Reflections on our time in Baikit

As I mentioned before coming to Baikit, it was my goal that we would be happy to make a return trip here in the future. I can happily say we would like to do this.

In fact the next time I would like to come would be in March for the festival of reindeer herders. It is not held in Baikit but in Surinda, 180 kms further north. I hope I can bring my team mate. (The family would stay at home.) The two of us would fly here, then drive with Yura and Alona in his old UAZik 4wd to Surinda. Apparently it is a 4-5 hour drive on the Winter road.

I would still like to visit the reindeer herders and spend some time with them. But this currently remains a dream with no possible time frame.

As far as living in Baikit is concerned, it is not something currently on our agenda. It would theoretically be possible, but many years off if that were the case. I would be far more comfortable if a paved road came here that was open year round. It would also be great if a train line came here. Neither come here at the moment. The only realistic way of coming here is by flying. This is expensive, and makes the place quite isolated.

How do people live here? People either live in apartments in the town centre, or in houses further out. The apartments are very old, and do not have indoor toilets or showers. People who live in houses live in more of a village context, filling up their land with growing vegetables. (Also without the toilets and showers. :) )

I have found the apartments to be depressing. They are run down and do not have nice surroundings. The idea of having to use an outhouse from an apartment is staggering to me.

Living in a house has been quite comfortable even if we have had to use an out house all the time. I am not sure how well I would do with the village lifestyle of self sufficiency. There would be so much I don't know how to do.

Two weeks has been a long time to spend here. We have met with some people, opening up some good relationship possibilities. But we have cerainly tired by the end of it. A week to ten days would be a better time frame.
Although perhaps, the two weeks has been long because of spending so much of it with Baba who has been quite bossy. It is Melody's idea that we could come for two weeks and rent an apartment. We could do some regular activities such as English club.

The town of Baikit is a reasonable place. It is very expensive, on average many things are 1.5 to 2 times more expensive than Krasnoyarsk. It is not nearly as developed as Turukhansk. The geography makes it hard to get around town, as it is so spread out.

Some of the Evenki people we have made could turn out to be valuable connections in the future. I can imagine that it would be an adventure attending and helping Ziniada on one of her Summer camps. Artem may turn out to be one of the people that we see again in Krasnoyarsk. 

We have been able to share oral stories with many people. It was especially encouraging to see such openness in Misha, and a joy to be able to give him a full bible. We fully believe in the mustard seed principle, and knowing that we have planted many, hope and pray that God will do good with them.

The problem of alcoholism certainly exists here, and we have seen its effects in at least three people. I find the whole topic of alcoholism confronting. I also feel completely incompetent in dealing with it. Alcoholism in others can be very depressing. I have noticed this a couple times here. It is one of the reasons I did not want to go to Surinda. The idea of going to a village where most adults are drunk most of the time is scary, but not unrealistic.

We have learnt a lot of Evenki language while here and been exposed to a lot more Evenki culture. The people we have met have genuinely been thrilled to see our interest in their culture. We have been showered with gifts of books, films and audio recordings. I hope we can follow through to fulfil the faith people have shown in us. I hope we can genuinely offer something to help Evenki people in the future. We are certainly headed in the right direction. We will have to see where the adventure takes us from here. 

Our trip has not been without its challenges. PJ and I were sick as we arrived. PJ then was teething for at least a week after arriving. He has been a handful to take care of, especially when visiting people's places.

It has been a difficult cross cultural experience for us. Our hosts have constantly corrected us about how we cook food, or bring up our children. We have had little privacy or time to ourselves. This has been hard on our marriage. We have suffered spiritual attack in the forms of sickness and strain on relationship.

We certainly need to step back and put our experiences here in the bigger context of our life in Russia.

We happily leave ourselves in God's hands.