Where is Suriname?

 Next Settle Messy Church (on 18 Feb, at St John's, Settle) features Suriname

Women's World Day of Prayer this year is on 2 March. The material has been written by the Women of Suriname

But where is Suriname?

Suriname is on the north east coast of South America.  It used to be called Dutch Guiana before it gained its independence in 1975.

Its capital, Paramaribo, on the coast, is 4,436  miles  from Settle.  That is almost 1/5 way round the world. This distance is 7 1/2 times the length of Britain (600miles). And if there was land between us and South America, and you kept walking south west and walked at 20 miles a day, it would take 221 days to get there. And if you walked a bit further you would get into the Amazon rainforest. This forest stretches across from Brazil.

I have put up a display at St John's Church Hall, Settle.

I have had fun finding out about this country.
- with its important wildlife, (and its tropical rainforest )
- its lingua franca: - Sranan Tonga
- The many ethnicities in this population of half a million, and its  history.

- The Leatherback turtles which lay their eggs in the sand on the coast.

Joy Orwell at Messy church is going to tell us about a leatherback turtle that got washed up on the shore of Cornwall when she lived there. 
Adult leatherback turtles weigh 250 – 700 kg. (Note 10 stone is 63.5kg, so a heavy turtle would weigh ten times as much as a lightish person)
The turtles eat jellyfish.

If you live near Settle I hope you can come to Messy Church (3.30pm Sun 18th Feb) or WWDP service at Langcliffe Church - 7.30pm. We have lots of activities planned and will hear some Suriname music