Tales of Life in Mozambique by Lynn Lagore

Farewells and Family Days

2012-02-19T18:19:00.000-08:00

Although tomorrow is Alberta's official "Family Day", many people are celebrating it today already. My own family (husband and kids) are all off in different locations, so it's a good thing we had some family celebrations last week already.

One of the celebrations, the main one, was Dad Lagore's birthday. Now, his birthday fell on the same day that Dwight was scheduled to leave for Moz (Monday), so the birthday dinner was slated for a few days earlier so we could all be together for it.

His mystery age is in the candles, if you can see them from there.

Saturday and Sunday were a flurry of packing suitcases and getting things in place for Dwight's trip to Mozambique. The main purpose of this trip is to attend the annual general meeting, however it is also a good opportunity for him to follow up on a number of things on the field that need his attention.

But back to the story. By Sunday bedtime he was pretty well packed and ready to go. Between his personal items and a wealth of donated reading glasses for leaders and gifts for orphans, his suitcases were pushing the maximum weight limit of 50lb each.

On Monday morning, we headed to the Edmonton International Airport to say goodbye to him and to Bill Green. Bill Green is SAM Ministries' executive director and this is his first trip to Mozambique, so it was quite the occasion.

Amanda (our daughter), Dad Lagore, Dwight, Mom Lagore in the airport parking lot.

Once we got them checked in, we had a bit of time for coffee before their 12:40 flight.

Discussing something either very interesting or very important.

When the time came for them to go, we said farewell and they headed for the departure lounge as we headed back home. Two hours later, I received a call from Dwight saying their flight had been delayed. We hoped it wouldn't be delayed too much since there were 4 legs to their journey, 3 connecting flights yet, and much more than an hour or two would mean missed flights.

At 5:00 p.m. I got a call from Dwight asking if I could come pick them up because their flight got cancelled outright. Thankfully, they were able to rebook the same flights for the following day. So on Tuesday, we got to repeat all of Monday's activities...more or less. That was a rather tiring and stressful day. And funny enough (although not funny in the really funny sense), as it turned out we could have had Dad's birthday dinner on his real birthday date after all.

So that sort of brings me to today. Today I accompanied Mom and Dad Lagore to attend church at Heimdahl. This is the small country church that conducts the Global Care A Thon that raises funds to assist needs in several different countries...SAM Ministries' school child feeding program in Mozambique being one of them.

It was snowing and cold outside, but warm and friendly inside!

After the service, we got to enjoy each others' company around a good pancake brunch in the church's basement. I also got to meet some of the youngest "walkers" from last year's walk a thon. All these girls, and yes even this littlest one, participated in raising funds to feed hungry children far away.

What a privileged position I'm in. Not only can I watch the school children in Moz enjoy their platefuls of good food (and see their bodies become the stronger and healthier for it), I also get to see the smiles and eagerness of those who play a part in helping to make it all possible.

Thank you, Father.

And Happy Family Day everyone, wherever you are.

PS: Any recent news I missed can be found here, on the website's blog.

Time and connections

2012-02-06T19:56:00.000-08:00

Edmonton night shot (from Chateau Lacombe)

We've been in Canada for over a month already and although things are feeling more familiar, it seems like we're in a type of time warp. It's not like jet lag since we've long since been sleeping and waking on Canadian time. (Though it is extremely difficult to shut things down for the night when there's no generator force-quitting work at 9 pm!)

The time warp we've been experiencing is getting used to the changes that have taken place while we've been otherwise occupied in Africa over most of the past 24 years. Yes, we've been back here on other trips before. And I'm sure we felt like this those times too, but each subsequent trip home presents a few more years' change heaped on previous ones so there's a cumulative effect.

The top photo was taken a week or so ago from the La Ronde (restaurant) at the top of the Chateau Lacombe. A friend of ours treated us to supper there and it was a great time to get reconnected. La Ronde used to be a favorite dining spot of ours when we were dating, though we've hardly been back since. So it was a very special experience. The view is still beautiful, though there are more lights and highrises. And apparently there are more major changes to downtown Edmonton yet to come.

Otherwise, life has just been plain busy for us. Weekends we visit churches and share our hearts and recent developments in Moz. Midweek it's work interspersed with getting together with family, friends, supporters, contacts, etc. Wow. So many people we want to see and our time seems so little!

Suzanne, Dwight, Andrew, and baby Emmitt.
(thankfully I remembered to dig out my camera for this one!)

It was so great to see Suzanne (who has led several teams of student nurses to do their practicum in our neck of the bush in Moz), her husband Andrew (who's also done a volunteer term in Moz), and the new bundle of joy in their lives, baby Emmitt.

This past Sunday we were in both Westerose and Calgary. They're about a 3 hours drive apart, so it was a bit of a marathon.

Yes...some things don't change.
The highways still look the same. But that's ok. I like that there are no pot holes.

I remembered to dig out my camera again at last night's meeting. This is with the Mercy Tech group (Todd Green pictured above) sharing the vision for Vocational Training and construction of a Maintenance Facility in Moz. Good people. Good times!

And last but not least in last week's activities was the D.I.Y. cupboard Dwight put up in our "bedroom" (curtained off section of the front room/dining room). Our quarters are pretty tight down here, and improved storage seemed a wise investment in our (my) sanity :) You can see a bit of the chaos as Dwight and Amanda figure out which panel goes where.

And yes, that's our gigantic Christmas wreath behind Amanda on the couch. Once we re-arrange things a bit, I may just find an empty space to put it. If not, well, everyday is Christmas right?

Next week today, Dwight will be boarding a flight back to Moz to attend the annual general meeting and to get some important things tended to. We're excited that Bill Green, SAM Ministries' E.D., will be accompanying him on this trip. On their way home, they'll stop in Brazil to attend the annual general meeting and to connect with the mission there as well.

One of the things I'll be busy with while he's gone is attending Missions Fest 2012. We'll have a display table set up for SAM Ministries (location: K-9), so look us up if you'll be attending.

Anyway, I'd better run along for now. It's 10 pm and I'm slowly learning the discipline of force-quitting myself--even though 24 hour power and high-speed internet invite me to do otherwise.

ttyl

PS: If you're interested in more news from Moz, check out the SAM Ministries news blog.

Change

2012-01-24T22:42:00.000-08:00

Some people love change but for me, it doesn't always come easy. Change for the better is usually easier, but just plain old change can be hard work. Either way, both take getting used to.

A big change for me that comes to mind was when we got married and both my name and status changed. I went overnight from being Miss Trekofski to Mrs. Lagore. The reality hit really hard while we were jetting over the ocean toward Hawaii on our honeymoon and the airline stewardess addressed me as "Mrs. Lagore". I probably gave her a blank look initially and remember thinking, "...that's my mother-in-law". I wondered how I'd ever get used to a new name, never mind signing it, but in time I did.

Another major life-changing event was becoming a mom. I went from being able to just grab my purse and dash out the door on a moment's notice to having to engage in a major get-baby-and-baby-paraphernalia-ready event. When I think of it now, it was a bit like getting ready to go camping except you don't need the matches.

When we moved to the African bush and lived camp-style and in tents for a year, that was a huge change that took adjustment too. It was like packing for the major outing-with-baby-event, times 10 or 100 or 1000, and this time you definitely did need the matches.

There was more change on the way when the kids grew up and left home to pursue their education and careers. I was suddenly more foot-loose and fancy-free again, the house was quieter, and meals needed to be smaller. That all took adjusting to as well. And although there was a self re-definition of sorts, I didn't change my name again (thankfully).

So where am I going with this? Well, change is in the air once again. Thankfully it's not major and I'm especially thankful it doesn't involve camping, matches, or any of that stuff. What it does involve is a small re-definition of this blog--where I have spent many a fine hour trying to put thoughts and recent mission developments "on paper".

Finally this last week, after a lot of teamwork with writing, layout, photo contributions, and website development, the new SAM Ministries' site went "live". And with it, a new blogging platform for posting mission news. It will be updated regularly, so for those interested in the latest developments at the mission in Mozambique, make sure you check it out. For those of you interested in the curious things this blog, I'll still be here plonking away when things come to mind.

I think I can classify this change as one of the "easier" ones. Now, just to get used to it.

I'll close with a few photos:

Me and Amanda (our daughter) working.

Here she's pondering job applications since she's nearly finished her after-degree in Education and is now scouting teaching jobs in Edmonton. And I'm busy with website details, no doubt.

(The only justification for me wearing a yellow and green striped sweater is that it has BRASIL plastered across the front.)

Dwight adding a few more finishing touches to the presentation.

We received a wonderful donation last week from--a box full of reading glasses. I was handed a fairly long list of requests for glasses prescriptions for pastors in rural Mozambique in November. When they gave it to me, I told them to pray. See what happens when you pray? There a few ladies colors and styles in here as well, so the ladies will be smiling too.
(Thank you Blessman Ministries!)

Anyway, I'd best run for now.

ttyl

It's About Time

2012-01-14T18:12:00.000-08:00

Yes, it is about time I get another post done since it's been 2 weeks since I last touched this blog. Things have just been that busy. With what, you may ask? Well, with getting ready all the things that need getting ready for our travels and sharing about the work in Mozambique.

Dwight has had his hands full with preparing the presentation we'll be showing. First, there is the retrieving, renaming, and ordering of video clips taken over the past 2 years. Then there's writing the script, recording the script, deciding on the best background music, and last but not least, spending hours piecing all that together!

(Some of the work was done at this sound studio in Edmonton.)

And me? Well, since we're back home with our kids, for some of the time I'm being a mom and enjoying every minute of it. And when our kids are busy (which is quite a bit of the time), I'm finalizing the development of SAM's new website. It was supposed to be finished by mid-December, but, well, time got away on us.

We're going with a Wordpress site, which is a brand new platform for me. I've messed things up quite badly a time or two, but thankfully I've been able to figure it out and reverse my mistakes. I've learned one thing, web languages are hugely hung up on little characters like "<" ";" and "/"!

Last Saturday morning, we headed to Summerland B.C.

Judging from the photo you'd think this was 5 or 6 a.m. (if you're from Africa anyway).
But no.
It was precisely 8:19 a.m., Edmonton (seemingly near the North Pole), in the dead of winter.

We were relieved that on this trip, we got to fly. This is Alberta from the air.
There has been little snow fall so far this year.

This mountain range is the Rockies. There's always snow in the Rockies.

Here's Dwight catching up on all the "good" news in the world.

When we arrived in Summerland, it was snowing. It snowed for hours. Dwight joked that maybe the name should be changed to Winterland.

Treacherous for driving, but sooo beautiful!

We made the trip to meet with Rick Cogbill and the Mercy Tech board, and to participate in a time of sharing about the Vocational Training Program and new workshop going up in Mozambique. It was wonderful to see familiar faces and meet new people.

We set up the recently made pull-up banners, and set brochures in the fold-up rack.
Sure beats the old system with its clumsy interlocking bars and teetering display boards.
Thanks Royden Lepp for the photos/design/time/etc. :)

Rick Cogbill and us in the "hot seats" (as Rick put it)
sharing interview-style.

John Topham (above, right) has organized for the donation and shipping of a lathe for the wood shop in Moz. He will be accompanying Rick (left)on his next trip out to train the woodworkers on its use.
(For those of you like me who know nothing about woodwork...a lathe makes round things. Bowls, round pegs, table legs, knobs, and such.)

On Monday morning Rick took us back to Kelowna to catch our flight home.
No snow on this stretch of highway.

I did my best trying to capture (with my cellphone) the amazing morning sun filtering through the clouds over the lake.
(Time: 8:57 a.m. Not early-morning sunrise. In case you were wondering.)

Before we knew it, we were headed back over the mountains, over the patchwork of farm fields to Edmonton. Back to finish up our work on the presentation, website, and so on.
Our time for preparing is almost up!

Let me close with a few photos from Heather and the team in Mozambique:

In the background, progress being made on an improved home currently under construction for a family of orphans. I can only imagine how happy they will be to finally move in.

Celestino, who I'm sure is keeping very busy in my absence, measuring Sr. Andrea's blood pressure.

Raimundo with a flap-necked chameleon in our yard. Rural Mozambicans aren't big fans of chameleons, so I commend Raimundo on his smile here :)

What I find even more amazing though is the plant growing to his right. I'm pretty sure that's a Cycad we planted about 2 years ago that never did show any signs of growth. We sort of figured it had died and would need to be dug up and replaced. Now it looks like it's decided to come to life.

It's about time.

ttyl

Safe Arrivals

2012-01-01T20:41:00.000-08:00

There's nothing like contending with busy holiday traffic and heavy semi trucks through the mountains on snowy, foggy, winding, sloshy roads to make you really appreciate arriving safely at your destination. And in case that doesn't make you appreciative, witnessing roadside accidents and vehicles in the ditches will.

It probably goes without saying that we were very relieved when over the holiday season, having spent about 20 hours on snowy roads with poor visibility and having witnessed several accidents, we completed our return trip to my parents' place in B.C. and back without incident!

Don't get me wrong though because despite driving conditions, it was wonderful to spend Christmas with my family in the mountains of British Columbia. Here's a shot of us on Boxing Day at the mall.

My parents, sister, husband and kids.

I know what you're thinking...we were getting in on Boxing Day sales. And if you thought that, then you're sort of right. But that's not all we were doing. We were also celebrating a very special family event: my niece's husband's "Rust" book-signing event. (We did our best to keep from mobbing the table.)

Left to right: Royden & Ruth (my niece), and my sister.

While we were happily snapping family photos, they were busy manning the table. This photo was taken at the end of the 3 hours when the books were all gone, so please bear with the reverse order of photos here.

(Oh, and on the table, pamphlets of the work in Mozambique which Royden and Ruth graciously asked us to make available for distribution that day. So yes, this wasn't "just" an ordinary book signing event!)

Royden's mom, Royden, and table visitors.

A memorial fund established in honor of Royden's father has helped raise funds to finish the bush airstrip at the mission in Mozambique. So it only seems fitting to tell you what comes next.

A donated hangar recently arrived in Moz from the U.S. by ship, it cleared customs (no small task), then was transported by truck to the mission where it was off-loaded. It then had to be literally dragged along the dirt road from the drop off point by the highway all the way up to the airstrip. (Thanks Barb Wayner for the photos!)

The container with the hangar, being dragged along by the backhoe.

Well, the road probably needed to be graded anyway!

Logs had to be put underneath it so it could roll rather than drag over the bridge.

Hangar construction materials from inside had to be unloaded.

