Things Go Awry

It’s been one of those crazy weeks when you wonder, “What next?” To start things off, a pregnant woman who had attended a special Sunday celebration on our farm last week was badly bitten several times by a croc by the river later that same afternoon. She is recovering. Then on Tuesday, one of our staff fell while using a ladder to put up our ceiling. He gashed his leg quite badly and of course with all the moving and rearranging here lately, it took me awhile to locate my disinfectant, 4X4’s and steri-strips to fix him up! Then yesterday, while I came down with (a mild case of) malaria, Dwight was robbed in town. That means several days of police reports, pursuing renewed ID documents, the works. Thankfully the credit cards were spared. Then today, another guy helping me paint the ceiling also fell while working on a ladder! :S Thankfully he wasn’t hurt, just a few dings on the floor and walls. Tonight I received an email from my mom saying she took a nasty tumble while sprinting across the yard to answer the phone the other day. She scraped both knees badly and dislocated her thumb (sorry, Mom). She also wrote that one of my aunts had fallen from a ladder and required stitches and injured her shoulder. And then there was the V Tech shooting that has dominated the news…where did this week come from…and could someone please make it go away?!

And yet when I think about it, some wonderful things have happened this week too. The guy with leprosy I mentioned quite a few entries ago has now been referred for treatment, has an interim home of his own and wears a smile on his face. Our little home now has its ceiling in and ¾ of it is beautifully painted…AND we moved OUT of the tent to sleep in our own room last night! Of course, there are a whole host of other good things to be thankful for, and we are. Going through difficulties isn’t all bad no matter how much we dislike the process. Tough times prove and strengthen our character, help us realize we can actually cope better than we thought, and mostly, remind us that God is with us and He is in control. After having said all that, I’m still hoping for a smoother ride week next week!

I better run along for now, there’s painting to finish and many other things to tend to. And when I climb the ladder today, I’ll make sure I stick to the lower rungs and move slowly :).

And since I like books with pictures and believe a blog post without a picture is like pie without cheese (who eats pie with cheese anyway?), here is at least one visual for you.

Early morning devotion and discussion time with mission staff (on this particular day we had visitors from Mercy Air, South Africa so there was not a spare log to be had to sit on). Maybe we need to add on :). TTYL.

Malaria

...flu, AIDS, E Coli, leprosy, scabies, skin fungus...you name it, it's been by our doorstep in the last few weeks. Just among our mission staff there have been at least 4 infant deaths and 2 sibling deaths since January, mostly related to malaria, AIDS and diarrhea. And in between is a steady stream of cases of malaria and all the above mentioned illnesses. Sometimes they wait too long to seek help thinking the person will recover. Often, transport is difficult and help is far away. And since about the time of the floods further north, there has been a shortage of antimalarials (diversion of resources I guess). The mission has stepped in to help fill the gap in the provision of medication, but it's hard to keep up with demand.

And as if life here weren't difficult enough, there are folks like the ladies pictured here. The woman on the left is an aging widow with a blind daughter (middle). They have no one to care for them except each other. The widow uses crutches since she lost one leg during the war era. Since then she has managed to plant enough food to feed the two of them each year, but this year was a bad one for her as she has struggled with arthritis. As a result, the corn she planted was overrun with weeds and their crop was pretty much a failure. They live in a single room hut and the weed patch at the edge of the yard is their toilet facility which offers no privacy. These are the situations we have the challenge...and opportunity to help on an ongoing basis.

In my last blog entry I mentioned that we were putting a ceiling into our new little place. The dust and moving things around got so bad that we eventually just moved into a tent to sleep! I can't believe I'm in a tent again!! There were times when I felt rather sorry for myself, but as you can see from the above accounts, my self-pity parties tend to be of very short duration. How can I complain about sleeping in a tent and having a house that's in disarray when I and my family are healthy and happy??? It's all perspective isn't it.


And to end on a positive note, how's this little guy? Cute as a button. Thanks Joanne for the great photos (top one and this one).

Until next time, I'll be counting my blessings.

Moments of "The Move"

Chaos in the front yard of our new home...and
chaos in the back yard too! As soon as the floor was done, that chaos all moved onto the back veranda. Lovely. Yes, that's Fred and the ol' washing machine.

No self-respecting Schalm offspring would let her home be photographed in such disarray, and then there's me. Actually, I almost didn't post these inside shots but it could be awhile before my house is in order, and I promised these to several people...

If you look closely, you can see the ceiling was lacking (wall edge above window). Hence the mosquito story (previous post). Ceiling construction is currently underway, which means the chaos goes on! Doing the ceiling before we moved in would have been nice, but time and supplies weren't on our side just then. Oh well. Just a bit of adventure :).

Other than moving, settling and finishing the place, life goes on. The needy and infirm come for help every day, legal paperwork must be pursued, social visits must be made to maintain good ties in communities and so on. Yes, life is busy, but we sure like it here! Looks like someone else likes it here too.

