Camikevin Update

We have moved!

2010-10-11T13:35:00.002+02:00

We recently made the decision to move our blog over the AIM sites, to take advantage of the better format and to have our blog with lots of other blogs about life in Africa. You can find us at www.camikevin.aimsites.org

We won't be posting any new entries here, and eventually will take this site down. You can still find Kevin's blog at camikevn.blogspot.com.

At the new site, you'll find some webpages that we've posted about the work we are doing in Moz, as well as blog entries as per usual.

See you there!

Cami

The Looooonnnngggg Trip back to the USA

2010-07-30T21:54:00.009+02:00

It came time to fly back to the USA on Saturday, July 17th and we were ready! Maybe not emotionally, as we were nervous about the trip and about what lay ahead, but all the bags were packed and we stood by the door 45 minutes before our ride came to pick us up, everything prepared.

Our dear colleagues, the Slaytons, gave us a ride to the airport, which was appopriate since they were the ones who picked us up when we arrived 3 1/2 years ago. At the airport, our faithful guard, Fernando, met us and stayed with us until we got on the plane. He remained at the balcony, waving and watching until we took off. What a dear man - we are so thankful that we found him an excellent job before we left and he will be well-provided for.

The boys were excited and interested to see everything, and we were suprised to see the small plane that would carry us 30 minutes east to the coastal city of Pemba, then on to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. As we took off, Benjamin had such an excited look on his face and gave us the thumbs-up. It was the first plane ride he could ever remember taking, as he hadn't been in an airplane since he arrived in Moz, at 11 months old.

We deplaned in Pemba, then re-boarded for the two hour flight to Tanzania. On arrival, we had to go through passport control and buy visas for our overnight stay, which was a long process, and it wasn't until two hours later that we arrived at the AIM guest house for our overnight stay. We are SO thankful that we arrived with all our luggage intact as Dar is known for theft from luggage. That night, we walked to a nearby bar (complete with a live band, dancing, and lots of people), which was the only place for dinner, and discovered that Swahili really is the lingua franca of Tanzania. We asked the waiter if the chicken was roasted or fried and he replied "yes". Ok, there was no choice! it was fried, which is probably best since then any local germies were boiled to death, and our stomachs suffered no repercussions. We were brought a basin of water at the table to wash our hands, we ate everything with no silverware, and then another basin was brought to clean up afterwards. After 3 1/2 years in Moz, the kids didn't even bat an eye.

Here's a photo of us waiting for the taxi in Dar, with our four pieces of luggage. We sure came home with a lot less than we went out with it, and most of it is presents!

We boarded our Emirates flight to Dubai (5 1/2 hours long) at 4:40 the next afternoon after another taxi ride back to the airport, and it was uneventful except that Ben fell asleep as we landed. I pinched him, shook him, shoved chocolate in his mouth, but that kid was in a coma. Kevin carried him off the plane, we wheeled him in a kind of stroller to the next plane, and plopped him in his seat there, and he continued to sleep for 9 more hours! Which was a good thing, actually. We were disappointed that our flight was a little late getting into Dubai, which meant we had no time to look around that very interesting airport. We were through there at 2 am, and the place was buzzing with activity. Paul Slayton told us that most of Dubai's flights take off at night because during the day the air is too hot for the jets to get enough lift.

Our 13 1/2 hour flight to New York went fine, and it was funny to see so many Americans on the plane. We have seen so few Americans in the last years, besides missionary colleagues, that being surrounded by them was a wierd experience. There were college girls in very short shorts, sitting near the Middle-Eastern ladies clothed in black Burkhas. Rather an unwise choice for the girls, I would say, but they were oblivious. Each seat had its own tv screen with a huge choice of movies, tv shows and video games, and when Toby wasn't sleeping (he slept most of the night) he was happily playing video games. Ben woke up about 4 hours before we landed, and also enjoyed playing (completely unsuccessfully) the video games.

Landing in America. What a surreal experience. We felt like we had stepped into the twilight zone, and yet it was all so familiar. As we went through passport control, the agent said "welcome home" and it was such a - RELIEF. Since we left America, we are always greeted with suspicion at border control posts, and we always wonder if we will be allowed to pass, or if we will be hassled. But in America, we are welcome. It seemed like we waited forever for our luggage, in an enormous baggage terminal, and finally we stepped out to be greeted by Kevin's family and it was a beautiful thing. How could it be that only two mornings before we were driving out of Nampula on those bumpy roads, desperately poor people along the sides of the roads? People with things balanced on their heads, cell phone cards for sale beside the road, dust rising up, baskets of tomatoes and piles of bananas for sale everywhere? Now we were in an enormous parking garage, everything cemented or landscaped with GRASS. As we drove north to Connecticut, we stared at all the stores beside the highways, stadiums, the skyline of Manhattan. Wow. The kids actually handled it really well, and were more interested in the cookies their Grandma had brought! We picked up Kevin's brother's family, and went off to McDonalds for lunch, where the kids ate blissfully and were so excited at the Happy Meal toy.

Well, that is enough for now. We are so thankful for a smooth trip and that our luggage and ourselves made it safely. We are enjoying the good things that the USA has to offer (including way too much GOOD and fattening food!) and most especially seeing our families. That is the best part. More to come soon. - C

Saying Goodbye

2010-07-30T21:41:00.007+02:00

We had some goodbyes to say not too long ago. The last two weeks before we left Mozambique on July 17th were full of busyness and sadness, as well as excitement for the road ahead.

The hardest people to say goobye to were the monitors. We had a special lunch for them the week we left, and Kevin was able to give them some final teaching on leadership, as well as give each of them a packet of materials and a calendar. There were tears in many of the guys' eyes as they said goodbye to us and we could see they had trouble believing we would return to Mozambique. A Mozambican friend of ours visited Canada last year, and he said to us after he returned that he can now appreciate how much we have given up to serve in Mozambique. I think that our monitors suspect as much, and know how hard it will be to say goodbye to family and return to Moz. We will pray for the monitors this year, that they will be strong and faithful, and that God will protect their families from sickness and harm.

We also said goodbye to various churches and friends. Here's a photo of our houseworker Teresa's family. She is a lovely woman who helped us faithfully, and always with a smile on her face. It was very sad to say goodbye to her, though we are glad that her husband is able to provide for the family so we don't have to worry about her family going hungry because we are not there to give her a job. It is awfully hard to find jobs in Nampula.

Here's a photo of Ben with his little friend from Portuguese preschool, Kelvin. He's a sweet little guy who befriended the "wierd" kid who didn't fit in. We've found that in all the schools where our kids have gone (not English-speaking schools) there is one child who reaches out to the stranger. We hope our kids will do the same for others.

It was also sad to say goodbye to our dogs, and to our missionary friends, many of whom have upheld us during some very difficult times during this term. Some of them will not be there when we go back, and we have no idea when we will see them again. Such is the life of a missionary!

As we finished up our work in Nampula, finished packing the last box and said the last goodbye, we looked at each other and said "Whew! We made it!". We feel like it is a big accomplishment to have completed this first term and as we look back over the last 3 1/2 years (we arrived in Moz on February 11th, 2007) we remember many very dark days as well as many very happy ones. We do love it in Mozambique and fully intend to return if it is God's will (and He will provide the support we need if it is!). Meanwhile, it is heart-wrenching to say goodbye to those we love, and a little hard to part with our "stuff", which is safely in storage along with our wonderful LandCruiser. - C

Last Day of School

2010-07-30T21:29:00.005+02:00

On Toby's last day at the Morningstar Academy, there was a sports day. There were all kinds of races including rope climb, long jump, and, well, races. The highlight of the day were two soccer games, the moms against the first through fourth graders, and the dads against the fifth through eighth graders. Here's a photo of the moms team: I was the goalie (being unable to run around due to back problems). As goalie, I ensured a win by the kids when I let one get past me. The dads creamed the older kids, much to everyone's surprise, and they are still sore about the betrayal.

Here is a photo of the kids in Toby's first and second grade class: Paula (from Moz), Shumi (from Zimbabwe), Quinton (from USA and Brazil), Toby, and Kathriona (from Zimbabwe). Here is also a photo of Toby with his teacher, Peggy Dancey, to whom we are so grateful. Toby's school experience up to now has been so wonderful, full of all kinds of interesting projects and solid education. Thanks to Peggy (and his part-year teacher last year, Kelly Jarvis), Toby loves learning, loves going to school, and is reading at a level beyond his grade (he's into Hardy Boys books now). He'll start third grade in September at a public school in Connecticut, and we hope that his experiences continue to be positive. Many, many thanks to Peggy and the other teachers at Morningstar for their significant sacrifices (leaving home and family, and raising support) to minister to our children and provide them with a stable, loving school environment, preparing them for their transitions back and forth from their home countries. I think many fewer missionary families would be working in Nampula if not for this school, and certainly there would be a lot more tired missionary moms who had to homeschool! We look forward to Toby's return to Morningstar for Fourth Grade, and hope that Peggy Dancey will still be there when Ben starts first grade in 2012. - C

History in Mozambique

2010-07-30T21:17:00.004+02:00

Here's a photo of Kevin and I in front of the chapel at the Fort at Ilha da Mocambique. This chapel is the oldest european-built structure in the southern hemisphere and was built by the Portuguese in the late 1500s. The fort was built later and was a base of operations for them in their control of trade and land off the coast of Africa. Kevin and I enjoyed spending a couple of days with colleagues and visitors at a beautiful beach. Unfortunately I was down sick the whole time, but at least it was a beautiful location. Mozambique has a lot of history, most of it bad, and you can read about it by using google. I say it is bad because there was so much oppression of the peoples of Mozambique, as there was with pretty much every colonial invader around the world, but in Moz it was especially harsh. -C

Making an Mk's Day

2010-07-24T15:05:00.003+02:00

This is a photo of the three dear folks who flew all the way from Western Canada (Vancouver) at considerable expense to minister to our children during our recent conference. The AIM conference was held in Nampula, for 39 adults and 11 children, from June 21-28th and was a very busy time. Barb Woodring came, along with Noah and Phil Balzer (father and son) to care for our children during all the meetings, but it was much more than that. they presented a full-on VBS program complete with surprises every day, treats brought from Canada, special events, and a birthday party with presents for each child! They had the kids every day from 8:30-12:30, 1:30-5:30, and then from 7-8. I don't know how they maintained such a level of energy to the end of the week, but they did it with smiles on their faces. The theme of the week was "God's Promises", dealing with covenants, and they used a lot of hockey-related images during the week too. Noah and Phil had brought their hockey gear and did skits for the kids as hockey players, and there were hockey t-shirts, jerseys, and hockey sticks for all the kids. There was even a day of "hockey training camp" and it was hilarious to see the kids running races dressed in adult hockey gear. They had such a blast and we are so grateful to Barb, Noah and Phil for their sacrifice of time, money and energy to minister to our kids. It was a week they'll never forget, and we hope that they all come back again next year! - C

Malaria, Again

2010-07-13T16:02:00.003+02:00

Well, we had hoped to avoid malaria this year but unfortunately I came down with it 10 days after returning from South Africa. I must have caught it in Maputo on my way back. I was down for a week with that nasty stuff and was glad to be rid of it. One of the treatments I took had sulfa in it, which I didn't realize, and so I had some itching along with the malaria misery (I am allergic to sulfa).

Toby had malaria (his fifth time) at the end of June, just as our conference ended. He always gets really pale and has a sore stomach, so we know to take him in and get him tested. He's had a problem before with reoccurances, so we'll be sure to bring a malaria test kit and treatment to the USA, as hospitals tend to "freak out" when you show up with malaria and want to admit you! But hopefully there won't be any reoccurances. Poor Toby always wants to keep going when he is sick - doesn't want to miss any time with his friends. He has recovered well, though he looks a bit thinner and we must fatten him up in the USA! - C

Moving house

2010-07-13T15:54:00.002+02:00

We moved out of our house on June 2nd, and moved over to the SIL missions compound across town, into the house of friends. I was so sad to move out of our house, which had been a real refuge in times of trouble during these three years. The move went smoothly and we were grateful for the help of all of our AIM colleagues in town, who came with their trucks (everyone has trucks here, which helps on moving day!) to move our things across town to the 40-foot shipping container at the AIM property. We are thankful for this container, where all our belongings will be safe and dry during this next year while we are gone in the USA. It does get quite hot in there though, so we've found another home for our DVDs and computers while we are away. The container is packed full - moving an entire house was a new experience for me, as we've never lived in more than an apartment, really. It was a big job and my back was pretty sore at the end of it. Right now we are in the furnished house of a friend, which is a huge blessing. There has been much less to pack up at the end, and we are getting ready to pack the suitcases to go to the USA on Saturday, 17 July. We leave here at 9:30 am on that day and fly 3 hours to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, where we spend the night. The next day at 4 pm, we fly to Dubai, a 5 hour flight. After a 3 hour layover in Dubai, we take the 13 hour flight to New York, where we'll be met by some very happy grandparents! - C

Monitors Chosen!

2010-07-13T15:47:00.002+02:00

HEre is a photo of the monitors who are being trained to take over the program while we are on Home Assignment.

These men are dedicated church leaders who are working for no pay. They will each be leading a weekly Bible class, which lasts 10 weeks. We hope that there will be several rounds of classes during this next year, and that the monitors will stay strong in the Lord, and healthy. They are participating in this program because they want to see others grow in the wisdom and knowledge of the scriptures and of God, and it is exciting to see them at work! Kevin has been supervising their classes since March, and discipling them along the way. -C

It's been awhile!

2010-07-13T15:46:00.003+02:00

I realized that my last post was done in March, and I apologize. We hadn't had internet at home from late February until early June, and just never had the time to update the blog from the internet cafe.

A lot has happened in the last few months and I will try to do some short blog posts to catch you up. However, we are moving from Moz to Connecticut on Saturday, so there is not much time! - C

Toby turns 8!

2010-07-13T15:38:00.004+02:00

Toby turned 8 on April 25th, and we can't believe he is so old. He is in second grade this year, and has been reading longer and longer books all by himself. He is voracious reader, and has in particular been enjoying the Hank the Cowdog books this year. We are so blessed with a great library at his school, where he can take books out weekly. This is a photo of a recent MAF flight, by the way. He and i got the chance to accompany these two MKs to pick up their dad. We flew 1 1/2 hours but once we got there, the clouds were too thick to land, so we had to turn around and come back without the dad. Toby rode in front with the pilot, and when the pilot told he that we couldn't land because of the clouds, Toby was quiet for a minute and then asked calmly "Does that mean we are going to crash?". The pilot was quite taken aback, and told us later that he'll have to phrase that differently in future!