(Ron Wayner and crew)
Then the foundations for the hangar were then poured.
A team is slated to arrive soon from the U.S. to complete the hangar's construction.

In the meantime, some final grading and work still needs to be done to finish the airstrip.
It's wonderful to see things going forward!

Last story here. This is Jose, a guard on staff at the mission.

He suffered for many years with teeth that were in very bad shape. So bad in fact that he could hardly chew his food. He used to say, "I am a happy man, and have inner peace, but if I could 'wish' for something more, it would be new teeth!" Well, God was obviously listening because several weeks ago, after quite a bit of work on his mouth, he got new teeth. They will take a bit of getting used to, but what a smile. Thank you to those who helped put this smile on his face!

Jose and Joao (Mozambican missionary serving at the mission).

And that pretty much sums up our news. I'll close this off with a photo of the Lagore family taken on New Year's eve.

Dwight and I with our two kids, far left.
Dwight's parents, Arthur and Gladie, front center.
Dwight's brothers, Steve and Allen, and their families, back center and right.

We wish you all the best, and especially inner peace, for 2012!

Africa to Canada-adjusting to change

2011-12-19T08:57:00.000-08:00

Finally last week we departed the African world and left behind its blazing hot sunshine, tropical thunderstorms, and beautiful people. The Cessna stayed behind too at Mercy Air, and in our absence it will undergo its annual maintenance check.

From Mercy Air, Dwight, Andy Kuret and I left by vehicle for the Johannesburg Airport. Andy was headed to Switzerland on a short 6 week furlough, while Dwight and I headed for Canada.

Here we are lined up in Joburg, more or less ready for the next 35 hours of non-stop transit between worlds. We had 3 flights: London, Toronto, Edmonton, with hours-long layovers in between.

With a schedule like that, we were clearly smiling at the thought of arriving at our destination! Especially considering we were facing the usual sardined-together-trying-to-sleep-sitting-up-experience, made much worse for me by the fact that I came down with some nasty flu just as we were leaving. All I could think about as I sat on plane and airport chairs was a bed...but it was the farthest thing from me.

In Edmonton, we were welcomed warmly by loved ones and friends at the airport, and at home, by a bed! And now begins the process of settling (more or less) and getting ourselves organized for 6 months of travel--most of it by road. The settling-in process is going to involve a bit of adjusting to "climate change" though.

From this:

To this:

Brrr

There will be a bit of adjustment to "space change" too since we've done the usual and moved in with our kids who share an already small suite in my in-laws' basement. It's not that we're new to this, but it is an adjustment nonetheless.

Running an office from the dining room table wasn't very do-able, so we picked up a little desk and chair for Dwight at Walmart and put it in our bedroom. Our bedroom is a curtained off section of the living room. Jokes about us closing the curtain "for some peace and quiet" abound.

Dwight working on the presentation we'll be using during furlough.

And now, it's hard to believe Christmas is just around the corner. For the first time in about 6 years, we will get to spend it with family. That's a change too, but the adjustment is an enjoyable one with family fun and the rekindling of ties as we celebrate the birth of Jesus: the One who came to bring us life-giving change.

So for now, goodbye and Merry Christmas everyone!

Be sure to check Heather's blog for a write-up about the orphan Christmas party that took place last week in Mozambique.

Leaving

2011-12-10T22:41:00.000-08:00

(Stuff and the chaos of leaving.)

We've been in the process of leaving Mozambique for several weeks now to go on a 6 month furlough in Canada and the US.

Preparing for one's absence in one place so work can carry on as smoothly as possible while preparing for one's arrival in another makes for some very busy times. There have been many meetings, email writing, job description detailing, photo/video taking/editing, schedule/transport planning, govt/legal paper work wrapping up (as much as possible) on a number of fronts, and so on.

Generally, just organizing stuff. Lots and lots of stuff. And so it seemed like the logical time to do my spring cleaning and organize my entire house too, including medical supplies(!).

The bottles of medicine are for treating microscopic bugs.
The can of DOOM, for treating bigger bugs.

Which leads me to tell you how I dealt with last week's discovery of a big, thick spider web in some stored linen (see previous post).

First, I ignored it for a few days. I was either procrastinating or just too busy with other stuff. I kind of figured Spidey wasn't going anywhere far with such a plush home anyway.

But when all my other work was done, I had to deal with him. I (smartly and) off-handedly mentioned the situation to my husband who dutifully headed straight into the storage room and pulled Spidey's newly claimed (aka OUR) bedding onto the wide open floor and opened it up. At that, Spidey started jumping and scurrying about wildly like I thought he would. But I had my mini-vacuum ready in hand and, um, "air lifted" him to the safety of the outdoors. And that was the end of that saga.

It is not logical to take on mini-construction projects while preparing to leave on a big trip, but we decided to do that too. Tiling needed to be done around the kitchen sink and newly placed curtain rods needed to be secured. Oh, and curtains for the mission office needed to be cut and made ready for hemming too. With all that taking place in my kitchen over several days, finding an appropriate spot to put the dish rack became quite an adventure.

In the end, it all came together and we said our farewells.

Last missionary staff meeting before leaving: left to right
Dwight, me, Joao, Leila, Tony, Heather, Rick, Alta, Francois, Ron,
Allan (Mercy Air SA director)
Front: Tendai and Barb

Our leaving coincided with a long-time staff member having to go for emergency surgery.
Seems like a bad time to leave, but I know he's in good hands.
(thanks for the photo, Heather.)

Before we knew it, we were off flying south.

Odd photo taken from the cockpit with my cellphone.
I assume the black lines must be the prop?

We were on a tight schedule on our way down (because we always are, but this time because of weather), but got delayed at Vilankulo Airport. They were having power troubles and we had to wait for their electricity to be reconnected so we could fuel up.

We weren't sure how long our delay would be, but either way, we had a bit of time to kill at the brand spanking new airport. Air conditioned with white, shiny marble floors and restaurant inside instead of outside in the hot wind. Wow.

Here's what it used to look like:

What we feared may be an overnight stay turned into just a 2 hour delay, so we got to leave shortly after lunch. Here we are, wind-swept on the tarmac. We look a tad excited. :) That's because we'll be seeing our kids and family soon.

We're now in South Africa, still in the process of leaving, but enjoying our last bit of summer before we hit the land of cold, snow, and ice.

We will be traveling the width and breadth of north America sharing about the the needs and wonderful things happening in Mozambique between January and July. If you want to get together with us at some point, please email us at dwight.lagore@gmail.com.

Choices, and Hope.

2011-12-04T00:26:00.000-08:00

Personally, I don't like too many choices. When there are too many good things to choose from, it's hard to decide on just one. Which is why I had to smile when I saw the first-ever food menu posted at the intensive seminar this week. Now that's a good menu! Straightforward. I also liked that someone was considerate, creative about the content, and went to the effort to write it up.

Translation: SBF (Faith Bible Seminary): Menu/Notice Board

Lunch (but actually means "Breakfast", in Mozambique terminology)

*Pina Bread, Large (baked with firewood in a clay oven in Pina, a neighboring community).
*Sri Lanka Tea (not from a neighboring community. Not even from a neighboring country!)

Big Lunch ( Mozambique terminology for "Lunch")
*Pemba Beans (Not a neighboring community, just further north in Moz.)
*Baue Rice (also from further north)
*Quelimane Orange Juice (large city further north in Moz)

As you can see, there's not many choices. But in rural Mozambique, where hunger is rife...especially now as rains are just arriving and crops still being planted--people are just happy for whatever food is available at all.

So, the dust has been flying (figuratively speaking, since it's currently raining) here this week with the busyness of seminar plus us trying to organize the many, many last minute things we need to get done before we leave on Thursday.

Dwight sharing in the general session in the NEW general sessions room.

Attentive listeners.

After a week of intensive class time and learning,

certificates are handed out to those completing their course(s).

Today, these leaders all head back to their homes. For some, this means a 2 day ride in very cramped, overloaded vans. Many of them are from rural areas where living conditions difficult, and there is hunger. As they study however, they become better equipped to address these issues and help bring hope to their churches and communities. Hope is a wonderful thing to share!

And speaking of which, I need to share another thing that made me (all of us) smile this week. One of our partnering churches (Fort McMurray Gospel Assembly, in Canada) found a very creative way to celebrate this Christmas and share hope with people in Mozambique.

For donations made toward Unique Christmas Gifts,
cards with those gift items were hung on beautifully lit Christmas trees in the church lobby.

This gets my vote for "Most beautiful Christmas Tree, 2011".

Before I end this post, I need to share one more item on the "choices" topic. I was busy organizing my little medications/camp bedding store room here in our house yesterday and when went to fling a pillow on the top of an already very high pile, something strange caught my eye. So I got up on a chair and to my dismay, at the very top I discovered this extensive and craftily spun spider web. It even has an entry tunnel and all. Ni-i-ice. I shudder to think of the size/shape/look of that spider. I dislike spiders more than I dislike too many choices.

So right now especially, I don't like my choices. Do I get rid of him with a:

*Broom?
*High-powered vacuum?
*Can of Baygon?
Shoe clobbering session?

Just too many "good" choices there...

May you have hope, and only good things to choose from this holiday season.

But mostly, Hope.

Bare Necessities

2011-11-25T23:53:00.000-08:00

Walls and floors full of bugs aren't my idea of life's bare necessities, but well, it rained and so they're here. So I'll just start this post off with them.

Two days ago, after a few weeks of sweltering heat, we finally got the blitzing thunderstorm. We were expecting it because rain usually follows intense heat at this time of year. In fact, when it's real hot (like into the 40's Celsius), the local people say "It's cooking up some rain."

I would like to add one other predictor of rain: ants. They emerge by the millions just before heavy rains and take over our world in their panicked search for food. They form wide swaths and go anywhere they want--be it inside or outside your house. They march across floors, into garbage cans, pet dishes, the shower, you name it. Outside, they're any place you step, look, or sit. And they'll crawl all over you too if you're in the way. (Which you always are because they're everywhere.)

So to sum it up and move on to more important things, this is how our rain cycle goes. Intense heat + billions of pesky ants > a storm (which should be measurable on the Richter scale) > cooling off + the emergence of a whole host of bugs that the rain unleashes > intense heat again.

Bugs on the veranda the morning after rain.
Where's my broom? Now that's a bare necessity!

With another pastors/monitors intensive seminar upon us, we've been flat out busy ensuring the training center had the bare necessities needed to host the event. So for the first time ever, it will be hosted at the new training center. Right where it should be.

If things still looks under construction, well, they are. But certain parts are finished enough to use. It beats the more rustic conditions everyone has had to put up with over the years while this has been in the planning and initial stages of development. Another major perk is that it's right here on mission property rather than a 30 minute bumpy drive away. So for all concerned, this definitely is a thumbs up.

Here's the latest tour:

Just last week, permanent white metal support beams replaced temporary wooden ones.

This section has had the most finishing touches since it will be used to conduct classes.
Window frames are freshly painted and glass panes are in place.

Primer was even painted on some of the cement trim crosses on the outside,
just in time for the seminar.
(Don't worry, this isn't the permanent color scheme.That will come later.)

A classroom, ready to be used, temporary light fixtures and homemade blackboard in place.

One of the bigger rooms with mattresses that will be used for sleeping.
It's not luxurious but it beats a grass mat on a tent floor!

Oh, and as a side note, I'd like to point out that oval, white table. For probably the first time ever, it is fulfilling a more important function than being my one and only dining room table for the past 18 years. We're temporarily using a "real" wooden one that's on loaner from Ron and Barb. Nice change :)

Tables and chairs to be set up in the classrooms.

Here are some of the temporary structures to cover the bare necessities:

Kitchen and dining area.
We plan to build a nice multipurpose kitchen and dining hall one day,
but for now, this simple structure will do.

Two monitors with program coordinator Pastor Ricardo (light blue shirt), Pastor Tome (the cook, in navy blue t-shirt), and 2 of the older sponsored students on each side of him.
(Left: Mateu P. Right: Bero).

Since it's school holidays, these students do volunteer work during the week of seminar.

Pile of lenha (firewood) for open fire cooking.

Temporary (to become permanent) tap brings fresh water from the storage tank to a central spot for easy access for cooking and bathing. Bucket style bathing, of course.

Bathing area.
Although our future bathing stalls will be made of brick and concrete,
these are the norm in rural Mozambique.

Inside a similar looking structure, are the latrines.

And no, they're not the sitting type. Yet.
But these are also common in these parts.

Tents for surpervisors to stay in.
Water tank in background.

Yes, there is still quite a bit of work to be done. But compared to where we were about a year ago, this multipurpose facility/training center has come a long way!

Oct/Nov 2010

Which brings us to another one of our current building projects: a home for Rick and Heather Neufeld. Good progress! Be encouraged, little Neufeld family.

Last few photos:

Welcome dinner to celebrate Ron & Barb, and Tony & Leila's arrival.
Thanksgiving, really.

We were pleased to spot this cute pair of Broadbilled Rollers
nesting in a dead tree right beside the Neufeld's busy construction site.

I hope they eat ants.

PS: It's that time of year again (Christmas), so if you're interested in helping provide needy people with a bare necessity or two, please consider giving a Unique Christmas Gift. Although our website is a bit broken and undergoing a revamp, you can still download the gift brochure. Click here.

Bye for now.

Instructions

2011-11-19T05:01:00.000-08:00

Although sometimes instructions seem redundant, or untimely, they are always important. That's because following them can save you lots of good things like time, effort, and even valuable points on a test. Thankfully, I wasn't the one writing a test this week. But these youngsters were.

This is the group of 5th graders who recently "graduated" from the mission school's Grade 5 and who want to go on to Grade 6 next year at an external school. This will be necessary until we are granted permission to add higher grades to our school.

One of the steps in the process is that students undergo a simple evaluation of the 3 "R's" (reading, writing and arithmetic). In the above photo, they're getting a quick orientation to the process as well as an introduction to staff members who will be monitoring them during the test.

Then, they split off into groups of 6-10 for their evaluations. Joao and I took one group on our veranda.

Hmm, serious stuff.

Once I was done helping with the reading evaluations, I took a few moments to pop my head in on the other groups.

This group sat in the "internet office" under Celestino's watchful eye (he's quite the stickler for discipline and detail). For the brief moment I was there, I heard him reminding the youngsters to "...observe the instructions at the top of the math page. It says to 'Calculate'. I want to remind you that when it says 'calculate', it means show all your work, fully, in proper form. Don't just give the answer. You'll be docked points for not showing your work."

I gulped hard for the kids, snapped this photo, silently wished them all the best, then backed out so they could concentrate.

