Timmy and his mom made it to Honiara from the provincial capital, Kirakira on Saturday. (The hospital never came through with the air fare so we had to pay for their trip.) This was their first trip on an airplane so they were very excited about that! They were taken to the hospital here by ambulance that was waiting for them at the airport, but later told to go home for the weekend as nothing would happen before Monday morning anyway.

In the meantime, Timmy’s dad boarded a ship in the village on Friday afternoon. That ship had actually just come from Honiara, so he had to board while he had the chance and ride the ship along it’s entire route. He is due in to town Tuesday morning. Do the math – that’s a lot of hours on a small ship!

Today Timmy and Judy went to the hospital where Timmy’s arm was x-rayed. The good news is that it is only broken in one place, not three as they were told earlier. Tomorrow morning he goes back to the hospital to be put under anesthesia so the arm can be set.

It’s been a busy day as we had to get the girls off to school, Judy and Timmy to the hospital, an International Literacy Day program at the Central Market and then we hosted a lunch meeting with the director of the Bible Society of the South Pacific to discuss the publication/launch of the Pijin Bible next July. Whew! It’s been a crazy day.

Imagine having your two year old child fall and break his arm. Now imagine that you live in a remote village where it takes at least 3 hours to get to the provincial hospital by sea in a motorboat. If that’s not bad enough, picture yourself sitting in the hospital for 5 days waiting to get sent to the capital city to get the fracture treated.

That’s exactly the situation with our dear national friends on the island of Makira. Timmy – Tim’s name sake, fell on Sunday and broke his arm. The provincial hospital should have sent Timmy and his mom here to Honiara, but there is no money in the hospital account. The hospital is suggesting they catch a ship due to leave the province on Sunday and will arrive here on Monday.

Tomorrow we will try to book a ticket on the plane for Timmy and his mom to fly in on Saturday. Please pray that we will be able to get tickets for them. Pray for Timmy as they wait. His hand is beginning to become swollen.

Tonight we saw a total lunar eclipse. It was awesome!

Just an update. Emily was home a couple of days with a headache, sore throat and slight fever but is on the mend. It wasn’t malaria. I never really developed any more symptoms and have been feeling fine. Thanks for praying!

On Sunday night, Emily said she wasn’t feeling well and headed to bed early. Monday morning she woke up saying she felt like she had a fever – but she didn’t. She stayed home from school and felt sick most of the day and by evening did have a fever. At 2:00 am she woke up with a 102 degree fever and a sore throat.

There is a flu going around town and it is probably what Emily has. However whenever someone has a fever here, malaria is always a possibility. A sore throat sometimes accompanies malaria. To determine if it is malaria, a blood slide has to be taken, preferably when the patient is at the fever stage. At 2 am, that is hard to get.

I’m feeling a bit off too – which in this case is probably good news, because it is more probably that Emily and I both have the flu. We’ll watch and see what happens to determine if a blood slide is needed.

If Emily does have malaria, generally it is not a serious issue if is treated.

We just experienced the strongest earthquake we’ve ever felt here. It hit at 7:39 pm on Thursday evening. According to the US Geological Survey website, the epicenter was 35 miles from us and 35 miles deep. It had a magnitude of 6.7. You can see a map and more info at:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2007gccj.php

We don’t know if this will make the US news but in case it does, we wanted everyone to know we are ok.

You can now watch Emily giving her speech at the 65th Anniversary of the Landing of the US Marines at Guadalcanal.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td8eW9Kyi0g[/youtube]

Or you can view it on YouTube at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td8eW9Kyi0g

65 years ago, the US Marines landed

on the beaches of Guadalcanal where we live. Today we had a service at the US War Memorial. Present were the Prime Minister, Governor General, members of the diplomatic corps, a US Marine Brigadier General, a US Marine Band and US Coastguard. There were also WWII vets who have returned to visit Guadalcanal.

Sarah and her school mates held US and Solomon Islands flags at the entrance of the War Memorial as people came in.

Emily presented a speech – an American school girl’s point of view on World War II and how it has affected her life; she was born in a free Philippines and lives in the Solomon Islands. She did an awesome job! The Brigadier General told Emily afterward that he’s a Marine and doesn’t easily get choked up, but hearing Emily’s speech brought tears to his eyes. Many came to Emily afterward and congratulated her.

Emily and Sarah with the US Ambassador to the Solomon Islands, Leslie Rowe. They are sitting at the base of the memorial where the wreaths were laid.

After the War Memorial, we attended a second service to honor a Solomon Islander who played an important part in World War II as a scout for the American soldiers. Then we went on to the Yacht Club where there was a service for a Coastguard soldier who lost his life helping to evacuate some 500 soldiers who were trapped by the Japanese. Through his efforts 500 soldiers escaped by sea off the beach where we sat this morning.

After the service we spoke to a Solomon Islander who was also a scout during the war. He told us how he and two others were being held by 20 Japanese soldiers. One of the soldiers was always pointing a gun toward them. Then after 3 days all the soldiers were asleep and the 3 Solomon Islanders found that the rope with which their hands were tied just fell off their wrists. They ran away from the Japanese and back to help the Americans.

Yesterday, Tim and a national colleague, Shadrach left for Papua New Guinea en route to Cairns, Australia where they will attend a ‘Scripture in Use’ conference. The other participants in the conference will be members of our organization from around the Pacific. This will be Shadrach’s first trip out of the Solomons!

Back here in Honiara, the girls and I have a full week planned. Starting today we will be attending some functions to commemorate the 65th Anniversary of the Landing of the Marines on Guadalcanal. (We live on Guadalcanal.) We have visiting US Marines in town – a Marine Band, a Brigadier General and the US Ambassador for the Solomons who lives in Papua New Guinea. There will also be American Veterans who have made the journey once again to visit the place where they fought in the war.

Sunday afternoon there is a function for the American community at the home of the American Consular Agent’s home to meet the US Ambassador. On Monday night I (Martha) am invited to a function at the home of the US Consular Agent where there will be guests from the business and diplomatic community as well as high ranking government officials.

The US War Memorial

as seen from our house

On Tuesday morning there will be a service at the US War Memorial. Sarah will be one of the school children who have been asked to hold a flag at the entrance of the memorial as guest arrive and Emily will be giving ‘remarks from an American School Girl’. Pretty neat!

Tim’s sorry to be missing all the events here!

This week at the girls’ school they are celebrating ‘Cultural Week’. The kids are learning about the Solomon Islands, local crafts, foods and generally celebrating the rich diversity in this country.

In the senior school (high school) the kids worked on projects in groups. Emily gave the speech for her group on ‘Unity’. She did an awesome job and got lots of compliments!