Guyana, South America

Guyana was always going to be different. For Heather and I, this is our first time in South America, and for Logos Hope, this is our first experience of a 3rd world country.

As we sailed up the dirty brown river that runs past the capital, Georgetown, we could see that there were many deprived areas very close to where we would be berthed.

Having been in India, Africa and many other poor countries, we are no strangers to poverty. I have been surprised that although Georgetown is dirty and has some very poor areas, overall it is not nearly as bad as we expected. The People are very friendly and most of those coming to the ship appear to be well educated and well dressed.

We had expected big crowds here based on previous visits, but it appears that being berthed out of town has significantly cut back the number of people coming to the ship. To try and encourage people to come, I put up some big banners out at the port gate and on the main road past the port.

Another special thing about Guyana is that we are sending out lots of teams into the country to work with local churches and organisations. Many of these are "help" teams - bringing practical help to the people. Heather has spent the past 4 days going out on a medical / dental team each day, bringing care and assistance to those who struggle to get good medical or dental care. They also have shared the gospel with those that come.

On Monday morning, I leave for a week's team 100km inland, up the Essequibo river. We will help with building extensions on 2 churches during the day time and have youth meetings in the evenings. Heather is also looking into the possibility of going out on another medical team next week as there is a need for someone who has already had experience in setting up a clinic.

My calendar says that it is only 3 weeks to Christmas but it is really difficult to get your head round that if you are used to the cold and dark of a Scottish winter with lights and decorations everywhere and the frantic shopping, parties, dinners and carol services. Life is very different here both on the ship and in Guyana. We are trying hard to embrace Christmas with decorations and lights in our cabin and Christmas music playing, but it just isn't working yet.