What a week - I have been to my first Mozambican wedding! Brooke one of our ex-long term missionaries married Valdemar yesterday. The church looked lovely. Weddings here last 2 days. I didn’t go to the community ceremony at the grooms house today. The family provided chicken dinners and coke for all the kids here. I for once sat down and was served my lunch. I have to say that I really love eating with my fingers and having the grease dripping off my elbows!
Thursday night also saw Bible School graduation – it was great to be a part of that and see my students graduate. I will not be teaching next term but have really enjoyed the chance to teach this one. I do get such a buzz from teaching leadership and watching these guys realise that they can be world changers.
This week we said goodbye to an amazing team who came from St Aldates Oxford. I think this in part added to the struggle I have faced this week with real homesickness. It has suddenly hit me that I have never gone 5 months before without seeing my family. Also this week has been one of those where I miss London, the chance to go to the theatre and hear live music.
I do love being here but there is a little materialistic struggle going on inside me for a really good gig – having an Indian delivered or just hanging out with friends. Probably if I was back in London for a day I would want to run a mile – I would be struggling with reverse culture shock and wishing I was back here.
We have a new baby in the nursery. Adelide. She is 10 weeks old and her mother died about 4 weeks ago. She has not been very well since she arrived. Do pray for her. We have had a lot of sickness recently both children and long termers. I don’t know if it’s the change of season. It’s cold here now - its only 25 degrees during the day. I am wearing a jumper and sleeping with a blanket at night!
Saturday, 18 April 2009
Friday, 10 April 2009
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
This week has felt like it is in the top 5 longest weeks of my life. Little sleep and other things going on - I reached this morning and wanted to stay in bed. But as I sit and type here I am extremely glad I didn’t. Just now as I write this there is an all night prayer meeting going on in the church…. Here all night means ALL NIGHT. Music, preaching, music, dancing, preaching, dancing, music, music, praying, music. Maybe I forgot to mention LOUD music….
So feeling that sleep is not imminently round the corner I think this gives me the time needed to gather my thoughts and emotions from this morning.
I got to go the Bocaria on a Friday morning - I have been teaching every other one. With today being Good Friday I thought there would be more people around, not sure that really was the case. Anyway. this is the first time since coming here long term that I have walked over the top of the dump and, like all the times before, it leaves me ruined in a good way and I come away having seen God on the top of the dump. I still can not get used to kids fighting for bread and having to stop them robbing it off each other.
This morning there was something really unpleasant burning all over the dump creating a lot of smoke and a smell that stuck in the back of my throat.We did have rain this week so there were parts where the pools of rancid water were just sitting swarming with flies. The glass is still bad, and the ground beneath my feet less than secure.
Today I had the chance to pray with a few people, but for a long time I was just able to observe from not very far away the carnage and bedlam that ensues when a dump truck arrives, and also what happens when it gets stuck in the trash on the top. There is also a digger which comes to try and push the rubbish flatter – when that happens there is a new area of “goods” released to be picked through. I spoke to some women who had found a massive box of scrap food probably thrown out by a hotel and were picking thought it and eating what was ok – anything that was good was being saved to take home later but the flies swarming round were awful.
I stood for what felt like ages watching all this going on. Then caught a glimpse of what I must look like to them – a white person observing them work and so I began to feel very uncomfortable just standing there watching. As I turned to walk away seeing one guy stopped me dead in my tracks.
He had collected what he wanted, and was heading off somewhere. What ever he had got he had put over his shoulder to carry away. But what stopped me was that what he was carrying was in the shape of a cross. It was flung over his shoulder just as I imagine Jesus would have had to carry his today.
To see the sight of this cross being carried over one man’s shoulder at the Bocaria today, in the stench and the filth and the mess that is there, made me see why all that Jesus did on Good Friday was so important. He did it for the least of these, he did it for the widow, the orphan, the lost, the broken, the hungry, the rejected, the robbers, the junkies, the drunks. He did it for me. I found myself thinking of U2’s words “Carried the cross of my shame….but I still haven’t found what I’m looking for”
This image today will never leave me. This is what Easter is all about.
So feeling that sleep is not imminently round the corner I think this gives me the time needed to gather my thoughts and emotions from this morning.
I got to go the Bocaria on a Friday morning - I have been teaching every other one. With today being Good Friday I thought there would be more people around, not sure that really was the case. Anyway. this is the first time since coming here long term that I have walked over the top of the dump and, like all the times before, it leaves me ruined in a good way and I come away having seen God on the top of the dump. I still can not get used to kids fighting for bread and having to stop them robbing it off each other.
This morning there was something really unpleasant burning all over the dump creating a lot of smoke and a smell that stuck in the back of my throat.We did have rain this week so there were parts where the pools of rancid water were just sitting swarming with flies. The glass is still bad, and the ground beneath my feet less than secure.
Today I had the chance to pray with a few people, but for a long time I was just able to observe from not very far away the carnage and bedlam that ensues when a dump truck arrives, and also what happens when it gets stuck in the trash on the top. There is also a digger which comes to try and push the rubbish flatter – when that happens there is a new area of “goods” released to be picked through. I spoke to some women who had found a massive box of scrap food probably thrown out by a hotel and were picking thought it and eating what was ok – anything that was good was being saved to take home later but the flies swarming round were awful.
I stood for what felt like ages watching all this going on. Then caught a glimpse of what I must look like to them – a white person observing them work and so I began to feel very uncomfortable just standing there watching. As I turned to walk away seeing one guy stopped me dead in my tracks.
He had collected what he wanted, and was heading off somewhere. What ever he had got he had put over his shoulder to carry away. But what stopped me was that what he was carrying was in the shape of a cross. It was flung over his shoulder just as I imagine Jesus would have had to carry his today.
