We have been flat out. Not just with our project activities, but also having trouble getting around as the rains bring floods and mud (we were bogged again today at Jono Jindi), and having trouble keeping up with Christmas activities.
The churches in Sulawesi have a Christmas event for everything. Every church group, every Corps, every youth program will have a Christmas event. This means that each day we are expected to go to one, somewhere, especially in areas where we have been working. One night it was the hospital, one night the schools, one night a Corps one...
Typically these events take the form of a church service complete with sermon, a bit like a Corps carols night in Australia. Except that after the service (at about the 2 hour mark) the 'fun' performances start, followed by door prizes, followed by speeches by politicians and committees and the followed by dinner. We attended one Corps youth Christmas that went for 4 1/2 hours last week, in Tanabopunti.
On the project front, things keep happening. Today I was able to visit a village where some of our temporary shelters are already built. Unfortunately, they haven't been built to a great standard and much of the conversation today was around how we fix this. We also delivered materials to another town where they will start building in the near future.
This is the last week that I'll be in Indonesia for the foreseeable future. I certainly would have liked to have moved things along a bit more than we have, but I know that the team that are replacing us are going to be in for a great time of implementation and transformation in the New Year.
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