My Critique. And Some Lions.

It’s been awhile since I wrote a scholarly paper but the current assignment in my nursing course is just that--to write a critique of a health education resource using APA citation style. Well, I’ve never used APA style. When I looked it up, I groaned at the seeming infinite list of rules required for proper formatting, citing of references, unbiased stance, etc. A good friend suggested that I make peace with APA. She’s probably right. I think what that means I have to decide to be “ok” with it then spend hours upon hours working with it.

To further complicate the assignment, my online tutor (whom I have never met and likely never will) added a further 3 pages of her own crisply stated instructions and APA clarification that students must follow in order ensure papers get done “just so”. Well she’s the teacher, and form is obviously important. From the tone in the instructions, I couldn’t help but imagine her, hair pulled back in a tight bun, wielding a yardstick in her hand. Though I suppose I should come to peace with that too. The instructions go out to many students and on an individual level, she’s been nothing but very encouraging.

Sandwiched between needing to start this assignment, and actually getting to it, have been several busy but fun weeks. It seems our guests from Canada barely arrived when it was time for them to leave again. We decided to celebrate our week of hard work together with a quick visit to Gorongosa National Park on our way to Beira.

Baboons on the entry road

We love seeing all the animals, of course. We saw:

Bush buck

The beautiful Sable Antelope

Water buck (the grass tuck in his horns was just plain funny :P)

Warthog staring at us while we stare at them.

Doing what they do best, tails up and...RUN!

A river valley

What we really hoped to see was lions and elephants, too. The “eles” were elusive, as usual, and all we saw was what they left behind. But we did get an eyeful of lion!

This pair didn't seem to mind us being quite close.

The male even got up to walk past us


Then he found a comfy spot near our vehicle to lay down and ponder life. I like how it looks like he and Dwight are smiling smugly at each other.

Then the lion yawned, big and wide.

This is the season of bush fires and sadly, it would seem that Gorongosa doesn't fair any better than we do.

Huge bush fire on the plains.

The smoke in the air early the next morning made for some rather unique and eerie photos.

When our short visit was done there, it was off to Beira. The only photo I got there was of this old catholic church.



We’re now home and back to the old grind. This means I’ve also been hard at work on my assignment. Let me just say here already that the amount of time I have spent researching my topic, figuring out APA format, and organizing my paper as per my tutor’s instructions, has bordered on the ridiculous. It has been hours and hours and days.

At one point yesterday, to my delight, I realized that I was coming close to meeting all the above-mentioned requirements. I was, however, having a terrible time meeting my own. The paper didn’t flow; it didn’t feel right…it lacked “heart”. I’d rework a portion, then read and reread and move and change and copy and paste and delete and copy and paste again. Then I’d read and delete and retype the portion again. I realized, right there and then, that I couldn’t complain about the requirements that came from without when my own worst critic resided within!

At some point, I suppose I’ll need to find peace with this too. I’ll have to just decide at some point that however it’s worded is “ok”. But that’ll only likely happen after hours of proofing and reworking it. Yes, sometimes finding peace requires effort.

So let me run get back at it ☺

ttyl and have a great week.

The Good, the Odd and the Timely

It's funny how odd things catch our attention, and we out here in the bush sure saw some odd sights this week! Thankfully most of the odd sights were good too.

We incorporated our week's work with introducing our guests to the various mission programs (since their time here was short), so here's a bit of what we did and what we came across. (And yes, this next photo fits into the "odd" category!)

Steve and Dwight fumigating

The orphan/widow and student homes got fumigated this week for mosquitoes and ants. The ants were small, but there were gazillions of them and they were everywhere. Poor kids could hardly sleep, they said! Let's hope things have settled down for them.

Painting inside walls at Chitundo Health Post. The socorristas go for their training over the next few weeks, so the final touches need to get done.

While we were busy painting, a bunch of kids gathered outside and peered in through the windows. They were bored, and we were an odd sight to them I suppose, so they hung around and watched us paint while they chattered away at each other and at us. At one point, when they were getting rather noisy, I asked them to sing. They sang us a very nice song about their "beautiful school" (in Portuguese). Little did we know that as we worked away, they were dabbing their fingers in paint and smearing it on their faces. Good thing it washes off easily!

Chitundo kids pose for photo

We had a chance to visit one of the women's literacy/craft groups. They sang and danced so nicely for us, then busied themselves with their crafts while their babies toddled around them.

And older kids hung out by the windows peering in at the odd visitors inside!

Lauralee sharing a moment with the kids outside

The bush fires have been raging, as they always do at this time of year. We decided to visit the home of a widow who lost a hut in the fire. It was a bit of a walk to her place.

She told the story of what happened and what help she needs.

While she and the men talked, her grandson and his friends chatted with the ladies and got some sweets.

I'll lump the next photo into the "timely" category. Here, some pastors receive a plow (a Unique Christmas Gift item) which they'll use to plow their fields. Our weather is warming up nicely now and it's time to get those fields ready. Usually all the field work is done by hand, so they were very pleased to see these plows right now, indeed!

I came across this child's toy guitar, carved out of wood, laying in the yard.

We made quite a few health related home visits too. Bero needed his dressings changed, one of the staff needed treatment for pneumonia, and there were other needs as well.