Below is Matthew's little flock in the main office. They looked like they were pretty much done other than each still taking his/her turn outside to read their assigned piece of literature.

The two guys in the doorway are two of the school's teachers who accompanied the students. They were pacing back and forth, like worried parents, offering words of encouragement here and there.

And here's Prosper's group in the shade of the big tree in the front yard of the office. I see one boy looking up at the birds. Not tooooo much stress here.

All in all the process didn't take more than about an hour and then the students were off to their homes to enjoy the summer break. Celestino brought me their papers afterwards to quickly go over the results and pointed out that some of the students lost points for not having paid attention to the instruction "calculate" on the math page. "Calculate," he informed me, "doesn't mean to just write the answer. It means you have to show all your work, and your work has to be in order. 10's in the 10's place, 1's in the 1's place, and so on. Otherwise you make mistakes."

I sat straight and said, "Wow, Celestino. Sometimes I miss reading instructions too and just jump into the work. Good thing I didn't have to write this test...I may have flunked it entirely!" I was half joking, half serious. Half joking because the way they do long division here was mind bogglingly different to me. I recall learning a rather upside-down method in Brazil long ago, but I think this is even different to that!

Anyway, I'd meant to post this photo last week but I think it got left out by mistake. This is us, Francois and Joao (far right) with some of the school's first students when "school" was held under the trees. They are now adults and either settling down and starting their families or pursuing a vocation.

Below is oldest photo of the school I have on my laptop. By this point, we had transformed an old dilapidated farm laborers' dorm into a large one-room school house by covering it with a big thatched roof, extending the building's width, and putting blackboards on the walls. On Sundays, it was used as a church.

To wrap things up for this time, here are a few shots of a home visit Celestino and I made to a young mother who suffered a puff adder (viper) bite a few weeks ago. Thankfully the wound is healing up well and she is able to walk. After a few visits, we decided the family was ready to take over her dressing changes on their own, so we left supplies and all the instructions needed.

Celestino was the one who demonstrated and gave the instructions, of course. Concisely, and with attention to detail, as always :)

At the end, when we asked if the instructions were clear, the young lady nodded her head without hesitation. And so did this entire line of cute little onlookers as well.

That's good. Learn it now, kids. Be that attentive to instructions always and you'll do better, in general, on just about any of life's tests!

What marked your week?

2011-11-12T23:56:00.000-08:00

Several things have marked this week for me. The first one was finding some CD's of "old music" (as our kids would call it) while I was searching for a computer software CD. I decided to pop them in for a listen after so many years. They were Petra's 'Beyond Belief', and 'Unseen Power'. What's funny is that even though my kids consider the music old-fashioned, it was pretty controversial in its day, mostly because of its style. Some people figured listening to Petra was "trying to walk the edge without falling in". After listening to them again though, I have to say that the messages those songs carry still challenge and inspire me. So for me, that is the music of the month. Old or not.

Another thing that marked this week was contact with friends I haven't heard from in a long time. I need to keep moving on the main theme here so will keep this short, but I remember this couple as being an inspiration AND a ton of fun during a year that held certain challenges for me as a teenager.

Okay, onto the party. I think I've mentioned recently that the end of October marks the end of the school year here in Moz. So this is the mission's "School's Finished" party.

The party took place in the open air, in the shade.
The balloons helped make the day feel that much more special.
Special thanks to Francois (Rauch) and the school teachers for all their work not only throughout the year, but also for the work that went into this wonderful celebration.

But first, we had to get there. The school is off back in the bush and this year with the bush fires, the one bridge had burned down. There is a round-about way but it is much longer, so we opted for off-roading through the dry riverbed.

You can see the burned bridge in the photo below.

By the time we got there, a fair sized crowd was already there waiting for things to begin. Here are some of the students waiting patiently.

The sun was shining brightly, and it's HOT this time of year. As the sun moved, we kept having to move the seating arrangement around to get into the shade.

There was a table full of prizes for those with best marks. Even a bicycle! In the end though, no one went home empty handed. Everyone got something.

There was no dry ice show or confetti for the prize winners, but there were plenty of bubbles!

It was nice to see parents and grandparents alike attending the event.

This is my friend Val and with her kids and grandkids. She was in the women's literacy class back a few years when I taught it and although she only speaks local dialect and I only speak Portuguese and English, we somehow manage to communicate the basics. We don't see each other often anymore, but when we do, there's always an immediate connection.

One of the mommies attending the event.
Here, she and her two little ones are headed up to the water pump for a drink to cool off.

After the prize giving ceremony, plasticized ID cards were handed out to all the kids from the sponsorship program. A picture of yourself is an absolute luxury out here, and these that are especially prepared and sent over from Canada for these children are quite the treasure. The card is brightly colored and has a picture of themselves plus an inspirational verse to encourage them.

Handing out the cards. The fun part for me is watching their reactions.

Examining the photo and verse closely.

Yipee!

In the center here is (I believe to be) our smallest preschooler. She used to receive milk at the clinic from the milk program, and now that she attends preschool, she receives nutritious food each day.

Even she takes a loooong look at her beautiful card!

Smiles all around!

The girl in blue below acted quite cool about the whole card thing initially but I noticed that she withdrew to a quieter spot by the wall to examine hers. And then I caught that cute smile that I knew was inside somewhere wanting to come out!

Haha, then she caught me and saw my smile too ;)

The kids gave several very boisterous cheers to all who make it possible for them to go to school, have a lunch program, receive prizes, have a party, etc.

So for all those of you who give, pray, and love these kids from afar,

A HUGE CHEER AND SHOUT OF THANK YOU TO YOU!
Thank you for being an inspiration to so many beautiful lives.

Webs and VBS

2011-11-06T05:45:00.000-08:00

While on a late afternoon walk the other day, I strutted through not one but TWO cobwebs that had been spun across the road. There’s no experience like it—sticky strands across your face, in your hair and on your arms. Ugh! I immediately start walking backwards while (sort of frantically) brushing my head off and looking for the would-be spider. Thankfully, it has usually taken cover some place safe until my thrashing session is over. Gotta love summer.

Each year in November our school runs a week of VBS for the kids. Basically, it’s an intense time of fun, good food, and building their inner “man”. Once VBS is finished, the younger children are free to kick around for the summer holidays while the older children still have a few final exams to write.

Rock painting

Games

More games

And nutritious food!

Even mission staff had a bit of fun this week as they received beautiful t-shirts, emblazoned with the mission logo, from a donor in South Africa.

Serious shot.

Fun shot.
This is a strange concept in these parts since photos are generally quite formal.

But with some urging, they figured it out and we all had a good laugh.

Anyway, I better run along for now. I’m still up to my eyeballs website revamp work and as long as I’m here on Blogger, it isn’t exactly getting done.

And I've got this very cool but unusual gheko sitting on my office wall keeping a beady eye on me. It's a bit unnerving.

ttyl.

PS: Anyone with any ideas as to what kind he is?

Exciting moments, other types of moments, and bugs.

2011-10-30T02:58:00.000-07:00

I know some of you will want to skip right down to the bug photos. Not most of you though. So let's start with the non-bug stuff:

This week we celebrated the arrival of our new, long-awaited backup "Genny" (generator). That may not sound so exciting exciting to you, but for us it's as exciting as getting a new toy. Especially considering the mission had a power blackout last week when the main generator's starter burned out. Without a generator here, you have no electricity. Not fun.

Because the new backup is real easy on fuel, it'll get used anytime it can handle the workload.

2 liters of diesel/hour

Vs. 4 liters of diesel/hour (main big genny in the background)
It's sure nice to know there's a backup...no more "no power" type surprises.

Finally getting "SAM Ministries/ASAM" embroidered shirts for key guys here at the mission created a bit of excitement too. Nice smiles, and these guys sure help to keep things running too!

New sunglasses are exciting too.
(Right: Celestino, socorrista, my right-hand-man in the health program.)

The guy on the left struggles with eye problems caused by leprosy. These sunglasses are primarily protective with the perk is that they're pretty trendy too.

And there was more excitement when Peter (in blue), our main bricklayer, was selected to receive a plow (and 2 cows to go with it).

Most people out here prepare their fields by hand. These fields must produce enough maize (corn) to feed them and their family for the entire year. That's a tremendous amount of work so every member of the family participates in some way.

What back breaking work. Imagine what a relief a cow and plow are!

Another celebration this week is that SCHOOL'S OUT! Summer and festive season holidays get wrapped up into one for students on this part of the planet. They won't go back to school until late January or early February.

Preschool year-end party.

One of the not-so-exciting moments recently was when the mission's trusty old Isuzu, which has put on over 300,000 tough kilometers, is critical for everything from transporting orphan food to lugging bricks, and which has been resuscitated many times over...broke down. Apparently the back end started to make a loud whistling sound. That's not a good sign.

Matthew was on his way home after picking up students' school supplies when the Isuzu (nicknamed "Izzy") broke and left him stranded at the side of the road. I don't have the full story yet but somehow he dismantled and reassembled the back brakes, then Izzy limped home. This is Izzy now, with bricks behind her wheels.

Izzy's rear left wheel.

Note the black oil spattered pretty much everywhere and the smudge on the fender made by the pinch-hit mechanic as he labored to patch Izzy up enough to get home.

We all agree--it's definitely time to replace Izzy!

Ok, onto the bug part of the post.

African Cicadas, noisiest ones in the whole world.

It's hot right now in Moz. Like +35 to +41 hot. And in heat like this, we start getting thunderstorms.

And cicadas emerge from their cocoons by the thousands.

Cicadas on our kitchen screen.
Can you see all 10 of them? (Hint, look closely at the bars and wooden frame.)

Cicadas are our favorite bug even though their constant and deafening "zweeeee"ing around the clock almost drives newcomers insane.

We like them because they have an amazing life cycle and because their clumsy flight and bumping into walls makes them entertaining to watch. We also like that they seem to respond with a short little "zwee-zwee-zwee" when you rescue them from the floor and toss them back toward the trees. As if to say, "gee, thanks!"

A few more bug shots. I found this mud wasp's nest in our shoe cupboard today.

Each mud hump holds a larva plus several paralyzed spiders that are its "fresh" food.

That's a lot of mud for one little wasp to carry!

Those wasps get everywhere. These wasp larvae fell out of a lawn chair's hollow legs the other day. Don't care so much for these particular bugs! :(

Anyway, let me sign off for now. Much work awaits me. We're revamping our website, preparing for intensive seminar again, and trying to organize an upcoming furlough.

And I think there are a few more cicadas that need rescuing from last night's wall bumping fiasco, too.

Making Things Fit

2011-10-23T09:42:00.000-07:00

One of the joys of heading out on the long trip home is packing the vehicle. I use the term “joy” loosely because it’s actually a big chore to ensure that all the stuff we need to take home will

a. Fit.
b. Pass South Africa/Mozambique border inspection without too much ado.
c. Be safe all the way home (no water damage from rain, no breakage over bad roads).
d. Be packed so essential items for our stopover are accessible without unpacking and repacking more than absolutely necessary.

Here, Dwight and Andy pack things in as tightly as possible to make them fit. The back was half filled with boxes of study books.

These are essential items after our mid-trip overnight stop though, not the initial pack. That happened the day before and was not done during daylight hours, nor in such pleasant weather. It was done at 9 pm during a nasty thunderstorm. Darkness, pouring rain, lightning, howling wind and falling branches sure make for an unpleasant packing experience. We had an awful lot to cram into the vehicle, but somehow it all fit in.

Once we get packed up, it’s an 18 hour trip home that we split into 2 x 9 hour days. We don’t stop much along the way, but on this trip both Andy and Dwight had to pop in to their respective embassies to get the necessary signed letters in order to process their Mozambican driver’s licenses.

This meant navigating Maputo streets and crazy traffic.

Dwight checking out some High Commission literature while waiting for his official signed letter. We got to meet and shake hands with our High Commission Counsellor too.

But back to the trip.

There are several marked differences between Day 1 and Day 2 of this trip. On day 1, we’re still in the south’s highly populated areas where, simply put, there is more money. Gas stations have better supplies like ice cream and yogurt that is still safe to eat, and their restrooms are fairly decent.

On day 2 of the trip we enter what is more truly rural Mozambique with its poorer communities and limited supplies.

There are few places to stop and order food along the way so I took a few photos of the almost one and only food stop.

Looks like prices have gone up.
Looks like their menu writer had a challenge making things fit too.

Here's some of the decore:

This is just plain funny. A live chicken displaying a roasted chicken :)
Ok, he's a rooster.

As a nurse, I'm glad to see the "no smoking". Most places here don't worry about that.

The front serving counter.

We knew if we ordered hot food we'd be there awhile so we just ordered sandwiches.
Pretty sure the chickens were happy for that.

Note the large Cerebos salt shaker on the right. It's tough getting just a sprinkle out of that.

The 2nd day stretch of highway is cashew nut and pineapple territory so you can usually find them for sale along the way.

If you’re brave enough to put your window down and face the-battle-of-the-vendors, that is. Next challenge is, yes, to find a place where they'll fit!

During our absence, our main generator (the "Genny" mentioned in Ruth’s post) went on the blink for several days. This was made worse by the fact that our back-up generator hadn’t been delivered and hooked up yet.

When the generator’s not running nearly everything comes to a standstill. No power = no machines working. Very importantly, no water gets pumped either. Thankfully the guys at the mission managed a work around. The back up has been delivered since and will soon be hooked up.

It can be quite a hassle, this generator business. That is why we rejoice in scenes like this along the highway: power line poles!

They’re not quite in our neck of the woods yet, but it looks like they’re headed our way so we’re very hopeful.

Let me close with this morning’s excitement. We woke up to no water in the taps even though the generator ran the usual hours yesterday and would have pumped the 10,000 liter tank full. After some scouting around, Dwight found the broken underground pipe where most of that water leaked out overnight.

He and Rick did their best to repair the break with some pipe connectors, but the sizes were a bit off and wouldn’t fit. The only solution was to tie off the end of the pipe thus cutting off water supply to one of the homes.

Here’s hoping that pipe/connectors that fit can be bought this week. Oh the joys...

Game Viewing

2011-10-16T10:37:00.000-07:00

"Staring right back at you."

(Female Kudu, Kruger Park, South Africa)

Today I noticed some kids jumping and waving their arms ad infinitum in front of a TV screen in a computer store. They had no controls in their hands so it took me awhile to realize they were actually playing an interactive game. It kept them occupied for a long time and kept me pretty entertained just watching them.