This year, Toby has been meeting twice weekly with a Portuguese tutor, and shown a lot of progress. He doesn't enjoy speaking Portuguese that much, but we think it was because he wasn't very good at it. His skills have improved remarkably and he is more comfortable playing with kids who speak no English. He has been very successful in school this year and is an enthusiastic learner. But he is even more enthusiastic to spend time with his friends, of which he has many. He is very social, and lots of fun to be with. In particular, he's gotten very good at several complicated board games and regularly trounces his parents but is a good sport when he loses. We are enjoying him in different ways as he grows, having deeper conversations and discussions, and he has a real interest in spiritual things. We are so proud of the person he is becoming and look forward to what the year holds for him! -C

Monitors Press On!

2010-03-23T11:34:00.001+02:00

Kevin has been busily supervising the new TEE monitors (the six men chosen to teach classes in Theological Education by Extension) as well as teaching two of his own classes. Mostly, it has been good and Kevin is impressed by the level of commitment from most of the monitors. He has been attending almost all of their classes and helping them to improve and condense what they know into a great environment for discussions. More on that in our upcoming newsletter! -C

Ben turns 4!

2010-03-23T11:31:00.002+02:00

It was sad to me that I wasn’t with Ben on his 4th birthday, since I was in South Africa, but being Ben, he wasn’t sad. He is a happy little guy and despite his many moments of stubborn determination to do exactly what he is not supposed to, we enjoy him a great deal. He is destined to do great things, with all that willpower. Here is a photo of him with his Spiderman cake, which mommy made after she got back. We enjoyed his party with dear friends, and he also had a party at school with his little playmates. Ben’s accomplishments this year include learning to use a computer (seemingly effortlessly), beginning to speak Portuguese, pouring drinks without spilling (mostly) and inventing all kinds of new ways to try to get what he wants. We are on to him, though. What a joy he is to all of us, and his funny remarks frequently leave us laughing. - C

From this to the Superhighway

2010-03-23T11:30:00.003+02:00

We have purchased our tickets back to the USA! I was tempted to write “home” but Mozambique is our home now and we try to make that a point with the kids. They are living here at home, not away from their home.

Here is a photo of us walking home from church. We have to ford a small stream.

We will land in New York on July 19th, after 21 hours total flying time and one overnight stay in Tanzania. We have been looking at schedules and plan to be in Ohio in August for two weeks, then settle in Casa Zwart (Kevin’s parents) from September to December, then in Fairfield Country, CT (near our main supporting church) from February to May. During those months, we’ll be doing a lot of side trips to various places including Oklahoma, Colorado, Hawaii, Ohio and two locations in New York State. We should have our schedule published in the next couple of months. Meanwhile, we’ll be moving out of our house here in early June, and staying at the SIL missions compound in town until our departure date. So, May will be “pack up everything we own” month, which we aren’t especially looking forward to. It will be sad to leave our house here, which has been a huge blessing to us, but we are excited about what is ahead. Top of the list: seeing loved ones. It is hard to believe it will be 3 ½ years since most of our family has seen us and the kids, and it will be a happy reunion. - C

Going to South Africa

2010-03-23T11:25:00.003+02:00

Many of you know that I have been having back problems for a long time now – over two years. The severity of back pain has ranged from bad to none, though since August of last year it has been constant. After seeing a German physiotherapist (translation: someone who is actually qualified as opposed to the treatment you’d get in the physio department of the local hospital here) for some months and seeing little improvement, God made a way for me to leave my family for 10 days and fly south. This would be 2 ½ day trip by car (over some bumpy roads) but I was able to fly only two hours to the capital city of Maputo, then take the bus 3 hours west, crossing the border into South Africa.

Long story short, x-rays revealed that I have mild scoliosis (which we knew) and a tilted pelvis. Because my “core” muscles that support the back are very weak (after 3 c-sections) my spine is not properly supported and parts of my spine are rubbing together, resulting in some arthritis. This is part of the reason for more severe pain when I do a lot of driving over our bumpy roads here in Nampula. Since my core muscles don’t work right, my back muscles are trying to support the spine and have all gone into spasm. Pain cause number two. The physio I saw who specializes in backs feels that strengthening my core muscles will resolve a lot of the back pain, and has given me an hour-long program which I do every morning. I appreciate your prayers for me, that all back pain will be gone! I am so grateful to God for the doors he opened for me to take this trip, and to Kevin for being willing to shoulder so much while I was gone, as well as to the dear friends who helped him out.

by the way, I brought back MacDonalds french fries for the guys, but they were a sad disappointment - 30 hours on the road did not leave them very tasty! Toby still loved them, though. – C

What is Normal?

2010-03-23T11:24:00.000+02:00

Conversation between Kevin and Cami, driving in the car one evening:

Kevin: There’s the crazy guy.
Cami: He doesn’t have any pants on tonight.
Kevin: Well, it is hot today.
Cami: Yup, that’s true

Cami: Did we just think that was a normal conversation?

Yes, we have given him clothes before, but sometimes he doesn’t wear them. Sometimes we just take for granted things here that would be totally off-the-wall if we lived in America! This conversation was about a mentally ill man who lives in town – there are a few people like this around town, and sometimes you do see totally naked people walking down the street. Likely they need medications, but that type of thing isn’t very available here. They are still doing shock therapy at the mental hospital to “cure” people. Sad.

Sum of the Last Two Days

2010-02-13T16:43:00.001+02:00

Yesterday Kevin and I went out for our Valentine's Day lunch (early, 'cause we work on Sundays) at one of the big hotels in town, where they serve authentic Indian food (there are many Indians in town) and then enjoyed a bit of roadside shopping at the used clothing stalls. We bought a few things for Benjamin and a new purse for me. Mine was stolen in November and I never did replace it. Toby’s school had a little party, and I brought cupcakes for the whole student body and teachers (numbering 30), while Benjamin played at a nearby friend’s house. I did quite a bit of shopping this week, stocking up the larder with cans of black beans, a big can of powdered milk, spaghetti, and fresh produce in the fridge (lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots and green peppers). Kevin has been meeting with the monitors, overseeing classes, preparing a sermon and he attended the funeral of our landlord’s father.

This morning we received word that the son of one of our monitors, Alberto Castelo, died. Earlier this week, I took his wife and this child around to several pharmacies in town to buy the medication that they would never be able to afford: Malaria treatment, antibiotics, and Tylenol. Total cost: about $8. We hoped that this treatment would send him on the road to recovery, but this latest sickness was too much for him. He had been sick off and on since birth, and didn’t walk even though he was almost 3 years old. He was as small as a 14 month old. It is another tragedy for Castelo, who lost a baby just last year in April. The funeral will likely be on Monday.

Today is also the funeral for Kevin’s grandfather. Lorance was his last living grandparent, and the sixth of our grandparents who has died while we were overseas. It is painful for us to miss yet another funeral for a loved one, and we are especially sad that we won’t be able to see Lorance again on this earth. He was 95 and a really good guy. We are thankful, however, that he knew the Lord and we will see him again in heaven.

This morning I went to a ladies meeting at my church. We met at the pastor’s house (20 minutes fast walk from my house), then walked another 20 minutes to the church, then afterwards walked 15 minutes to visit a lady with a baby, then another 20 minutes back to my house. With temps in the high 90s, I returned feeling rather limp! While visiting the lady with the baby, I noticed that the one-month old was wearing a charm around his wrist, to protect him from evil spirits. Almost all babies wear these, and they are put on by witch doctors. I’ll have to speak to the pastor’s wife, who didn’t seem bothered by it. She also announced that the baby was now a Christian, since we had prayed for him, which is another thing we’ll have to discuss. Just another example of the “heresies” that are present in all the churches here and are due to the lack of Bible teaching. At the meeting, they asked me to teach them an American song and dance (we dance while we sing here) and since I don’t have any praise dance songs, I taught them to do the cha-cha-cha while we sang “God is so Good” in Portuguese, Makua, and English! They enjoyed it a lot and it promises to be a fun time tomorrow when we do the cha-cha-cha in church. We also practiced a drama of the parable of the Prodigal Son for performance in church tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Kevin and the boys went to a yard sale of retiring missionaries. These kind of sales are a big draw for missionaries, because you can buy items that you’d never get in stores here. The big purchase of the morning was a used American-made standing fan for $20, and we were glad to have it! Most of the electronics you buy here are poor quality, and American-made promises to last for some time. They also bought some construction paper, watercolor paints, and a hot glue gun.

This afternoon, Toby’s Portuguese teacher will come at 3 pm to teach Toby for an hour, and he’ll teach me from 4 to 5. He is a very pleasant young man who is well-spoken, though his spelling is awful. I need to find out what the difference is for two words, which are similar to “put” and “place”, and when I should use which one. I also want to find out all of the words for “attend” and “go to”, as there are different verbs for different situations. You may attend a church service, but have another word when you go to a meeting, and another word when you are at a public event. Portuguese is a very specific language, verb-wise. Meanwhile, Kevin is off to oversee more classes, teach a class, and then will drive 30 minutes outside of town to find out when the funeral for Castelo’s child will be. No one out there has a phone. - C

Kidnapping

2010-02-13T16:42:00.000+02:00

Yesterday, there was a terrible event in our town: the young son of a Nampula family was kidnapped at gunpoint right outside of his house while on his way to school. This family was certainly targeted because they are very wealthy, and a ransom of about $8,000 has been asked. This is a huge sum for people here, though this family is doubtless able to pay. Apparently the same thing happened in another big town last year, and although the money was paid, the child was not returned and has not been seen since.

I feel terrible for this family and hope and pray that they get their son back unharmed. The whole situation makes me very nervous for my family as well, since we are perceived to be wealthy since we are white, and American. The car we drive is the same make as the one the president drives (though ours is 15 years old, it looks much newer than that) and we live in a much larger house than your average Mozambican. Here, unfortunately, “white” equals “rich” and although it is true that we are much wealthier than your average Mozambican, our bank balance is still not very high. It is often frustrating to us to be perceived as limitlessly wealthy, and we know it is frustrating to local people here sometimes that we don’t give out more money.

Anyway, we just have to hope that none of the missionaries here will be targeted by this kind of crime. It is the first kidnapping for ransom that we have heard of in Nampula, though in the capital of Mozambique it has been happening for some time. We hope that this is not the start of a crime wave of this type.

I was speaking to a Mozambican about this event yesterday, and he said “Now you know how we feel. Black people are kidnapped all the time, and their families never see them again.” There are foreigners (other Africans, mostly) who “steal” people in Nampula (and in other places) and sell them as slaves, sending them to other countries. Stories are circulating about people stolen during the night when they went out of their house to use the bathroom, and about children who are stolen in the middle of the daytime. I’m not sure how many of these stories are just rumors, because there are lots of rumors also about how white people eat black children, and how much human trafficking actually does go on. I have seen statistics, though, that do show that trafficking does come through Mozambique, whether it is people stolen from other parts of Africa and brought through Moz on the way to somewhere else, or people stolen from Moz I don’t know.

How will I protect my family? Mostly just pray. Also we don’t leave the kids unattended, or allow them to be escorted around town by local people, who are much more likely to be assaulted. It seems unfair that there is yet one more thing to have to be on our guard against, when there is so much already! But we are thankful that we live in a secure home and have people to watch out for us. - C

Say That Again?

2010-02-13T16:39:00.001+02:00

I teach a Sunday School class at our local church. I teach it, but I often wonder if many of the children learn anything. Why? Because I teach it in Portuguese, and most of these children speak only Makua.

“Well, that doesn’t make any sense.” You say. You’re right. It doesn’t! So why am I standing up there blathering away about God creating the earth and such, in a language these kids don’t speak very much of? Their parents want me to.

First I ought to explain some things about Mozambique. There are over 60 tribal languages, though the “trade language” is Portuguese. When I go to town, I could walk around for a long time before I found anyone who spoke English, and many of the conversations are going on in Portuguese. It would be easy for a visitor to assume that everyone here speaks fluent Portuguese and would be just as comfortable in Portugal or Brazil as they are here. However, that is not the case at all. Among ALL of the people here (except perhaps a small subset), Portuguese is their second language. There are actually millions of people in Mozambique who speak no or almost no Portuguese at all. These are the folks out in the villages. If I wanted to go out and speak to a group of women in a village just 10 miles outside of town, I’d need a translator. In fact, right here in Nampula I frequently meet women who speak very little Portuguese. I’ve actually had women in the market stare at me panic-stricken when I’ve asked them a question like “Where did you buy that?”. They don’t know what I am saying.

There are quite a few men whose Portuguese is not so hot, either, but the level of the women tends to be lower. Why? Because for many children, Portuguese is first learned in school and not before. Since girls are less likely to go to school or stay in school, they are more likely to speak only their tribal language.

This is the problem in Sunday School. There are a lot of younger children who have not even gone to school yet, so they haven’t learned much Portuguese. At home and with their friends, they speak Makua. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

So, why do the church leaders insist that the children must be taught in Portuguese? Because Portuguese is the language of the church. Missionaries who come in rarely learn the tribal languages (after spending 2 years learning Portuguese, the idea of learning yet another language is daunting – let’s get to work instead!). Pastors who go away to Bible School always learn in Portuguese (too many languages, we’ve got to pick one that everyone speaks). Courses and seminars are always given in Portuguese for those same reasons. Because of this, the “religious words” that people learn are all in Portuguese. There probably isn’t even a word for “redemption” in Makua. One could be invented, surely, but at this point people use Portuguese words. All the Bible helps are in Portuguese, all the good Bibles, all the educated people in the city work in Portuguese. To have a Portuguese-speaking church is a major status symbol.

Therefore, to give the children a good basis in “churchiness” and in religious instruction, they must be taught in Portuguese. Eventually they’ll learn it, and doubtless it will be a help to them in school and such. But meanwhile, these kids just stare at me blankly when I ask a question. Part of the problem here may be that Makua children are not taught to speak to adults. They learn by observation, not by discussion. So, when I ask a question, even a child who understands will be reluctant to volunteer an answer. But mostly, they just don’t know what I am talking about. Last week, I asked the children who created the world. Blank stares from 15 children. We had had literally 10 lessons on who created the world. But very few of them had understood anything. I wanted to sink down on the ground and bury my face in my hands. Finally, I dragged the answer out of one of the four children that I knew understood. “God”, he whispered.

