Reduce Noise

Maybe things aren’t all that noisy. Maybe we’re just getting old.

(Joao: event coordinator and all around good-guy!)

Or, maybe those squawking party-favor horn things that the kids were blowing on yesterday reached a higher decibel level than the loud music the sound system was cranking out!

Either way, the mission was a noisy place yesterday as we held two parties. First was the orphan Christmas party, and what a grand event that was.

What makes for a great Christmas event?

1. Good music.

Not traditional Christmas carols though (those are too foreign), but rather “Charamba”, the preferred African Christian singer in these parts. Actually, any ordinary event is made special by playing a “Charamba” CD. As loudly as possible.

Dwight and I feel that if you can hear the music at a volume setting of 5, there’s no reason to set the volume at 10. Apparently we’re wrong.

Enjoying (loud) music while waiting to be seated.

Oh, and don’t forget to make your own music too.

Farai beating the drum with impeccable rhythm.

2. A nicely decorated place.

Not with mistletoe and gold and silver balls, but with balloons of every shape and color! We did set up a fake tree though, seeing as how mine was available


since this year I did something different and made my own Christmas twig tree.


We had hoped to have the cement floor poured earlier this week, but that didn’t work out. There always seems to be a shortage of cement here for one reason or another. It’s quite the saga. This time, apparently the cement factory “broke” last week. So we did our best to pack down the dirt floor then spread some sand over that.


3. Good food.

Not turkey though, because fowl is not served at a “real” feast. Goat, or sheep is preferred. So we did a sheep in a huge pot.

with rice and a salad, then sweets.


4. Good drinks too, and what could possibly be better than orange Fanta? Especially when it’s served cold!


5. Good entertainment.

On a screen, if possible. We were happy this week to come across a nicely put together (and fairly culturally appropriate) powerpoint presentation of the Christmas story. There’ll be no going back to just reading and showing pictures from a book now!

And then, there are the fun games. You can always go back to fun old games!


6. Gifts for everyone.

Since these orphan children live at home with a caregiver (usually a granny), the grannies attended the party as well. As did those with physical disabilities who also receive help.

Those with babies and small ones prefer to sit on the grass mats.

Anyway, it's traditional to sit on a mat.

Everyone got gifts.


And it wasn’t even too warm to wrap up in the gift fleece blankets that came from Grande Prairie (Canada).

The "adults side" of the party.

But you wouldn’t catch me under one of those blankets, nice as they are, not on a hot muggy day like yesterday! In fact while much of the party carried on, Dwight and I were busy up at the hot office sweating it out and trying to get our internet sorted out. We had a wild lightning-zapping, thunder-clapping storm on Thursday night that our modem and routers didn’t take kindly to. I guess they don’t like too much noise either because it was “all systems dead” the following morning. ☹

And so we spent the better part of Friday talking to and trouble shooting with our internet providers in the UK. There is no cell coverage in the office, so it means we have to stand just outside the office. That’s where the reception is--but not in the shade. It’s always smack dab right where the intense African sun beats down in earnest. Good thing I brought my umbrella and gave it to Dwight so he wouldn't get sun stroke. Also, if you can find a high spot to stand, you get fewer dropped calls.

Dwight roasting in over 35C talking to guys in the UK where it was apparently snowing at the time. (Don't worry, he didn't fall.)

This isn’t our first time doing this, so we have the system down pat. Dwight does the talking and I write down the instructions. Then he hangs up and we go inside to carry out said instructions. Then it’s back outside again to call the guys in the UK to report our findings and to get more instructions. Sometimes I stay inside the office and we shout back and forth to each other through the open window, but that’s not always very effective.

Standing by the window to relay IP numbers at one point, and I noticed these tiny ghecko eggs. (I think they're ghecko eggs.)

Half way through this process, it was time for the staff party to begin, so we took a break and joined them. We were also celebrating the retirement of one very special elderly gentleman: Fernando, the mission school’s cook.

Dwight and Gabriel present Fernando with a walking stick. He and his wife (left) also received chairs and a table.

He has faithfully and lovingly served the school and its students for many years and we are sad to see him go. But we’re happy for him as well.

Then the staff had their Christmas party and received their gift grocery bags,



all while listening to “Charamba”…very loudly.