But that was nothing compared to the game we saw at Kruger Park this week with our family (who we have since bid farewell to). Game viewing at Kruger Park is different to visiting a zoo. At a zoo, animals are in their pens and you wander around at your leisure checking them out. When you're bored (like if they're napping), you move on. In a wildlife park like Kruger, however, there's one very large natural "pen" and you're in it with the animals. This is one very good reason to stay in your vehicle.

When viewing animals in a game park you have to do a lot of driving and actively search for them. Once you find them, if you get bored with a particular sight, you drive and actively search some more. It's a totally different experience to visiting a zoo and every visit presents its own unique sights. Like these:

Elephants having a "pool party".

Note the guy on the right, bottom down, tusks facing the sky. Is he doing a back flip?

A giraffe, lost in thought.

Smoochy giraffes

A mossy crocodile. (Talk about a long wait for dinner!)

Yawning baby hippo.

Cape Buffalo staring right back at us.

Kind of like the Kudu but with an attitude.

Cute yellow bird taking his umpteenth sip of ketchup.

(Yes, little guy, we know. We're in "your" pen.)

The much-poached rhino. Rough skin, thorn bush scrapes, horn and all.

Zebra with a fascinating stripe pattern.

Did you know that each zebra has a set of stripes that are as unique to him/her as a finger print?

Mom and baby baboons. Very entertaining.

It's a bit disconcerting though how much these animals

act like humans (compared to the others) :)

A particularly protective mother elephant gently keeps us at a safe distance

by walking towards us.

(When an elephant walks directly toward you, you back up. Quite a ways, if necessary, in case you're wondering.)

I'll close with this next one.

A certain tourist taking the "we're in their pen" thing a bit seriously.

ttyl

Leaving the bush

2011-10-09T10:27:00.000-07:00

Well, in all truth, we’ve left the bush already. We’re on our way south to take our visiting family to Joburg since their time here is nearing an end. We have a few scenic detours planned along the way though since it’s a very lo-o-ng ways to go and there are some good places to stop and catch a breather.

First though, a few shots of last Sunday’s service. We attended a little bush church that also ended up being a lo-o-ong ways. But out into the bush. I always say that if a rural person says your destination is “right there, not far”, you can bank on a good half hour of bouncing over bad roads. If they say “Eesh, that’s a lo-o-ong ways off!” you better pack your tent. Thankfully last Sunday’s service was a case of “right there, not far”. We had to pick our way through a few dry river beds which added a bit more excitement to the drive.

This old granny attended the service and we were quite captivated by her. She must be over 90 and is sharper and more vivacious than many younger than she is.

Here’s a pic of the church congregation after the service.

Anyway, Thursday morning we packed up and headed out of the bush. At about the half point in our 9+ hour Mozambican road drive (not the same as a 9+ hour north American road drive), we discovered we had a flat-ish looking tire so had to look for air. There are few gas stations along the way, and even fewer air pumps. But we came upon this little roadside business just across the Save river.

They had to prime the air compressor's old engine and give the cord a few good yanks to get it started, but start it did. And was it ever loud! But that didn’t matter, we were just happy to have found air.
While there, a little boy rode past selling “meat”.

Upon closer inspection we discovered what we is referred to as a “cane rat” in these parts.

Dwight couldn’t help hamming it up for the photo :)

We’ve now had a few days to show our family one of the loveliest spots along Mozambique’s coast.

It's turned out to be a rather typical experience as the power went off for over 24 hours and we then went without water for over 20 hours. Ah, such adventure!

Here's Ruth making toast over a flame on the gas stove.

Tomorrow we head for Kruger to see African animals. Here’s hoping the big 5, plus all those lesser but still beautiful others, will venture out from behind the bushes so we can see and photograph them.

Very OK by me...

2011-10-02T09:10:00.000-07:00

(Honde Water Dam, Mozambique)

This week, my niece was very kind in offering to be my "guest blogger". (She and her husband are currently visiting us.) She thought I was busy and needed the break...and I think she's an amazing writer. So I was pretty happy to give her the "OK"!

So check it out: Royden and Ruth

Just Do It. (Nike has a point.)

2011-09-25T09:09:00.000-07:00

There is a time for thinking and planning, but there is also a time for seeing an idea to completion. Even if it's a bit of a stretch.

This week, we're happy that my niece and her husband "just did it". After some thinking about it and planning, they finally came to visit us. From the bustling metropolis of Seattle, U.S.A. to the rural bush in Mozambique. In more than one way, this is a stretch!

Landing in Beira (after several long distance flights)

Boarding the Cessna to go "more rural"

Dwight, Royden and Ruth
(I tried to get myself in the shot but didn't quite pull it off.)

Closer to our destination

It's been a great week getting caught up and showing them around. One of our stops was to visit the mission school. Since Royden is an award winning photographer, illustrator and animator, and Ruth is a registered nurse, we used the opportunity to encourage the kids to follow their example--stay in school, have a plan (a dream) for their lives, then "do it".

Drawing a giraffe for the first class.
I bet he's never had to draw on a cement plastered blackboard before!

Drawing a smiling cartoon child's face for the 2nd class.

No one bored here!

One of the boys took the "do it" challenge quite seriously and copied Royden's giraffe drawing on the back of his notebook. Now that's what we like to see :)

After all the class visiting and drawing, it's lunch time.

Helping Pastor Tome dish up food

Mmmmm

Today, we visited a church in the Nhanhata area which is not too far from our home. The pastor of this church is studying with the mission's leadership program. It was quite the event, even for us who have been here for many years...

The joyful drumming, shaker shaking and hand clapping was pretty loud
inside this humble bush church. (The shakers above are made by filling about 5 tin cans with seeds, puncturing the tops and bottoms, then sliding them onto a stick.)

We each gave a greeting and then Dwight shared a word of encouragement with the congregation--that God is always with us to help and enable us. We are never alone.

This church, like most churches out here, is crudely built out of poles, plastic and grass. But they have a dream for a better structure one day. Here's the building plan all approved, authorized, and stamped. (As all matters official must be out here.)

Nice thing is, not only do they have a plan, but they're already busy making the necessary bricks out of mud. They're all ready to be baked and once that's done, construction can get underway.

That was pretty nice to see too.

And after all that singing, clapping, and visiting, it was lunch time.

We were honored and offered a good meal of food typical to this area: stiffly cooked maize meal served with stewed chicken. Eaten not exactly Seattle-style, but rather with one's fingers.

That was a stretch too, but we did it :)

Fire, Smoke, and Back to School.

2011-09-19T01:05:00.000-07:00

You knew a post about fire was coming, right? This is the season of fire after all, so it was just a matter of watching and waiting and the yearly "fire story" would come along.

Well, for the past while we've also been watching and waiting for fire. This is September and the bush is dry and brown--the perfect tinderbox. And wild fires are all around. Huge tracts of land have already been torched around us. We do our best to maintain a wide, clear swathe along the boundary. We have animals, and agriculture projects (not to mention people, equipment, etc), and we really don't need all that going up in flames. So needless to say, day after day and night after night, we have all kept a watchful eye on the horizon for smoke.

On Tuesday, we did some watching and waiting of another sort as we awaited the arrival of the nation's First Lady. She was visiting a neighboring community and we had been invited to meet her and set up a display showing mission's various programs.

Women's Ministry Display Table

Pastor's Training Display Table (note health manual in bottom right of photo :))

By noon, things were ready and in high gear. The crowd's excitement was palpable as many ululated (high-pitched singing) and danced in circles around drummers beating on raw-hide drums. This created a fair bit of sweat and huge clouds of dust. Then the wind would blow and in its indecision about where to take all that dust, it would blow first this way then that, and in doing so gave us all our fair share of grit several times over.

The display tables were set up on one side of the entry road, and Dwight and I were placed in the long and very packed elbow-to-elbow receiving line-up on the other side. So there we all were outside in the hot sun and wind and dust celebrating our expected VIP's visit.

Several hours went by this way and as we stood and waited and watched for the First Lady, a rising column of smoke over the mission farm caught our eye. A quick call home confirmed that the fire was inside our boundary line and rushing toward the cattle pen. Several dignitaries had still not arrived at the VIP event, so we decided it was safe to peel off for awhile to help organize firefighting.

Rick and Dwight take a moment to size up and decipher the direction of the fire and the wind before putting a plan into place.

One group of guys rushes off to beat flames.

While all this was happening, a couple came walking up the road. The husband went on ahead to check on safety while his wife and small baby stayed behind and waited. I found out she'd just given birth the previous day, and already here this new mom was walking many kilometers out into the bush to her home.

I believe the estimate of area burned was about 100 hectares that day, but mid-burn we were called back to our spot in the line up. The dignitaries had arrived and the First Lady was soon to arrive. And so we left the fire to rejoin the crowd.

Kids are back in school now after their breaks, as they are everywhere it seems. Every morning during our devotional/work coordinating time, this little guy walks past us on his way to school. I love seeing kids going to school :)

Here's the mission truck after its last run to town for supplies. Among those supplies are a few bikes for students who have a very long walk to school. Aren't they going to be happy!

Bikes for students, check.
Brooms for clinic/warehouse, check.
Diesel for generator, check.
Paint for construction, check.
Chipboard for building, check.
And that's just the start. Truck trips to town are always full-day events.

Students helping to harvest vegetables in the garden.

We had some very warm weather for several days last week, and I guess that's the signal for all spiders to come out from their burrows. We discovered this guy by one of the bookcases in our house the other night. Ack!

Pity to kill him (for several reasons),
so Dwight caught him and put him back outside where he should be.

Pinned under a plastic container.
Yes, plastic containers are useful in many ways out here!

Just to give you an idea of size.

As if spider #1 wasn't bad enough, we discovered spider #2 crawling onto our cutting board!

And as if that wasn't bad enough, he sprinted onto the sliced bread!

Anyway, I'm late with this post and I really need to run. Here's hoping for fewer fires and spiders this week!

Searching for Signal

2011-09-11T08:27:00.000-07:00

“Were you searching for ET?” a friend jokingly asked when I posted some of these photos on facebook this week.

Well, no, not exactly. We were searching the heavens for strong “RX” (receive) and “TX” (transmit) signals with our internet satellite dish. Strong signal = lock-on quality which makes the RX and TX lights on our modem go solid green = internet. But they have to be green, and solid. No flashing lights. And no yellow lights. Those aren’t so helpful.

So why all this? Well, it’s a long story. In short, about a month ago we decided to try a new satellite internet system. That didn’t go so well so we decided to switch back. Problem was, somewhere along the way our BUC (pronounced “buck”, and an essential component in the system) got misplaced.

The BUC is the part behind the "microphone" (my term)

Without a BUC, basically you have no internet. So the search was on. It took several weeks, many phone calls, much discussion, and finally a replacement was found. We knew our problems weren’t over yet. What we didn’t know was the degree to which they weren’t over. Connecting a complex internet system out here in the bush without the necessary technology or savvy isn’t very easy!

So this is how it went:
Day 1

Took us the entire day as we:
1. Replaced the BUC,
2. Downloaded the programming software,
3. Loosened and tightened bolts,
4. Tilted the dish this way, that, and the other searching for strong signal. (But no. RX was solid green, but TX was bent on flashing. You have to have ALL solid green lights to have internet.)
5. Phoned technicians far away for new ideas on what to try next.

Even so, dusk found us standing outside staring at the dish feeling rather perplexed and a bit defeated

while the TX light flashed on the modem inside.

The next day was supposed to be a stat holiday but we knew we wouldn’t spend it sitting around in the shade sipping coke.

Day 2
Took us the entire day, again:
1. Moving the dish into every possible position and contortion 1/16th of an inch at a time. (It was a long, hot day in the sun.)

When moving a satellite dish, there is Axis 1, Axis 2, Axis 3, and so on.
Side to side movement is "azimuth" if I recall correctly.

Turns out, a hair-line move here on earth translates into a miles-wide gap in space.

2. Re-running the software and carefully following all the steps.

Dwight and Rick in our "internet office"

Even so, dusk found us still searching for the illusive solid TX green light, but at least the software helped narrow down our search. While the guys pushed and pulled at the dish outside, I watched the monitor and shouted encouraging numbers out through the window.

The black space is, well, "no signal". Yellow is "better, but keep trying". Green is "good". Green peaks are better than green valleys. This is where we ended Day 2. Even though TX was still flashing, we felt we'd made good progress.

Day 3:
Took very little time at all. When the power came on, miraculously TX and RX were both solid green. Yay!

The modem.

Age-old lesson learned: If it’s not (real) broke, don’t mess with it.

In other news, here’s Celestino searching for the bridge we usually depend on to get supplies to the mission school. Oops...

There have been many fires in the area, as there always are at this time of year, and the bridge Dwight and some hard working staff built several years ago had burned to nothing more than a hole in the ground. Good thing it wasn't dark when they came upon this!

Celestino and Joao managed to move some of the burned logs into place to get through the dry riverbed.

We sure have our work cut out for us before rainy season comes along.

Before I sign off, a few shots of local wildlife.

We noticed a leaf stuck to one of our walls the other night.

A closer look revealed not a leaf, but a moth. Clever disguise, little fellow. But it would work much better outside…where all the leaves are.

African Black Sunbirds finding sweet nectar in my flowering aloes. The black one is the male and the beige/yellow one is the female. (Talk about opposites!)

Here, the male gives me a brief stare-down while I train my camera on him. Sorry to disturb you buddy, but really, it could be worse. It could be an internet satellite dish.

Getting There

2011-09-04T07:36:00.000-07:00

There was a bit of a panic one morning last week. We were just finishing our routine morning meeting with staff when I caught a quick movement out of the corner of my eye. One of the guys had something on the end of a stick that he held stretched w-a-a-ay out in front of him, as far as possible, and he was rushing to dispose of whatever it was. It must have been pretty dangerous, so my curiosity was piqued.

“Wait, wait! What is it? Let me see!”

The guy stopped mid-step and turned around ever so carefully. There, on the end of the stick, was no snake, no furry, ogley-eyed spider, nor anything too horrid at all for that matter. It was a plain old chameleon. A fairly frightened one at that who was moving as quickly as possible toward safety!

Unfortunately for the chameleon, his species are programmed for disguise, not speed. And so his attempts to “scurry” were quite pathetic. At best, he swayed backwards and forwards repeatedly, in super slow motion, as his front foot reached forward, poised for eventual touchdown.

It’s pretty safe to blink, even several times, when watching chameleons walk. You won’t miss much.

