Indonesian Clean Water - Checking out the Source

One of the major initiatives we are involved in are "clean water" projects. It comes in a variety of types and methods. For example, in Cambodia we have constructed a floating barge that sucks water out of a filthy river, filters it and allows people to pull up in a boat and get all the clean water they need. In Mongolia we create what are called "dump stations". The name sounds like garbage but to the people we dump water into tanks that then provide clean water to the local community. In Laos, Myanmar or Vietnam we drill holes into the earth, case the hole and filter the water as it is provided to the people.

On one of our days we traveled from Solo, Indonesia into the hills to an area that houses thousands of these communities that have no water. Every morning a women walks many miles with empty buckets on the way up and full water buckets straddled on her shoulders on the way down full of the daily water for the family. I find in most Asian countries the hard labor is completed by the women.










We hiked for about an hour and a half through beautiful green fields to the source of the water. At this location we create a capture system with a 4 inch pipe that runs down the hill with a system to control pressure and ensure purity. As you can see they use every bit of land by terracing the hills.

Night life in Kowloon

While we were over watching the light show we decided to wander to a few of the attractions near the harbor. The Peninsula Hotel which doesn't look like much in this picture but it is a Landmark Hotel here as you can see by the cars parked out front. The other place is an old police station that has been made into fancy shops and another hotel.

Hong Kong Laser Light Show

Every night at 8:00 you can go out to the harbor and see the laser light show. It all happens on the island we live on so you can actually see it better if you catch the ferry across the harbor to Kowloon and watch from there. It is about 10 minutes long and is set to music, some say its amazing, I thought it was OK.It was interesting to watch the cruise ship go through the harbor during the show, it was all lit up so it added to the lights. Some of the buildings having special lights right now for Christmas so that is kind of fun.

RS Activity

This month's activity was making a card using thin little strips of rolled paper. They share their talents, laugh, hug, visit and love to have their picture taken. Of course this meeting takes place after morning choir practice, ward auxiliary meetings, the 3 hour block of sunday meetings, clean the second floor, then we had our RS Activity and still had another hour long choir practice because we are singing in district conference next sunday. The sisters spend their entire day off at the church.

Island 2 Branch

We serve in a branch of about 200 sisters and 7 brothers including the branch presidency. It is really like serving in a young adult ward because all of the sisters live away from there families so they love to be together and laugh and talk, I really feel like I'm back in young women's. They are all here as domestic help and work 6 days a week so all branch activities happen on sunday. The pictures are from home teaching,Peter home teaches a group of 40 sisters. The other pictures are from this group cleaning. One sunday a month our group is in charge of cleaning the second floor of our building. They all show up and even have fun doing this. We usually supply the treats which they all love.

The Great Outdoors

Getting out of the city has become one of my favorite activities. A few saturday's ago Peter and I were in charge of the senior couple activity so we took them to our favorite nearby walking path. Some of them would not be able to walk up the hill so they caught a taxi up and then walked along the path with us. The first picture is our group from this hike.

This was our recent hike with a smaller group up around the reservoir. Ah fresh air, birds, butterflies, no noise, no tall buildings and sunshine. It was great!

A Taste of Calgary

We had a very enjoyable dinner with the Stringham's, they were so kind as to buy us poor missionaries some yummy ribs at Tony Roma's (very chinese I know). It was fun to see Calgary faces and visit with Greg and Evelyn and get caught up on Calgary.We were happy to hear how good you are all doing!!!