I’m meeting with the wife of the leader of the church this week and tendering my resignation. Not out of spite, not out of frustration, but out of a simple belief that I am not the best teacher for these kids. They need someone who speaks Makua, someone who can give a quick translation from the Portuguese when needed. And the church won’t look for more teachers unless they are forced to. So, I’m forcing them by withdrawing to the sidelines and offering to train teachers, but refusing to teach.

If I had my way, all of the teaching would be in Makua. Unfortunately, it is not likely that this will happen. It is also hard to find teachers in my little church . . . the ladies who could help with the teaching don’t read or write, and therefore can’t read the Sunday school materials that are written in Portuguese (which they also don’t speak very well). The men are all busy with teaching the adults, except for one man who is involved in teaching the kids. But he’ll need help. Keep them in your prayers and let’s see what God does! And by the way, we do plan to learn Makua, starting after we return from our home assignment next year. It is an extremely difficult language, so it will take some time to reach proficiency. - C

TEE Monitor Training - A Big Event!

2010-01-13T17:05:00.002+02:00

Last week was a big one at our house. Two pastors traveled five hours by minibus taxi to stay with us all week and train the six chosen TEE monitors. Each of these six will begin teaching their own classes soon, in teams of two, and needed to be trained in how to run a TEE class. These classes are discussion-based, not lecture-based, which is a completely different model than what each of these men grew up with. Training them to work in this different format is challenging, but they seem to really enjoy the new ideas and format.

Pastor Campos and Pastor Mala are the two men who traveled from Mocuba to do the trainings, and each of them has a great deal of experience in teaching TEE and running a program. The TEE program in Mocuba is about 10 years old and has over 1,200 students! So, they had a lot of share and put together a great program for our guys, which lasted from 8-5 daily from Monday to Wednesday. They had actually planned to teach until Friday, but found the men already trained in some areas, and told Kevin that he had “cleaned the field” well. These two pastors stayed in our guest room and were so pleasant to have as guests. One day, I decided to feed all of the men pancakes for lunch, and they loved them! It was fun to share our differing cultures and there was a lot of discussion and laughter on many topics. We commented on how difficult their tribal language of Macua is, and they responded that English is much harder!

For Kevin, the week was a realization of a dream come true. See his blog for more on that. It was exciting for our whole family to see the start of the real work, which will be done by Mozambicans, for Mozambicans. We hope to see more and more people come to know and understand God better through these six men, and can’t wait to see what God will do with them, and with others who will be trained, in the years to come. - C

Trip to Iapala

2010-01-13T17:03:00.001+02:00

Back in November, Kevin took a very exciting trip with the six men that he is training to become TEE monitors. Unfortunately, he didn’t take any photos, so a description will have to suffice.

As part of their training, Kevin wanted to take the guys out to a bush location so that they could teach others what they had learned about the book of Genesis (which was the TEE book they did together in the second part of last year). They wanted to go somewhere where they could have a variety of denominations meeting (enmity between denominations is a big problem here) and really have a group of people eager to hear more about the Bible. They chose Iapala, a location about 150 Kms from Nampula, because no one ever goes out there to encourage the Christians.

Kevin borrowed equipment to show various films while they were out there, and a trailer to put it in, and hooked it all up and pulled out on a Thursday afternoon. He picked up all the guys, and they drove about 3 hours, over a rough dirt track, to Iapala. That night, they slept in a tent together (which the guys really thought was interesting – both the sleeping in a tent and sharing accommodation with a white guy) and the next morning the teachings began. Each of the men had prepared 1 ½ hours worth of teaching, and most of the teachings had about 50 people in attendance. They showed a movie each night, with 300 to 400 attending each night. They showed the History of the Bible, Story of Paul, and the Jesus film.

The church that hosted the event is one that broke away from another major denomination last year, and as a result of this, no one from the other churches wanted to go into their mud-brick building. Yet another example of denominationalism! It was sad to all of the guys to see this, and annoying to Kevin as the heads of those other denominations had promised to send their people. However, the local church did a great job of providing food for Kevin and the guys, and they were provided with three meals a day of cornmeal mush, often topped with beans. Kevin was glad to eat something else when he came back! It was a major sacrifice for those out in the village to provide all of this food, and an example of how hospitable many Mozambicans are, as well as how eager to hear about the Bible.

The only catch in the whole weekend? One of the guys helpfully locked up our truck, not realizing that the keys were inside. The only other set were with me, three hours away in Nampula. A young man with a car in a nearby town was sent to pick up the keys, and unfortunately he saw it as an opportunity to get an entire tank of gas free, instead of just the amount he actually used while driving. It was interesting to see, however, how the guys took on the responsibility for the bad behavior of their countryman. Normally, the white man/foreigner would be expected to cough up all the money requested, no matter how unfair the claim. But the guys told Kevin he didn’t owe anything, and signed a paper promising to pay the young man what he requested. Of course, we did put in quite a bit of the money later rather than see the families of these guys go hungry to pay this amount, but they genuinely desired to handle this themselves.

Kevin returned on Sunday afternoon, tired but happy. The thing had really been a success, and it was a great opportunity for the guys to stretch their teaching muscles, and for Kevin to observe in what areas they needed refinement and encouragement. The believers in Iapala were sincerely grateful for the visit and the teaching, and another step taken in creating an independent TEE program in Nampula province. - C

Vacation in Malawi

2010-01-10T18:48:00.007+02:00

We have been so blessed every year to go to Malawi for some time away. The stresses of living here really get to you after awhile, and once you start to become really grumpy with people asking you for money, or being late, or the power going off and on, then you know it is time to get away. God has provided us with very cheap accommodation each year, and we've been grateful to have time with friends and alone as a family. And two major bonuses: Malawi is English-speaking, and much cooler than Mozambique!

Here's a photo of a place we spend a lot of time at in Blantyre, the second-largest city. It has a big store that sells toys and household items, as well as electronics and plastic storage boxes and all kinds of things! We are always excited to go to this store and we go up and down all of the aisles and look at everything three or four times. The kids are especially excited to see the toys, though the prices of these toys are really amazing. This year, Toby wanted to spend some of his Christmas money on four Hot Wheels cars. Price tag? $50. I am not kidding. I told him no way, that grandma would send him some that she can buy for $2 each. In the end, both kids got some things that they really liked and Kevin and I bought some things near and dear to our hearts: Me, a plastic salad dressing mixing bottle, and Kevin, plastic storage boxes for his tools!

We also took the kids to see Kung Fu Panda at the new movie theater there. We have seen the movie quite a few times already on our little DVD player with the 8 inch screen, but watching it on the big screen was amazing! It was Ben's first movie ever, and Toby and I hadn't been to the movies since we left the USA three years ago (Kevin went once in Kenya). Wow, movies are powerful.

In Blantyre, we also bought new tires for our car, which were desperately needed and hadn't been found in Nampula. When Kevin showed the tire salesman our old tires, he looked horrified and we were so glad to get new ones, thanks to a generous supporter! We also went to the dentist (clean bill of health)
and I got new glasses. It was also fun to visit a large African church that was more like the American churches we know (with sound system, large building, worship singing, a 3-point sermon). We are used to sitting in a small mud-brick building for church services, and listening to sermons that are usually not quite on the mark, so it was great to hear some real teaching.

After Blantyre, we spent four days near Zomba mountain and traveled up the mountain on two of those days to do some hiking and viewing off the mountain. Oh, it was so beautiful and green up there. We picnicked and walked in the woods and just soaked in the cool green.

From there, we went up to Lake Malawi for a week, where we spent Christmas Day with two other families, dear friends who are working in western Mozambique and came over to join us at the lake. It was great to spend time talking, laughing and sharing with them and the kids had a great time. There were 7 boys and one girl, and there was a great deal of swimming and running around the large yard. Christmas Day was totally different than in America, with only one very small gift opened in the privacy of our room, and stockings for the kids to open (other gifts had been opened before - don't worry, the kids got plenty!). We had a Christmas service with singing and the Christmas story, then spent the rest of the day swimming, caring for those who had come down with malaria, fixing the car, and grilling pork ribs and fish caught by the guys in our group. The next morning, we all packed up, said goodbye, and headed home. It was a great vacation and we were so thankful for the much-needed break. It is on trips like these that we remember who we are and can refocus and think about the coming year. There is always the stress of travel in Africa, like bad roads (almost all dirt roads on the twelve-hour trip home), border crossings and dealing with difficult police, stress of costs and things that need to be purchased, and the danger of criminals who prey on out-of-towners, but God really watched over us and kept us safe. It was a wonderful time of refreshment. -C

German Chocolate Retreat in Nacala

2010-01-10T17:51:00.010+02:00

Every year, all the AIM missionaries working in Northern Mozambique get together for the German Chocolate Retreat. Why is it called this? At the first meeting, some years ago, one of our German colleagues brought chocolate and it was unanimously agreed that German chocolate should be consumed every year. At that time, there was hardly any unmoldy chocolate to be found in northern Moz, so it was a super special treat. These days, we are more spoiled but still rarely enjoy that kind of quality chocolate, so it is appreciated by all.

This year, 31 adults and 8 children gathered in Nacala, on the coast, for a few days of fellowship and fun in November. No business meetings are allowed, and the only serious part of the retreat is spiritual encouragement and prayer. We enjoy our time with our colleagues so much, and it is great to hear how their ministries and personal lives are going, and what they have experienced during the year. Many people from other missions have told us how lucky we are that our leadership feels this time of fellowship is important, and we agree. It really helps to bond us together, and it is so necessary to have that family feeling when you are working in a place like Northern Mozmbique.

Here's a photo of the guys enjoying the water.

And some of the ladies chatting.

Here's the kids having sunday school with Miss Jennifer.

We enjoyed the time together so much, and thanks to our colleague Inge, who is on home assignment in Germany, for sending out the chocolate! - C

De-Robbed

2009-11-13T16:52:00.002+02:00

A miracle! This week at a nearby mission compound (not our mission), my documents, credit and bank cards, photos and some of my house keys were found? They had all been put into a plastic bag and thrown over the wall where they would be found by those living inside. How in the world did they know these would get back to me? Well, likely they looked inside my residence visa, which says "missionary" and knew that lots of missionaries live at this particular compound.

Hooray! A dear friend found them and called me and and we all did the dance of happiness at our house. This saves all kinds of hassles and money, and puts us out of the danger of not being able to procure all that we need. I was a little perturbed to see that I only received back a few of my house keys, though. THankfully they were the keys to the front and back doors and padlocks, which seems very strange. Kevin thinks that perhaps they kept those other keys to use on interior locks of houses they break into. I don't know - anyway, I'm glad to have what I got.

Why did they give the stuff back? Well, in asking around I got various theories. A missionary colleague who has been here over 15 years tells me that in years past, you always got your documents back. The thief wasn't interested in them and would simply throw them down somewhere, and the police would find them and return them. These days, they are more likely to be burned so as not to leave a trail. One Mozambican suggested that the people feel kindly toward missionaries and wanted to "help" by returning my documents. Someone else refused to answer when I asked, and looked nervous. This makes me think that perhaps the thief is afraid of me - afraid that I will put some kind of curse on him for stealing my purse. Another person suggested that the thief didn't return anything, but someone else found my things and threw them in a place where they knew I would get them, and did this to be nice.

Whatever reason, we are thrilled. Nampula is a city of almost a million people, not a small town, so my hopes of seeing these things again were very low. Thanks to God for His mercy toward us in this thing! Of course, we'd rather not be robbed. But these things do happen. We feel so thankful that it has ended in a way that minimizes the difficulties for us. All praise to Him! - C

Inselbergs

2009-11-07T15:56:00.007+02:00

Do you know what an inselberg is? Well, just look at the photos and you will see some.

Here is a definition I found online: An inselberg is a prominent, steep-sided hill made of resistant solid rock, such as granite, rising out of a plain, usually in a tropical area. Its rounded appearance is caused by weathering, in which the surface is eroded in successive layers. Ayers Rock in Australia is an example.

Nampula is surrounded by these kinds of rocks and you find them all over this area for hundreds of kilometers. They really are so interesting and when flying over in a plane it looks like a giant just hurled all these enormous stones in all directions. I'll include a few photos here for you to enjoy. Kevin and Toby have climbed one of these outside of town several times and enjoyed the view. Some of them are MASSIVE! Like a mountain, really, but a large piece of stone. In various places, the sides of them are being quarried (often by hand) and the pieces of granite sold for construction. I would not want to be the guy who is trying to chip away that mountain. -C

ANAMED Seminar

2009-11-07T15:44:00.006+02:00

The last two days we have been enjoying some very interesting guests. Katrin (German) and Monika (Austrian) are missionary nurses who work in a bush location teaching a team of people how to use local plants to treat illnesses, wounds, and skin problems. They use papaya, Neem, Moringa, Onion, Hot Peppers, and many other plants. Most of these are indigenous plants, though some have been brought in. They also use a particular plant, Artemesia, to prevent and treat Malaria, and we have been using this in our home for a couple of years as our malaria preventative.

ANAMED, Action for Natural Medicine, is an organization that has developed materials which teach how to use all of these plants in Africa to do all these things as well as how to make soap and other basic items.

Kevin asked our friends to come and give a seminar for his students, since he likes to give them a variety of tools to improve their lives and understand the world around them better. Almost all of them came, and I could see, watching them, that they were very interested in the material. Did you know that onion has antibiotic properties? That papaya is good to treat diarrhea? That hot pepper cream can be used for arthritis? The two men that Katrin and Monika brought with them were the ones who actually led the seminar, which was especially valuable, because they were able to communicate in a manner more understandable to the students, and because the students could see that WE can do it. Often, if a foreigner does something, people think "Well, that is well and good for YOU, but WE can't do that." They could see that these pleasant gentlemen were well versed in herbal and plant treatments, and could prepare all of the tinctures, creams and syrups themselves. At the end of the two-day seminar, people crowded around the table to buy the creams and crushed leaves, which sell for from 75 cents a packet to twelve cents a packet. Very cheap. More importantly, they left with knowledge to help themselves in treating basic illnesses.

We hope that the information presented will be passed on to others, and most of all that the students will begin to understand that they can help themselves rather than depending on the system here to take care of them (which it tries to do, but often fails at). God has provided so many wonderful things for us to use to help ourselves - it is truly astonishing! Good job, Kevin, in bringing this information to your students. And thank you Katrin and Monika for driving five hours in from the bush, dragging all your materials. And also to Vasco and Vincente for your hard work and great job you did in teaching. - C

Robbed!

