The cyclone shelter
is a large building created for a place of safety during storms. People gather on the steps for various counsel meetings and
church services.
CYCLONE SHELTER
The cyclone shelter
is a large building created for a place of safety during storms. People gather on the steps for various counsel meetings and
church services.
We
rented this large building to hold medical clinics and meetings. A room was used
for us to camp in while
we stayed in this village. We were pleased that someone gave up the comfort of
their own cot so that we could rest better. It was too narrow for the two of us,
so Jenny preferred being on the floor on a mat. This made it more difficult to
keep the mosquitoes off of her. Though lotion was used, the mosquitoes seemed to
wait till our faces rubbed the pillow for awhile and then they did not mind
biting us.
Camping
Cooking on the floor of our bedroom became our routine till a sweet lady, Vijayakumari began helping us. It was a good thing that the equipment was locked up in a different room. The pan tipped easy and we had several oil spills.
We
bought a camp stove and pressure cooker in Bapatla village so we could survive.
We were pressure cooking squash or beans in just a few minutes.
It was quite frustrating not to have a refrigerator. What we did not eat, spoiled quickly.
Jenny
dreamed up a cookie recipe using dates, nuts, flour, honey, soy milk powder,
water and a little salt. Since we had no way to bake them, we put sunflower oil
in the pan and fried them. The nationals make something like it using buffalo
milk and dried fruits and flour. They call them "BONDA'S". The energy
in these really helped us keep up with the pace of clinic, meetings, house
visits, and our chores. We were able to get dates easily in packages in the open
market. We call them "DATE CAKES".
Often when Jenny was at a point of no desire to get up in the morning due to home sickness and exhaustion, I would cut up potatoes into little long pieces and fry them. Just the odor, perked her up and soon she was all bubbly again and ready for the new day.
Down
on the main floor, out along the wall, bamboo poles and the sheet were set up
for the program. People sat on the porch, and in the sand on tarps that I
rented. Electricity was stable for the most part. There were some nights,
however when there were unexplainable power cuts. They say it is due to
increased heat and the use of air conditioners. Since the projector fan is never
to be turned off before the bulb cools, it was a big concern when there was
suddenly no power. We are thankful the bulb never broke.
Just inside the door on the right was the room we used for clinic. Our cot was carried down and used all day as an exam and treatment table. We treated many with real high fevers. Later we came down with it also. The most popular item in clinic was the vision glasses that we were able to fit some of them with. You will need to go read the story on clinic.