To see the sight of this cross being carried over one man’s shoulder at the Bocaria today, in the stench and the filth and the mess that is there, made me see why all that Jesus did on Good Friday was so important. He did it for the least of these, he did it for the widow, the orphan, the lost, the broken, the hungry, the rejected, the robbers, the junkies, the drunks. He did it for me. I found myself thinking of U2’s words “Carried the cross of my shame….but I still haven’t found what I’m looking for”
This image today will never leave me. This is what Easter is all about.
Monday, 6 April 2009
Wedding, Wedding, anyone for a Wedding?
I could have been married yesterday! Before you get too excited and run out and buy pretty dresses, it didn't happen. There was a plea at church for anyone who wants to get married to come forward and be married – OK!!!! I know Vegas has got drive thru options- never did I think I would experience something similar in Moz. But there is always a first time for it. It also has to be said not one person went forward!
Church yesterday was an experience. We had strings breaking on guitars and drummers putting the pedal through the skin of the bass drum. Oh just wait till I run to the shop and buy a new one – oh – no wait- we are in Mozambique, where it has taken us a year to get the one that is on there at the moment – what’s that you say – it's only 6 weeks old!. So the challenges yesterday in the heat were all starting to get to me a little! Gaffer tape comes in handy now to fix broken drum skins.
The Bocaria today was yet again something very exciting. First of all becuase I got to ride in the back of a flat bed truck. That is the best way to travel in Maputo especially when all the locals shout "White person" at you. It really is a novelty to see us in the back of a truck.
The Easter holidays are here so we had 160 kids. As we were telling the Easter story, thought it would be a good idea to boil eggs for the kids. Our thinking was 100 would be more than enough- oops. It was lovely today there. There was a real presence in the church. I was also taken back to my childhood as we taught them "God's not dead". They loved in espcially the punching the air as they shouted NO!. That mixed with me doing the full actions today to "Father Abraham" the singing today was great.
I also got to walk to the top of the dump and just look over the vast expanse of rubbish again and remember why I love being here. Holding the babies, and being able to love these kids so much. It was smokey, it was smelly, I was really really dirty but we had a blast.
Church yesterday was an experience. We had strings breaking on guitars and drummers putting the pedal through the skin of the bass drum. Oh just wait till I run to the shop and buy a new one – oh – no wait- we are in Mozambique, where it has taken us a year to get the one that is on there at the moment – what’s that you say – it's only 6 weeks old!. So the challenges yesterday in the heat were all starting to get to me a little! Gaffer tape comes in handy now to fix broken drum skins.
The Bocaria today was yet again something very exciting. First of all becuase I got to ride in the back of a flat bed truck. That is the best way to travel in Maputo especially when all the locals shout "White person" at you. It really is a novelty to see us in the back of a truck.
The Easter holidays are here so we had 160 kids. As we were telling the Easter story, thought it would be a good idea to boil eggs for the kids. Our thinking was 100 would be more than enough- oops. It was lovely today there. There was a real presence in the church. I was also taken back to my childhood as we taught them "God's not dead". They loved in espcially the punching the air as they shouted NO!. That mixed with me doing the full actions today to "Father Abraham" the singing today was great.
I also got to walk to the top of the dump and just look over the vast expanse of rubbish again and remember why I love being here. Holding the babies, and being able to love these kids so much. It was smokey, it was smelly, I was really really dirty but we had a blast.
Fire
You have to give it here to some kids here for their thinking. One of our guys last week wanted a cup of tea. So what else do you do but go out to the back of the centre and with the aid of a box of matches light a little fire to boil some water for tea! Great idea really – except it hasn’t rained for weeks here, everything is dry and ready to go up. So needless to say it didn’t take long for the little fire he started to spread very quickly. See the link below for the damage done.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=88244&id=713197018&l=b188ccf1f7
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=88244&id=713197018&l=b188ccf1f7
Wednesday, 1 April 2009
There can be miracles, when you believe.
Below is the story of hope, joy, and a family reunited. The text has come from a friend but I sat in the room and heard it first hand as Michas told us it. I have never seen anyone guy as happy in my life. I have mentioned the story on a previous blog but here is the journey.
Do You Believe In Miracles???
If you didn't before, I have a story to tell you that just might make you believe! It's not my story, it's Micas' . . .
If you didn't before, I have a story to tell you that just might make you believe! It's not my story, it's Micas' . . .
Micas (pronounced mee-cush) is one of our older youth. He has lived in our center since about 2000. Before that, well, let's go way back.
Micas grew up with his parents with several older and one younger brother in Inhambane, about 8 hours north of here. When Micas was a three years old, his parents decided to separate and his father took him with him to go live with another woman. I can't recall all of the ins and outs that followed but after his father went to look for work in South Africa, his step-mother didn't want him to continue living with her so he lived with a series of different people. At one point, he was a young boy living on the street when a kind woman brought him to live with her family because she saw he was desperate and alone. I think he wound up living in four or five different homes, each one taking him further and further from his family. He was living on the streets of Maputo, eight hours from home, when he came to live in our center in 2000, when he was about 12 years old.
In 2002, he and some of our staff traveled the eight hours to Inhambane to look for his family. The home he could remember was of his step-mother but they discovered she had died so they returned with no information.
Just last year, in 2008, he returned again to look for them but since he was only three when he left his mother, he couldn't remember enough to find anyone. He decided that he needed to quit looking and just accept that he will not know his family and will just walk thru life with God and the "family" he has made at our center. Micas has grown up to be a very responsible, kind and smart young man. He loves the Lord and is growing in his faith, he has served as a Chefe in the dorms (an assistant to the Educator in charge of the dorm) and he has never given the leadership any trouble.
