In the time between receiving our assignment to Ukarumpa, and about 2 weeks ago when we arrived, I had sought out any snippets of information or pictures that I could find of this place that we’d be calling home. Being able to envision our family here brought me so much joy and comfort. Because I know what those pictures and insight can mean to someone, even of just the most mundane tasks, I am going to do my best to share what I can about this beautiful place now that we are here. Posts might come here and there at first but will hopefully become more consistent as we get settled.
First of all I have to say that we have been so overwhelmed by the wonderful welcome we have received in the first couple of weeks here. When a new family arrives they are assigned a fellowship family to help you learn the ropes of Ukarumpa living and basically help you adjust in any way that they can. We are so so thankful to have the Acevez family guide us through these past two weeks. We’d be lost without them. Literally. Ukarumpa is actually a fairly large center and feels even bigger when you’re maneuvering the rocky hills by foot. We easily know our way to the store, market, post office, and meeting house (for church) so that’s a pretty good start.
Above is a map of the center with the key buildings marked. We are working on getting a new picture like this taken that also shows where our house is. For now, to give you an idea, we’re located near the bottom left of this picture where the road makes an oval around 8 houses. The walk to the store isn’t bad from our place as long as a certain 2 year old can keep up while Mommy “wears” Weston in the carrier.
Photo credit: http://pacificbible.blogspot.com/2010/07/papua-new-guinea-ukarumpa-linguistic.html
Our place. For now we’ll be renting side A of this duplex style home which they call the translators lodges. It’s a great space for our family and we are so thankful for the housing options in Ukarumpa. Two major bonuses are that we have dear friends living on either side of us (with more coming to live behind) and a small playground practically in our backyard. And check out those gorgeous flowers! So much grows well here and there are flowers like this everywhere you go.
You can see here our water storage tank where rain water is collected. We use this water (many times in combination with river water) to do things like wash dishes, shower, laundry, and also filter it for drinking/cooking. Most people don’t have dryers here so clothes go out on the line. This is one chore that I almost enjoy however, dodging the sporadic rain showers does make things interesting.
And for fun…. some cute pics of the boys. I bet you this is your favorite part!
Coming up next time: Info on the store, market, COFFEE, and more 🙂
Send us your questions!
We want to share with you all what you want to know. Please send us your questions and we will gradually answer them via this blog. Send us a quick email to sarah_reeves@wycliffe.org.
Papua New Guinea 