Ukarumpa,
This photo was taken as my friend (a Bible translator) was traveling from his village. He was gone for 22 days, leaving the centre here where I work, to go to his village. The trek in total, took him 14 days of transit time. This is not rare. Often times a husband will leave his wife and children at home because traveling to remote village allocations can be very difficult with children in tow.
During this trip however, he was able to typeset the Easter STory from Luke in 9 languages. They finished advisor checking the book of Acts.
This remote location, is one of the places where we have installed VSAT internet satellite connectivity. So, once my friend Ben makes the trip alone, he's able to stay in touch with family over the internet. Also he's able to exchange information and make backups of his data, so that he doesn't risk losing all his work when he makes a trek like this.
from Ben's wife Mandy
"Not only are we not able to use our airstrip (just outside of Aitape) due to it not being maintained, the rains have made the dirt roads into a mess of squooshy mud. Pictured above are the two cars that met half way to get Ben and the rest of the team out of the village at the big mud hole at the mountain. They spent 3 hours getting the white truck unstuck."
So you can see how, in a world where getting from point A to point B is almost ALWAYS an adventure, that having reliable communication is important. When your wife is at home waiting to hear from you, it's good to know that at point B you can at the very least send an email. Personally for me, knowing that somewhere past this huge mud hole is a place with reliable and semi-fast internet connectivity... is mind boggling.
To me it is like finding a swimming pool in the middle of the desert.