I must admit that I can’t help but enjoy the lights and noise at this time of year because it makes me remember the deeply meaningful and central reason for it all: our Messiah’s birth.

I’m pretty sure celebrating with the volume set at 5 or so would be sufficient though ☺

PS: You’ll have to forgive the softness of most of the above photos. The camera we were using must be getting tired. I did my best to sharpen them in iPhoto.

Interesting that the most helpful adjustment in sharpening them was labeled: “Reduce Noise”

No Small Challenge

I love everything about Christmas, from the Amazing Reason we celebrate right down to the twinkling, colored lights. When our kids were small and their eyes full of wonder, there was no effort too big to tackle at Christmas time. Even the most tedious of tasks, like putting fine detail on gingerbread houses, was fun. But I have to admit that now that I no longer have little hands a-helping or small, wonder-filled eyes a-watching, I prefer to keep the tasks short, sweet and simple.

While in South Africa a few weeks ago, I spotted the perfect alternative to the fiddly job of setting up our usual Christmas tree: a simple but attractive "twig tree". As I took a photo of it I thought, “We live in the bush and have twigs…this will be a snap!” I had no idea what I was in for. Let me summarize my steps for you in case you get the same idea:

1. In the morning, go bush whacking to source a fallen tree with the right shape of branches. (Shape is important.)

2. Get scratched and poked by twigs while selecting, dragging home, and trimming choice branches.
3. Inflict minor hand injury while tapping, banging, twisting, and almost turning self inside-out while trying to pry open varnish containers sealed tight by +/- 10 years of hardening by lack of use.
4. Assemble white acrylic paint, paintbrushes, glitter, newspaper, and a container of water and one of gasoline (for clean up).

5. Get to work and get varnish, paint and glitter on respective branches and dowel sticks, plus on fingers, hair, and in nice glass of coke with ice, too.

Dowels

6. Get annoyed with pet buck who won’t stop giving everything “the taste-test” and in doing so, knocks things over and generally...well...can be a nuisance.

Tasting newspaper

Tasting varnished branches

7. Get sidetracked while varnishing and decide to be real productive and recoat several household items like precious-to-beholder-bush-wood, a basket, and "the hippo".

8. 8 hours into making said “simple” twig tree, drill and re-cut holes in Christmas tree balls so they fit on dowel sticks.

9. Make supper, prepare vase for twig tree, do more drilling, then realize it’s 10 p.m. Go to bed. Tomorrow is another day.

Ah well, I have to admit that despite this being no small challenge, it was quite fun. And hopefully as a result we’ll have a lovely Christmas twig arrangement that we’ll enjoy for the rest of the Christmas season.

But something happened this week that challenged me on a much deeper level. A child was hit by a vehicle on our stretch of highway and was left unattended while the anxious crowd gathered to discuss what had happened. Dwight and Celestino were nearby and when they stepped in to help, they noticed the child bleeding heavily so took action to stem the flow and took the child to hospital. Sadly, he later lost his life. These types of accidents are not unusual in these parts, especially as the number of vehicles on highways increases and as rural communities grow and set up homes and marketplaces along the shoulders of highways.

For me, to work with people in identifying the things that can be changed and then to put those into practice so lives can be saved…THIS is no small challenge. But one thing I know for sure, the results will live past Christmas season.

Otherwise, it was a very cool, rainy week. So rainy in fact that the resulting mud brought all the big machines to a standstill. Even the backhoe that finally arrived to start filling in the Training Center’s foundations couldn’t carry on and had to be parked until next week.

Training Center in background. Foreground: obvious reason for backhoe to stop :P

Flying ants always come out after a rain, and somehow, they find their way to any light. This is our kitchen wall with a flashlight shining on it (after the generator goes off). The window screens were all CLOSED, btw.

Some things don’t stop just because it rains though. One of those is the ripening of fruit! And so the litchi harvest carried on through rain or shine.

Litchi sorting. Left: Jose, the guard keeping an eye on things.

Another thing that doesn’t stop just because it’s raining is bats stealing and eating litchi’s in the night!

Fruit bat (from Kruger Park, tourist photo. Not mine, unfortunately.)