2009-11-07T15:23:00.000+02:00

Well, something happened to me this week that I was just waiting for. Theft is pretty common around here, and sooner or later pretty much every missionary has something stolen. My parents were here in April, and during their visit my mom and I were in town. As we got into our truck, a man came to my window and gestured frantically toward the back, and someone thumped on the back bumper. This is a ploy to get you to exit your vehicle hurridly, leaving your valuables open to theft in the front seat of the car (usually your purse). Having heard about this from other missionaries, and having already had it tried on me twice before, I simply smiled at him and yelled "thief!". He gave me a disgusted look and walked away, and as we drove away, I commented to my mom: "Well, we didn't "get it" this time, but one of these days I am going to make a mistake and let down my guard, and I am going to 'get it'."

This was my week. I left my purse on the floor of the front seat on a quiet street in town while I ran in for just a minute to pick up Ben from preschool. While I was coming out, we heard the alarm going off, but didn't see anything. As we entered the car, I noticed that the back door on the other side of the car was unlocked and saw that my purse was gone from the front. They had smashed the small window in the back, put an arm in to unlock the door, jumped in and grabbed the bag. I pushed Ben into the truck, and jumped in the driver's seat, and we took off to find the perpetrator! Of course, he was long gone and we drove up and down the streets in vain. Ben thought it was all very exciting.

In my purse was my driver's licenses (International and New York), credit card (now canceled), bank cards, my identification document with my Mozambique visa (critical for a foreigner in Moz), my wallet, cell phone and house keys. All of those things are replaceable, for which I am very grateful. There was less than $10 in the purse, so there was no great financial loss. There will be the costs and hassle of replacing all those documents, and we'd appreciate prayers that it all comes through before we leave for Malawi on December 5th. The cell phone was a cheapie, but it is a pain to lose all my numbers! It is the house keys that worry me the most. We've changed the outside padlocks, but it is harder and much more expensive to replace all the interior locks and outside door locks. Lost my Leatherman utility knife too. :-(

Of course, there is that icky feeling one gets when one has been a victim of a crime. Your personal effects are now in the hands of a "bad guy" and your dear family photos from your wallet are thrown in a garbage can somewhere. He has your organ donor card and your name and photo on your driver's license. It is is not a pleasant feeling. However, I don't have that feeling of anger and helplessness that I expected I would feel. Maybe because I figured it would happen sooner or later, and I'm thankful that I didn't have a bunch of cash, my PDA, or anything dear to me in that bag!

I spent the afternoon at two different police stations, which really did a number on my back. I've been having back problems and finally feeling a bit better, but three hours of sitting on wooden chairs has set me back quite a bit. The police were quite friendly and pleasant, however, though one asked quite pointedly if I were married and if I live with my husband and wanted me to teach him English. Sorry buddy, not interested. Reports were filled out in longhand, to the tune of an hour per report (3 reports). I was given a paper to show that my documents were stolen, to help procuring new ones (no help for USA documents, since it is in Portuguese! And I was told to report to the police investigations unit on Tuesday to see what they've found. I have no hope of seeing my bag again, though I do hope that somehow my documents will be recovered and maybe even the house keys. There is so much petty crime here, though, that the police are completely overwhelmed and unless a bribe is paid, usually nothing is done. So, we'll begin the process of replacing everything.

I am so grateful that if I was going to "get it",it ws in this manner. No violence, no fear, nothing irreplaceable taken. Enjoy your new Leatherman knife, Mr. Criminal. - C

Elections

2009-10-31T06:55:00.003+02:00

I wanted to post a photo of one of the political posters here, but Kevin thinks it wouldn't be wise - people can get into trouble in Africa for talking about politics! But here in Mozambique things are pretty calm.

On Wednesday, national elections were held. The current president was running again (he has served one five-year term, and is allowed to serve three terms) as well as two others, and for weeks before we saw trucks full of campaigners cruising around shouting and playing loud music. Groups of people wearing their party colors and chanting walked up and down the streets, and it was all quite interesting!

Election day itself was very quiet, and we heard reports that people had to stand in line for many, many hours to vote. But it is encouraging to hear that people do turn out to vote. The official results won't be announced for a month, but already the preliminary results say that the current president will be serving again. This is a surprise to no one, since the opposition party split this year and didn't have a strong chance. As to whether the elections are free and fair, there is some debate as to whether they are 100%, and we do hear of harrassment (and personally know those who are harrassed) but in general we believe the will of the people is heard.

We are so thankful it has been a peaceful process and enjoy talking about it with our friends here - they feel it is all very exciting (there have only been a few elections here, so people still enjoy it). It is such a big deal that kids get out of school a couple of weeks early, ane election day is a national holiday. - C

Islam Seminar

2009-10-30T17:12:00.004+02:00

Last Saturday, the second Islam seminar finally took place. The first one was on March 7th, and was led by two converts from Islam, and coordinated by Kevin for his students. He's been planning the second one for awhile, but it had to be canceled twice for various reasons. But last Saturday, it went off without a hitch, led by the same two converts along with Kevin. This one focused on a lot more practical topics (the last one talked about what Muslims believe and that kind of thing) and it was neat for Kevin to see his students in groups discussing how to talk to their Muslim neighbors. Here, probably 35% of the population is Muslim, and most follow a kind of folk Islam and don't really understand a lot of it. Out on the coast, almost everybody is Muslim, and there is a great deal of hostility toward Christians in many areas. Colleagues of ours have been stoned when sharing the gospel, and living among the coastal peoples can very tricky. The ideal people to share Christ with the Muslims here are their friends and neighbors, but frequently the idea doesn't even enter into the minds of the local Christians. Through these seminars, Kevin hopes to give his students the information that they need along with the vision to share Christ's love with these people. - C

Manioc

2009-10-29T13:18:00.005+02:00

Manioc is one of the main staple foods here. I wish we could say that we like it, but unfortunately we don't! I think that it is not really the favorite food of people here, either, but it is a staple because there is an ability to dry it and keep it for many months. At the top you can see a photo of it, just dug up. It can be peeled and eaten raw, which is it's tastiest form, or it can be cooked and eaten. Mostly, it is peeled and laid out to dry on rooftops, then stored for future use. In its dried state, it is pounded into a powder and then sprinkled in boiling water to make a porridge.

Here's another photo of a lady digging it up - it is the roots of a plant that can be seen in the last photo. It is a good dry-weather plant - it just doesn't grow as fast without rain, but doesn't die. You see these plants all over the place - they don't yield a lot of food (the photo pictures all that is gained from one plant) but it doesn't require any care. The leaves are also part of the diet here, and these are prepred by pounding them with a large mortar and pestle until they are in tiny pieces, then they are cooked up in a stew with onions, tomatoes, garlic, coconut milk, peanut flour, or any combination of the above. That dish is called matapa: it is full of iron, and we ask our house worker to make it occasionally because we really like it.

The Bible says "Do not store up treasures for yourselves here on earth" and I think of that often as I look at the situation of people here. It is not possible to store food long-term, except for manioc really. You can sometimes store rice, and peanuts, but frequently the bugs and rats get to them. I have tried various times to store food long-term, buying when it is cheaper, but things go bad so quickly. Potatoes cannot be stored, because it is not cold enough, and things get moldy and soft pretty quickly. Last year I kept onions for several months after buying in bulk, and these had to be laid out in the sun every week to kill the mold that wanted to grow on them.

So, it is understandable why people grow and eat manioc. Unfortunately, the starch is not very nutritious, and is mainly used as a way to fill the belly. There are quite a few people who don't understand that children need to eat more than just manioc or corn porridge, and as a result, one of the local NGO's estimates that 75% of the children of Nampula are malnourished. We also try to tell people that we know that children (and adults, too) need a wider variety in their diet, but for poor people it can be a bit difficult.

So, manioc it is. -C

Ladies Get Out of Town

2009-10-09T06:02:00.006+02:00

Last Saturday, a friend and I planned a mini-retreat for the expatriate ladies of Nampula, at a picnic spot outside of town. This place is really the only place I know of within 100 miles that you can go and sit outside in a pretty location and not be surrounded by wide-eyed children watching your every move. We had a potluck lunch, with chicken donated by a kind single man, and then spent a couple of hours guided by my friend Cathy in some spiritual rejuvination. It really was so pleasant, and I especially liked seeing everyone relaxing and enjoying each other's company. We had women from various countries, including USA, Canada, Holland, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, South Africa, Germany, and probably some others I can't think of.

Here's a photo of some of them arriving - we had 37 ladies at the event.

The expat women of Nampula face various challenges, many of which I have outlined on this blog, and we hope to have more of this kind of thing in future to encourage them as they try to support and implement various ministries and outreach programs. - C

Inacio Gets Married!

2009-10-05T10:49:00.008+02:00

Inacio is our part-time guard, and he got married last weekend. We were so pleased to be able to attend his wedding, and I'll upload some photos here.

The church was decorated with paper chains and cutouts, some from English magazines.

The groom arrives first and sits on a plastic chair covered with a piece of cloth. The bride and groom look totally miserable during the whole wedding. They are supposed to look that way to convey the seriousness of the event.

Here's the bride and groom sitting next to each other after taking their vows. Now they are allowed to hold hands, but they still don't look at each other. They didn't look at each other during the vows, either. They are flanked by their "godfather and godmother". This is a couple who stays next to them during the whole wedding and who are to serve as their role models, advisors and counselors. The godparents guide them in everything they are to do during the wedding, and even show them how to kiss each other, after they are married. That part was quite fun!

The service lasted several hours, and included the vows, the blessing, signing of the license, and a sermon on marriage that lasted over an hour. The boys did great, and sat on chairs looking at books and such. They really have adjusted to sitting in church here. We didn't leave the church until after 1 pm, after arriving at 8:30 am. Bride and groom didn't show until closer to 10 am, though.

After they left the church and were driven (in our car) to the drop-off point, capulanas (the traditional cloth that is used for skirts, for wraps, for everything) were laid on the ground so the bride and groom's feet wouldn't touch the dirt. After they passed, the capulana would be picked up and brought to the front of the line. You can see one being thrown here.

Entrance to the wedding was strictly controlled, as apparently people try to sneak into weddings here so they can get a free lunch (which is a big deal). The yard is cordoned off, and a bamboo structure made with black plastic on top to keep the sun off the revelers. Long tables are set up, with benches. We were part of the head tables and had plastic chairs. As we ate, about 60 people stood and watched us from over the chest-high fence. Somehow it just takes your appetite away to have people stare at you while you eat. It is something we are getting used to, though! It was a big deal to have white people at the wedding, something which conveys the idea that we have some grand importance. We don't, but some people here believe that we do since we represent money and power. Sigh.

Anyway, here is a photo of the bride presenting a piece of cake to her mother and telling her that she is leaving her house and now all of the work she did for her like laundry and cooking, she will now do for her husband. It was a very touching moment.

Another interesting part of the celebration was the feeding of the cake by the bride and groom. The groom lays his head on the bride's shoulder, and vice versa, and she feeds him a piece of cake while the master of ceremonies talks about how when he is sick and weak, she will care for him. Here is Inacio with his new wife.

After the meal, which was some very excellent chicken and rice and cookies and cake, it was time for some dancing. The second seating of guests were busy eating their rice and beans (head table people get a better meal), since there was limited seating, and the wedding party (only men) got up and did some dancing. Kevin and Toby kicked it up a little, which was enjoyed by all.

It was a wonderful wedding, and we are so pleased for Inacio and his bride as they start their new life together. He is about 27 years old and she is about 19 (normal age for a girl to marry, if not a little old). He is just finishing high school this year (thanks to our sponsorship) and she is in 7th grade and likely won't get much further once the children come. Normal for here. They are a committed Christian couple and we look forward to observing their life together. - C

Tools of the Trade

2009-10-05T10:01:00.009+02:00

Yesterday, our neighbors brought us some really nice fish, fresh from the coast (2 1/2 hours away). I don't know what kind it was, but it was a nice light one, not too fishy. Perhaps a kind of snapper.

Anyway, I've been meaning to post with photos of some of the tools I use in my kitchen and thought this would be a good time. I made coconut fish yesterday, with a recipe given to me by a Mozambican lady in Beira (further south).

First, you start with the rice. Here, we eat only "machamba rice". A machamba is a garden, but in people's gardens they grow everything. It is much bigger than an American garden, generally. Manioc, peanuts, beans, tomatoes, lettuce, you name it. And quite a few people have rice machambas. We buy this "fresh" rice, which is dried but is much fresher than the stuff you buy in plastic packaging at the store. And ooooohhh is it good!

Anyway, to prepare it, first you put it out in a flat basket (pictured) to sort out any rocks, bugs, hulls, or anything else that you don't want to eat. I have two of these baskets in my kitchen and they are useful for anything you want to spread out and shake around (like beans, vegetables, etc.). They are sold all over town, as are all the things pictured. Probably cost less than 50 cents each. So, you sort the rice, while you put the water to boil. We don't measure a certain amount of water for a certain amount of rice. When the water comes to a boil, you pour your clean rice into a bowl and cover it with cool water, and stir it around with your hand to clean it some more, then pour out that water and handful by handful scoop your rice into the boiling water. Once it comes to a boil again, set the timer for five minutes and stir it occasionally. Throw some salt in. After five minutes, you tip the extra water out of the pot into the sink. You can save this water to give to someone with diarrhea (a frequent problem here), or just dump it down the drain. The trick is to leave just the right amount of water in the pot. Then turn the heat low, cover the pot, and let it simmer about 10 minutes. Stir it occasionally and look to make sure it is not burning. That's it.

Next is the fish dish. Usually, a fish arrives in my kitchen completely intact. Which means I have to cut off the head, scale it, and filet it. This is why we rarely eat fish, since I hate that job and unless I have someone helping me that day I don't want it! This fish arrived already cut up, though the scales were still on. Cut your fish into pieces and marinate it overnight in lemon and garlic. Leave the skin on. Next day, cut up 1/2 cup green peppers, 1/2 cup tomatoes (these are from our garden), 1/2 cup onion and throw it all into a pot with 1/4 cup oil. Meanwhile, flour and fry your fish.

Fry your vegetables for 10 minutes. Throw in 2 teaspoons of red pepper, salt and black pepper.

Now it is time for the coconut milk. To make coconut milk is a fair amount of work. First, you have to crack it open with a hammer. Toby is always eager to do this, but so far has not been successful and I have to finish it up. I'm just waiting for him to smash his finger! The water that drains out is not coconut milk. It is refreshing, but useless for cooking this dish.

