, Texas, New Mexico and finally Arizona. Totaling just over 3,000 miles from New Hampshire. Temperatures remained cool. Low’s in Texas and New Mexico at night were 16 degrees and 18 degrees! We laid over for a day in Texas and a day in New Mexico to try to rest up a bit. The trip was uneventful – which was nice – no problems with the RV on the way.

Jan. 4-5, ’08, Friday & Saturday: We settled in at our site in the church parking lot. The Shalom Mennonite Church is at the front of the lot. The Voluntary Service (VS) House is at the back of the lot and the Community Home Repair office is also near the back of the lot. Our RV site is somewhere in the middle of it all. Ted spent two days transferring his tools that we had brought along, into the truck that we would be using. He also cleaned the truck up, looked through the inventory and filled the truck with some additional CHRPA tools, parts, wire and cable. Then he filled it with gas, put new wiper blades on, etc.

Jan 7, ’08, Mon.: Our first day on the job with Community Home Repair Projects of Arizona (CHRPA). We gathered at the CHRPA office to receive our work orders, then each crew heads out to load up their vehicle with tools and parts for the job they have been assigned. There were around 15 of us including staff, long-term VSers (young people usually in their twenties that volunteer for one or two years) and SOOPers ( short term winter volunteers like us).

When Ted and I went out to get into our truck, it was not there. Ted has been known to play some practical jokes on other volunteers and staff in the past so we immediately assumed that this was pay-back and someone was playing a joke on us. We looked everywhere for the truck, then made the rounds of people trying to find out who was responsible. Everyone denied having any involvement and everyone seemed a little too serious. No joking here. Finally we realized that the truck really was gone . . .and our tools with it. The awful truth began to soak in. The other crews left for their job assignments. We were left standing. The police were called and a report was made. Everyone felt sick and I am sure Ted and I looked sick.

Here is Ted’s description of the events and how we felt:

Some of you who work in the trades understand the real impact of having the tools of your trade stolen. They’re like old friends and buying new ones is never quite the same. Elinor’s brother calls me a
“tool junkie” and Monday I felt so helpless without so much as a screwdriver. Randy told me that George referred to them as “tools of Grace”. That nearly brought tears to my eyes – I’m always going to
think of them that way – including our new ones. Without using those words, I think that’s what Elinor and I have always intended.

Monday night (Jan. 7) I couldn’t sleep, and lay awake counting tools instead of counting sheep. Every other thing, I remember yet another tool that I had in that truck. Everyone here feels terrible about it, knowing that we had brought a huge load of our own tools down so that we weren’t taking tools from the other volunteers. I feel like I’ve had my legs cut off. We finally went out on our first job today (Tuesday) and every time I needed a tool I started for the truck and remembered: “Oh, I don’t have that anymore.” :O(

We learned something new about the theft this morning (Wed., Jan 9). One of the other older volunteers asked me this morning where I went with the truck Sunday afternoon after church. I said I hadn’t used the truck Sunday afternoon. He looked down at the floor and shook his head and said “I watched the guy drive your truck out of the yard. I thought it was you. I’ve been awake all night thinking about it.” So they took it in broad daylight at 2:30 Sunday afternoon right out of the church parking lot while we were right there. Elinor and I were in our RV, not 20 feet from the truck. It’s so frustrating because we hadn’t even been out on a job yet. I had spent two full days servicing and cleaning the truck and loading all our tools, CHRPA’s tools, and something like $800 worth of Romex and cable on the truck. CHRPA had just received a grant to buy tools and had put a bunch of brand new power tools in. They were still in the wrappers – hammer drill, circular saw, sawzall…..on and on. So clearly someone was watching me load the truck and targeted it, because ours was the oldest and dumpiest of the fleet. But the others weren’t loaded with tools and wire. CHRPA has been working here in Tucson for over 20 years, but being a non-profit, doesn’t have a big bank account. They rely on donated trucks from Southwest Gas and Tucson Electric Power. The truck we used was an ’88, and not in great shape, but now we are using the boss’s truck and he’s been riding a bicycle to work.

Our first job has put things into perspective for us. The young couple (20s) with a daughter in kindergarten have no heat and no hot water. They can’t afford the deposit and other expenses of having a propane tank put in. They don’t have a kitchen range, and heat water on a hot plate for bathing and washing dishes. The water line to one toilet is broken, so they flush with a pail of water. In the other bathroom the toilet isn’t attached to the floor, the float valve was broken, and they had a string coming out through the hole in the tank where the handle used to be – tied to the flapper – to flush. The mobile home is an old one (1970) with all aluminum wire, and they had used an electric space heater to heat the bedroom and it overloaded the circuit, but rather than blow the fuse it heated the panel until the screws were red hot and the insulation on the Romex melted. (no, there wasn’t a penny behind the fuse) Their roof leaked so badly in the past that the ceilings are sagging and they had to take the glass globes off of the ceiling lights because they were filling with water when it rained. They repaired it as well as they could although it still leaks at one or two places. AND ALL WE LOST WAS A FEW TOOLS.

We are putting in a new service for them and ran the conduit and feeds today (Wed., Jan. 9) . Tomorrow Elinor and I will replace the service panel and will also install a small electric hot water heater. One of the younger volunteers is repairing the toilet and putting in a new bathroom sink
(theirs was broken) and repaired the roof today.

We can all use your prayers. It sometimes feels like we came to serve the community and the community stole our tools. Frankly it’s sometimes hard to make the distinction between those we are here to help and those who stole from us. But our present job makes our calling clear. :O)

Our clients have been eager to help out in any way they can. Robert dug the trench for the conduit and built a platform for the water heater. He wondered out loud how much all this work would have cost. I laughed , shook my head and said, “Too much!” His wife reminded him that they had called an electrician and were told that it would cost $170 per hour plus travel. Impossible with an annual income below $8,000. Robert shook his head and said simply, “You are heroes.”

We’ve bought some new tools so that we could begin some work, and so far just replacing hand tools and some wire we’ve spent over $1600. The director of the CHRPA program feels that they should absorb the cost of our tools, but they don’t have a lot of money either. We estimated that CHRPA lost about $1300 worth of tools and $800 worth of wire and perhaps another $800 worth of parts. Initially we estimated our own tools at $4,000 but now that we have been looking at prices in the stores we realize that is probably on the low side.

Before we went to work on Thursday morning Scott told us that Sonya (CHRPA Administrative Assistant) took a phone call. On the other end was the voice of a little girl. Her first question was, “Do you help families?” Sonya replied, “Yes, what do you need?” The girl answered, “It’s cold at our house.” (It had been 35 degrees the night before.) Sonya asked if her mother or father was there and she heard the girl knock on a door and call her mother saying, “Mommy, I called one of those numbers and the lady wants to talk to you.” The mother is a widow with three children. Another SOOPer and a VSer were sent to repair their furnace on Thursday.