I think as the litchi orchard grows in productivity, so does the number of fruit bats that descend on it each season. If you walk in the night, you can hear the swoosh from their great wings and the munching of fruit and dropping of seeds to the ground. It's like a huge, invisible banquet taking place.

One pile (of many) Litchi bat scraps

Jose, the above pictured guard, went on a “bat hunt” one night with our b-b gun but only managed to shoot one. So I guess bat control is no small challenge either.

Anyway, I’d best run along for now. There's a certain “simple” twig tree I really need to finish.

PS: You may want to check Dwight's latest blog update too.

Jumping on a Moving Train

Well, *ahem*, not in his case. He's just relaxing and looking pretty :)

But that’s pretty much what we came back home to since by the time we arrived from our adventurous trip home, the litchi harvest, airstrip bulldozing/grading, and intensive seminar were just kicking into gear. We arrived home on Saturday night, which left Sunday for us to unpack our magnanimous load and prepare, as best we could, for Monday.

Litchi’s hung heavy on the trees waiting for Monday, the first day of harvest, to arrive.


Heavy machinery and men worked the soil on the airstrip so the slope and elevation will be just right.

Looks good so far. But there is sort of a low spot...

Which you can see better in this zoomed shot.

Turns out there’s a bit more dirt that needs to be moved than had been anticipated. Dirt is like that though. It doesn’t look like much until you start trying to put it somewhere else.


We introduced the new health course, “Building Healthy Communities”, during the last seminar, so this week it was time to give the first “Building Healthy Communities” exam. For the first time in my life, I made a 50 question multiple-choice exam. The making of an exam is kind of like moving dirt. It doesn't look hard until you tackle it!

My main objective was to reinforce teaching. But I also wanted to test knowledge so we’d know how effective the course teaching/materials were. I also wanted the exam to be challenging, but fair. I'm not into "tricky". I’m happy to say that all the health course students passed with good marks!

General health session with pastors and monitors

Their accommodations: the tents we hauled back.

Celestino, one of the Socorristas (health care workers), teaches about tuberculosis. He and other Socorristas recently received intensive training on TB as part of the Mozambican Health Department's effort to tackle the increasing incidence and severity of this disease in the country. It always makes me happy to see Mozambicans teaching Mozambicans.

Me giving a short spiel on why churches should be concerned about health issues.

At the end of seminar week, the monitors and pastors write their exams, receive supplies and training materials, then head home. It makes for a very busy but very exciting Saturday!

Above: Francois registering the number of orphans in remote church orphan programs. These programs receive matching funding from the mission. I liked this guy's weathered t-shirt which read (fairly literally):

"Leaders. Stop AIDS. Keep the Hope."

Joao, the mission's sponsored university student who recently completed his 4 year degree, returned "home" just one day after we did. Very capable and always one to jump into the fray, here he is organizing course booklets that monitors will take back to their areas for training other leaders.

Dwight and Pastor Ricardo keeping track of who gets which books, etc.

And last but by all means not least, Alta hands out packs of supplies for remote church women's literacy programs. "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world" is something to think about, especially from a health perspective. It is a known fact that women who can read take better care of themselves and their families. Better family care = higher productivity. Higher productivity = better educated children, improved income and better living conditions. Better educated children = increased earning power and the ability to better care for their families. The positive repercussions are almost endless.

Pastors and Monitors with their ever growing number of books and supplies. Once this and the certificate giving ceremony are over, seminar is finished once again and everyone heads home until next time.

Waiting for the bus going north.

Dwight and I had a few moments yesterday to check the campsite's new "dining/meeting area thatched hut". (There is no adequate north American term for this kind of structure!) Low walls are just being finished which will help provide extra seating, then the floor will be poured.

Nothing is so beautiful or smells so nice as a freshly finished thatched roof with creosoted gum poles! The creosote itself doesn't smell so fabulous, but for pretty much anyone who has lived in Africa, it brings back good memories of some or other thatched place from somewhere else back in time. Mmmmmmm.

I will sign off with a photo of the most unusual flower I found up by the airstrip the other day. It looks like a large Dandelion puff, but it's a flower.

It may not be the most handsome flower, but its beauty is in its uniqueness.

ttyl