Ebony "The (Small) Panther".

TTYL

We've Moved

Just a photo for your entertainment! I called this one "Pensive Mushu". It was taken a few weeks ago at our new place. I really will get around to posting recent photos of the place, etc., as soon as I can find my camera... Yes, we're moved but the place is absolute chaos. Much of our "stuff" is being stored temporarily in the office and the rest of it sits in our yard while we feverishly try to put finishing touches on the house we've moved into. Important finishing touches though, like mosquito screen and lights! We've had a few dinners by candlelight. I know that's supposed to be romantic, but honestly, at this age I need several planted right beside my plate so I can see my food!

On our first night we figured if we sprayed a healthy dose of repellent on, we'd be fine just like at the old place. Ha! Right. At 2 a.m. I woke because I was being bitten only to discover 8 mosquitoes on the wall. And that's just where I could shine my little DOTiT. By the next night we put up a mosquito net, but it had a few holes. It was the only one I could locate in the chaos of moving. It was better than nothing, but only just. We woke one morning to find 6 mosquitoes inside the net. Needless to say, we've stepped up our malaria prophylaxis! Yesterday after a mad search in the old shipping container that we use to store more of our stuff longer-term, voila...I found a mosquito net without any holes! I think we were fairly "mozzie-free" last night. Because this place is closer to the river, I guess it's just natural that there should be many more mosquitoes. So this is yet another learning curve for us, keeping mosquitoes at bay who REALLY WANT TO BITE!

Besides the many mosquitoes and bugs and "finishing touches" still needed, we really do like our new digs! You will to when you see the pictures. I will post them. Promise!

Other news, a team from South Africa was just here for a few days to work and visit, and tomorrow we welcome Ron and Barb from Mercy Air with some of their friends. Yes, this place is hoppin' and something is always happening! But for now I better run get lunch on then get ready to go to town...let's hope I can find my "town clothes"!

2 Busy 2 Blog

We've been so busy packing, painting, moving cupboards and roofing the veranda at the new place that I haven't been very faithful with blogging. We're hoping to have our "first sleep" in the new place by the end of this week. Now that the finishing touches are being added, the place is looking great! Photos to follow...soon! Once again we're thankful for all the help we've had from many hands. I really appreciate not having to move back into a tent guys! TTYL

Rainy Days and Last Days

“Come under here!” Last week as the rain came down, students scrambled for cover at Mucombeze Primary School. This cotton capulana was a fun umbrella initially for these girls, but they were soon forced to take more serious cover in the school kitchen. We and the teachers were too! Being cramped but sheltered made for a few fun moments.

Construction on the school’s classroom divisions has progressed well and hopefully the roof trusses will go up next week. Classes currently meet under the trees which make for great ventilation on hot days but afford little protection on rainy ones!

“One potato, two potato…hmm, 21 potatoes divided by 3 days equals 7 potatoes per day! Yep, that otta do.” I had to get a shot of Chris and Dwight counting potatoes to ensure that there would be enough to see us through Chris and Gary’s last week in Mozambique. A trip to the grocery store is a long one, so we stretch food as much as we can when we have to. Thankfully the potatoes didn’t have to be stretched too thin! This week we see Chris and Gary off, then we return to Mozambique to move homes. Indeed, these are last days with family and the last days in our old home.

Going Places

I named this picture “Women of Paindane” although I don’t think the town name is entirely accurate. I was impressed by the contrast in methods of transportation.

Last month Ernesto, the mission’s Health Worker, was given a bicycle by the Health Department to help him commute between our two health posts which are about 20 km’s apart. We’re not sure how long he'll have use of it, but in the short term he’s certainly enjoyed it!

Here we are having transportation problems on our trip through Mozambique with Chris and Gary. Two flat tires on the same day isn’t very fun but at least they happened within easy access to the local tire repairman! Chris decided to play catch-up with her journaling while we waited.

This week, Joanne and David braved recent post-cyclone weather through southern/central Mozambique and came to spend 2 days with us. Joanne is on staff with the nursing faculty at the University of Saskatchewan so was interested in visiting the local health posts and the district hospital. David apparently is a handyman of note although in the short two days they were here he didn’t have much chance for hands on anything! Maybe they’ll come back…

Here are the latest pictures of the guest cottage. Professionals at work tiling (skilled help is GREAT). Wonder if we can talk them into staying a little longer?

First meal in the cottage. The chairs were a little short and the table a little tall I’ll admit, but hey, a first is a first and that makes it a noteworthy event!

The much in the news Cyclone Favio left a lot of destruction in its wake last week. Although we were pelted by rain we were not flooded due to our higher elevation. Areas further north, south and east, however, experienced serious flooding and there are endless reports of many left homeless. Requests to rebuild homes and supply food are already pouring in so I expect our relief efforts will increase accordingly!