Medical Transport

A young man from the church contacted Marc the other day saying his uncle was very sick and dying and needed to be transported to the hospital in our city of Chimoio right away. Since there is no ambulance service available and he was too ill to ride public transport the young man asked if Marc would be willing to drive there to pick him up and return him to Chimoio. Sure enough Marc left yesterday morning before the sun was up to drive to Dondo, a city 3 hours away. He put a seat down and layed the sickly man in the back of our car. He was not coherant although conscience and would from time to time shout out something. Marc was grateful that the trip went quickly and smoothly because it was obvious that the man desperately needed medical help. He dropped him off along with his nephew and brother at the hospital in town around noon yesterday. Now, we just pray for a full recovery.

The RAIN has come!

I just wanted to share the wonderful news that for the last week it has been raining here in Mozambique. PRAISE THE LORD!

It has been a consistent rain that is saturating the earth and bringing life to all things green. Unfortunately, for those that planted during the regular season there will not be a crop of maize this year so hunger is still going to be a major issue. For those that can afford the expensive, quick growing maize seed they have a chance for a harvest. God knows and we just want to say we are grateful for the rain coming.
THANK YOU to all those that have prayed along with us!

How is it?

How is it that I can have my sugar bowl sitting on the same counter for over a month never to be touched by ants and then one evening they decide to attack it and cover it inside and out? Somethings in life I just don't understand.

Difficult Decisions

Sometimes life here in Mozambique is quite disturbing. The other night was one of those times.

We live on a dirt, unlit road on the outskirts of town. The boys were asleep in bed, we had showered and gone to bed late (11pm) and were just falling asleep after chatting some when we began to hear someone yelling. It was midnight. At first, we ignored it because it was Saturday night and often there are drunk people wandering the streets, loud people and loud music. We are getting used to sleeping through it but this was REALLY loud. Our doorbell rang. It has rang only one other time and that was when our puppy was dying and the guard didn't know what to do. Marc and I leaped out of bed to find our night guard on the front porch. This whole time the man out on the dirt road in front of our house was wailing in Portuguese and our darks were going insane barking. I was amazed that the boys did not wake up since their bedroom faces the road and the windows were open because of the heat. But thankfully we have some very sound sleepers. The guard told us he just wanted us to know that the man was saying he had been hit by a car and we needed to help him but they were not trusting him and that we should not go outside the gate in the dark becase perhaps it was a ploy by a group of thieves. We waivered back and forth between thinking he was very drunk to thinking maybe he was hurt although we couldn't imagine a car going fast enough on our dirt, very pot-holed road to hurt someone. We wanted so badly to have the ability to help him if he was hurt but after praying about it, did not feel at ease and knew it was unwise to take the risk. Sadly, people (especially foreigners) have been violently attacked while trying to help and you always have to be cautious. After what seemed like forever but in reality was only a few minutes the man stopped wailing and moved down the street. We figured he had either passed out or had moved on to make noise somewhere else and back to bed we went.
As is often the case here in Mozambique you do not truly get the full story until later. In the morning the guard had done some research and found out that the man had actually been hit by a car. Not only that but the driver of the car realized he had hit him, backed up and shouted out the window, "Oh, you're not dead," and sped off. The man then proceeded to cry out for help on the street and when no one in our area responded he drug himself down the road, apparently badly injured enough and bleeding that he couldn't walk to another house. The man living there runs a local taxi service and took him to the hospital for treatment.

Obviously this situation is not one we are particularly fond of or even one we want to report but it is our reality. I am frustrated that although I want to do good at times I feel limited because of the difficult situations we find ourselves in. I am even more saddened that the people of Mozambique struggle with showing compassion for one another. You can see how greatly we need God's wisdom, protection and strength for our day to day lives here in Mozambique.

It's Rat Time

Can I just scream....."I dislike hate RATS!" Ok, I know I am being dramatic but I really do not like them. I am not talking about cute, little, fuzzy mice but large, ugly, wet, hairy, disgusting RATS. There are only really two things I can't cope well with and that is rats and snakes. Guess what? In Mozambique, we have an abundance of both....Ok, Lord I really don't find it funny that you have called me to RATland.