He currently takes a course in the mornings, works here in our gardens in the afternoon and goes to school to finish high school at night.About a year or so ago, our ministry was given a gift of some property by the government about 30 minutes from here. It was a large plot of undeveloped land in a fairly rural area. There were other people living in the area but it's not densely populated by any means. Our ministry decided to build some homes for our older youth who have no family they can live with as well as some pastors and form a small community there. It is often difficult for our older youth to leave the closeness of our center to live on their own so living with others nearby has been much more effective for them. Micas was blessed with one homes there.
Last month, Micas went to the local kiosk that sells cold drinks and small snacks. He asked the young boy who was there with his mother for a cold drink. The boy asked him, "would you like me to open that for you?" Micas replied, "yes, as I haven't brought a bottle to exchange for it so I have to drink it here." He stepped to the side to drink his soda and overheard the boy talking with his mother."Mama, this man sounds just like Tio Arone. He has the same voice!" Well this caught Micas' attention because he has a brother named Arone and it isn't a common name. So he began to listen more closely. The boy kept saying to his mother how much Micas sounded like his uncle.
Finally, Micas asked the boy, "what are you saying young boy?" And the boy replied, "your voice sounds just like my Uncle Arone." Micas asked, "do you have other uncles?" and the boy replied, "yes," and Micas asked, "what are their names?" and the boy replied "Antonio", "Fernando", etc. . ." (I've forgotten these names so I inserted common Mozambican names.)
And Micas, undoubtedly with head spinning, thought "Those are my brothers names!"
He then asked the name of their father and the name of their mother and, well you've guessed it by now - they were his parents names!!!Then the young boy said, "There is just one uncle missing, he disappeared long ago and has never been found."
And Micas was able to reply - "I am the one who was missing, I am Micas who was lost a long time ago!!!"
Shortly after Micas met this boy and discovered his family, he made the journey to Inhambane to meet his mother and the rest of his family. Oh, wouldn't you have loved to be there to see the rejoicing and celebrating that lasted for days?!? Micas discovered that at every family event or gathering his mother would say "but there is one that is missing, we are not complete without my son Micas." She never stopped hoping to find her son but had no idea where to look. Well, she doesn't need to hope anymore, she has found him!
And next week, she is coming here to see where he has grown up!!!Last week, Micas also went to the city, Maputo, to meet one of his brothers and another relative who have been living there, only 40 minutes away, for years!
Micas shared his testimony in church and our whole center is rejoicing with him at the miracle of his finding his family!
So there still are miracles today. My thanks to Laura for typing the story up.
Tuesday, 24 March 2009
Photos and Videos
I have been promising for a while photos and videos. Well here they are. They are a mixture of when my friends were here and videos/photos I have created. The links below should take you to each of them. Hope you enjoy.
Isaac in Moz Photos
Isaac in Moz Video
Kruger National Park
My first visitors
Visiting in the Community
Children of Mozambique Video
Isaac in Moz Photos
Isaac in Moz Video
Kruger National Park
My first visitors
Visiting in the Community
Children of Mozambique Video
Don't stop me now
What a week/weekend.
The embassy on St. Patrick’s Day was a lot of fun - there are a few Irish people here you will be glad to know. I am not the only one. The rugby on Saturday - WHAT A GAME! For those of you who like me didn't see it and maybe haven't heard. IRELAND WON THE 6 NATIONS. Not only did they do that but they also got the Grand Slam - a feat which hasn't been achieved in the last 61 years. OK so I am feeling very patriotic tonight.
The First Lady's visit by all accounts (for those who saw her) went well. I think I saw the top of her head and then went back to bed as I wasn't feeling that well.
Speak to those who did the catering: 40 extra guests, not enough plates, knives or forks. The Tias and one of the long termers cooked the day before only to discover that morning the Prima Dama (First Lady in Portuguese) was bringing her own food! It's OK breathe. Her food showed up late so she had to eat our food anyway. (The Lord is gracious and compassionate........)
So - Friday night saw me somewhere I never thought I would be. At an "Anne of Green Gables" party. Yes there were pretty dresses and bonnets and there are even pictures but not of me in any of this silly get up. Some of the girls did go to town. We were throwing a surprise birthday party for one of the other girls. Well there were a few too many bonnets for my liking. Anyway I survived and have not been turned into a girly girl yet. Try and pray as hard as you might I don't ever see it happening!!
And so to today. My bible school class on Leadership.
Someone remind me when I have a good idea to try a new teaching method here NOT to do it. My class is 1 hour 30 mins. Today I thought it would be "fun" to do a quiz on the gifts leaders have. I thought what better material to use than John Maxwell’s leadship teaching.
First mistake - they don't get senario or logic type questions.
Second mistake - anything other than a yes or no answer - forget it especially when it requires them to kind of agree, disagree or not have an opinion.
Third mistake- doing something never tried before.
25 minutes into the class and we were still on question 1, debating how to write down the answer they needed and if they needed to write down the question. Working out what the phrase "behind the scenes" meant. I could see there was no way we were going to get thought all 72 questions. I shall write to John Maxwell and ask for an African version of the questionnaire.
Oh the joys of teaching - when all else fails start drawing on the blackboard and illustrating points with stick men. Works a treat here.
The embassy on St. Patrick’s Day was a lot of fun - there are a few Irish people here you will be glad to know. I am not the only one. The rugby on Saturday - WHAT A GAME! For those of you who like me didn't see it and maybe haven't heard. IRELAND WON THE 6 NATIONS. Not only did they do that but they also got the Grand Slam - a feat which hasn't been achieved in the last 61 years. OK so I am feeling very patriotic tonight.