They're quite harmless, but many here believe they’re deadly poisonous. I reached for the stick to rescue the little fellow and to relieve the guy holding him. As I did this, an animated discussion broke out as we shared our differing ideas about chameleons and the possible danger they pose. Some voiced concern that chameleon eggs on cassava leaves could easily be eaten by accident and poison a person. I was more concerned about the level of cyanide poisoning in the leaves themselves. They thought I was funny. I thought they were funny. We all had a good laugh.

The chameleon thought it wasn't so funny at the time but it could be later, after he’d reached safety. If he could just put that foot down and actually get there.

I think Raimundo (holding the stick) and I have similar thoughts about chameleons.
He doesn't seem too worried.

While we were having some fun but also challenging moments at home base this week, Dwight, Rick, Joao and Pastor Ricardo spent just shy of 2 weeks picking their way over dangerous highways and bad dirt roads to visit, teach, and encourage pastors and people in remote areas. I traced their path as best I could (below). The round trip covers approximately 1200 km.

Need I say why I don't accompany my husband on these trips? Conditions are rustic and besides, there are dangers along the way too. Who knows, maybe one day I'll muster the needed sense of adventure and go along. But not yet. Thankfully, Andy and Dwight took some great photos which I'll share here.

Rick, Heather & Co. hauling a trailer load of orphan gift packs for Chiriza and Chueza.
Good thing they were well wrapped on the bad, dusty road!

Crossing the Chiri River on the "ferry".
These bigger rivers are know for both hippo and croc attacks.

While Dwight drove, Pastor Ricardo "manned" the phones.
Dwight's phone is a busy one. Apparently Pastor Ricardo's is too.

Graduating pastors in Guro

Lunch with the Community Leader in Mutarara

Unique Christmas Gift packs, carefully shopped for and put together by Rick, Heather, Pastor Mariano and others, were distributed to orphans in programs in Chueza and Chiriza.

Awaiting gifts and lunch.

Gifts are so fun!

Grannies and elderly women who also receive help.

The Chueza church runs a garden to provide vegetables for orphans in its orphan feeding program. The walk there is several kilometers long.

Desperately needed pots for cooking were delivered on this trip as well.

Fresh produce from church garden in another area called Baue.

Follow up for the women's literacy program is also provided on these trips. Here, one of the remote women's class teachers receives supplies.

Here, a woman receives a certificate for completing a course in leadership training.
I love seeing the women involved like this.

"Work-for-food" project in Sinjal.
Bricks made will be sold to generate income to purchase more grain.

Checking out a possible remote base in Sinjal for the mission.
A place to call home while so far away from home would be ideal on these remote location visits.

Who knows...maybe I could be lured off on one of these crazy trips after all? There may be a few dangers and some adventure, but it would be a great experience. Maybe one day I'll get there.

About struggle, and car snorkels

2011-08-27T23:33:00.000-07:00

I was watching Raimundo spread a layer of manure on my flowerbeds a few weeks back. I wondered (out loud) if he was laying it on a bit thick, but he figured the amount was just right. We both kept a curious eye on those flowerbeds over the next few weeks as he watered them faithfully, and turns out he was right. The previously scraggly and anemic looking plants are turning lush and healthy.

It reminded me again how even seemingly useless things can work for good. They say that about struggle, too. Apparently struggle is good. Funny how that works.

So in that light, something good will result from the struggles we faced this past week. Struggles like some people close to our hearts having serious health issues, team members having a car accident, and us having major hassles with our internet. I'm currently on a rather pokey little cellphone modem.

Thankfully, those with health issues seem to be on the mend and the vehicle seems to be the only “one” in the accident that sustained physical damage. (And that can be fixed.) Our internet problem, however, is being stubborn. Let’s hope that if we’re patient and keep working to sort it out, good will come of that too.

Anyway, on to the photos.

Rick Cogbill and Todd Green wrapped up their time here this week being their usual productive selves. Rick focused and made good progress on construction of the automotive workshop.

Huge crater dug with the backhoe that will be filled with rock. This is where the workshop drains will empty into.

Peter busy building the work pit (?term) so mechanics can stand beneath vehicles while they work on them.

So they can avoid this type of scenario...

(Todd and gang resurrect the Isuzu, again.)

Washing the minibus.

I bet it's a nice break for the guys from all that theory they learned earlier in the day!

I learned some interesting details in the last mechanics session about how/why vehicle engines don’t like being plunged into deep water. I guess they, like me, don’t like gulping water through their air intake system. If a vehicle MUST ford a deep river, you may want to make sure it has a snorkel first. A “car snorkel” is just funny, no matter how you think of it.☺

As the guys packed their bags to head for home, I organized some of the school kids’ artwork to send back with them for sponsors. Organizing school-child art is the highlight of any day.

Pretty sure I see a snorkel on that vehicle :)

3 school girls taking home new Walt Disney character toothbrushes.

Makes toothbrushing all the more fun!

This gentleman, who sadly lost his wife recently, walked several hours to the clinic to get milk for his baby. The lady on the right is his adult daughter who is helping him with child care. We trust for health for this little one.

For this time, I'd better close. Could take awhile to upload this.

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God..." Romans 8:28

Say Cheese...

2011-08-20T10:02:00.000-07:00

Updating annual school photos on over 300 children is a bit like a wedding photo shoot, except no one is dressed in white. Thankfully...rural Mozambique is far too dusty to wear white! It also takes us weeks to get photos of all the children.

That's because although the majority of these children attend the mission's school (Grades 1-5), many are sponsored to attend external schools in larger communities so they can pursue higher grades. So there's a fair bit of tripping around to be done by Matthew (field office administrator, below) to get everyone's photo.

"Cheeeeeese...please?"
I can almost hear Matthew saying that to this cute preschooler.

Besides taking, uploading, labeling and resizing a gazillion photos, details like "grade, age, health notes, etc." are also updated. Oh, and the children write letters or draw pictures for their sponsors. The writing and translation of these letters is another big task, but one that can be quite entertaining and rewarding for us as we witness these children growing and developing the skills they will need for life.

This young man is one of our external students.
He's been in our program since he was small and is currently participating in the mechanics course at the mission. (below)

It's been a busy week for me, so I'm a bit sad that I missed out on interpreting. But I'm sure Joao (above, right) enjoyed it!

"Say cheeeeese, little donkey."

Last week, Dwight and I took a day to go pick up a ram (male sheep) in the Serra Choa which is about a 2 hour drive northwest of us. The purpose in getting the ram is to improve the "beefiness" of the mission's current sheep herd.

Dirt road to Serra Choa

Good to see a sign pointing to the local health center.

Loading the ram. He wasn't too impressed with this concept.

Thankfully he was a good passenger and didn't "ram" any windows out.
Helps that Dwight had a pen prepared for him to ride in.

At his new home.

I am including photos of some of our small burn victims receiving their warm, fuzzy blankets at the health post this week. I couldn't be there for the handing out and photo taking, but Celestino (one of the health workers) did a great job!

Beautiful smile, happy mom

Without the participation of everyone involved, both here and abroad, there would be a lot fewer smiles on the ground here.

Thank you, everyone!

Bye for now.

(PS: If you would like more information or if you're interested in school child sponsorship, please email us at sammoff@telus.net.)

It’s Complicated

2011-08-14T09:01:00.000-07:00

Many parallels can be drawn between a motor and the human body. For one thing, they're pretty complex. For another, they both need some fixing from time to time. This can be greatly reduced if things are maintained on a regular basis though. Turns out preventive medicine works for cars as well as people.

I hoped this parallel would come in handy again this week since I offered to help interpret for the mechanics’ course. I know terms like “gear, oil, and bearing” in Portuguese. How much more complicated could things get, right? And if they did, I could always resort to some detailed descriptions, hand motioning, and diagram drawing.

Todd Green, Ed Hyslip, and the mechanics' class

English to Portuguese is one thing, but to Portuguese that is understood in the local context is sometimes a big step further. The labeling of one diagram that snagged us for a while was this:

“Ok guys, the top diagram is of a Plain (“simples”, in Portuguese) Bearing. The second one...(realizing I knew no Portuguese word for "flange"), well, is more complicated.” I was kind of serious, kind of joking. They blinked, shuffled their feet, and waited for me to continue. So I took a deep breath and carried on. It took a fair bit of describing, motioning with the hands, and explaining, but in the end we came up with a term that made sense to them.

This was another fun concept...

All in all things went quite well.

Then there was the practical component.

We always lots of "practical components" because we depend on so many machines daily to get our work done, like our power generator, grinding mill, truck, vehicles, backhoe, etc. And it seems that with machines, if it's working, it's breaking. That's just the nature of machines.

The mission's maize grinding mill.
Situated where it is, this machine saves women from walking countless miles just
to grind their maize so they can cook it each day.

One of the big projects of the week for the mechanics was our old generator. It is fairly spent and is now used as back-up to a newer one. The plan was to rebuild it.

First, we had to get it out of its shed. That took a bit of maneuvering with the backhoe, some chains, and some tension. :)

Once it was safely in the open car port, the guys got to work pulling it apart.

Stripped to the core.

Now that it's in hundreds of pieces, the verdict is that it's so worn that the remainder of its days should pretty much be committed to rest. Prevention has its place but in time, wear and tear take their toll don't they? It's the nature of things. Now we need to think of a Plan B back-up.

A few quick shots of the week:

Ed had a chance to visit the mission school to say a quick hello and goodbye before wrapping up his time up here.

I came across this while marking exams from the health course this week. It made me smile. It seems the exam's structure was a bit complicated and needs to be simplified. (Btw, I love that this guy was unwilling to settle and just circle whatever). I want to give him points for this.

Blankets we picked up this week for the young burn victims who’ve been coming to the clinic for dressing changes. (They were burned while sleeping too close to the fire on these cold winter nights). Looking forward to seeing the smiles these blankets will bring!

And last of all, the tail of a Rough Scaled Plated Lizard seeking refuge from passers-by.

The End

Warming Up

2011-08-07T10:03:00.000-07:00

Winters in this part of Mozambique are cold, and this winter has been especially cold. Some guests from colder climates sort of smile when we say this. I suppose once you've tented in -10C, +10C doesn't exactly rate. But this week, it didn't look like anyone minded standing in the sunny spot for morning devotions after a long Mozambique-cold night.

At 7 a.m. the sun's rays are still rather weak, and only come in at a slant, so sunny spots are scarce. But when you're really cold you find those spots. I do anyway, and it looks like these guys do too.

You know how some days take a weird twist? Well, I seldom take my camera to morning devotions to take pictures. I'm not sure why I snapped this one below either, and I had no idea at the time (neither did they) what was hanging in the tree right behind them.

Until Heather, who was beside me, pointed and whispered, "Is that a SNAKE hanging from that tree?!"

Yep. A twig (bird, or vine) snake.
Cleverly disguised and swaying ever so gently even though there was no breeze.
Probably he was cold too and this was the only unoccupied sunny spot he could find!

It was sure hard to stay focused on devotions.

Dwight later lifted him onto the branch so we could see him better. I think he's stunning.

There's been an increase in snake-track sightings this week (by me, anyway), and thankfully our days have been warming up. So I guess the +40's are on their way.

Big fat snake track.

Little, skinny (juvenile?) snake track.

Unfortunately, the cold winter has meant we've seen an increase in then number of burn victims at the health posts too. Mostly it's children sleeping too close to hut fires to stay warm at night and the blanket or their clothes catch alight. In one particularly sad case, a young boy sustained extensive 3rd degree burns to his chest, back and one upper arm. We couldn't get to his home by vehicle so had to walk there to get him and take him to hospital.

The men carry the boy the 20 minute walk, on a grass mat, to where our vehicle is. Concerned women family members follow.

(This happened during seminar last week. Several monitors who were visiting a local bush church came across this home and helped out by calling us then gave money to help with related costs. I was moved by their kindness.)

Because the burns were so extensive, and because the child had other special needs, he was taken to Vanduzi Hospital.

We are thankful that the others can be treated at the health posts and for donations toward blankets that have come in for them.

Moving along here... Besides being a cold week, last week was a busy one too with people coming and going.

We welcomed Rick Cogbill, Todd Green and Ed Hyslip who are here to teach a mechanics course, fix vehicles, and contribute in a number of other ways. We also said goodbye to Tony and Leila, and Urs as well.

(Urs, straight above. Willing servant...everyone misses you already.)

It was great to have Tony and Leila here participating in the seminar...

And Leila's Brazilian Portuguese came in very handy for interpreting for a few days for the mechanic's course.

Todd Green teaching a session while Leila interprets.

Some of the donated materials for which we are very thankful!
To see more photos of their activities, check Rick's latest blog post.

Otherwise, there was the usual hum of building activities.

Here, trusses go up for our car port. (The previous one dangerously collapsed during rainy season.)

Andy making progress on his carport/room he hopes to move into soon.

This water tank was purchased largely by a donation from Brazilian partners. It will be used to provide running water for the mission's primary school and health post.
Running water is a good thing :)

Work carries on at the training center. We're so thankful for this machine that helps speed the job along!

We're also thankful it actually got up to +29C one day this week. Even if it means snakes are out and about more. And even if it means we'll soon to into the intolerable +40'sC. Somehow it's always nice when things warm up a bit.

See, listen, learn.

2011-07-31T01:56:00.000-07:00

Sunset, Nyanga Mountain Range Foothills (Moz side)

July 30, 2011.

A friend and I were passing bit of time yesterday late afternoon while waiting for the intensive seminar's grad ceremony to start. Turns out we were in the right spot at the right time to see a perfect sunset...except for the tall grass.

I've photographed sunsets here many times over the years. Usually the fields are clear so there's a clean shot of the sun. Not this year though. This summer the fields weren't plowed, and this winter the brush fires haven't swept through yet. So the grass stands tall, proud, and imposing. Rather in the way, depending on how you look at it.

Intensive Seminar week is always just that: intense! With about 50 monitors here there was quite the hum of activity. In the past, I've had more of a support role during these times. I'd make the odd health presentation and help with logistics, when needed. But now that the health course has been fully developed, I teach that.

So this week it was up and out of the house and in the car early to head to where the seminar was being held. One morning, we had to stop along the way to buy bread at the Pina Community Bakery. It was early, and cold!

Cute little Pina onlookers

Pina Community Bakery

Joao and Matthew with one of the bags full of hot buns.

I bet the monitors were anxious for those buns.

By the looks of it, Dwight was too :)

Our vehicle was pretty full, so 4 of the guys had to crawl in the back, two of them in their suits! And still they smile...such good sports.