In the last few days, since it has been raining a good amount it has become apparent that we are having a rat problem. We really haven't had to deal with them in our current house or so I thought. We have woken up to a broken bottle in the kitchen and convinced ourselves that a gust of wind must of come in the window. I don't think it was the wind... We have found "deposits" on our porch but we convinced each other they were the results of geckos. We have found my bag of flour chewed along with "deposits" from our visiting critter....eeww. And yesterday, came the final straw as I was sitting in the living room visiting with someone. We looked over to see a rat trying to come in under our screen door/gate into the house. I scared it away but obviously we have a critter living IN the house and I am somewhat freaked out about it.

Rats tend to be one of those things I don't even like to think about and am quite happy to live in denial about. I actually have a misconceived notion that if I am under my mosquito net I am completely safe from critters like rats....I know, I know, my husband tells me all the time how foolish that thinking is. Like the rats here in Mozambique that have been known to chew through plastic, wood and even cement (yep, you heard me right) couldn't chew through my flimsy netting. But please, don't try to convince me otherwise I LIKE to live in my denial  peaceful place and convince myself that they would never enter into my space. Since I have my safe space (my mosquito net) I am now just trying to convince myself that if I have to get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom that I won't die of a heart attack if I should encounter one of these dreaded creatures on my journey. I shudder just thinking about it. But it is a pretty convincing argument for telling myself that I don't really have to go and can hold it.

My handy hubby has bought some "local" rat traps and already put them to good use. He has been able to trap one in the garage and today set a trap in the kitchen. Let's hope they continue to do their job.

Random

Some random photos from our week!

The boys made homemade numchucks (sp?) just for fun.

Things were busy in the garden.

Marc and Manuel distribute our first load of maize flour.

We are making it available at cost to our workers and distributing smaller bags to the church

so they can give it out to the widows. 

Micah widdles the African way-with  a machete.

The boys spend an afternoon building a mud village in the yard.

The laundry found its way into the house to dry since there was a day or two of rain.

We have a visitor again. Keeping in tune with Mozambican government processes her adoption/travel documents are still not complete. She is staying with us for a few days while her mom and dad head back down to South Africa to take her Grandma & Grandpa to the airport and take a local young man to have corrective surgery on some childhood burns.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

SUNSET OVER CHIMOIO, MOZAMBIQUE TONIGHT!

Manga, Manga, Laranja

Today we went to Mudzingadze church. This is the normal church we have been attending here in town that is actually on the outskirts and very much a village church to us. But today I found some interesting comparisons as there were many visitors from actual bush churches from outer villages. We live in the capital of Manica Province, the city of Chimoio. The others that were visiting for the seminar today came from up to 3 hours away from surrounding churches that are from village areas but not cities. So it was interesting to see the differences. Here are a few:

• The women from the villages all wore head wraps and kapalanas (wrap skirts).
• The village children were anxious to touch us and be near us as they have not seen many white people.
• The women all sat on one side of the church (except for me who is required to sit up front with Marc and the pastors) and the men sat on the opposite side.
• The women with babies were outside the church under the trees sitting on grass mats.
• Each church had to send a few people to the front of the church to sing a song to represent them. Those from the outer villages sang in dialect while those from in town here sang in Portuguese.

It was super hot inside the church today with so many people packed in, temperatures in the 90's and the sizzling tin roof. I took the opportunity once the preaching began to go outside to check on the boys and get some air. I also wanted to observe the Sunday School time since I was asked to come up with a lesson plan for the next few months to help the teachers out. Once the Sunday School teachers had finished up teaching their lessons to the children as they sat under the mango tree on grass mats I asked in my broken Portuguese if the boys and I could play a game with the children. In my head I knew I wanted to teach them Duck, Duck, Goose as we have taught that to many children here in Moz and they love it regardless of age. Everyone was excited and a little timid at first but it didn't take long for the children to quickly pick it up. Of course because of my limited Portuguese and to make it cultural relevant I had to do some quick thinking so at least at the Mudzingadze church it is now knows as "Manga, Manga, Laranja" (Mango, Mango, Orange). Even the adults standing around watching had a good laugh, especially watching Micah play. I think they would have joined in if they didn't think I would have noticed.