The First Lady's visit by all accounts (for those who saw her) went well. I think I saw the top of her head and then went back to bed as I wasn't feeling that well.
Speak to those who did the catering: 40 extra guests, not enough plates, knives or forks. The Tias and one of the long termers cooked the day before only to discover that morning the Prima Dama (First Lady in Portuguese) was bringing her own food! It's OK breathe. Her food showed up late so she had to eat our food anyway. (The Lord is gracious and compassionate........)
So - Friday night saw me somewhere I never thought I would be. At an "Anne of Green Gables" party. Yes there were pretty dresses and bonnets and there are even pictures but not of me in any of this silly get up. Some of the girls did go to town. We were throwing a surprise birthday party for one of the other girls. Well there were a few too many bonnets for my liking. Anyway I survived and have not been turned into a girly girl yet. Try and pray as hard as you might I don't ever see it happening!!
And so to today. My bible school class on Leadership.
Someone remind me when I have a good idea to try a new teaching method here NOT to do it. My class is 1 hour 30 mins. Today I thought it would be "fun" to do a quiz on the gifts leaders have. I thought what better material to use than John Maxwell’s leadship teaching.
First mistake - they don't get senario or logic type questions.
Second mistake - anything other than a yes or no answer - forget it especially when it requires them to kind of agree, disagree or not have an opinion.
Third mistake- doing something never tried before.
25 minutes into the class and we were still on question 1, debating how to write down the answer they needed and if they needed to write down the question. Working out what the phrase "behind the scenes" meant. I could see there was no way we were going to get thought all 72 questions. I shall write to John Maxwell and ask for an African version of the questionnaire.
Oh the joys of teaching - when all else fails start drawing on the blackboard and illustrating points with stick men. Works a treat here.
Updates on the boys
For those who have been asking I tought I would give an update of Latifo and Ni-ke the baby from the Bocaria.
Latifo came home on Thursday and is now in the nursery where we can monitor his eating and health. Today he is doing really well. Laughing, smiling, and happy to be left. Previously he had cried each time he was put down. It's good to have him back on the centre. What the future holds only time will tell. He has put on weight which is excellent. Do continue to pray for him.
Ni-ke (Nicky) the baby from the Bocaria sadly died last Tuesday. We visited with the mother yesterday who was remarkably good. He was the 3rd baby she had who died. Death is so much a part of life here that I don't think they realise what it is that has happened. A mother back home having lost 3 infants would certainly not be as strong as the mother I saw yesterday, a week after her child died.
Latifo came home on Thursday and is now in the nursery where we can monitor his eating and health. Today he is doing really well. Laughing, smiling, and happy to be left. Previously he had cried each time he was put down. It's good to have him back on the centre. What the future holds only time will tell. He has put on weight which is excellent. Do continue to pray for him.
Ni-ke (Nicky) the baby from the Bocaria sadly died last Tuesday. We visited with the mother yesterday who was remarkably good. He was the 3rd baby she had who died. Death is so much a part of life here that I don't think they realise what it is that has happened. A mother back home having lost 3 infants would certainly not be as strong as the mother I saw yesterday, a week after her child died.
Tuesday, 17 March 2009
What a wonderful world?
Not tonight…….obviously Louis Armstrong was not in Mozambique when he sang that. After these last 36 hours somehow tonight I feel a little battered by it all. Tonight I know of 2 kids who are in the hospital fighting for their lives.
Firstly Latifou. He was doing ok, eating, smiling and a joy to hold and show love to. On Saturday he started to get a little sick and got worse on Saturday evening. Yesterday morning we knew there was no time to wait to take him to the hospital because of the V and D he has been having. So he is now in hospital on the malnutrition ward. He is on a drip and we thought would probably be in hospital 3 weeks minimum. As of tonight the news is not good. The diarrhoea has not stopped and he was weighing 4.5 kgs yesterday. Seeing him deteriorate quickly has been quite hard. What we not know is that he has end stage AIDS.I just pray that he doesn’t have to suffer long with this, he is too light at the minute to get ARV’s and maybe it’s too late for him to start.
Then today - today was Bocaria.
We went down with the team who are here just now. At the moment the number of kids we get is very sporadic, and today was one of those days where we only had 8 kids. Rather than do children’s church today I felt it was right to go and walk through the community to try and connect with the kids there, see what time would suit better to have church for them and also to pray for any sick children we met. As we were leaving the church to start walking a father came up to us and said, “Please will you come and pray for my sick child?”
We set off to the house and it wasn’t long before we got there. Stepping through the gate it was all too familiar for me. This was the house I had been to before to pray with this same family when their daughter went missing. How could they be facing something traumatic again?
Walking into the house and seeing the kid lying on the floor was something I had not prepared myself for. He was hardly breathing, his eyes were rolled back in his head and the whites of his eyes were yellow. His breathing had a death rattle like I have not heard in a long time. This family had already lost a baby 2 years ago - to be standing here with the same prospect facing them was really more than I knew how to process. This bit of it really is NOT a wonderful world.
It was really guidance today not to do our usual program, this child needed treatment and to go to hospital immediately. Thankfully with the help of the medical team here and Tracey who has a connection with the family we were able to get the ambulance down to the dump and take him and the parents to the hospital. Tonight, he has been admitted and is on oxygen, but the Doctors don’t really know what they are treating.
The hospital here is mad, there are no GP’s here so the hospital is the place to bring sick kids. There are normally 2 to a bed and no food is provided for them. The care giver must provide it all.
So after today, I know that there are days where this is a wonderful world, but not this evening. Tonight I just have a lot of thoughts about the two very fragile little lives in the hospital, and am praying they are stronger in the morning or taken tonight so they don’t have to suffer.