Now, to grate the coconut. Here, we use a little stool. You sit on it sideways, and holding half of the coconut in your hand, you scrape it over the sharp, scalloped, rounded scraper attached to the end of the stool. Every household has one of these. Grate your coconut meat into the bowl strategically positioned below the scraper. This takes a fair amount of muscle! Every visitor I've given this job to has given up, and it has taken me some time to be able to do it without my arm being sore. It takes me about 10 minutes, but my guard can do it in five. Lately, he gets the job. By the way, I feel compelled to say that this photo makes me look like I've gained about 100 pounds, but I haven't. :-)

Once you have your coconut meat, add water to it and squeeze it in your hand so that the milk comes out of the meat. Do this until the water looks milky.

Then, it is time to pour the milk and meat out of the bowl into the strainer, which is a little wooden box with netting and chicken wire across one side. Every household also has one of these. If you don't have enough milk for your recipe (this receipe calls for 3-4 cups), add more water to the meat and squeeze it some more, then strain it into the bowl of milk.

Pour your milk into the pot with the vegetables and bring it to a boil, stirring occasionally. Then, let it boil 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Turn in down slightly, put the fish in the pot and let all cook together for 10 minutes. Serve over the rice. Enjoy! -C

"This is God"

2009-09-21T11:47:00.005+02:00

I help teach the Sunday School at our little church, once or twice a month, and one of the other church members does the other weeks. A few weeks ago, we were doing a lesson on the nature of God (we are starting with Genesis and working from there) and he held up a little picture of a snowman and was talking about it. I wasn't paying close attention, since Benjamin was acting up for the upteenth time and I was busy disciplining him, but Toby told me later that the teacher had said that the snowman was God. I said he must be mistaken, and that the teacher was really talking about the verse that was pasted on the picture.

This week, Toby wore his Christmas socks (with snowmen) at home one day and our guard told him that he had ghosts (spirits) on his socks. After Toby told me this, something clicked in my brain and I said "oh no!". Because it occurred to me that the Sunday School teacher had indeed told the children that the snowman was God. God is a spirit, right?

Now, an American will burst into giggles at this kind of a mixup. Hillarious, isn't it? We did indeed have a laugh, but after we finished we felt rather sober. Because there are all kinds of wierd stories circulating about all kinds of wierd things (for example, rumors circulate about various things that foreigners do to gain power or money). Obviously, at some point someone saw a snowman depicted in a photo and had some ideas about it, and those ideas have spread to the general population. People here have no concept of snow, and why would they? It is a completely foreign concept. So, this white blobby thing that looks vaguely human would indeed be taken for a spirit. Makes me really wonder about the few Christmas decorations that are put up in town by unknowing foreigners! I'll have to watch this year to see if any snowmen go up. Gives a new meaning to the phrase "Spirit of Christmas past".

Anyway, I determined that I must speak to my colleague about it and after we discussed it he did indeed say that he thought this was a spirit and he was trying to explain to the children how God is a spirit. Ok, I don't have a huge problem with that. However, we do have to erase the snowman image from their minds, because they are going to see it occasionally and they mustn't believe that is an image of God. I'll have to sort that one out, perhaps by providing some other kind of picture for them to look at, like a bright light or something. Meanwhile, we just shake our heads! - Cami

The Sideshow Circus Freaks or Doing Hard Things

2009-09-17T13:23:00.009+02:00

This entry has two titles, for good reasons you'll see in a minute.

One of the hardest things in adjusting to life here is just being so darn wierd. At home, I am a fairly normal person, and as I walk down the street people do not drop their packages, punch their friends in the arm and point, shouting "Look, there she goes!"

Ok, I am exaggerating a bit. But, there is more interest in my comings and goings than I am used to in America, and this is because I am a white person. In town, driving around in my truck, people do stare at me, but it is just general interest. When I ride the motorcycle, however, I feel like I am a freak from the circus. What, do I have two heads? Two years ago, there was only me and another lady in town who were riding around on motorcycles. We got a lot of attention. People's jaws would actually drop. Crowds would gather as I came out of a store, unlocked my bike, and rode off. Trust me, any narcissist would have a heyday here. Nowadays, there are lots of ladies on scooters and some on motorcycles, and interest has calmed down a little. But, my blinding whiteness still creates a lot of stares, pointing, and laughter. I wonder sometimes "Are my clothes unbuttoned? Do I have something smeared on me? Why are they staring so hard?". Just something different, that's all.

Staring here is not considered impolite. Do this in America, and people get angry. Here, there is nothing wrong with staring at someone for a protracted period of time, and if you ask "What are you looking at?" then you would be considered the rude one.

This has been especially hard for Toby. No kid likes to be stared at (unless they are parading by with their fancy new toy) and in the beginning he didn't like to go to town at all. If I am a novelty, small white children are even more so. I made the decision last year that the kids and I would walk to church, which is about a 35 minute hike from our house, through winding dirt paths, the back of people's yards, into the mud-hut slum area, past the market and on. I wanted the kids to get used to being in "the bairro", which is the area where almost everyone in Nampula that Kevin works with is living. I hated driving up in my car (which would be like arriving at church in a Porsche in America) and playing the role of the rich American. Plus, Kevin often needs the car on a Sunday for his preaching trips.

So, we walk through the bairro and it was so miserable for Toby. People would point and laugh as we passed, sometimes in an unkind manner. Many were friendly and would greet us, but groups of children sometimes followed, chattering about us. "Akunha!" (white person) was shouted at us over and over. This is also not considered rude, but was discomfiting for Toby. Finally, I came up with a game: each time Toby hears the word "Akunha!" he gets one metical. The value of this is about 4 cents. By the time our walk is finished, to and fro, he sometimes nets almost a dollar, and is pleased. Once, he walked way ahead of me, out of sight, because he felt that he would get more shouts and make more money, but I had to put a stop to that. Now, whenever he hears it he grins widely and his eyes light up. Funny!

We are getting used to being objects of interest, though sometimes it can feel stressful. One missionary family I know drove into a small town and everyone stopped to watch them drive by. Their youngest son said to his brothers "Just smile and wave, boys! Smile and wave." (This is a line from the movie Madagascar, by the way). Now i know a little bit more about how minorities feel where i come from. Meanwhile, sometimes I take a deep breath before I begin my walk to somewhere, because I know that my presence will create interest, and I'd rather blend in. Just not possible, unfortunately. On those occasions where I am considered more "normal", it is such a relief!

I know that when we return to the land of more varied skin colors, it will seem strange to us. What, aren't we interesting any more? :-) Until then, we steel ourselves, try to understand why, and attempt to use the attention for good and not for stress. - Cami

Wierd and Wonderful Birthday Gifts

2009-09-17T11:22:00.006+02:00

Kevin always gets me something really good for my birthday, and this year I got two great things. He started making me a dehydrator for our anniversary in August, and finally finished it the day of my birthday. He's seen me spend many hours trying to sun-dry tomatoes in the sun (or using the car as an enormous hot-box), only to burn them in the final drying session in the oven. So now, I can use my homemade dehydrator to make dried tomatoes, banana chips (I hope) and dried mangos.

He asked me what I wanted for my birthday, and I said a new stand for our water filter. You can see from the photo that our big white filter is kind of ugly, and it squats on our counter next to the sink, a constant eyesore. Necessary, but ugly. So, I asked him to get a welder to make a metal one that we could paint the same color as the window frames, and I would make a removable cover to remove the eyesore. Here you can see the results, which I am very pleased with. I'm 39, by the way, and had a wonderful birthday celebrating with out-of-town friends who brought me a bottle of shower gel, which I promptly spread on my skin because I thought it was lotion. Sigh. Obviously I've been here too long. :-) - Cami

Ben goes to school

2009-09-08T17:47:00.004+02:00

Ok, I need to give Toby some PR as well, and say that he started second grade today. But for him, it is old hat already. He was up very early this morning and woke us up to tell us it was school day! He's been anticipating it for weeks (even though break was only about 5 weeks). Off he went, happy as a clam, back to his familiar school and the same teacher he had at the beginning of last year. Tonight, I asked him how it felt to be one of the "big kids" and he said "Oh man, it's great!".

But for Ben, today was very special. For about six months now, we've been pointing out his preschool as we drive by and saying "there's your friends" when we see the children outside. I took him two weeks ago to sign him up, then to buy fabric for his uniforms. The leader of our church (also a tailor) sewed them up, and when they arrived yesterday he couldn't wait to put them on. Every day lately, he's been saying "Is today the day?". This morning, we dressed him up (isn't he CUTE?) and he and I went off. It went pretty well, though i could see he felt very insecure because everyone was speaking to him in Portuguese. Every time the teachers spoke to him, he hid his face, and didn't seem to understand anything they said. He stayed very close to me all morning, though when I ducked out for an hour during snack time he seemed ok with that. I'll gradually decrease my time with him at school, and feel confident that eventually he'll do fine there. We dumped Toby in a Portuguese preschool in Portugal and he was miserable for months. We regret that to this day, so with Ben we've decided to be more gentle about it. We can't wait to hear our little Ben speaking fluent Portuguese, and able to interact with people here more easily. Please keep him in your prayers. - Cami

Mistakes we Make

2009-08-31T10:40:00.005+02:00

We are foreigners here, and for us that frequently means that we make mistakes with the language, social gaffes, or misunderstand pretty much anything. Our most infamous mistakes are language ones. For example, when we lived in Portugal, Toby was enrolled at a local preschool and one day the teacher told me the kids were going on a field trip to "Quinta Amarela" or something. Now, I looked up quinta in the dictionary and it said Farm, so we spent about a week prepping Toby with all the animal names. Every afternoon, we'd look at picture books with animals and teach him the names. On the appointed day, we dressed him in his jeans and rubber boots, and sent him with a jacket and a sun hat. After we picked him up, we asked him how the farm was, and he said "We didn't go to the farm, we went to a movie!" Apparently the name of the movie house was Yellow Farm. Another time, the teacher spent some time explaining to me that Toby needed a particular thing, and I didn't know the word. Finally she wrote it down, and I went home and looked it up. A toothbrush. He needed a toothbrush (like all the other kids) at school. Sometimes we felt so dumb! She would look at me with pity because I was so stupid!

Lately, however, our knowledge of Portuguese is much better and our mistakes are funnier. Here in Mozambique we asked our guard to wash the car. We mixed up the verbs for "clean" and for "wash" and asked the guard to "wash" the inside of the truck. "Are you really sure?" he asked us about four times. We were sure. But later on, Kevin ran frantically to stop him when he saw him washing the inside of the truck with a hose! It was completely soaked. Luckily it dried out fine.

A few weeks ago Kevin was visiting the church where the boys and I regularly attend, and preached a sermon on the "peas and the goats". It had me in stitches - I could hardly manage to correct him! The others in the church were much more polite and probably would have listened to 30 minutes on how God will separate the peas from the goats, but I just had to stop him.

The social gaffes we make tend to be more serious. Unfortunately, the ones I make are the kind that start rumors. Here, suspicion of sexual promiscuity runs rampant. There are good reasons, mainly because a great many people are promiscuous. But you have to be super careful to not raise suspicions about yourself. I went over to visit my lady neighbor some months ago, and found her not at home. I was standing in the yard, about 15 feet away from her husband, chatting amicably for a few minutes for heading back home, when two men from his church came in the front gate. The looks on their faces were total shock. It was obvious that they thought something was going on, even though we were standing in an open yard. My neighbor looked very embarrassed and I went home, uncomfortable with the idea of what rumors I had just started. Another day, I invited an elderly pastor to sit on our screened-in veranda and have a cold drink and a tangerine while I did some things in the house. After about 15 minutes, I emerged and packed a box of things on the table while we chatted a bit. He looked uncomfortable and finally we decided that Kevin wasn't coming home soon, and he decided to leave. As I opened the door to let him out, I found our guard kneeling by the steps "working on some flowers" there. It was obvious to me that he was trying to keep an eye on what he thought was an inappropriate tryst going on inside the veranda. Good grief. I learned my lesson - now all visitors have to sit on a straw mat or a chair out in the garage. Better yet, make them sit in the front yard.

Of course, the situation with white men is even worse. We had a young white man staying with us and Kevin was out teaching a class. The boys and I were eating dinner with this young man, and we were talking about something funny and laughing. My guard (a different one) came to the back door for something and he looked furious, though of course he didn't say anything. Here, although I am allowed to feed my male houseguest, I mustn't enjoy his company so much. Sometimes I feel like I ought to go into purdah (isolation) and wear a burkah, but mostly I just try to follow the social rules once I am aware of them.

One mistake that I am trying very hard to remedy is an impatience on my part. Here, it is so important to greet people. You can't rush into "can you tell me what time it is?" or "How much are those carrots?". Once, I asked the teller at the Shoprite if the credit card machine was working that day and she very pointedly said "GOOD MORNING" before she answered my question. You must remember to slow down and acknowledge people before starting any business. The relationship is always more important than the task!

I have to remember, too, that people are not always trying to cheat me. I've had quite a few bad experiences in the past with vendors trying to cheat me out of a few cents or more, and quite often I jump to that conclusion when change is slow in coming, or is given in many coins, or math is done creatively. I snapped at a minibus taxi driver once when I stood for awhile waiting for my change and he seemed to be ignoring me. I felt quite chastened when he finally got change for me from the person he was talking to. Although, as foreigners, we frequently are charged higher prices or someone will try to steal something from us, in general the vendors and taxi drivers are helpful and honest with us. Of course, I may not be receiving a full two pounds of the rice I bought (because the scales have been tampered with) but I do get correct change. I just have to keep in mind that things run a lot more slowly here, sometimes people are not very good at math (when we work together to come up with the amount of change, it is always correct) and generally folks are kind and friendly. Slow down, speedy American, and remember that people are more important!

Of course, trying to be too polite can be funny as well. I always say "no, thank you" to the vendors on the street (selling oranges, perfume, shoes, you name it) and I had a group of church ladies in my car one day when I said this. They thought it was the funniest thing they ever heard and explained to me that I mustn't thank the vendors when they hadn't done anything and were in fact pestering me. So, sometimes, it is ok to be rude (in my perspective)!! - C

Kite Flying in Nacala

2009-08-27T19:48:00.004+02:00

Last weekend we took a three-night break on the coast, which we try to do every three months. While there, we took the boys down to the beach for some kite flying, and since the wind was crazy, our kites kept crashing. These kids helped us a lot by picking them up and flinging them skyward to get them going again. They all speak Makhua and some Portuguese so communication was a bit difficult, but they were very interested in what we were up to, and especially the camera!