Here, Lauralee (a labor and delivery nurse), checks a newborn. He's healthy! Beautiful too.

Tamara hands this young man a new set of clothes and a coloring book. Later, we went back with some medicine that he and the family needed.

We got to pop in at the school and check on progress at the health post there too. It's looking good! So I guess this photo goes to the "good" category.

While in Vanduzi on one of our home visits, we stopped in to visit the hospital. The staff there were welcoming and friendly, as usual, but were faced with the challenge of having recently run out of rubber gloves and needles. Turns out, we've had plenty of those donated this year, so we promptly went home and sorted through our supply so we could deliver some to them later in the week. They were very happy about that!

Sorting through supplies. Many hands make light work!

I'll wrap up this post with our visit to a church and orphan program in Honde today.

Kids playing on the playground equipment the pastor made and put up for them.

And playing ball with a locally made soccer ball. (A balloon covered with plastic bags and string.)

Turns out, our visitors brought some balls along with them...how good, and timely!

Posing for the photo while the balls are new, fresh and shiny! But not for long...since balls are made to be played with

sat on

and handled, as much as possible.

Now here's the odd part of the day: a north american football was given out too. Hmmm. What WERE they thinking, to make a ball with pointy ends?

The kids soon got the hang of throwing the odd shaped ball.

But soon resorted to volleying it back and forth! Turns out, an american football can be used for many different games.

Then it was lunch time for us: salad sandwiches along with Mozambique's favorite drink, Coca Cola.

Mmm, good. Timely. And not all that odd either :)

ttyl

Sharing the Experience

One of the things people like to do as they get older is tell stories of their life experiences, especially to younger people. I like these kinds of stories, partly because I find they often help lend meaning to my current experiences.

One of Dwight’s grandpa’s, whom we were very fond of, used to like to tell us about his life experiences. If the event was particularly charged with emotion, and if he had a point he wanted to get across as well, he’d wrap it up with, “Oh, I can tell you a thing or two…”

As we came through the South Africa/Mozambique border posts this week with Bero, we found ourselves talking about some of our past experiences as well.

Entering Lebombo border post, South Africa

We first came through these border posts between Mozambique and South Africa in 1993 with my parents. We were coming on a “look-see” type visit to decide if we felt this was where we should be and, if so, to decide if we thought we could actually manage to live here (in Maputo, initially). The war had only just ended and things were rather in shambles.

Due to fighting and the constant threat of ambushes, the main highway connecting the two countries was a deserted, ruined strip of tarmac through no-man’s land, and the border post was all but abandoned. We were one of a small handful of cars to actually travel that road back then. At the border, a tired soldier begged for a cigarette and something to drink before he lifted the boom to let us out.

Today, that same highway is a beautiful toll road.

And the border posts have been ramped up to accommodate the increasingly heavy flow of traffic passing through both day and night.

Yes, we had a thing or two to say about the changes we’ve seen right there in particular.

Turns out we’re not the only ones reflecting on the way things were back then. Our son recently decided to write some of his memories of that era as well. He wanted to locate the one old house we lived in using Google Earth, but was having a hard time identifying it. So we figured that since we were going right past the old place, why not take a little detour in to find it and take some photos for him. The turn-off from the main highway near Maputo was a no-brainer

But after that, no matter how hard we tried, we just couldn’t find it. I thought it was to the left. Dwight thought it was to the right. And so we went left and we went right and we went up and down through nearly the entire town. But nothing. Finally we gave up and left because we still had a very long trip ahead.

It takes roughly 18 hours to get from Nelspruit to Chimoio, and because most of that drive is on less than ideal roads, it is a very long and wearisome trip. Roads that are smooth, have narrow shoulders and heavy traffic (plus pedestrians, plus animals). Roads that are being repaired so they will be smoother are treacherous because there are no shoulders, and there is heavy traffic AND heavy duty work equipment. Passing each other can be quite the tight squeeze.

And then there are the single lane, dusty dirt detours. As we were driving along one such stretch, we noticed black smoke billowing in the sky ahead of us above the dust. "This can't be good..." we thought.

When the guys ahead of us started reversing, we and those behind us had no choice but to reverse as well. I think we backed up for a full kilometer before we found an escape route off the detour road.

That huge white truck had a real time of it :(

This was the reason why. It seemed no one was hurt so we didn't stop to ask any questions. Time was too short and our trip much too long for much other than a quick photo on the way past.

Thankfully the rest of the trip, though drawn out as it always is, was uneventful. We had to smile when, as we pulled in close to home, Bero (the young man in the back seat) piped up and said, "Phew, that was a long trip! Am I ever exhausted!"

Here he is, happy to be back home with family again.

But there was another surprise in store for us before we even reached our entry road. Someone by the side of the road was selling an orphaned baby Klipspringer. I keep saying I don't want to raise anymore orphaned wild animals...too much work. But my pleas fall on deaf ears. (Maybe because I'm not entirely convinced myself?)

And last but not least, on Friday some guests arrived from Grande Prairie, Canada. They'll be here for just over a week to visit the different projects, see some sights, and meet the wonderful people of Mozambique. And most probably they will have some experiences to share at a later date as well!

Training Center under construction

ttyl