Building Bridges

Anyone who has built a bridge (any kind of bridge, actually) knows it's a lot of work! But bridges are essential because without them, you're stymied. Stuck. Hindered from going further. And no one wants that.

In the above photo is the freshly graded road to the mission airstrip (taken in November 2010). The break in the middle is where a bridge needs to be built to span a seasonal river.

The gap is 3-4 meters wide and 2-2.5 meters deep. Getting things done to this point has been a big job, and the work isn't done yet.

This week, Ron Wayner and the guys cut some big trees for the wood needed so this bridge can be completed. Without sophisticated machinery, it's quite an ominous job loading the huge logs onto the 4 ton truck. Many hands are needed.

A very heavy truck, indeed.

Then comes the fun of unloading. Here is one tactic we use in rural Africa.

Get a rope and tie the one end to the heavy load to be moved,
then tie the other end to something that is less likely to move. A sturdy tree will do.

Then drive away, very slowly and carefully of course, and let the laws of physics do their thing.

Next, the logs have to be prepared...cleaned, shaved, trimmed and in the right shape!

It's a huge task, but all a part of building those important bridges we need to keep things moving.

And speaking of things moving, I'm very pleased to tell you that finally this week the Chitundo Clinic celebrated its opening! This project has also been a big task, but many joined hands with us to make it possible. So to all you who helped to dig holes, build and paint the walls, put in doors and shelving, paint and purchase the necessary items, sweep and clean the yard, and so on and so on...congratulations on a job well done!

The morning of the grand opening.
The strip of ribbon across the entry, and the entire community,
patiently await the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

In these parts, important celebrations are marked by the rhythmic beating of drums.

And joyful dancing, too.

Dwight and the community leader shaking hands. This day has been a long time coming!

Inside the consultation room, a toast, with Mozambique's most popular drinks: Coke and Fanta.

Celestino helps to unpack the clinic's first medicine "kit". He will work closely with the new Health Workers to help provide orientation and guidance to them as they adjust to their new role.

Joao, Celestino, Barb Wayner, and the new Health Workers. Barb provided most of the photos for this post. Thank you, Barb!

Other events of the week:

Good progress was made building the training center trusses.

Which were then carried by hand to the truck--Mozambique bush-style--10 or so men to carry each truss. They were heavy!

They were then loaded on the truck to be taken to the training center.

This place is becoming more beautiful each day!

Autumn marks the season when we can finally get the garden into shape after summer. Seems backwards, doesn't it?! This garden grows vegetables for the school feeding program.

Some much needed drip irrigation pipe was also installed near the litchi orchard where we grow small crops of maize and soy beans.

And with all that busyness, Barb and Eunice took the time to do some bridge-building of a different kind with a crippled widow and her blind daughter. This didn't require the same physical effort as building a bridge out of cement and logs, but it was critical nonetheless.

Sharing some encouraging words.

Having a small discussion. I love the smiles!

Here, the widow (who has arthritis and chronic hip pain) receives a mattress left by a visitor from Canada. It's the first mattress she has ever owned in her entire life. Before now, she always slept on the hard ground on a thin, woven grass mat. What joy!

And last but not least, the reptile and strange pets part :)

I guess it's chameleon season again.

And my husband is not one to turn his back on anything that moves without first spending a bit of quality time with it!

Bob too, it would seem.

It's always important to build bridges. Even the small ones.

If you'd like to see clips of our klipspringer on youtube, click here. Other videos of the work will follow this week!

Not In Kansas Anymore

Or rather, not in Africa anymore. I'm in Canada on a short, personal trip. And although the weather has been far from warm and inviting--our family has been.

It's quite a shock to the system to go from a muggy, +30-ish C African summer to a -30-ish C land of cold, snow, and ice! This is more or less how the progression looked:

Green Chimoio Airport.

Sunny and hot Beira Airport.
(Figures we'd have to walk 1/2 km to the aircraft!)

That's the mission's little Cessna to the right :)

Grey, chilly Heathrow. (web photo)

White, Edmonton Airport. (web photo and I think this is
actually Halifax, but you get the idea...)