General session with the monitors. They study the course material at home then attend the seminar to complete the classroom component and write their exam. When these men finish their courses this week they will return home and present the course to other pastors. These 50 monitors represent, and will return home to teach, about 1000 pastors.

Here Bero carries the hot bread rolls to the kitchen. He's a sponsored student in secondary school but doing winter-break volunteer work during the intensive seminar.

Some of the other older sponsored boys, lik Mateus, help in the kitchen and haul water.

The school cook, Pastor Tome.

Kids are off school right now on winter break, so this gives us the opportunity to use the school and school kitchen for the seminar.

Bero chopping firewood. Food is cooked in huge pots on an open fire.

Kitchen and tents.

There aren't enough classrooms to house all the separate sessions, so some are conducted outside under trees.

Boy do we ever need our training center!

Some are held inside where there's cute artwork on the walls.

Leila Frank held a session with the monitors to do some brain-storming

for topics for a future pastoral counseling course.

I got to use the preschool corner for teaching the health course.

Celestino took 2 of the sessions: hygiene and sanitation. He's a good teacher who doesn't pull any punches!

I decided it was a great time mid-week to hand out some glasses that had been donated. I was with my class at the time this elderly gentleman received his, but apparently when he put them on and realized he could read his Bible he literally jumped up and down for joy exclaiming, "I can see! I can read!"

During some between-session down time, Ernesto and I hung curtains in the clinic.

Not perfect yet but it'll keep the hot sun out in summer and limit the "peep-show" from the veranda too.

At the end of a long week of study, when brains are about as saturated as they can get, exams are written and the grad ceremony is held.

This seminar's grads. They've completed 26 courses over 6 years. Congratulations!

This young man was recently selected by a local community church to fill a pastoral role. This week he completed his first 2 courses.

And last but not least of the excitement this week was what happened with Sr. Andreas (below). We've known him for 15 years. In fact, he was probably the very first man I met out here in the "bush" (as we call it here). He helped look after us when we were "newbs", living in tents and contending with bugs, snakes, no water, etc.

This week he came to the clinic saying, "Senhora, I need help with my ears. Some 'junk' needs to be taken out of them so I can hear." A quick look with the otoscope revealed nothing but nice, glistening, healthy ear drums. No "junk" at all. According to him he has progressively become hard of hearing and can hardly hear someone talking 2 meters away.

It was more than coincidence that just a few night previous I'd discovered a pair of hearing aids along with the donated glasses. So yesterday I took them to him to try out...

(hearing aids in, smile on)

After we had the hearing aids in place, I stepped about 6 meters from him and said at normal volume:

"Sr. Andreas, I'm talking to you now. Do you hear me?"

"Yes Senhora! I hear you very well!" He boomed back with a huge smile that went from ear to ear.

"There will be a bit of learning in order for you to use these things. I'll try to find some glasses for you too so you can see those small things better to work with them. Are you up to it over the next week?" I asked.

"Yes! I can hear, so I'm alive again. I will learn to use them!"

So I guess my next week will be a busy teaching week too, albeit minus the pomp and ceremony of grad.

If Sr. Andreas can learn to put his own hearing aids in though, I rather expect a jump or two, a bit more booming, and a few more big smiles, too.

Packing Parachutes?

2011-07-24T02:05:00.000-07:00

Every morning before work begins, the mission staff all gather for a half-hour time of encouragement and prayer followed by a coordination of work schedules. It's a great way to start the day, even if it's frigidly cold like it has been this past week! This week Dwight shared the following story about a US Navy jet Pilot who was shot down in Vietnam:

Charles Plumb was a US Navy jet pilot in Vietnam. After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured and spent 6 years in a communist Vietnamese prison. He survived the ordeal and now lectures on lessons learned from that experience!

One day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at another table came up and said, "You're Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!"

"How in the world did you know that?" asked Plumb.

"I packed your parachute," the man replied. Plumb gasped in surprise and gratitude. The man pumped his hand and said, "I guess it worked!" Plumb assured him, "It sure did. If your chute hadn't worked, I wouldn't be here today."

Plumb couldn't sleep that night, thinking about that man. Plumb says, "I kept wondering what he had looked like in a Navy uniform: a white hat; a bib in the back; and bell-bottom trousers. I wonder how many times I might have seen him and not even said 'Good morning, how are you?' or anything because, you see, I was a fighter pilot and he was just a sailor." Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent at a long wooden table in the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds and folding the silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fate of someone he didn't know.

Now, Plumb asks his audience, "Who's packing your parachute?" Everyone has someone who provides what they need to make it through the day. He also points out that he needed many kinds of parachutes when his plane was shot down over enemy territory - he needed his physical parachute, his mental parachute, his emotional parachute, and his spiritual parachute. He called on all these supports before reaching safety.

Sometimes in the daily challenges that life gives us, we miss what is really important. We may fail to say hello, please, or thank you, congratulate someone on something wonderful that has happened to them, give a compliment, or just do something nice for no reason. As you go through this week, this month, this year, recognize people who pack your parachutes.

(Above photo and story credit: great-inspirational-quotes.com)

And so, the thought of the week has been, "Make sure that you put your best effort into any contribution you make, even if it seems small and insignificant, because the impact could be someone's life."

This was a very timely encouragement for me this week especially since I was hobbling around on a sore knee, had a nasty cold, and was trying to focus on preparing health information to share during the upcoming monitor's seminar.

And I'm sure it was a timely encouragement for the guys going to all the work of unpacking and setting up tents for the monitors to sleep in.

(Note the stack of firewood in the background. Like I said, it's cold right now. Let's trust the monitors will also be encouraged as they rough it this week that in doing so, they are also investing their lives in packing parachutes right now!)

Unpacking a tent and figuring out which way is up.

Ah, easy as 1-2-3 when you've done it countless times before!

Voila, what a pretty camp!

Back in the mission office, other "parachute packing" activities took place.

Matthew and Dwight show one of the things Matthew has been working on: course certificates.

Joao has been busy preparing course exams, booklets, etc.

And the rest of us have been doing similar jobs in our respective work corners. Seminar time is always a busy time.

A few more photos of the week.

Andy "packing parachutes" on a tractor, plowing a corner of the field for planting beans that will be used in the school feeding program.

Mariano "packing parachutes" through actively engaging in

teaching life-building lessons to orphan children.

And with this last photo, I will close for this time.

While everyone else is out being encouraged in the freezing cold

our dog, Mushu, snuggles at home under his blankets.

I guess he figures he'll do his parachute packing once it warms up a bit :)

Unlocking the Mystery

2011-07-17T08:47:00.000-07:00

I have a hobby that some people here find rather curious: I collect old pieces of weathered or burnt wood. To me, they're fascinating.

My "beautiful wood"

Not everyone shares my enthusiasm. "It's just firewood," they say. That's true, it does look like "just firewood". So much so that at times when these odd pieces are discovered in the back of our truck, they get chucked onto our firewood heap by mistake. (At the moment I'm trying to track down a piece of ebony I got the other day that I fear has ended up in smoke.)

The reason old pieces of wood fascinate me so much is that they have a lot of character. Each one has a story to tell. They all possess a certain beauty, too...albeit a bit hidden. If you're willing to invest the time and effort though, the beauty and some of the history comes through. In a way, they're a bit like people.

But back to my story. I took the following photo 3 years ago and forgot about it.

A few months back while on a walk I discovered a "new" piece of beautiful wood and brought it home, washed it, sanded it, and varnished it.

I was pleased with how it turned out, but it was obviously part of some sort of structure. There were "missing pieces". Curiosity got the best of me so I went back to the area where I discovered it. In doing so, I realized that it was the lintel for an old door when I actually managed to find and recover the two adjoining sides to the door jamb. One of the pieces still had the rusted padlock attached (top photo). I felt pretty privileged to have recovered all 3 pieces of wood which have survived countless bush fires, intact.

Anyway, once I was done cleaning, sanding and varnishing the lintel, I took a photo. When I took the photo, I realized I'd taken a photo of this piece of wood before.

July 2011

I went back through old photos and sure enough...

August 2008

It was rather uncanny to realize that I'd found and photographed this piece of wood 3 years before in its original location and state.

Let me catch up on the week's news though.

I took the usual mid-week trip to the school clinic to work with Ernesto for aawhile. I packed up my emergency box and tool box with the plan to do health assessments AND install the much needed counter top. But half way there, I realized I'd forgotten the drill. Well, we used all our allotted time just doing paperwork and seeing a some sick people anyway.

The mission was donated reams of orange paper some time back. Makes for a colorful desk top!

Ernesto changing dressings on chronic leg wounds on one young man. The rickety table to his right is where the counter top is supposed to go in. Next time, when I remember to take the drill. :)

There was a bit of local excitement also this week as our area was visited by the provincial governor (governess, actually). Here, Dwight and Joao await her arrival.

She is welcomed to the community with brightly colored banners,

and crowds of people.

Since we've been away, it's been awhile since I posted photos of progress on any of the construction projects. Here, the training center roof trusses are all up and roofing tiles are now being put on the 2nd and 3rd sections.

View from the opposite side.

Foundations were poured for the maintenance workshop. Foundations never make for exciting photos, but they're important nonetheless.

And last but not least this week, Alta and Urs celebrated their birthdays so we got together and made an evening of it. We had supper and desert, then planned to set off the "fireworks" the guys found in Chimoio that day.

They were mysterious fireworks, really. The tube looked like the normal fireworks variety, but it clearly stated: "Fun! Fun! No Firework." Words around the top of the tube also read, "New edition nil powder environmental protection type fireworks display." (Just a hunch that this company's first language is not English...) We weren't sure what to think. It's dry at this time of year so we were a bit concerned about taking it outside where the bush is like tinder and could catch fire so easily...IF there was any kind of spark involved. But the more we read the label, the more it became apparent that this was pretty low key, safe, and spark free.

So we decided to take the plunge inside the house. We curiously peeled back the top foil, slowly eased the release button, and POOF! Out came a ton of brightly colored confetti!

Haha, that was fun! Happy birthday Alta and Urs.

And happy birthday to our son too, who turns 25 today.

Bye for now.

One of the nice things

2011-07-10T06:22:00.000-07:00

...about going away is getting back home again. And Monday found us preparing to do just that. There was the usual chaos in our little place as we packed boxes with engine parts, door handles, printer cartridges, leadership training books for the upcoming seminar, water pipe connectors, food, medical supplies, etc. and loaded them into the vehicle for the 2 day trip home.

The first official stop of the trip is the South Africa/Mozambique border post where our passports and respective import/export documents are processed and stamped. On a bad day, you get a customs official who wants to search and inspect every inch of your vehicle. This takes hours. On a good day, you just get waved past. Monday turned out to be a good day in that sense.

Once in Mozambique, the real trek begins. It’s smooth sailing along the toll road for about 45 minutes until you hit Maputo, the capital city, and its seriously snarled traffic.

It’s a bit like an obstacle course with bumper-to-bumper traffic all cutting each other off and beeping and slamming on brakes to avoid hitting the next guy. It would be nice if there was a way to by-pass Maputo, but there isn't. You just have to go through it.

Even once you finally get to the other side of the city, traffic stays heavy and slow for quite a ways. It’s a good time to turn on relaxing music although the contrast between the rhythm inside and the rhythm outside can be so stark it's comical.

The entire trip home takes about 18 hours, so we split it into two 9 hour days. As you head to the more rural north, the traffic thins out and the scenery improves dramatically.

And you become aware of the gradual transition from an area of better development to one of less development.

Inhambane Province. I call this spot "Coconut Alley"

In rural areas there are fewer cars, more animals, more people carrying loads on their heads, and no power lines.

Well, no power lines until just now, that is. This power line (below) is just going in on the Rio Save to Inchope stretch of the trip north.

The supply of power will help to fast-track development. Part of this includes better quality health care and education. This isn't happening in our area yet, but we're hopeful it will come our way.

Although the electrification of rural Mozambique has been slow in coming, cell phone coverage has been around for awhile.

And there is stiff competition between the country’s 2 cell phone moguls: MCEL and Vodacom. The nice thing about this is that in their effort to advertise as widely as possible, the companies offer to paint the many small roadside shops (for free, I believe). They have the choice between Vodacom’s red with white lettering, or MCEL’s yellow and green.

Since Vodacom is the newest kid on the block and it has been very actively promoting, it is not unusual to see all of the roadside shops in small towns painted red.

There's a pretty good balance in this town. Some of the shops even seem to have opted for no free paint.

This little shop gets the best of both worlds.

Anyway, our trip home was safe and we’re now getting back into the rhythm of bush life. Yesterday, a friend who is a pilot and civil engineer spent the afternoon with here kindly giving us valuable input on the next steps to take on finishing the air-strip (contouring and leveling).

Left to right, Kevin, Dwight and Urs (a young man from Switzerland serving the mission for a few months.)

And me? I’m busy converting fabric I picked up into curtains and blinds that are a year and a half overdue for our house. But mostly I’m in the process of recovering files and getting my replacement laptop up to speed. It’s rather a pain, and it’s very time consuming. One of the nice things about having to do review and update the files and programs, however, is that I’ve been able to do some necessary editing and streamlining.

Have a good week all.

Treasures and Theft

2011-07-03T02:44:00.000-07:00

Our trips to Nelspruit are usually good although when we arrived in Nelspruit last week to the following news headlines "Armed Robbers Plague Nelspruit", we knew we needed to be extra vigilant. Theft is fairly commonplace in these parts, but it's disconcerting when it gets worse. Those driving vehicles with Mozambican license plates are especially targeted. Figuring out the safest place to leave one's valuables while on a trip is quite the quandary since buildings/home are broken into, vehicles can be broken into or stolen entirely, and whatever you carry on your person can also be grabbed. But we do our best to stay alert while out doing business.

We had many stops planned this week and I actually took a photo at the one place. This is a vehicle spare parts place in downtown Nelspruit. Two of the mission's vehicles are taking extended time (months and months) off work as they await parts that cannot be found in Chimoio. We stepped into this particular shop with a sample of what we needed and hoped they'd have it. With the piles on top of piles of car parts though, I wondered how any particular part could ever be located. IF they in fact even had it.

What a wealth of treasures here...just depends on what you consider to be a treasure.

The main parts guy took one quick look at the part we needed, then disappeared outside for about 15 minutes while we stood and absorbed the sight (along with the associated smells). I have to admit I felt rather at home since my dad is a heavy-duty mechanic and all-around do-it-yourself kind of person. Car parts and grease are associated with fond memories of my growing up years and to this day I love mechanics' shops (and have been known to get stuck into the work myself when I can). I couldn't help but smile as I surveyed the scene.