Firstly Latifou. He was doing ok, eating, smiling and a joy to hold and show love to. On Saturday he started to get a little sick and got worse on Saturday evening. Yesterday morning we knew there was no time to wait to take him to the hospital because of the V and D he has been having. So he is now in hospital on the malnutrition ward. He is on a drip and we thought would probably be in hospital 3 weeks minimum. As of tonight the news is not good. The diarrhoea has not stopped and he was weighing 4.5 kgs yesterday. Seeing him deteriorate quickly has been quite hard. What we not know is that he has end stage AIDS.I just pray that he doesn’t have to suffer long with this, he is too light at the minute to get ARV’s and maybe it’s too late for him to start.
Then today - today was Bocaria.
We went down with the team who are here just now. At the moment the number of kids we get is very sporadic, and today was one of those days where we only had 8 kids. Rather than do children’s church today I felt it was right to go and walk through the community to try and connect with the kids there, see what time would suit better to have church for them and also to pray for any sick children we met. As we were leaving the church to start walking a father came up to us and said, “Please will you come and pray for my sick child?”
We set off to the house and it wasn’t long before we got there. Stepping through the gate it was all too familiar for me. This was the house I had been to before to pray with this same family when their daughter went missing. How could they be facing something traumatic again?
Walking into the house and seeing the kid lying on the floor was something I had not prepared myself for. He was hardly breathing, his eyes were rolled back in his head and the whites of his eyes were yellow. His breathing had a death rattle like I have not heard in a long time. This family had already lost a baby 2 years ago - to be standing here with the same prospect facing them was really more than I knew how to process. This bit of it really is NOT a wonderful world.
It was really guidance today not to do our usual program, this child needed treatment and to go to hospital immediately. Thankfully with the help of the medical team here and Tracey who has a connection with the family we were able to get the ambulance down to the dump and take him and the parents to the hospital. Tonight, he has been admitted and is on oxygen, but the Doctors don’t really know what they are treating.
The hospital here is mad, there are no GP’s here so the hospital is the place to bring sick kids. There are normally 2 to a bed and no food is provided for them. The care giver must provide it all.
So after today, I know that there are days where this is a wonderful world, but not this evening. Tonight I just have a lot of thoughts about the two very fragile little lives in the hospital, and am praying they are stronger in the morning or taken tonight so they don’t have to suffer.
Sunday, 15 March 2009
Come on Over, Come on In, pull up a seat and take a load of your feet
Being invited out into the community to a Mozambican’s house to really experience the culture felt like an opportunity not to miss. What a day.
I went with Tracey and her dorm to visit. What a blast. We were picked up and taken in the back of a small flat bed truck over sand roads, good job I am well padded. This was a real treat for the kids. I also think it was a real treat for the people in the community to see two white girls travel in the back of the truck and being thrown around.
We drove up hills, through “streets” marked by bushes and I know my sense of direction is normally good but today I wouldn’t have a clue. Sand, green bushes and grey block houses…..
So we get there. I am expecting to hang out for a couple of hours and then come home – but no. This was a massive party for us. A festa! The neighbours were there, and friends and some other kids from the centre who go there at weekends, the father in law – you name it… and of course what do the white gals do but turn up without skirts! No one said anything, so we think we got away with it.
Well what an afternoon. The house is still being built, so has two rooms, kitchen and an outside toilet – probably a long drop – for once I didn’t inspect them and am thankful I didn’t need to go as I am not really built to squat.
The interesting thing for me, is the fact that there is a massive speaker there something I would love to have!
I took great comfort in the fact that the kids bedroom was probably as messy as mine was when growing up. I love the fact that whatever the culture, as a teenager – a messy bedroom is ok.
The house has electricity and running water so that’s quite advanced. The kids played all afternoon, and used the parts of the house still being built as walls to jump off and leap over. There was great excitement when a hen ran through the garden – maybe that was me rather than the kids. It was great for them to experience what life is like living in family and community and for them to see where the Tia who works for them lives.
So the women must have been cooking most of the morning. We ate a royal feast. The kids had chicken, chips, rice and beans and what I thought at one point was Gabritto (Goat), we later discovered it was Bull.
We were then served. Now my fear is having to eat something I really just can’t. I think that happened today. We were served similar to the kids, but then on our plate was another piece of meat. At first I thought it was a mushroom, which I would have eaten.
However, what was on my plate, was a piece of the bull’s tongue! Very clearly defined! Darker underneath and red on top with taste buds still showing - it had curled up a little at the edged becuase it had obviously been boiled after it was cut straight from the bulls mouth.
I am sorry for those who think I have been culturally offensive, but sometimes you have to weigh up eating it then perhaps throwing up, or just politely passing. Marlita (the Tia) knows me so I felt it was ok not to eat it. The other thing I also didn’t quite manage to do was clean my chicken bones to the same standard as Mozambicans do. That really is a sight to behold.
So a lovely afternoon. A new cultural experience for me and something I am really glad I have done.
I went with Tracey and her dorm to visit. What a blast. We were picked up and taken in the back of a small flat bed truck over sand roads, good job I am well padded. This was a real treat for the kids. I also think it was a real treat for the people in the community to see two white girls travel in the back of the truck and being thrown around.
We drove up hills, through “streets” marked by bushes and I know my sense of direction is normally good but today I wouldn’t have a clue. Sand, green bushes and grey block houses…..
So we get there. I am expecting to hang out for a couple of hours and then come home – but no. This was a massive party for us. A festa! The neighbours were there, and friends and some other kids from the centre who go there at weekends, the father in law – you name it… and of course what do the white gals do but turn up without skirts! No one said anything, so we think we got away with it.