Kevin Turns 40!!!

2009-08-19T14:53:00.003+02:00

Wow, look at the blaze on that cake! It is hard to believe that I first met Kevin more than 20 years ago and that he still is the most wonderful man I know. He had a great birthday, with our team prayer meeting (and cake), then lunch at friends' house (with cake), then supper at home with out-of-town friends (and cake). This morning he enjoyed a piece of the strawberry rhubarb pie I made for him. We see strawberries in shops only about once a year (and very sad-looking ones at that), and they cost the moon, but a friend tipped me off to their presence and I ran to the store to get them and then froze them. A few days later, rhubarb magically appeared at the grocery store (same friend tipped me off) and when I got there the next day, I got the LAST package! Froze that too, and resulting pie was sooooo good. Not 'cause I am such a good cook, but because it is strawberry rhubarb!

Anyway, I was going through a family photo album with a friend last night and was looking at all the photos of dear ones who have died in the last four years. I counted four grandparents, an aunt, and a great aunt, and of course Tabitha. Kevin's maternal grandmother died in April, and his paternal grandmother died on Saturday. And we didn't make it for any of the grandparent funerals. It is sad to us. We'll be thinking of Kevin's family on Friday as they say goodbye to Nana Zwart.
-Cami

And you thought service at your restaurant was slow. . .

2009-08-19T14:13:00.004+02:00

This morning, as planned, I went off on the motorcycle about 3 miles down the road to visit one of Kevin's female students. He really can't visit her at home, so it is up to me and I am pleased to visit her because she is such a sweet, lively person. I showed up there about 9:15, and by 9:30 she had started cooking. I expected this because unfortunately there is an idea that any visitor must be fed. This is very nice for the average Mozambican with a low income, as he or she probably has eaten very little for breakfast, but for us it is a nuisance and tiresome. You'll see why in a minute. But we appreciate the generosity from which this custom comes, and people are so kind to want to feed us.

The first 45 minutes, I sat on a chair in the shade by myself, visited occasionally by the lady, Faurita. We chatted about this and that and she would go back into the cooking area in front of her mud house (a chest-high wall in front of the house with roof over it) to poke at the fire. I wondered what would be to eat, as Kevin is frequently fed dried tiny shrimp that still have their shells on, a crunchy and gritty though tasty meal. I don't like shrimp, so I was hoping this wasn't it. Anyway, after about 20 minutes I suggested I would like to learn how to cook mozambican-style. Of course, I've seen a fair amount of mozambican cooking and can do quite a bit already, but this was a way to get me out of the chair and sitting near the lady so we could talk more. And I was bored. About 30 minutes later, she invited me into the "kitchen", where she was sitting on a sideways plastic jug and gave me one too. She was putting the rice in to cook. Now here, we eat fresh rice. Believe me, you will never go back to what we eat in America after eating fresh. It is indeed dried, but less than 6 months old and has a flavor you won't believe. Kevin bought some of the regular imported kind last week and we could hardly eat it. We are so spoiled now. Anyway, the second hour I was there was involved in cooking rice. Then she started cutting up greens - big leafy vegetable, while sitting sideways on a 7-inch high stool. She did this without a cutting board, simply slicing up toward her thumb while the leaves were rolled up tight. Yikes. Then time to cut some tomatoes, then some onions, same way. Meanwhile, we had moved back into the yard and watched the ducks wander around, along with the chickens and some babies came and went from the neighbors.

She has a little shop where she sells dried fish and shrimp, tomatoes and onions, and oil. It looks like something you'd see on Giligan's Island and to us would be "cute" but is just normal here. Built of bamboo, straw roof, countertop made of mud topped with cement to display the wares. It was very interesting to watch the neighbor ladies come and ask to buy a bit of cornflour, a little pile of fish, a few tomatoes, a half-cup of oil. Everything is bought in tiny amounts. One of the children knocked a green papaya off the tree and cut it up with a huge knife. Another of Kevin's students (another lady) showed up with a huge pile of peanuts and we shelled some of them while we waited for the water to boil to cook the greens (rice was now finished). As we passed the 2 1/2 hour mark, they started pounding peanuts in the big mortar and pestle thing (don't know English name!) and shaking out the powder through a sieve. Eventually, at about hour 3, this was done and all put into the pot. I sent Kevin a message saying "we are going to eat now." Another 30 minutes passed. Much banging around in the cooking area and inside the house where I believe dishes were being procured. I was asked to sit on a straw mat in the shade. Finally, lunch. Some very tough chicken pieces in about 3 cups of oil (no joke) with a nice curry flavor, plain rice to mix it with, and the greens in peanut sauce. A delicious lunch, really, and Faurita was so generous in making it for me. But wow did it take a long time. I thought that a 9 am visit would avoid a meal, but instead it meant 3 1/2 hours prep time! Which is understandable since each item must be cooked in its entirety, then set aside to cook the next thing. She needs a three-rock (actually 9 rock) "cookstove" instead of a one-rock.

We used the time to talk about how she became a Christian, who were the various children around (her husband's 9 year old son from a former marriage, her 12-year old niece whose mother died last year), which neighbor had a new husband or wife (people leave and "marry" again more casually than you would think). One of the students said to me that people thought it was very funny I was sitting there talking with them because "white people don't come and visit us" and I thought "That's because it takes 4 hours!!!!" but was glad I had come. Finally, after we finished eating and chasing the ducks away from our food, I announced we really ought to go and would she like a ride to my house (she walks all the way into the city to buy things for her little shop)? Yes, of course. She brings out the gifts. About 5 pounds of fresh rice for us, and a huge pile of peanuts from the other student. Then she catches the chicken running around the yard. I looked at her and said "Oh no. I can't take that on the motorcycle. Please, I have chickens at home." "No," she insisted "I bought this for Toby". Wow, Toby will NOT be thrilled, I think, but luckily he can be told to pretend to be happy and he will be.

So, we wrap up all the gifts (minus chicken) and tie them to the back of the bike, then we both climb on and said chicken is held by its wings by Faurita. Now, on a normal day I am quite a sight to see on the bike (more on that in another post) but today is a very SPECIAL sight. I am so thankful I don't have to go through the city. Off we go. Chicken arrives looking half-dead but some water will perk him up. And I check the clock - 1:30. Man, I'm beat.

On a more serious note, you can keep Faurita in your prayers. Her husband has been running around with other women and the only thing she can do is leave him. If she tries, she'll probably lose anything she has, and she doesn't make enough money to support herself. Her family might help her, but it would be rough as none of them have much money. She doesn't know what to do and he is also sometimes violent. Unfortunately, this is an all-too-common story here and we hear many stories of women being victimized by their husbands in various ways. She is a faithful Christian who wants to do the right thing. - Cami

The Old Man and the Cat

2009-08-16T11:15:00.003+02:00

This week had some interesting events. I have been wanting to have some excuses to meet more of my neighbors (wandering around, poking your head into their yards, isn't considered appropriate) and this week my wish was granted.

Last Sunday, we got a new addition to the family. We had Molly when she was a kitten, for about a week before various circumstances sent her off to another home. She returned to us this week (despite our "no receipt, no returns" policy) and good ole stinky butt is somewhat unhappily installed on our veranda. She really is a nice little cat, but being here with two very loud, active boys, three dogs and another cat who keeps trying to be her friend despite her fervent attempts to avoid acquaintance, has been rather traumatic for her.

Anyway, on Thursday she was put into the yard while the dogs were locked up, and took off. We searched high and low for her but no sign. So, I started the rounds to the neighbors looking for her. People think cats are valuable around here, because they keep the rats and snakes at bay, so were concerned that i find my cat. I ran into a group of children behind my yard (we have a 10 foot wall, so it is like another world back there, full of gardens and mud houses) and told them I would give them a present if they found my cat. Now, there is nobody better than a pack of 10 year old boys to scour the bushes for a missing cat. If they can't find it, nobody can. Within 15 minutes they were back at my house reporting success. Unfortunately, it was a dead cat they had found. They led me on winding paths for about 1/4 mile before we came to a cat that looked exactly like Molly. My heart just sank. But after inspecting said cat for about 5 minutes, I realized that she didn't have Molly's tail. Molly has a very distinctive serpentine tail, and this one was short and fluffy. Phew. I was fortunate to run into a neighbor that I'd met before, and she confirmed that said dead cat had been running around for several days before.

Later that night, a tremendous ruckus in the yard brought us out to find Molly, cornered by the three dogs. She had come home. We are so thankful.

That same night, our neighbor from across the street called to tell us there was a "strange person" in our front yard. He and Kevin met outside to discuss the situation and decided that the old man was drunk and, since it was a warm night, to just leave him be and see if he moved on after he recovered himself. Next morning, he was still outside, albeit a bit farther down the sidewalk in front of another neighbor's house. Clothed in rags, he was a pitiful sight. A neighbor gave him some breakfast, and we wondered what he would do. Not drunk, but mentally ill or senile. I waited to see what the community would do about the situation.

Unfortunately, they just left him there. By two pm, when the sun was hot, we was lying on his back on the sidewalk, naked to the waist and looking pathetic. People just walked around him and I began to wonder if I was in America where people ignore those in distress. So, I told my guard that we were going to move him into our front yard and put him on a straw mat under a shady tree while the community president decided what to do with him. My guard looked horrified. But he's crazy, he protested. Well, tough luck. We can't leave him out there to die. Reluctantly, he brought out the straw mat and we went out to inspect the victim. I went next door to find someone to help us pick up this six-foot tall man (who probably weighed 110 pounds) and they looked uncomfortable. Did not want to touch him. As I walked back to my guard and the old man on the sidewalk, there were a couple of passersby standing there, and I asked them to help us. They readily agreed, and we all lifted him up and helped him walk to the shade. He was wet with urine and staggered. His clothes were rags and he was missing most of his teeth, and thin as a rail. We laid him on the mat, and people started coming. There must have been 20 people in my yard, discussing the situation and what to do. The neighbor brought cornmeal to make some porridge, and my guard agreed to feed him something since I was late for a meeting. It was so odd - nobody wanted anything to do with him while he lay out there, but once he was in my yard they all had advice and agreed that it was good that we were caring for him. Why? Probably because they didn't want responsibility for him (for reasons explained below) and were glad I had taken it on.

Later that night, the president of the community still hadn't done anything and I suggested that we bring out the rope bed and let the man sleep on my front veranda or inside the backyard. My neighbor and guard became very upset. No, they said. If he dies here you are going to have major problems. I could see their point - there would be a police investigation and it is quite likely that, as a foreigner, I might be charged with murder. Rumors would fly about what we had done to the old man and there would be all kinds of unpleasant repercussions. But I suspect that there were other "problems" they were concerned about, like bad spirits attacking my house, funeral arrangements and ceremonies, etc. I suggested we take him to the hospital, as he was obviously ill. No, my neighbor said, they'll just give him an injection to kill him since he doesn't have anyone to advocate for him. So, in the end we took him to the police station at 8 pm, and they were surprisingly helpful. They were respectful to him, and accepted him without hesitation after asking for my neighbor's details like name, address and occupation. She looked very frightened and did not want to give this information because, as she told me later, they might come back to her with problems. I was surprised to hear this since her husband is a transit cop. In the end, they let us go after only about 10 minutes and the old man waited there for a transport to take him to the hospital. I don't know what happened to him, since he wouldn't tell us his name or who his family is, and without family it is not likely he'll end up anywhere very good. The police station was a broken-down old building with a couple of benches, a desk, and an old couch where the police watch tv while they wait for a call. They seemed quite competent and professional though, and none of the bad things I expected happened (requests for bribes, harrassment of the foreigner for dragging sick people around and dumping them at police stations, inspection of the foreigner's documents with threats of confiscating them, etc.).

All in all, satisfactory endings to both situations, and some interesting insights into the behavior of people in this culture. I do hope the old man ended up with good treatment, and with the intervention of the police that is quite possible. Meanwhile, it was sad to see how fear prevented the community from caring for him. - Cami

Public Transport

2009-08-07T15:45:00.002+02:00

Just had to post this photo I took on the main highway (which is 2 lanes) out to the coast. This is just the back of the truck, which is chock-full of people. Space ran out, so guys are hanging off the back. This truck is going about 60 miles per hour. i won't go into a million details about traffic accidents and such here - suffice it to say that they are more frequent than they ought to be and that people are severely hurt or killed when they are involved. Few have seat belts and many travel just like this. Head-ons on these two-lane highways (which have curves and hills) are all too common. Makes me think twice about taking public transport anywhere. Of course, having someone throw up on my shoes (which happened to a colleague), riding next to a blaring speaker for 6 hours (another colleague), having a baby changed on your lap (colleague), smelling dried fish for hour after hour (colleague) or getting worms in your backside from the wet seat you are sitting on (which happened to a friend) are other deterrents. - Cami

Chocas Mar

2009-08-07T13:33:00.003+02:00

Wow, the internet is SO fast today that I'm uploading photos wherever I can. We've had quite a few days where we could hardly send an email, internet was so slow. Other days it is out completely.

Here is a photo of the beach we spent one night at this week, to celebrate our 17th anniversary. Of course, we were with the kids and another family as well, but that's a longer story! It was really so pleasant and enjoyable. The beaches here in Mozambique are gorgeous. Unfortunately for the tourists, there are quite a few beaches that are used as public toilet (I am totally serious, and no you do not want to see it), so most beaches are not ones you want to bathe at, or even walk on the sand at. But this beach does not have local people living close by, and so is pristine and beautiful. We did a little snorkeling and found some coral and little fishies about 300 feet offshore, which was nice. We have tons of tourists visiting in the south and once transport and tourist attractions improve in the north, I think there will be a lot more visitors to these beautiful beaches with powdery sand. -C

Last Day of School

2009-08-06T06:10:00.005+02:00

Last Friday was the end of the school year for Morningstar School, where Toby attends. He is sooo excited to now be a second grader, and no longer the littlest kid in the school. There were two others in his first grade class, but they were both taller than him.

Friday was field day, and there were races and relays, "sword fighting" (object to knock the frisbee off your opponent's hand) and a pinata. All the parents came and it was great fun watching the dads participate in some of the relays.

What a blessing this little school is to us. Each of the teachers has actually raised her own support to come and teach our kids (one is already a missionary here with her husband and children). Can you believe it? it is amazing to me that they would go through all that and move so far from friends and family to teach my kid! Life for a single white lady here in Nampula is not easy and they are harrassed pretty much every time they go out. We are so thankful for these kind and dedicated women who have sacrified so much so that our children can receive a quality education. Here is a photo of Toby with his teacher, Miss Jarvis. He started off the year with Miss Dancey, who went home for a short furlough and will be back teaching second grade in September.

