In Apetina the building of the visitors lodge, paid for by the TV fundraising project from the Dutch Christian Television Broadcasting Company EO (Evangelical Broadcasters) is full speed in progress. The last few months people have been cutting planks. These were stored in order to dry before being used in building the house. Now it is the time to build.

The first beams were put in place the last few weeks. Last week the building crew worked very hard to build the first floor with all the supporting materials.We were able to talk to several people in Apetina who want to be involved in starting a store in the village. Every time we visit the village we bring a number of goods to sell to the people. For a number of years we have been sharing our thoughts about having a Wayana shop under their own supervision. The right time seems to be now.

The local foundation Kuluwayak will take responsibility to purchase the goods in the city and store them in Apetina in a special warehouse. Out of this several shop owners can get supplies for their shop. We also will provide a special training in how to run a shop with administration skills etc. We have found a sponsor to provide the financial means needed to buy the goods. Both Kuluwayak and the shop keepers will pay back their loan in order to build the system of having some Wayana shops in Apetina. In the next few weeks we have several guests who will visit us. This means we have extra room for cargo in the planes so supplies will come to Apetina at low costs.

In December we mentioned a new project to provide 24/7 electrical power in Apetina in the near future. In a few weeks our Canadian friend Bruce will visit us again. Now he will check the soil used for agriculture and he brings a special device to investigate the bottom of the river at the location of the future power plant.

We ask your attention for this project since we would need to renew the power installation of all the houses in order to make the connections safe and ready to have 24/7 power in the village. Now the power is provided from 7 pm – 10 pm. During the day there is no power in the village which prevent problems with small children etc. who would touch things in the house even when they are not safely connected.

We are looking for sponsors who help us finance these house installations for both Apetina and Lawa. For US $ 250 per house we can build a safe power system in all the houses (fuses, switches, connectors, power cables etc.). Perhaps you’re willing to seek supporters who want to contribute to this project. Please let us know and we will seek a way to get your contribution to Suriname. (Marco.Schuurmans@WorldTeam.org)