Meanwhile back home in Moz the pace is very busy as usual. I'm very grateful to my husband and Barb Wayner who took the time to take and forward the following photos for me to post:

Dwight, and Pastor Tome (school cook) on a visit to the mission school/clinic.

Progress being made on training center trusses.

Here, the thatched camp dining "gazebo" (lapa) gets the last section of its floor coated in nice, red wax. This will make it look better and make it easier to clean.

Good thing because the mission was visited by some local VIP's like the Comandante

And the new Chefe do Posto.
All very important relationships to have.

This is a recent photo of little Cris with his Auntie (below). He's been in our milk program since he lost his mom.

He was teeny, tiny at the time. Here he is with Nurse Keren when he first joined the milk program.


This is him several months later during a home village visit.

This is his sleepy face :)

Cris with his Auntie and Health Worker Celestino

This is his bright-eyed, "big boy" look. Too cute!

We've had a sudden increase in the number of needy babies in the program this year, and we and the concerned families have been so thankful that help could be offered.

Young mother who received help for her malnourished child.

Moving along here...another orphaned wild baby was added to our strange pet mix. She's a baby Red Duiker.
Dwight was the one who picked her up, but somewhere along the way she found her way into the Wayners' arms, hearts, and home.

Ron Wayner and his new pet :)

Guess she figured since that worked so well with the Wayners, why not try her luck with the big-black-horse-dog Magnum next door?


Yeah little Red Duiker...you're not "in Kansas" anymore either!

Read the latest news in our newsletter, and in blog posts from Dwight, Rick, and Andy.

Until next time.

(If you're interested in donating to the milk program, click here.)

Too Many Books?

As I was rifling through our old storage container the other day, I realized we had several boxes of books that we haven't been able to unpack in about 15 years. That's because we've either been moving from one house to another or haven't had bookcases to put them in. And then, there are those old "reads" that I'm pretty sure will never be read again anyway so no point sweating about putting them on display. It seems a shame though.

But when I stumbled across the following image on a website full of ideas on how to convert surplus old books to art forms, I realized that I not alone in my dilemma.

Sadly, the problem of too many books--or having any books at all--is far from being a reality for many around the world for whom owning a single book, and being able to read it, is pure luxury.

(Tito and his book from school. His family owns no other books.)

Classes for this year recently got underway at our mission school, but due to shortages within the state education department, we were about 600 school books short of what we needed for our students. We did get some government books, but not near enough. This shortage meant that students would have to share books and could not take them home...not the ideal way to learn!

Here, 3 girls take study notes from a shared book. If you depend on doing this for final exam preparation, you'd better copy completely and carefully!

(Above photo by Francois Rauch)

Obviously, something needed to be done and we are thankful for those who faithfully sponsor students in the program here. Student sponsorship helps provide us with not only the funds to cover regular operating expenses (teachers' salaries, children's health needs, school supplies), but it also enables us to better cope when this sort of "bump" comes along! And so, we were able to purchase books to start making up for the shortage.

While Joao was in Maputo last week, he put in the leg work required to find the books then organized for their purchase and transport to the mission.

Books...woot!

Lots of books.

(Dwight, Joao, Matthew & Francois)

This called for celebration and the shaking of hands.

And the taking of pictures.

And more hand shaking (for the sake of posing for a photo).

When the hand shaking and posing was over, it was time to pack the books back inside the box and get them (and those delicious tomatoes) to the school. Kids were waiting afterall!

There certainly aren't too many books at the school, and likely never will be, but we're all sure thankful when everyone can at least have one. :)

(Photo credit to Francois Rauch)

In other news, we were happy to welcome Ron and Barb Wayner (of Mercy Air) back "home" last week. Once settled, and even while settling, they will be busy with aviation related projects/construction.

Rick and Bob, who are nearly 2 weeks into their time with us, have kept very busy tackling construction projects as well (training center & work shop). Despite Rick's laptop having gone astray and despite the busyness of work, Rick has been able to post a few blog updates. You can check them out at Rick's blog.

And with that, I will close.

ttyl