Toby received the award for "most enthusiastic" in his class of first and second graders, which everyone laughed at. No lie! He loves school and is sad that he has five weeks off. He has been learning so much and is doing very well - we can't imagine a more positive school experience for him and it is wonderful to see him learning scripture and applying it in his life as a result of what he is taught. There is no bullying at the school and there are high standards for behavior- as a result the atmosphere is truly so pleasant. Toby will be back in September - please join with us in thanking God for providing this "haven of peace" for Toby and such a great start to his schooling. - Cami

Church Visit in the Bush

2009-07-20T10:54:00.007+02:00

Two weeks ago, the whole family drove about 45 minutes outside of town to visit a little church in "the bush". Of course, 45 minutes isn't much, but it really is the bush! People live in little huts and grow crops to feed themselves. There is no electricity or running water, and the nearest health post is quite a distance away. The quiet and beauty of the area is so nice to see, though for those living there of course it is nothing new.

This little church was started by some of Kevin's students, who walk every Sunday from their homes about 30 minutes away to pastor the little group of believers. Kevin received a warm welcome there last year, and he wanted us to come and meet them this year. I really wish we could take each of you along to visit, as it is impossible to convey the whole experience in a short post here. So, I'll just give a few details.

We picked up the evangelist along the road so he could guide us to the spot, and after bumping for about another 30 minutes along dirt roads, we came to the church. Made of stick and daub, with a straw roof, the inside has mud benches and was decorated with bits of paper and flowers (from nearby bushes) hanging from the low ceiling. We were about 30 minutes early for the service, and we settled near the car to wait. Every few minutes, someone would come over to greet us as they arrived, while the boys ran around exploring and the elders met inside the church to decide on the program for that morning.

When it was time for church, we all assembled inside and the singing began. We all sang together for a little while, and the drum beat the rhythm, then there were several special presentations of little choirs. Each had prepared two or three songs. Then it was time for announcements, which were given in Makua and in Portuguese, then for the preaching. Kevin gave a sermon of 45 minutes or so, translated into Makua by the evangelist. Afterward, there was a time to pray for various people, then the offering. This is often an exciting event, and this was no different. While the singing got louder and louder, people dance up to the person holding the offering plate and put their money in. Then, each of us was grabbed and brought up to the altar as an "offering". A few seconds after you arrive, someone comes along and takes you back to the arm and leads you back to your seat. Quite fun, if you know what is going on! Neither Toby or Ben did and they started to panic a bit until we helped the "grabbers" to reassure the boys.

After the service, which lasted about 3 hours, we sat and chatted with a few people while our lunch was prepared. A chicken had been killed when we arrived that morning, and this was prepared in an oily sauce with tomatoes and onions. A big plate of white rice was also ready for us, and this was put on a table inside the church with two cokes and a fanta for us. A salad with lettuce and tomatoes was put out for us too. It is always interesting to see who will eat with us, and this time it was just us. I'm not sure why the pastor eats with us sometimes, and sometimes not - perhaps it has something to do with how much food is available. But this time, it was just for our family. We used to feel really bad about this, but now accept the gift for what it is and eat heartily and with thanksgiving. The boys have adjusted and usually eat the chicken happily, along of course with the rice.

After we finished eating, we came outside and thanked them for the meal, then it was time to go. A couple of church members piled in our car to take advantage of the ride, and we bumped off again toward home. We had left home at 7:30 that morning, and returned at 2:30 that afternoon. You can see why the boys and I don't go every Sunday! But we enjoyed this trip out to see these lovely believers and encourage them. Kevin wrote about this over at his blog as well, but I wanted to put up some more photos. - Cami

Baptism

2009-07-20T09:53:00.007+02:00

Last week, we had the privilege of attending a baptism for believers from my church. This is the little church that the kids and I attend weekly, since Kevin is "on the circuit" most Sundays, visiting his students' churches and encouraging pastors. There are quite a few new believers in the church, which was started by a couple who have lived in Nampula about 7 years. He is Mozambican and she is South African, and we are so happy to be part of this church that they started (one of three).

There were about 15 people who attended, the maximum that Pastor Moses' truck could hold, and we convoyed with them in our truck. We bumped down the road past our house for about 30 minutes to reach a river that has a good amount of water (hard to find now in dry season) and there Kevin was able to help a bit with getting people in and out of the water and assisting the pastor. Toby, of course, was right in the middle of whatever he could get in the middle of. Always wants to be part of the action! Ben fell down into the cold water (after numerous warnings to stay out of the water) and had to have his clothes changed. Of course, since I know Ben, I had anticipated this particular outcome and was prepared with dry clothes.

What a joy it was to see the happiness on these folks' faces as they publicly proclaimed their love for Jesus! We really enjoy knowing them and encouraging them and I hope to be able to help them in some way as we go along.

It was a good day. After the baptism, we all went back to the elder's house for a little party with beans and rice and the cookies that Catarina and I had made at my house the day before. The boys played with the kids and I sat and chatted with this lady and that, asking them to give me their testimonies. Some had attended church as children but just recently come to know what it really means to know Jesus, others had no knowledge of God at all before coming to know him. God has been working so much in the ministry of Moises and his wife Connie, and we feel very fortunate to know them! - Cami

Welcoming the New Arrival

2009-07-02T14:53:00.004+02:00

After my ladies' meeting this morning, we all walked about 15 minutes further into the "bairro", which is the "slums" to visit one of our group members who had just had a baby. As we skirted around people's well-swept yards and stepped over old plastic bags, fruit peelings, and rags, I was (as always) the subject of great interest. Benjamin, who was with me, excites even more interest. Luckily he usually doesn't mind too much unless children try to talk to him and for some reason this bothers him. We finally came around the back of the stick and mud home of our friend. This house, like many of the others in the bairro, is constructed of rough-cut poles tied into a waffle-like frame and plastered with mud. They don't last very long, these houses, and often are in some stage of falling down. If the walls get very wet, down they come. The roof is a frame of poles with plastic laid over top, and straw laid on top of that. This is supposed to keep the rain off, but the numerous holes in the plastic don't tend to deter it that much. The house was about 10 feet long and 8 feet wide, the usual size, and next to the front door was a pot bubbling with beans. Likely the entirely of the day's meals. Inside, the young mother sat on a straw mat, leaning against the mud wall, the baby laid beside her, wrapped in a cloth. As I looked at the baby, I asked how far along the mother had been when it was born and was shocked that they said 9 months, since this baby looked extremely tiny and a bit drawn. I've seen other babies like this here, and don't know if they come out like this because they actually are premature (people don't tend to be very accurate in their counting of the months) or because the mother is ill. She looked well enough, but tired out with caring for this 10 day old infant. I am hoping there is someone there to help her with the handwashing of all the clothes, carrying of the water, carrying of the wood and building of the fire and cooking from scratch whatever they have available.

Inside the house, there was no furniture except a handmade table that had a cloth over it and a few odd items on it, like a large avocado seed and an empty bottle. The holes in the roof let in a little light, but otherwise it was very dark and I'm sure very cold at night (we are in cold season). Anyone who came from America would be absolutely horrified at the poverty in which this woman was living, but here unfortunately it is pretty normal.

Our little group of ladies went in, and the most senior held the baby while we sang a few choruses, with gusto. Most are in Makua, so I just hum along and clap, but was able to join in for the Portuguese songs. We sang songs like "God gives and God takes away" and "To follow Jesus is Good", things like that. Then we all prayed for her (at the same time), and a plastic bag of gifts was opened. These were purchased from the weekly offering that is taken at the ladies' meeting. There were two foot-long bars of homemade soap (purchased in the market), a capulana (a 5-foot length of colorful cloth used for a skirt, for a shawl, to carry a baby around in like a sling, a floor mat, to wrap your purchases in, for just about anything!), a package of sugar and three used shirts for the new mother. These were not displayed. No questions were asked about the baby like weight, name, or sex. I didn't dare ask because some people have some beliefs about sharing details about a baby, that I'm not completely familiar with yet. Having to do with the spirits and ancestors.

Anyway, so after doing all this, we went outside and sang another song, then departed. The mother didn't look very happy that we had come, just smiled a little. No thank you for the gifts, no little speech. This is totally appropriate in their culture, but I am not yet sure why! And no, there are not baby showers here either. As I gazed at the tiny baby, and exhausted mother, I could only pray that somehow God spares both of them. Infant death is so common here, and to try to get medical care is exhausting, involving a long walk to the hospital and a long wait. Many Mozambican babies do grow up and thrive, and I hope this little mite is one of them. - Cami

What Poverty Means

2009-06-27T17:10:00.005+02:00

I watched a "Nooma" video lately titled "Rich" that talked about how Americans are some of the richest people in the world. And some of the poorest live right down the street from me. Do you wonder what their lives are really like? What does it really mean to be poor?

We see handicapped people out on the streets every day. People swinging along with crutches, hopping, dragging themselves on carts. You don't see this kind of thing in America. Most likely many of these people have a deformity from birth that could have been corrected by surgery. Some have injuries that could have been healed with proper care, others could benefit from a prosthetic. Their poverty means that they spend their entire lives in this state, and most are unable to work since even the able-bodied struggle to find employment. Many handicapped people beg in town.

Poverty means that when it is cold, you sleep close to each other since you have no blanket. You sleep on a bamboo mat instead of a mattress. You don't have a mosquito net and the house has no screening. Bugs and mice live in your straw roof. At night, you light the house with a small oil lamp. You walk to wherever you need to go, miles at a time. If you need medicine that the hospital is unable to provide, you go without or sacrifice something else, or borrow or raise the money.

Children do not drink milk or take vitamins unless they are very ill and the hospital dispenses them. They have no toys, usually, although sometimes one has something. They are washed in a basin of cold water with the harsh homemade soap available in the market. There are no children's books in the home, no crayons, no playground nearby.

If your baby has a fever, you must carry him or her for a great distance, and then wait for hours for treatment. If the nurse doesn't know what the problem is, and death isn't imminent, you'll be sent home to see if it gets better on its own. If there is a serious problem, you may eventually see a doctor for several minutes after hours of waiting. A prescription will be handed to you with no explanation of the condition or the treatment.

Your bathroom (if you have one) is a reed enclosure divided in two sections, one half has a stone in it and maybe a bucket-this is your shower area. You stand on the rock as to not get too muddy and dip cold water over yourself. The other half is a short-drop toilet.

Even if you need glasses, you will probably never receive them. The fuzziness in your vision is just something to cope with. If you are losing your hearing, there is nothing to be done. A tooth that has a cavity will be pulled, most likely after weeks of pain. The pinched nerves, arthritis, skin problems, back pain and other chronic problems that you have will continue until you can find a home remedy, visit a witch doctor for a cure, be healed in the church, or the symptoms go away on their own. If you have a headache or muscle strain, you have no medication for this. No bandaids for cuts, no antiseptic to clean wounds.

You carry water in buckets on top of your head daily, for cooking, bathing and washing the dishes. You purchase food in small quantities, paying higher prices. But there is never enough to buy in bulk. If you did buy in bulk, your neighbors will expect you to share. Meals are cooked over charcoal and it takes a long time to heat water and to cook anything. It is smoky and hot. You cook with oil rather than margarine, since it is cheaper. Hunger is just a part of life. You can't afford to purchase "convenience foods" like bread. Therefore, if you must be away from home for the day you do not eat unless you have some coins to purchase something someone else has cooked. Food at home is mostly corn porridge cooked in a pot over the fire, with some tomatoes, garlic and onion made into a sauce. Meat is rare. A coke is for special occasions, a chocolate bar unheard of.

You might have a cell phone, but rarely have money to buy the prepaid credit to use it. You pay a small amount of money to recharge it now and then at the market's small shop with electricity.

You do not travel as that kind of money is never available to you. Though you live only two hours drive from the ocean, you've never seen it and never will in your lifetime. Your clothes are well-mended and faded. Fit doesn't matter. You've never purchased a newspaper or a roll of toilet paper. You sit on a dirt floor in your home as the one chair belonging to the family is used by someone more important than you. Gifts are not purchased for birthdays or Christmas, though perhaps a cake might be baked one year or a special meal prepared.

Does it sound like I am being dramatic? Unfortunately I am not. This is the situation for probably 50% of the population of our town. Owning a camera, using a computer, or understanding how to use a library are things that will never happen to them. Now, none of this is to say that people are unhappy. It is only to say that when you are poor, much of life is more difficult. Things are complicated and tiring.

It is amazing to us what good humor people here have! We frequently see people laughing and smiling on the street. They are used to this kind of life, though we would like to see things easier for them and healthier for them and their children. However, ease of life does not equal happiness. How many Americans do you know who are really happy? I bet I know just as many Mozambicans who are. But people here do suffer, and we would like to see that change as time goes by. More distressing, however, is the poverty of thinking. They feel that God is distant, they do not understand who He is or how precious they are to him, they do not understand their faith or feel that there is hope for change in their lives. That is true poverty. - C

Trickle Down Economics

2009-06-27T16:07:00.003+02:00

Of a rather different sort. We hear stories all the time of students who are asked for money by their teachers. The neighbor told me that the teacher sent home a note, telling her to send a bag of flour to the teacher or her child could not continue at the school. A young friend told me of how she missed an exam, and brought a doctor's note only to be told that she could not make up the exam and would not pass the class unless she gave the teacher a sum of money (that she cannot afford). We hear of a Christian young man who repeated the same year of university three times because he refused to pay the bribe asked by the teacher. Talk about integrity! We also hear of girls who are asked for sexual favors from the teacher (a common enough practice) in order to pass their classes. My young friend went to the director of the school and complained about the sum of money she had been asked for, and the director shrugged and said "I don't interfere in the affairs of the teachers".

This is all just horrifying to us. I have contemplated whether I should interfere but after speaking to several people concluded that the student would be persecuted even more. Most people just pay the requested bribe and carry on.

Why are all these teachers so corrupt? Recently I learned that just to get into teachers' college, you have to pay a very large sum of money (more than one month's salary) to the director of the school. While in school, you have to pay the professors. Then there is another sum of money due in order to receive your graduation papers. Then, these new teachers are required to go out to remote villages to teach for two years before they have a chance of getting transferred back to the cities, where they want to live. After all of this, they are ready to get theirs. They feel that they are owed something. And it is quite likely that they still owe money or favors to whomever helped them get through teachers' college. And the people that they owe, owe someone else. It just trickles down from the top, poisoning everyone.

