Shopping Trip and Survey Trip Update - by Nancy

My last day in Ukarumpa, Sara and I made a trip to the store. She needed some groceries, and I wanted to get a few more gifts to take home, like some PNG coffee. It was a rainy day and in the photo below, you can see Sara entering the store with her PNG umbrella. The windows to her left are the Ukarumpa Kai Bar (Snack Bar).The store is not large, but it has a pretty good selection of groceries. However, the inventory can change from week to week, so you never know if they will have the particular item you are looking for. Here is Sara in one of the aisles...

and in front of the cooler case.

Most of the foods are familiar, yet many are a little different than I am used to in the United States. Some are produced in PNG, or come from Indonesia or Australia. Another thing that was different for me was buying milk in boxes, as seen in the following photo.


The next photo shows lap laps for sale, which in PNG are worn as wrap-around dresses.


Of course, yarn for bilums is a popular item. As you can see, shopping at the Ukarumpa store is a colorful experience!


Also, we had an update from the survey team (an email from a contact person in Ukarumpa who had talked to them on the radio!) The message was from October 29th. It said they are all healthy and doing well! A few times they've had to wait an extra day but are mostly
on schedule and making good progress. They say... thanks for the prayers and please keep praying!