One Thing Leads to Another

Do you ever have one of those days where one thing seems to lead to another and then another and then another. Life in Mozambique is almost constantly like that everyday. You try to accomplish something but to do that you must first do this and then before that can be completed you have to go here and do that and so on and so on. It can be frustrating but today when we discovered our freezer had been off for two days I decided instead of fighting it I would go with the flow. First, I removed everything and cleaned out the not so pleasant, wet, sloshy, ice mess on the bottom. One of the things I removed was a chicken that was well on it's way to be unthawed so I marinated it and put it in the fridge to become supper. Then I found some not so frozen mashed banana so of course it was time to use it and make a batch of banana bread. Since the oven was still hot and my kitchen already blazing hot too I thought why not whip up a chocolate cake and bake it as well for dessert. Next I found dried cherries that my Mother in Law had brought all the way from Washington state and some lovely orange flavored Craisins that someone sent in a package. As I was thinking what I could do with them I had the brilliant idea to make granola bars for the very first time ever in my life. So granola bars were next on the agenda with the mentioned fruit neatly chopped and mixed in. The bread rolls that were rather on the gross side (a little soggy) needed to be dried out for the dogs to eat since they were not really edible for us so that was next. And lastly the two things I threw into the garbage resurfaced when the dear old lady that helps clean the house two mornings a week picked them out and asked if she could have them. Yep, one thing just leads to another but at least a lot was accomplished.

Our Restful Weekend Away

Are we back already? Why is it the days we have a million things to trudge through do seem to drag on forever and the delightful, restful ones seem to fly by in record time? I'm not sure but this weekend flew by which should tell you it was also delightful and restful but I am not complaining.

Instead I will share some photos from our great family get away weekend.

Sick & Tired, Nothing the Beach Can't Fix

Sick: We have all had a cold passing between us for about the last two weeks. Currently, the boys are on the mend although Micah ended up with an ear infection that is being stubborn. Marc and I are both congested and feeling pretty yucky. I think we need some sunshine.

Tired: We have had the pleasure of taking care of our friends 1 year old baby girl this past week. But we are so not used to having a baby anymore. It is amazing how one little, adorable, happy person can wear you out. We need some rest.

So, as our first official family vacation here and to celebrate our one year anniversary of living in Moz we are heading off to the beach tomorrow. We will drive 3 hours to the city of Beira, on the Indian Ocean for a couple of days. We will try our best to get that sunshine and rest we need along with some great family times and a couple of good meals along the way.

We'll update you when we get back. Until then......

Skype

Last night our family was able to talk to my parents, my sister, my niece and nephew using Skype. What an amazing invention. It is so nice to not only hear the familiar voices but to see their beautiful faces. I am so grateful that we have internet capability that allows us to stay in communication with our families this way. It is fantastic. It makes me a little emotional to see my family on video but it is good. I love that they get to "see" the boys grow up even though we are separated by thousands of miles and years between visits. And last night was a special Skype night because we had electricity and a great internet connection which meant we could both have the video feature on without the call being dropped. What can I say except, "Thanks to whoever invented Skype....I love it."

Joy

This week we have had a little visitor and she has been keeping us busy and entertained. Here name is Tendai (Joy in the local dialect) and she truly is a joy. Her mommy and daddy had to go to South Africa to pick up her Grandma and Grandpa that flew in from Canada. She is being adopted but they were unable to take her out of the country because her paperwork is still in the process of being approved.

Although I know they have missed her greatly we have had a wonderful week getting to cuddle, tickle, feed, play with and "pretending" to have a baby sister. Thanks guys for allowing us to take care of your little blessing!