Well what an afternoon. The house is still being built, so has two rooms, kitchen and an outside toilet – probably a long drop – for once I didn’t inspect them and am thankful I didn’t need to go as I am not really built to squat.
The interesting thing for me, is the fact that there is a massive speaker there something I would love to have!
I took great comfort in the fact that the kids bedroom was probably as messy as mine was when growing up. I love the fact that whatever the culture, as a teenager – a messy bedroom is ok.
The house has electricity and running water so that’s quite advanced. The kids played all afternoon, and used the parts of the house still being built as walls to jump off and leap over. There was great excitement when a hen ran through the garden – maybe that was me rather than the kids. It was great for them to experience what life is like living in family and community and for them to see where the Tia who works for them lives.
So the women must have been cooking most of the morning. We ate a royal feast. The kids had chicken, chips, rice and beans and what I thought at one point was Gabritto (Goat), we later discovered it was Bull.
We were then served. Now my fear is having to eat something I really just can’t. I think that happened today. We were served similar to the kids, but then on our plate was another piece of meat. At first I thought it was a mushroom, which I would have eaten.
However, what was on my plate, was a piece of the bull’s tongue! Very clearly defined! Darker underneath and red on top with taste buds still showing - it had curled up a little at the edged becuase it had obviously been boiled after it was cut straight from the bulls mouth.
I am sorry for those who think I have been culturally offensive, but sometimes you have to weigh up eating it then perhaps throwing up, or just politely passing. Marlita (the Tia) knows me so I felt it was ok not to eat it. The other thing I also didn’t quite manage to do was clean my chicken bones to the same standard as Mozambicans do. That really is a sight to behold.
So a lovely afternoon. A new cultural experience for me and something I am really glad I have done.
Saturday, 14 March 2009
A crazy week
This week has had its joys, sadness, frustrations, challenges, moments of grossness, and interesting invitations.
On Monday we took in a new boy. Latifou. He is 2 and a half and weighs 5.3kg, I don’t think I have ever seen a more malnourished 2 and a half. He is lovely. Do pray that he settles into an eating pattern and gains weight. Please see the photo.
On Monday we took in a new boy. Latifou. He is 2 and a half and weighs 5.3kg, I don’t think I have ever seen a more malnourished 2 and a half. He is lovely. Do pray that he settles into an eating pattern and gains weight. Please see the photo.
As one life arrives on the centre here - to try and give a future too, another life is lost somewhere else in the world. Child death I will never understand. We have found out this week also one more of the kids here is HIV positive.
This week I have seen kids entertain themselves by using a piece of cardboard as a sledge and sliding down the concrete bank, a plastic bag and string as a kite and just be really thrilled to see it float in the air. Driving in the city I have seen a Porsche (granted the plates were from South Africa), but I have also seen a convertible in one of the poorest neighbourhoods in the city.
For a moment or two on Fri eve I could have been anywhere in the world. A group of us had gone out for a leaving meal for one of the girls here. We went to a Thai restaurant which was lovely. Then driving back in the car we were singing along to Elton John – it just felt like I free and it was a normal thing to do in Africa. For a few moments last night it was the best feeling in the world. I miss listening to music while driving.
The other really strange thing about Friday was going into a bookstore to find that they stock Sound on Sound!. It’s the magazine for sound engineers that over the years I have had many subscriptions too. I couldn’t get over that in Mozambique – one of the countries among the 10 poorest in the world had this on its shelves.
I have been invited to the Irish Embassy to celebrate St. Patricks day on Tues… what is a girl to do but go, its tough living in high society!. What really is interesting is that I was in a shop last week and a lady came up to me and said – “What part of Ireland are you from?” My first thought – Is it that obvious, then I remembered that I was wearing my Ulster rugby shirt which had Bank of Ireland printed large over the front of it. Kinda gives it away! She was from Galway and has been living here for years – so it would appear there is a real nice community of Irish people here.
My other invite was to go out this afternoon to visit one of the worker’s houses’ in the community. When you have nothing else in your diary on a Saturday afternoon it feels like a nice thing to do. I will write a separate blog about it.
Warning – gross part coming up – DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE A SENSITIVE STOMACH
Tonight I get to the baby house to be told that they had pulled a worm out of Adilson’s head. Now the nurse went to look at it – it wasn’t a worm so much as it was a maggot, which had somehow got into his head and they found this morning, so the nurse this morning thought she would leave it for Erin tonight. So she kindly brought the maggot in for us to see. THE THING WAS STILL ALIVE AND MOVING. I was almost sick knowing that it had been in his head moving around.
Tuesday, 3 March 2009
When life seems a little hard to understand
Today Lucia is like a new girl! It’s amazing. She is full of life and trying to walk with her hands and feet on the ground and bum straight in the air, a very cute sight!
Today has been yet another one of those interesting days in Mozambique.
Bible school was great, I do love teaching on Leadership.
I have not been feeling too great for a few days and so as a precaution I went to get a Malaria test (it’s ok Mum its negative). On my way there the baby house kids had just come out of Pre-school and ran up to me to show me the work they had done. They were so proud of the small amount of crayon they had put to the paper, and inside me there was that proud parental moment of seeing their work. I know only lasts the first few seconds and then the work gets tossed into the fire to keep the house heated – no wait maybe that was just me, and all my friends had theirs displayed on the walls for years after. Mum – Dad – we should talk! – Following comment from mum and dad! [a total slander!! We never burned your work, it WAS displayed and there is still some of it in my filing cabinet! We could afford coal in those days!]