Soon enough our man returned with exactly the part we needed. He even found the missing, specially sized, bolt. I was duly impressed.

Hopefully our vehicles will be too because we really need them working!

Below, I was standing watch (and taking photos) while Dwight looked for other part samples that needed replacing at the next shop.

It was a pretty busy and productive first few days. But even so, we took time out to celebrate the happy occasion of our 30th wedding anniversary. That's a treasure too.

Then came Thursday. We were loaded for a 2 day trip to Johannesburg but had about 4 stops to make first. At one of those stops, while we were both inside the shop, my laptop + other items in the bag (which was tucked out of view and covered with a sweater) was stolen from our vehicle. This happened in a secure parking lot with a guarded boom. We later learned that this company is robbed of an entire palette of floor tiles (about a ton?) from the parking lot every weekend.

Not a happy moment, but at the same point it could have been worse. Things could always be worse. So we remind ourselves to be thankful for where we are and what we have here and now. We carried on to Joburg to pick up leadership training books as well as other items, then returned to finish up what we could in preparation for our trip back to Mozambique. It has taken a considerable amount of time and effort to get a few things back on track again after the theft, but we've made good progress.

And so I will end this post with a photo of one of the smaller good moments of our week. This beautifully lit tree marks the entrance to the new wing at Riverside Mall.

Goodbye for this time. And remember to enjoy the good moments and treasures you have right here, right now.

Inquiring minds want to know

2011-06-26T02:33:00.000-07:00

I dropped the ball in my June 10th post by neglecting to state the final outcome of how many people the truck could transport during the president's visit. I'm sure many people don't particularly care, but judging from comments left on this blog and even one Facebook status, some do. To those of you feeling left in the dark, my humblest apologies. Here is the answer:

The number of people the truck can transport is 60. 70 in a push.

Those who attended the president's visit say things went well. There were even socorristas to provide first aid back up to the crowd of attendees. Here is Celestino (left), one of the mission's socorristas, along with our truck driver (right, with a picture of President Guebuza in his hand).

Now that I feel I have a bit more closure on that post, let's move on :)

Dwight and I are traveling right now, once again. First, we took a wonderful week-long break at the coast. It was low season, so for the most part it was quiet and the beaches were empty.

But there were some curious tracks in the sand and animals around.

There were a gazillion or so of these small bluebottles washed up on the shore. You had to watch where you stepped!

This Lilac-breasted Roller came to perch on a branch just down from our place every day. He sat very patiently and turned his head first this way, then that, while I fiddled with my aperture, f-stop, zoom, and other camera settings trying to get a good shot. His feathers are a bit wind blown here because there was a gusty wind blowing that day. Sometimes I have the same problem :)

There was a huge population of ghekos, as per usual in Africa. Here's some (there were more) of the hunting posse on the front wall.

Ah yes, and then there were the crows. They would hover over the places waiting to loot and pillage anything left attended outside for more than a few minutes.

Digging through the neighbor's "tasty" refuse.

Tell-tale tracks (crows' feet) around our place would show up every time we were out of view. Inquiring minds, I'd say.

Here's a cute little guy wondering what tasty morsel this could be on our veranda. (Placed purposefully to entice him.)

We thought he may eat it right there beside us, but no. He grabbed it and flew away.

And last but not least was this little Jack Russell (Miro) who befriended us. In this shot he's under our table looking up VERY expectantly at Dwight.

And one last beach shot: sunrise over the Indian Ocean.

We're now in South Africa getting business done. There will be the prescribed 101 stops for vehicle/sheep/construction/aviation/woodworking/office supplies to source/pick-up/sharpen/order/purchase.

And for those keen minds out there that keep track of numbers...101 may be a slight exaggeration. My apologies.

:)

Monkeys in the tree

2011-06-13T07:26:00.000-07:00

I love weekend mornings. They're slower paced, quiet, and I usually have time to sit on the veranda with my cup of coffee. Sometimes we even get a bit of wildlife entertainment.

This past Sunday, while sipping our morning coffee, a troop of monkeys descended into the trees at the bottom of our yard. They scampered from branch to branch, from branch to ground, and from ground back up to branch again. What fun they were having (all the while keeping a watchful eye on us)! Can you see 4 of the monkeys below? (Hint, only 2 of their faces show in the picture.)

They don't spend a lot of time close to the houses but sometimes they come to see what there is to eat.

And to have a good long stare at us.

Quick glance away...

Then we're back again. Full attention.

Later that day we went to the "old farm" where we first lived when we first moved here. This little building (below) was our first ever bathroom with running water. It was quite the celebration when it was finally complete because up until then, we had only bucket bathed and used a spider-ridden outhouse.

This area (full of leaves in the picture above) was our camp kitchen, dining room, laundry room, school room, kitchen, and clinic. We even celebrated our first bush-Christmas on this floor. This area used to be covered with a grass roof but it didn't have those nice brick walls back then. The walls were made of grass which allowed every living thing, including bugs and snakes, to come or go at will. That was some fun! Or at least our kids thought so. Every day was a new adventure.

And these initials carved in the trees prove that monkeys weren't the only ones to romp here.

Like most walks down memory lane, it was very nice to see and remember but we're glad those days of "adventure" are behind us!

On our way home we stopped to check out the good progress on the training center.

It's looking so beautiful!

Anyway, let me sign off for now. This post is early because we leave to take a bit of a break from it all tomorrow and I probably won't be posting again for a week or so. Unless there's some compelling reason to do so.

And more monkeys in trees will most likely not rate :)

In a flap

2011-06-10T06:44:00.000-07:00

Apparently the country’s president is coming to the area for a visit next week, so this part of the world is all in a flap. Heads of departments rushing here and there organizing details, calling meetings, briefing underlings on protocol, and so on. I was thinking today that the mess and disarray left in the wake of a celebration is but a shadow of chaos that took place to organize it in the first place. But then, it’s not every day the president pays a visit.

Yesterday, one of the socorristas (health workers) was gone half the day to attend a briefing related to the visit. This morning, our devotional time was followed by an animated discussion about how many people the truck could haul (this in response to a special request to transport people for the event). One guy piped up with, “Nearly 200 people can fit on the back of the truck. Over 150, that’s for sure.” Another guy said, “I think about 50. Well, maybe 100.” No one seemed to know for sure, so it was decided that a trial load should be done with all the staff present so we could come up with a more definite number.

At that, everyone headed over to the truck and a “trial pack” was done.

All I had to take a photo with at the time was my Nokia—hence the lousy photo quality. After a fair bit of scootching and foot shuffling, we had a clearer idea of how many people would fit.

So the plan is that those going will head out on Sunday, stay overnight closer to the town receiving the visit, then be there early Monday morning. Yep, quite the kerfluff.

Since I didn’t make it to the school clinic last week, I decided to pop over yesterday while I had a chance and get a few things done.

For one thing, the windows desperately need curtains. But before you can hang curtains, you need to measure the windows. There were other tasks to attend to as well, but amid the other tasks, we got the windows measured and did up a “shopping list” of still-needed items. Some of the supplies are available right there in the bush, like wooden sticks to hang the curtains from. Someone just has to go out, measure some branches, chop them down, lay them out to dry for a few weeks, sand them smooth, and voila. It’s just that easy ☺

Windows without curtains are wonderful to look through, and so, our every movement inside is watched with intense curiosity.

Cute much of the time but not so nice for privacy for the patients!

On the way home, the late afternoon sky was wonderful! I couldn’t help taking a few shots.

I LOVE it when the African sky gets smudgy.

A few shots of other excitement around here:

“No littering please.”

I think we’re the first place nationwide that offers a public trash can. And one that keeps the rain out and that you just tip a bit to empty. How ingenious. (Thanks, Andy)

“Welding Hour”

Because the welder draws quite a bit of electricity from our diesel generator, some of the other breakers have to go off while it’s at work welding ox carts and bicycles. One of the things that goes off is our internet. As you can imagine, everyone knows (or soon discovers) when welding hour is. We definitely need our maintenance/work shop!

This morning there were two boys in staff meeting. They didn’t stay long since they had just come by to pick up study books that Dwight picked up in town the other day. They were very pleased to get them. They want the books. They like books. They like school. Imagine that!

And with that, I better run along. Someone’s at the door…something to do with the president’s visit. Like I said, this part of the world is all in a flap right now.

Pouco-pouco

2011-06-04T04:46:00.000-07:00

There's a saying here, "Pouco-pouco vai longe". Its English equivalent would be, "Slow and steady wins the race". That saying is used a lot here because speed is a luxury we simply often don't have in the developing world. Speed, one can generally live without. Persistence, on the other hand, is essential. Because without persistence, you have nothing.

These were the thoughts going around in my mind yesterday as I watched the backhoe at work. Let me state at the outset that work with the backhoe has far outpaced moving soil a shovelful at a time, which is the way we were doing it before!

This is how it used to go. A group of guys, each with a shovel in hand, would loosen dirt then swing it a shovel full at a time up onto the truck. The soil would then be driven to the training center site where it would be unloaded in like fashion...one shovel full at a time. It was a bit like ants moving a bowlful of sugar one grain at a time. Not ideal, but you can get the job done if you keep at it.

With the backhoe, things are moving much quicker. Even if not "speedy" by some standards.

Imagine the work and time the backhoe saves here.

Dumping the load of dirt.

Returning for more soil.
(The "sugar bowl" empties a lot quicker when you have a scoop!)

Here, the guys spread the dirt as it gets dumped.
The goal is to fill with dirt to the floor line (at the bottom of the doors).

Future classroom currently being used to store roof tiles.

With more roof tiles up, and plastering in place, it looks more like a "real" building.

Sometimes though, we're happy if something goes slowly here. Like the speed with which a Puff Adder moves toward you. They're poisonous, and there are plenty of them, so it's good that they're not a fast snake. It would be nice if they moved out of the way a bit quicker, but then, you can't have it both ways :)

A puff adder that was found on the road leading to the airstrip.

Dwight discovered him just minutes before Mushu (our little dog) and I came waltzing happily along.

In strike pose.
(Photo credit for Puff Adder photos: Paul Middleton of Mercy Air)

They may not move fast but they do strike fast. But first, they huff and puff in warning (hence the name).

I mentioned in a previous post that there have been a lot of snake tracks around here of late.
This is on the airstrip. It was only one of about 6 snake tracks I saw.

A bit more news:

Francisco and Mateus stopped by the mission the other day. They both receive sponsorship so they can stay in school. Here, Mateus (who is blind) reads a note from his sponsor done in Portuguese AND in braille. He was very pleased!

It was such a busy week I didn't get to go see my friend Robert for dressing changes. But the health workers say he's doing well. "He even brings the grass mat out himself now for us to sit on for dressing changes. Usually a family member would bring it out for him." He's been getting home visits for about 3 weeks now and soon won't need them anymore. Slow and steady wins the race.

Mushu agrees.
Slow and steady. And how about a bit of soft too, please?

Happy weekend everyone.

Progress

2011-05-28T09:17:00.000-07:00

Dwight and I were enjoying a 10 minute expresso at the end of our day (and week) yesterday at what I think is the only gas station in Chimoio that sells them. They're probably the best in town, too. Anyway, as we sat and sipped from the small paper cups I noticed some cute, fluffy birds nearby. They were busy flitting and hopping around, pecking at this and that speck on the ground. Tasty morsels, I'm sure. And I couldn't help but marvel at how they live their lives pretty much oblivious to the human world around them. Politics, progress, international crisis--even the latest electronic gadgets--have little effect on them. All's well so long as their nest and food are in order. It's just that simple.

I've been using a Nokia cellphone for the last little while and took some of this week's photos with its whopping 2.0 megapixel camera. (Note to self: only use the Nokia for daylight outdoor shots.) If I recall correctly, our first digital camera took 2.0 megapixel pictures. We thought we were on the cutting edge of technology back then. Now, 2.0 megapixels barely cuts it. That's progress, I guess.

Anyway, onto the week's events--some of which were captured with 2.0 megapixels.

This is Monday-ish morning and an elderly lady in one of the mission programs receives a new set of crutches. Her old ones were too short and one of the handles was just a straight piece of wood. That would be ok for someone not entirely dependent on crutches, but for someone who needs them for everything but sleeping...ergonomic hand grips are important. She lost one of her legs to a landmine incident.

The crutches came from Barb. She needed them at some point in the past, but not anymore.
Don't you love those moments?

I snapped this quick shot while picking Celestino up to go do burn dressings on a very likable elderly gentleman. This is the line-up for vaccinations just outside the health post. The health department vaccinated for 2 days until supplies ran out.

This is one of many visits to this old man's home. It always amazes me how when we change his dressings, he never even so much as winces. I'm guessing he's been through a lot. His name is Robert. When I asked him, "Robert...Mugabe?" He smiled and said, "Oh no, I was born LONG before he was!" Thankfully, his burn wounds are recovering very well. Sadly, I won't get to see him many more times.

This was Friday (wee jump in time). Dwight and I were headed to town and received a call that someone urgently needed to get to the hospital. The lady we helped was very sick, indeed. We fixed a bed for her so she could lie down in the back. It took awhile for the family to gather her things and get her ready. While we waited, I took a few photos.

Facing north on the Tete corridor.

When we dropped the patient off at the nearest hospital, the director asked if we wouldn't mind transporting 2 other patients since we were on our way to Chimoio anyway. "Our only ambulance is broken at the moment." he said apologetically. And so we loaded up a pregnant woman in labor (who was toxic--pre-eclamptic), and a woman struggling with an asthma attack. Thankfully we were able to deliver them safely to the Chimoio hospital for further care.

The container with a tractor and backhoe arrived this week (from the U.S.) It's been en route for several months now, so this was a very happy moment! (It was also captured on my 10 megapixel Lumix :) Yes, progress is good.)

First, the tractor and some small stuff got unloaded.

Then the backhoe.
Looking at it made Heather and I reminisce about the Dr. Seuss book "Are You My Mother?"

It took Ron a bit of work to get this thing out. It was in there pretty tight!

We were all relieved when it was completely out. No mishaps, no injuries. Yay!

On the inside looking out.

Mercy Air has had a team here this week. Besides helping unload the container, they've been busy working on the Mercy Air house.

Here they are hard at work :)
(Ok, they WERE hard at work just before we got there!)

The training center got its first few lines of roof tiles put on the other day. In my mind I can see the running of classes inside those rooms already! Classes that will prepare young people for a better future, classes to help young mothers prepare for a safer delivery, classes that better equip church leaders for leading their people, classes to help equip school teachers, etc.

