We order medicines from the government twice a year.
1962 July 26 to Beryl
Letters from Papua New Guinea.
Letter written by Ina Erickson from the Malalo Mission station to Beryl and Bruce 2314 So 7th St. Minneapolis 6, Minnesota, USA
Dear Beryl and Bruce,
Thank you again for your letters, we look forward to them so much. We order medicines from the government twice a year. I had ordered everything I needed for suturing etc., but my order wasn’t to be here for sometime. I was able to get some better sutures and needles and gloves from another mission hospital. I thought I had a good cutting needle before, but when I opened the sutures it was a straight needle like a sewing needle. I didn’t know exactly what one could sew with that, certainly not skin. We have been giving the boy antibiotics and Sulfur ointment to his leg and now have the wound healing quite nicely.
Last week, I was expecting company and I was baking some pies. Paula was sitting up on the cupboard to help me. I left her sitting there while I went to turn on our short wave radio. She dumped in a cup of salt. I wouldn’t have noticed it except that some of it was lumpy. We buy our salt by bags full and it need to dry it in the oven. Then we keep it on the refrigerator where the exhaust comes up from the kerosene motor to help keep it from getting too damp. I had used 2/3 of a cup of precious, precious vegetable shortening which is like Crisco and only had about a third of a cup a cup left, so I scooped out as much of the salt that I could and tried eating some. I got enough out so it was edible and that’s about all.
The Scherele’s had a horse here and then when they went on furlough, the people let it go into the bush or the wild. The village people were complaining that it ate all their gardens. So we caught it and have been trying to tame it a little. It bites and kicks, but is pretty good while we are riding it. It would be a little easier if we had a saddle. Paula and Tom are unfortunately aren’t afraid of it, so they bear constant watching. Yesterday, I try to show them something under the house, when someone rode by on the horse, Paula would say to Tommy as she would pulled him back ‘eat you, eat you’. But Paula likes to show her dolls to the horse and goes within a few feet of him saying ‘see see see’.
Our new short term teacher is a very quiet girl from Black River Falls, Wisconsin. The children have taken to her quite well. Her name is Phyllis Englebretson. The school kids call her Miss Phyllis. Paula calls her grandma. And she’s our age. I can’t get her to say Phyllis, it’s always grandma, grandma coming or grandma‘s chair. But if you ask where Phyllis is she’ll always point to her. Not so embarrassing.
Love Alvin, Ina, Paula and Tommy.
Phyllis Englebretson with Paula and Tom
1962 July 9 to Willa
Letter written by Ina Erickson from the Malalo Mission station to Martin and Willa Tonn, 10316 Grand Ave, Minneapolis 20, Minnesota, USA
Dear Willa, Martin and family,
Dear Mickey,
Happy birthday! Did you have a birthday party and cake with candles? It’s so hard to believe that little 6 lbs. 12 oz. girl born some seven years ago is our robust Mickey. I bet by now you can really count and read and tell stories- huh? Do you teach Lainey and Jenny what you’ve been learning? I bet you’re really getting tan now this summer.
Paula in blue shorts and Tom. In the background is a biffy over the ocean. Kinda gross! We both made it to our sixties so…
One day when the kids were playing on sort of a sandbar, where a river comes into the ocean, we all got bright red. But by the next day it was tan and the following day gone. None of us have gotten burned and only Al stays tan from riding on the boat and his many hikes. Both Paula and Tom play in the sun, usually naked as Paula sheds her ‘bungs’ which is her word for pants, shorts or long pants etc. and Tommy loses his diapers. Paula rarely will let me put on a dress as none of the other kids wear tops or dresses. Almost all day and night neither of them get tan or burn. I’ve tried to keep caps and shoes on them, but as soon as I get busy with dispensary work they shed them.
They love to play out in the evening but it’s dark at 6 PM. From 4:00pm on I have to keep them inside because of mosquitoes and from 5:00 pm on the snakes begin to prowl. We’ve had very pleasant weather. I don’t pay much attention to the thermostat but haven’t seen it over 90°. The evenings and nights are cool and usually I see breeze is blowing. We sang some patriotic songs and thought of you all on the fourth. I didn’t have any fireworks or fire crackers, strange but nobody celebrates the Fourth of July here.
We’re going to have an addition to our family, and I don’t mean a baby, but a full grown, teacher and we don’t know if it’s a male or female, but the short term teacher is going to be living in our guest room. She, most of them coming are women, will have to visit all the back schools to see if they are up to par and teach some in our station school. It will be nice to have someone around to talk to when Al is gone. Al says his only requirement for a teacher is good strong legs for walking up the mountains.
This weekend Al went down the coast to a congregational meeting and I had planned to go, but learned we were going to have company. Two ladies were coming. One to discuss working with the women at that meeting and I didn’t know what the other one was about. So I baked several pies, cakes, bread and cookies and then went out to watch the boat land at Malalo. I had a lunch packed for the one that was going to travel down the coast to the meeting and supper really for the other one. The boat didn’t stop here, just took them both onto the meeting.
They both got back at 11 PM and did not want anything to eat before they went to bed. Then they left for the meeting again on Sunday morning, saying they would stay at the girls school in Bula, 45 minutes from here. The other two days they would be around as they didn’t want to walk up our hill. So Al and I have been eating pies and cake and cookies and bread for breakfast, lunch, dinner, lunch, supper and lunch. That’s life in New Guinea as plans never work out.
Love Alvin, Ina, and the kids.