The part of my day which I am still trying to process follows. I was waiting for my test results at the clinic here when a mother arrived with her baby in a capalana. I did think it was a little strange to have a community baby at that time of the day. At first I thought it was one of the kids from our centre with a Tia. The child obviously had severe learning and developmental problems, anyway, I sat for a moment, smiling at the mother, exchanging a few pleasantries, got my test results and left. Later tonight I discovered that the mother who I had chatted to was not there to take the child to see a doctor but had in fact abandoned her at the clinic not long after I saw her.
Part of me feels sick, angry, numb at this thought. Could I have seen this coming, could I have done something? Could other people not have stopped her, chased her, done something? What must the mother have been feeling to have to do this. The girl must be about 6 years old, she is blind and severely mentally disabled, but can crawl and if you put food in her hand she will put it to her mouth. We are going to try and search for the mother over the next few days, please pray that we get some light on this and that we find the best care for this child.
Today has been yet another one of those interesting days in Mozambique.
Bible school was great, I do love teaching on Leadership.
I have not been feeling too great for a few days and so as a precaution I went to get a Malaria test (it’s ok Mum its negative). On my way there the baby house kids had just come out of Pre-school and ran up to me to show me the work they had done. They were so proud of the small amount of crayon they had put to the paper, and inside me there was that proud parental moment of seeing their work. I know only lasts the first few seconds and then the work gets tossed into the fire to keep the house heated – no wait maybe that was just me, and all my friends had theirs displayed on the walls for years after. Mum – Dad – we should talk! – Following comment from mum and dad! [a total slander!! We never burned your work, it WAS displayed and there is still some of it in my filing cabinet! We could afford coal in those days!]
The part of my day which I am still trying to process follows. I was waiting for my test results at the clinic here when a mother arrived with her baby in a capalana. I did think it was a little strange to have a community baby at that time of the day. At first I thought it was one of the kids from our centre with a Tia. The child obviously had severe learning and developmental problems, anyway, I sat for a moment, smiling at the mother, exchanging a few pleasantries, got my test results and left. Later tonight I discovered that the mother who I had chatted to was not there to take the child to see a doctor but had in fact abandoned her at the clinic not long after I saw her.
Part of me feels sick, angry, numb at this thought. Could I have seen this coming, could I have done something? Could other people not have stopped her, chased her, done something? What must the mother have been feeling to have to do this. The girl must be about 6 years old, she is blind and severely mentally disabled, but can crawl and if you put food in her hand she will put it to her mouth. We are going to try and search for the mother over the next few days, please pray that we get some light on this and that we find the best care for this child.
Monday, 2 March 2009
Moment of Surrender
As some of you know I have texted re Lucia. As I write she is on her way to the hospital with a variety of problems. I sit here and feel hopeless and useless and the only thing I can do is pray. I have to trust God knows it all. She is only 9 months old and has many things going against her survival.
This is my moment of surrender, where I folded to my knees, where I can do nothing in the human level but in the spiritual realms leave it all with God and trust him and trust for the best outcome for her which only he knows. I know she is a fighter, if she wasn’t she wouldn’t be here today.
Today at the Bocaria we were teaching about the fruit of the spirit being peace, and I have to hold onto that tonight. God was very present there today and it was lovely. Sometime my frustrations here are massive but at other times like this afternoon I see why its all worth it.
Sunday, 1 March 2009
The sound of Silence
Ok, so it has been too long since I wrote! I have been really busy with life here, plus I have had a few friends out to visit.
It has been reasonably “normal,” here with things going on as usual and not much to report. Heidi was here last week but I missed her as I was away for a few days.
I have been driving more than I have done before. Driving here is another story of craziness and something which increases my levels of trust in God!
Having my friends Jacqui and Isy here was a real blessing. Not only because they brought cases full of presents for the kids and me, but it was contact from home. Thank you to all who sent things. It really is much appreciated and they will be so useful here. Getting to hear U2’s new single was a highlight, as was the Haribo, flumps and Dark Knight. Being able to show people a little of my life here has been great. Isaac (age 10) was a hit with the kids, thought I think he found the attention at times a little overwhelming, but he was great with them and the babies.
Having people who really know me here and laughing with them has made me realise how little I get to do that. So the last week has seen a lot of laughter, from seeing a rat squashed under a truck to the kids learning to say “how do you do” as they shake your hand.
One thing which I am still laughing about – when in Mozambique you often find things are backwards, or in reverse, or have no logic. Often the taps are the wrong way round or a driver on the road will reverse when others are driving forward - that kind of thing. Anyway we went out for lunch – and ordered a Hawaiian Pizza – we were told there was no pineapple. That was fine - we decided to order anyway and it would just come with ham. Great! So the pizza arrived. It had tomato, cheese and ham, all the things we were expecting. What we weren’t expecting is the fact that they had used their brains and because they didn’t have PINEapple – they put apple on instead. Only in Mozambique! We did eat it, but it was weird.
We headed to Kruger for a few days where we saw 4 of the big 5 and have taken many photos to which I will post a link. Kruger made me realise the level of noise I live in here. It was peaceful and quiet, except when the Hippo talk. I have seen more birds than ever before in my life and also seen a monkey and a cricket attack people.
Lucia has been quite up and down. Isaac prayed with her when he was here ( I know others did too) but when we came back from Kruger she was so much better. That prayer was really answered.
Our Centre Directors leave tomorrow for their break and we are down to a few long termers at the moment, so lots of us are picking up extra responsibilities and would value extra prayer at this time.
It has been reasonably “normal,” here with things going on as usual and not much to report. Heidi was here last week but I missed her as I was away for a few days.
I have been driving more than I have done before. Driving here is another story of craziness and something which increases my levels of trust in God!
