Saturday recap

As we've already mentioned numerous times, Dennis was not able to make it in with us on Friday, but he did make it in on Saturday.  Thank you so much to those of you who prayed; the original assessment when he missed the flight from Pt. Moresby was that he would not be able to make it into Mibu at all.

Reasons (I think I am recalling these accurately...if not, please team, correct me): We were sharing SIL helicopters during the week since pilots are not exactly plentiful right now.  The one New Tribes heli pilot had been on an extended trip to the islands, and he was scheduled to return later in the day on Friday.  Helicopter trips are not typically scheduled for Saturday.  No one would have faulted Ray, the NT pilot, if he had refused to take the trip on Saturday...he had been gone from his family for a week (at least), he had returned from a demanding trip, and it was not a typical day to fly.  However, Ray made the decision to try it.  Once we got Ray's agreement, the weather also had to cooperate.  The flight is made from Goroka (the town where Dennis was) into Mibu.  Goroka is often fogged in during the early morning, and Mibu is often fogged in during mid-morning through the afternoon.  So, pilots need to be ready when the fog lessens in Goroka so they can leave and make it into Mibu before the fog settles in.  It needs to be perfect, and we had experienced that the day before.  Dennis and Ray had to wait for an hour or so in Goroka, and then they were able to take off and subsequently arrive in Mibu. 

They made it in, and we were thankful to have all who were hoping to come to Mibu all together safely.  The remainder of the day was spent getting acquainted with the area, and interacting with the Mibu people.  Geoff had arranged for all of us to have some training in a typical Mibu activity and then while we were doing that, to have a chance to work on the language a little bit.  The point was to develop some connections, and to experience a bit of what the families had when they first moved into the area.  I still cannot imagine the effort that must have gone into learning the language and developing the friendships they now have. 

I am still not sure what the others ended up doing as their training (it was a busy few days), but Lori and I were taught how to weave a bilum, which is the bag they use to carry most things.  Often the bilum's handle is placed on a woman's head, and the bilum hangs down her back.  Men and women alike use bilums to carry whatever they need to: food, animals, plants, deliveries from house to house, even babies.

Lori and I had a fun time with our band of three women who diligently attempted to teach us this skill.  By the end of the time, we had experienced limited success with the bilums, but a great deal of success with the women.