Yes, progress is good, indeed.

Connectedness

2011-05-22T07:32:00.000-07:00

In order to achieve important (for that matter, most) things in life, connections of all sorts have to take place.

Some take a good ear.

And some, a good eye.

Actually, Ernesto and I had an interesting week last week. First, we spent some time doing health checks on school kids. We've been working at getting the new health post organized and functional, and things are going well. There's been one rather big obstacle though--there is no easy way for us to connect with him (a good 20 or so km away from the mission base) and vice versa. So if he or the school staff have trouble of any sort, they have to try to communicate via bush telegraph (aka: sending messages with people on foot).

Recently, with the arrival of Vodacom to our area, we've had better cell phone contact. In other words, we have reception in our yard and there is also reception at the mission's school and clinic. So I asked Ernesto if he still had the cell phone that he bought a year or two ago. "Yes, but the battery swelled after its last charge so it doesn't fit in or work in the phone anymore." I checked it out and sure enough, the battery was bulging. It probably didn't help that his cell phone's brandname was something like "SNARFBLAT". Apparently it was cheap. Anyway, I took it when I left and promised I'd look into getting things working again so we could be in better contact.

I guess I wasn't quick enough because the very next day, he showed up at our house on the mission base. He'd received a letter saying that he was to attend a meeting in Vanduzi (nearest hospital to us) and he wanted to arrange his travel plans.

As Dwight was about to step out of the door to greet him, he noticed a juvenile spitting cobra on the steps between himself and Ernesto. Hearing Dwight saying, "Whoa-a-a...espera, espera! Tem cobra aqui! (Wait, watch out, there's a snake here.)", is what brought me running with my camera. A snake in the yard always generates a fair deal of excitement in these parts.

The young spitting cobra, obviously feeling insecure, spread his hood and eye-balled us menacingly as he back-tracked his way up the steps.

That's him on the left.

Unfortunately this photo is not very clear and I got him with his back turned looking not very threatening at all. No spread hood or beady eyes. We did catch it on video though and I'll post that as soon as I have the bandwidth to do it!

In these parts, a spitting cobra is everyone's enemy. That's because they can either spit their venom with amazing accuracy at their "attacker's" eyes, or bite, if need be.

By the time this guy got to the top step though, Ernesto had his slingshot loaded, taut and ready. A few zinging stones, flying dust, dancing feet, squiggling snake and a fair bit of adrenaline rush later, and the connecting shot that stopped the snake dead in his tracks was fired. This is not the first poisonous snake Ernesto has killed in one of our yards. He's earning quite the reputation for himself!

Ernesto's small collection of perfectly shaped stones, for self protection of course.
He smiled when we called him "David", for short.

Once the hype of the moment was over and we finalized the question about the meeting in Vanduzi, Dwight and I headed to town. I took Ernesto's cell phone (of unheard-of-before-brand-name) and the swollen battery to an electronics shop. The shop owner had never heard of that make of cell phone before either and suggested that if we were looking at replacing the battery, why not just pay a little more and replace the entire phone? It did make sense. And if it meant we'd have better communication with Ernesto and the school staff, it was worth it. Not that I mind having him pop around now and then, especially during snake migration season...

I don't even know if there is such a thing as snake migration season but they're definitely on the move right now, that's for sure. We've found quite a few snake tracks through our yard this week. I've darkened the photos to help the tracks show up a bit better:

One of the shepherds figured this was a Python track.

I'm not sure about that one. Could be.

This track is squiggly, so likely another spitting cobra or maybe a mamba. Just as well I didn't see him.

Anyway, that was some of the excitement in my week.

But before I go, two last photos. This one is of the bridge to the landing strip. The hardwood planks are now being oiled and nailed into place. What a huge project this has been, but it's a wonderful feeling to walk on the bridge and lean over the sides. Carefully though...those side guards aren't solidly in place yet.

Today, a small group of us here from the mission went to the hotel in Garuso (located between where we are and Zimbabwe) for lunch. It was a nice afternoon after a hectic week. I couldn't resist taking a photo of the pink walls, red waxed floor, and white door to one of the suites.

But I better run for now. This post is quite long, and besides, I promised Ernesto I'd try to send a test message on his new phone and phone line. Here's to hoping the message gets through.

Take care, ttyl, and if you live in Africa--keep your eyes peeled for snakes.

Inspired...

2011-05-15T09:01:00.000-07:00

I had to smile when I read this t-shirt message worn by one of the staff this Friday. Those are great goals, though I thought they may be a bit lofty for the end of the week. Who gets inspired on a Friday? :)

Our week started off by welcoming the arrival of guests Delinda and Bruna from Brazil. Delinda and I were MK's (missionary kids) together for several years when we were younger. I have fond memories of her family and recall her parents as being people who were inspired, motivated and involved. This impacted many young people, including me.

Visiting Africa has been a life-long dream of Delinda's, and for me it has been a privilege to be part of seeing that fulfilled.

Delinda with kids (her passion) at the school

Bruna, a dentist who specializes in working with children, enjoying connecting with kids too

There were other guests at the mission this week as well, so we loaded everyone up in two cars when they first arrived and went to see the school.

For the remainder of the week, Delinda, Bruna and I kept very busy going to the school and to community and orphan homes.

They told stories and shared "The Wordless Book"...

And did lots of fun activities, like make balloon giraffes. I did my best to help with that, but I'm afraid that in my inexperience with such things, my giraffes looked more like sausage dogs! The kids didn't seem to mind though.

While the ladies were busy doing sessions with school and community children, I did some sick-home visits and helped Ernesto get things better organized in the new health post.

Walking down the highway on one of the home visits. Celestino leading the way.

Doing dressings on a very sweet, elderly man who fell into a fire last week.

The new health post taking shape.

It's amazing how putting up a few shelves transforms a place!
(It's also amazing how much this felt like settling into a new home.)

Ernesto serving the community in the new health post.

It was a busy week, but the involvement with people and seeing progress also made it a good week. And yes, I even felt inspired on a Friday. :)

Personally, I think it's easier to feel inspired AFTER getting involved rather than the other way around. And so, it seems more logical to reword the lofty-ideals t-shirt this way:

Involved.
Motivated.
Inspired.

Bye for now.

On The Far Side

2011-05-04T05:46:00.000-07:00

Yes, I made it to the far side of the globe safe and sound. My trip went exceptionally well and I didn't even have to pay for the extra piece of luggage that my flight itinerary warned me about. Flying into Beira was the diciest part of the journey since a storm hit just as we were approaching and we were forced to circle in fairer skies a few times until the winds and torrential downpour died down a bit.

In Beira we don't get those walkways between the airplane and terminal building that protect you from the elements, just portable steps that lead down onto the tarmac. So if it's sunny and hot, you get a really hot walk. And if it's rainy, you get a wet walk. And so, my walk into the building was a rather wet affair. Once inside, clearing customs and immigration went smoothly enough and I was soon warmly greeted by Dwight, Dawson and Winona (friends from Fort McMurray, Canada).

Dawson and Winona had spent nearly a week on the mission by the time I arrived, and since they were due to depart again from Beira in just a day and a half, we stayed in Beira with them and saw some sights and enjoyed the last bit of time together.

Night view from our hotel room in Beira

View of hotel ceiling in Beira.
(I couldn't help but take a shot of this. Never seen a ceiling like it before.
It looked like a whipped dessert topping.)

Once we'd said farewell to our friends, we left for home. It's taking me a few days to spool up and pick up where I left off, but I did a quick tour of the place to see the changes that had taken place in the 2 months I was gone.

The bridge to the airstrip is being reinforced and having finishing touches done.
Obviously workers use the log to the right as a walkway to the other side, but I wasn't about to.

More trusses are ready for the training center roof. Dwight was emphasizing here that the wood weighs a ton!

Foundations, although extremely important, are seldom exciting to look at.
(Unless, of course, it's YOUR building that's going up.)

This building plan for the maintenance shop will give you a bit of an idea what you're looking at in the previous photo. The shop will be used not only to do vehicle maintenance in but teach it as a skill to older students as well.

Some of the colours in my African back yard (Passion Fruit flower).
This has Edmonton's post-winter brownish-gray beat by a long shot!

And last but certainly not least in the photo line up of changes on this side of the globe...Buddy the klipspringer. Obviously he still enjoys a relaxing cud-chew on our veranda.

I don't think his body changed too noticeably in size, but yikes, look at the length of those pointy horns. No more bunting games on my legs for you, mister.

Changing Planets

2011-04-27T13:59:00.000-07:00

I often say that North America and Africa are so different from one another that going from one to the next is like changing planets.

For example, the latest news/buzz here in Edmonton includes:

1. Federal elections that are underway. Hmm, who to vote for? Who to vote for? :)
2. Stanley cup playoffs (Well, some sort of important hockey games. I'm pretty sure it's Stanley cup. Poor excuse for a Canadian, I am!)
3. Current temperature: +18 and the snow is almost gone.

While the latest news/buzz at my African bush home includes:

1. The water pump broke a few days back and last I heard everyone was back to lugging water by hand and bucket bathing.
2. Crocs and Pythons are being a nuisance in our vicinity. Crocs have killed several sheep in the last few months and this Python was caught while attacking a local farmer's chickens.

Sorry Snakey, but I think your family better move back further into the bush.
3. Current temperature: +31 and late-for-the-season storm activity.

Today, I'm "changing planets". My time in Canada is up and my suitcases are packed weighed, labeled, etc. All that remains are the goodbyes, the long trip, and of course gearing my mind for re-entry into a very different world. I don't mind the reptiles so much, but I sure hope that water pump is up and running again!

Until next week, goodbye.

Oh, and here are some videos to check out.

Rick Cogbill and Bob Denesiuk's video after their Mozambique visit:

Shaw Cable interview before their trip out:

Wrapping Things Up

2011-04-20T10:50:00.000-07:00

Wrapping things up is usually a good feeling. We've put out, got something done, and now we (or others) can enjoy the fruits of our labor.

And I'm sure that's how Suzanne and Andrew feel as they wrapped up their time in Mozambique this week. What a beautiful sight as this health post nears completion! Blue paint: check. Glass in windows: check. Soon to come: a red cross and the logo/recognition of participation sign.

Here, Suzanne and the health workers do health checks on all the school kids. This information goes on their file for follow up and comparison during future, regular checks.

Even though school was officially closed this week, kids had their health checks done and got lunch in too. Not a bad deal!

Visiting Pastor Frank takes some time with the kids and keeps them occupied and entertained as they wait to be seen.

You have to admit...we're cute!

Andrew and Suzanne had a little surprise this week as a Mozambican marriage celebration was conducted for them by their Mozambican friends who were too far away to attend the Canadian wedding. Good thing they came to us!

The wedding party. (We have our own norms in the bush in Mozambique!)

(Story about the knee bandage further down...)

Another happy event was the distribution of clothing to the nearby orphan children who receive help from the mission.

Unwrapping things is probably even better than wrapping things up. Yay!

We're nowhere near completing the training center yet but every small accomplishment is one step closer to being done. Here, the ceramic roof tiles arrive and are unloaded. There were so many, they filled several rooms!

And in order to add a bit more depth to the topic of wrapping things up, I have to say that wrapping things up isn't always an entirely joyous event. Especially when it means wrapping up an injury. This week while on a hike up a rock outcrop, my husband suffered a serious gouge to his knee when he slipped on the rock.
It was a nasty, deep gash but I've done my best to tone down the graphics using new-to-me GIMP .

Poor guy, but he's such a brave soul! Thankfully there was something to wrap his leg with immediately to control the bleeding. And thankfully Suzanne was around to irrigate the wound, dress it, and put him on antibiotics right away. Thanks Suzanne!

And me? Well, I'm wrapping up my time at home as my return to the African bush looms near. I've had a busy time but I've also been able to accomplish quite a bit--and that's always good.

Some of the cargo returning with me: vibrant, laminated photo-ID's for precious school kids,
pencils and crayons.

In light of Dwight's incident last week, I have to admit that I'm sure glad my current wrapping up of things is purely figurative, not literal. No tourniquet required. No gashes, no irrigation, no large bandages. I'm such a wimp.

Take care and ttyl!

Check out newly uploaded videos:

Where There Is No Internet (Mozambique kids playing)

Brazil update:

Smiling

2011-04-12T12:45:00.000-07:00

I wasn't there as Andrew and Suzanne got to work putting some finishing touches on the health post at the mission school this week, but from the looks of it, it was quite the event.

First, a line on the wall had to be measured for the blue latex paint. Latex paint has a shiny finish that helps keep the walls clean. Very important in a rural health post!

Nice to see people smile as they work :)

Then there was the tedious job of puttying the windows. First, you have to "moosh" the putty with your hands until it gets soft. When it's soft and pliable it's easier to work with (hence the term "like putty in my hands"). Then you push it into the corners along the glass and smooth it with a putty knife. Not as easy as it sounds, but in my opinion it's GREAT fun. And if Andrew isn't enjoying his putty session, he's hiding it well under that smile.

And just to make sure the jobs get done right, a throng of school kids gather to keep a close eye on things. Such excitement over the new healthpost!

Suzanne busy with the task of putting the blue latex paint very nicely where it should be. I'm guessing that in between strokes with the brush, there were a few headache pills passed out and wounds bandaged as well.

And after more than a year of planning and construction, the moment of truth as the bridge is tested for the first time. Many hours of hard work went into getting things to this point and I bet the guys were smiling pretty big as they drove over this ravine for the first time ever!

Hard work pays off.

I got to do a bit of smiling this week too, albeit not until I had put in some hard work as well. I launched into several promotional projects that involved video editing. At the time I thought "this can't be that hard..." but since I'd never done it before, I was in for a surprise. It took many hours of selecting and cutting and pasting and exporting and inserting and reviewing and then re-doing the process again.

At one point, I moved a bunch of video files from one hard drive to another in order to create space for more video files (they're real space hogs!) ...big mistake though. Turns out they wre "source files" and the computer couldn't find them, so I had to start all over again. Yeah. I definitely wasn't smiling right then!

But finally, after much work, I burned my first little production. It's a humble start, but it's a video update nonetheless so here it is:

And last but not least of the smiles this week was when I was in the office meeting with Patti Green (SAM office administrator, below)...

and a lady with a beautiful smile arrived. She said she wanted to give a special gift to the work and asked "Which program needs help the most?" Well, I took the opportunity to tell her that the infant milk program could sure use some help since it currently has more babies in it than ever before.

She thought this was a good plan and smiled beautifully again. We all smiled.

And I think God was smiling too.