Having my friends Jacqui and Isy here was a real blessing. Not only because they brought cases full of presents for the kids and me, but it was contact from home. Thank you to all who sent things. It really is much appreciated and they will be so useful here. Getting to hear U2’s new single was a highlight, as was the Haribo, flumps and Dark Knight. Being able to show people a little of my life here has been great. Isaac (age 10) was a hit with the kids, thought I think he found the attention at times a little overwhelming, but he was great with them and the babies.
Having people who really know me here and laughing with them has made me realise how little I get to do that. So the last week has seen a lot of laughter, from seeing a rat squashed under a truck to the kids learning to say “how do you do” as they shake your hand.
One thing which I am still laughing about – when in Mozambique you often find things are backwards, or in reverse, or have no logic. Often the taps are the wrong way round or a driver on the road will reverse when others are driving forward - that kind of thing. Anyway we went out for lunch – and ordered a Hawaiian Pizza – we were told there was no pineapple. That was fine - we decided to order anyway and it would just come with ham. Great! So the pizza arrived. It had tomato, cheese and ham, all the things we were expecting. What we weren’t expecting is the fact that they had used their brains and because they didn’t have PINEapple – they put apple on instead. Only in Mozambique! We did eat it, but it was weird.
We headed to Kruger for a few days where we saw 4 of the big 5 and have taken many photos to which I will post a link. Kruger made me realise the level of noise I live in here. It was peaceful and quiet, except when the Hippo talk. I have seen more birds than ever before in my life and also seen a monkey and a cricket attack people.
Lucia has been quite up and down. Isaac prayed with her when he was here ( I know others did too) but when we came back from Kruger she was so much better. That prayer was really answered.
Our Centre Directors leave tomorrow for their break and we are down to a few long termers at the moment, so lots of us are picking up extra responsibilities and would value extra prayer at this time.
Monday, 9 February 2009
Up on the Roof
Well, it’s Monday again, Bocaria today. Last week didn’t happen because we ran out of petrol on the way.
So today, we get there and can’t drive down to the church. Why?- Because after the rain of last week, part of the road had a landside and the other part looked like it had been washed away and refilled with rubbish!. We weren’t going to take a truck over that. One night of heavy rain and the road is gone. As we walked down to the church I saw that part of the dump had caved in and there was just a hole where once had been a heap of rubbish – the hole still quite full of water. What must that night have been like for those living here? The mind really boggles. Some of these people have plastic sheets for roofs tied to pieces of sticks; others of course have no shelter. Again I sit here and am very grateful for my corrugated roof over my head and the fact that my room didn’t flood.
This weekend has been an interesting one with various little things going on. The highlight was having nearly 30 visitors from the US Navy come to the base. When I say visitors, what I really mean is 30 sailors here doing voluntary work, painting, fixing, cutting grass etc. You have to imagine the scene 30 SAILORS (fit, muscely, tanned, strong and charming, etc) working here on base with a lot of single female missionaries! Quite a chaotic scene in places and for the record I don’t have one photo of them – and for those shouting, “No, I bet you have 100” – I don’t. I didn’t even take my camera out. My friend did and took great delight in telling me her zoom lens was working very well!! I must go see her photos.
Anyway, back to the point of writing about these lovely men…..I mean kind men, who came here to do voluntary work. Some had been assigned to work on the roof of the kitchen. They hadn’t been up there that long when one fell through the roof, 25ft onto the solid concrete floor. We are in Mozambique… backboards don’t exist here… neither do good CT scanners, x-ray machines – anything. What can you do in a situation like that except pray. The ships medic and all our medics came running. They took him to the South African clinic here. When the medic came and looked at the scene – he said “Yep – that’s normally fatal!” We have heard that the sailor only sustained a broken wrist – what a miracle, we really are thanking to God it wasn’t more serious. The sailors were a little bemused as to why the injury wasn’t worse – gave a good way in for conversations on the big God we have.
So today, we get there and can’t drive down to the church. Why?- Because after the rain of last week, part of the road had a landside and the other part looked like it had been washed away and refilled with rubbish!. We weren’t going to take a truck over that. One night of heavy rain and the road is gone. As we walked down to the church I saw that part of the dump had caved in and there was just a hole where once had been a heap of rubbish – the hole still quite full of water. What must that night have been like for those living here? The mind really boggles. Some of these people have plastic sheets for roofs tied to pieces of sticks; others of course have no shelter. Again I sit here and am very grateful for my corrugated roof over my head and the fact that my room didn’t flood.
This weekend has been an interesting one with various little things going on. The highlight was having nearly 30 visitors from the US Navy come to the base. When I say visitors, what I really mean is 30 sailors here doing voluntary work, painting, fixing, cutting grass etc. You have to imagine the scene 30 SAILORS (fit, muscely, tanned, strong and charming, etc) working here on base with a lot of single female missionaries! Quite a chaotic scene in places and for the record I don’t have one photo of them – and for those shouting, “No, I bet you have 100” – I don’t. I didn’t even take my camera out. My friend did and took great delight in telling me her zoom lens was working very well!! I must go see her photos.
Anyway, back to the point of writing about these lovely men…..I mean kind men, who came here to do voluntary work. Some had been assigned to work on the roof of the kitchen. They hadn’t been up there that long when one fell through the roof, 25ft onto the solid concrete floor. We are in Mozambique… backboards don’t exist here… neither do good CT scanners, x-ray machines – anything. What can you do in a situation like that except pray. The ships medic and all our medics came running. They took him to the South African clinic here. When the medic came and looked at the scene – he said “Yep – that’s normally fatal!” We have heard that the sailor only sustained a broken wrist – what a miracle, we really are thanking to God it wasn’t more serious. The sailors were a little bemused as to why the injury wasn’t worse – gave a good way in for conversations on the big God we have.
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