How do we stop this? We can't wipe it out from where we sit. And lest we congratulate ourselves on being so much more "modern" that people here, let's remember that only 40 years ago the New York City Police Department was so corrupt that criminals were getting away with murder. There has been just as much corruption in Western society over the years as there is now here in Mozambique. Why did it slow down in West (or go underground)? People had power to stop it. When people do not have power, others take advantage of them. When they have no money, when they have no jobs, when they have no leverage, they will be victimized by those who wield power. Either individuals acquire the ability to protect themselves, or they rise up as one to protest. I don't know which will happen here on a large scale first. - C

Vignettes

2009-06-27T15:49:00.003+02:00

Today Toby learned how to ride a bike! He is already past due on this, due to the fact that the only place to learn is across town and we just never have time to take him. This morning, however, we went to see friends and took some time to finish the job. The grin on his face was enormous and his whole body said "Yesssss!". Here's a photo of him later on his bike, still happy and proud. You may wonder about the shiner. He fell on Monday night (five days ago) out of his 2-storey bamboo playhouse while trying to leap into a nearby tree. His experiment with gravity succeeded and ground met face, resulting in a broken blood vessel and resultant very impressive black eye. Although it was very sore at first, now it just makes him a celebrity.

Ben has been busy with his own little projects, of a somewhat different nature. Yesterday morning I came out of the back door to find him walking across the yard, pants pulled down enough to pee in the can he was holding in front of himself. Why he thought he needed to pee in a can while walking across the yard, I've no idea. He tripped and spilled pee down his leg, and then threw the can and started dancing around like he was on fire, shrieking with dismay! I was so helpless with laughter that I couldn't do anything to help him. A bath followed. Toby tells me that Ben had done this the day before, and he likes to fill up cans and dump them in the bushes. No, I don't know why. Sigh. I'm trying to teach him to pee in the bathroom, hoping this is just a phase. And no, I'm not going to post a photo! - Cami

Fiel Conference

2009-06-19T11:35:00.005+02:00

Last week was the Fiel Conference. Fiel is an organization from Brazil that is involved in providing Christian literature in Portuguese. Their local coordinator, an American missionary, puts on this conference every year out at the SIL center and invites local pastors and leaders. This year, there were over 300 people! They bring in speakers who teach QUALITY stuff - this year, the topic was Christian Family, and there were teachings on what a marriage should be, how to order your home, forgiveness and peacemaking, and other things.

Kevin and I attended with three couples we sponsored - the men are all Kevin's students. What a privilege to spend time with these wonderful folks, who enjoyed the conference a great deal. What especially stood out to us was the quality of the teaching - we NEVER hear preaching like that. I don't mean good preaching as far as the style, I mean the content. What was taught was solid, biblical stuff. Not complicated, not mis-interpreted (as almost everything is here), but straightforward simple direction from the Bible, backed up with solid doctrine. It was so refreshing to us, and our students were astonished at the wisdom of the teachers.

It was very well-organized and we were provided with lots of good food at each meal, which our students also enjoyed immensely. The whole thing is subsidized so for less than $10 each were were able to attend 3 days of teaching and eat all meals there. Kevin challenged each of his students to take some of the things they learned back to their churches and share this wisdom with others. We are looking forward to attending next year as well.

Here are three of the folks who attended, Catarina and her husband Manuel, and Alberto. What beautiful spirits each of these people have and we are thankful to know them.

- Cami

Going Shopping

2009-06-16T17:05:00.003+02:00

It was my turn to do carpool this morning, and after dropping my six children off at school on the other side of town, I did a bit of shopping.

First stop, the animal supply store. We feel really fortunate to have this place, which is the only one of its kind in the entire north as far as we know. This morning, I purchased canine distemper vaccines for our two puppies (one 9 months, one two months old) and some vitamins. After I got home, Kevin and I broke out our supply of needles that we got from some departing missionary and mixed up the vaccines and injected the dogs. We felt pretty pleased with ourselves for managing that.

Second stop, Shoprite. Shoprite is a haven of westernism in the middle of this third world country. In most shops, you stand in a crowd of people (no one believes in lines) and gesture at a shop assistant until he deigns to see you. Usually this involves waving your money. You don't get to actually hold the item unless he brings it from the shelf and you have about 5 seconds to decide if you want it or not. Sometimes the shop is not so busy, so then you can reflect for a few more minutes.

But in Shoprite, all the items are just there on the shelves and you can touch EVERYTHING. It is lovely.

As I pulled into my parking space in front of the store, a crowd of boys ran toward me, waving as though to say hello. I always feel like waving back at them, but really what they are doing is volunteering to guard my car. Thankfully, Kevin has glued or screwed down every item on the car (including all the blinkers, mirrors, trim, etc.) so after I put the steering wheel lock on, check every door and turn on the alarm, I feel reasonably sure that nothing will be stolen while I'm inside. I have to wade through about five boys, usually, who are desperate to guard. Then there are the vegetable vendors who want to sell me potatoes, oranges, tomatoes and the like. Then there are the cell phone credit guys, then the beggars. Finally when I reach the store, I am free!

Inside Shoprite, I first look for some feta cheese, but they still don't have any. That's been out for about a week, so I look at the margarine, which has suddenly jumped in price by fifty cents a block. I browse over the vegetables, and find celery! That is a real find, but it is $4 for a small bunch so I skip that. The kiwis are always tempting, but are just as expensive as in the USA so we don't usually buy those. I guess shipping from New Zealand really drives the price up. :-) A look at the hamburger shows that the price on that also suddenly jumped fifty cents a pound. Perhaps it will go down next week, and anyway I'm not much interested in it these days. Seems I always get some gristle in my serving, and I don't have much appetite for it.

I pick up a frozen chicken, which is sold by the business friends of our run here, and go by the fresh bread. We always eat fresh bread here, and it is so wonderful! The deli case has greasy chicken pies and dried-out pastries, not very appetizing. I go to the shampoo display, where the men stocking the display are having a great time and make no move to make room for me. After awhile, peering around them, I find what I want and reach in to grab it. Looking for flour, I see that there still isn't any - they've been out for two weeks but luckily I can get it in another store. That means another wrangle with wanna-be car guards. Still no cornflakes either - perhaps at yet another store. I wander up the dishware aisle, amazed at the lovely teacups that are available, and all the kinds of kitchen utensils and caddies. Really, we do pretty well here.

I go to buy toilet paper and am happy to see some 2-ply available, but unfortunately it is almost $4 for four rolls. No way! A buck a roll? I look for cat food, but can't find any dry food, only small bags of dry dog food, $10 for 5 pounds. You have got to be kidding. You'd be amused at the items that are available here - lots of mosquito nets, repellants, citronella candles. Then there are the camping type items, and other things that "safari travelers" need for their trips. Otherwise, there are pretty typical items at this little grocery store (which has about 8 aisles, pretty good, and is the largest grocery store in the north). At the checkout, a manager has to be called to run my credit card through their only machine, and a guard checks over my receipt at the door before I head back out to wade through the things on offer: beggars, cell phone credit, vegetables, street children proclaiming that they guarded my car. It is always a relief to get everything in the car safely and pull out. - Cami

Changes - they grow so fast

2009-06-04T16:45:00.001+02:00

I've updated the photo of the boys on our sidebar since the old one was taken a year ago. They grow up so fast! They are so beautiful (of course we think that!) and we just love them to pieces. What a blessing those two are to us. - Cami

Tintin Arrives!

2009-06-03T16:32:00.003+02:00

Yes, we got yet ANOTHER puppy this week. We got Bella about 7 months ago, and she is in need of a friend to help her guard at night. Our old chow chow, Nibbles, is very sweet but at 12 years old is pretty much just sleeping at night these days.

So, Tintin arrived on Monday, and he is such a sweet little guy. We picked him out because he is the quietest of the litter (of 9!) and hope he will be a calm, gentle dog. Since he is a German Shepherd, we have no doubt that he will also be a good guard and bark when there are strangers around at night. For Bella, it was love at first sight and she seems to really like him. He seems content, and enjoys watching all the activity around here. Even the cat doesn't mind him.

You may wonder about the name - Tintin is a French cartoon character from many years ago. However, Toby has several books of his cartoons and loves them. So, Tintin it is!

Cami

Ladies Luncheon

2009-06-03T11:45:00.006+02:00

Week before last, there was a gathering of the Christian expatriate ladies of Nampula (those who speak English) that me and another lady had the privilege of organizing, initiated by a group from South Africa called the Mozambique Hub. We had over 40 ladies who attended, and it was a neat time of fellowship and sharing. Our speaker, Nicky van der Merwe, shared from her 16 years of experience living in the bush in Mozambique, and we were grateful for her exhortation of looking for joy even in our difficult situations. Quite a few of the ladies here face daily struggles of all kinds, and it is easy to get worn down. Recently, AIM sent out an article written by Ruth Ann Graybill titled the Emotional Needs of Women on the Mission Field, and this was distributed to the ladies, and is something I have been thinking about a lot. Here is a list of some of the needs:
1. Intimacy and Close Friendships
2. Validation and Affirmation
3. Healthy relationships among co-workers
4. Spiritual nourishment and support (including mentoring, pastoral care, biblical teaching and quality worship)
5. Time alone/privacy
6. Maintaining close contact with separated family members

These are all needs that are common to women around the world, but those living in cross-cultural environments face some barriers to getting these needs met, like the high mobility of missionaries, language barriers, lack of safe environment, physical isolation, busyness, constant requests for help from nationals, sexual harassment in public, etc. It seemed like a common theme among the ladies was loneliness, and indeed it can be very hard to make friends when you have few choices of who to make friends with, have trouble getting out of the house, live far from others who could be friends, there are few or no people who speak your mother tongue, and everyone is so busy with ministry (or sick all the time from malaria, flu, or other illnesses) that they don't have time to be "girlfriends".

One thing that was clear, however, was what an extraordinary group of people attended. Those who leave their home countries and come to "make the world a better place" are a group that I'm privileged to know.

I just want to encourage those of you on the "home front" to reach out to those ladies who are living and working overseas, all over the world, to share bible study resources and biblical encouragement, to let them know you think of them and pray for them, and want to understand the things they face.

10 Things I Love About Living Here

2009-05-24T06:51:00.003+02:00

I did a previous post about things that drive me crazy, so I really must balance it out with a list of things I like about living here in Mozambique. There are many more things than I list, but these are the first things that come to mind.

1. I really am pleased at the life my children live here. When I compare their lives to those of American children, I can see how much more physically active they are, enjoying a lot of fresh air and free play. They don't worry about what toys they have as compared to others, and they are not subject to all kinds of marketing which make them discontent. Their requests are generally simple, like ice cream or watching a video. It is a more old-fashioned existence, and children here are expected to be helpful around the house and to be respectful towards adults. They also are learning a lot of valuable life lessons and meeting people from many different countries and walks of life.

2. I like living in a warm climate (having spent my teenage years in South Florida) year-round. Of course, during four months of that year it is rather TOO warm, but in general I prefer that to experiencing a bleak, freezing winter. I like having one wardrobe all year, augmented only by a few things, and wearing flip-flops and lightweight clothing. The palm trees waving in the breeze warm my heart!

3. There are so many interesting people here. In the expat/missionary community especially, I am always meeting fascinating people who have experienced all kinds of places and things. I really could spend all my time hanging out with these folks, but have to limit my interaction. Many of the Mozambican folks I meet also have interesting backgrounds, and the history of this country is astonishing.

4. I love being able to walk into any pharmacy and buy prescription drugs for myself and for others. If I know I have bronchitis, I don't have to schedule a doctor's visit to get confirmation, but can start taking antibiotics. I know that this makes all the doctors out there shudder, but I appreciate the freedom to buy and use what I need.

5. Even though it is often frustrating to speak another language, I do enjoy the challenge of speaking Portuguese. I just wish I spoke it better, but I like learning new words and the sound of all those rolled r's and nasal tones. It is a beautiful language and everything sounds more exotic!

6. We really do eat healthier here. Although once a month we might get french fries to eat with some roasted chicken, most of the time we eat home-cooked meals made from fresh ingredients. Of course, just like anybody else we long for those deep-fried fast foods, but they are really not as available here as in America so we are forced to eat better.

7. As a person who enjoys thrift store shopping, it is constant distraction to me seeing so many used items for sale. There are little stalls set up alongside the roads with clothes, sheets, towels, shoes and tablecloths of all colors and styles. I enjoy going to the sunday market and looking through the piles of things that have come out from America in bundles. I rarely buy things, but it is fun to look for those little "treasures" that can be had for just a couple of dollars.

8. Ok, this one is totally frivolous, but I love driving the big truck. We have a 1994 Toyota Landcruiser, which is a huge vehicle that you have to climb up into. It is turbo diesel and has tons of power. I like the fact that it is very safe to ride in (especially considering how the traffic is here) and that it has the power to pass those crazy taxis. But mostly I just love being up so high and bouncing around all those potholes in comfort, with all that engine power available. You should see that thing crawl through the mud or other difficult spots.

9. We spend very little time watching tv or catching up on news. When I think about our time in America, I remember the constant bombardment of advertising and news stories, and the allure of tv shows. The tv shows are so good that you just get sucked in, and now, from a distance, it astonishes me how much time Americans spend talking about tv shows. We do watch the movies that my cousin sends out, but are not tied to a tv schedule and are not pulled into programming, or have to listen to news that is not really newsworthy (like why Cate Blanchett cut her hair, etc.).

10. The vivid colors around me really are a feast for the eyes. The ladies especially are just beautiful to look at, with their colorful wraps and lovely skin. It amazes me how people who are living in such poverty keep themselves so neatly and beautifully dressed. I love the brightly painted buildings, the tropical flowers (though they are few) and the palm trees silhoueted against the blue sky. We do miss the deep lush green of the grass and trees at home, the rivers and forests, but the beauty that surrounds us is of another kind.
-Cami

Toby Turns 7!

2009-05-16T17:16:00.008+02:00

Toby turned 7 years old on April 25th, and we had a wonderful party for him on the following saturday. I don't mean wonderful as in "oh aren't we so great" but wonderful in that such great kids came and we had such a wonderful time! We had 25 kids, which is a whole lot of kids, but luckily we have a big yard, it didn't rain, and my parents were here to help out a whole lot. We had "team meetings" before the party, to coordinate everything, and it went off without a hitch. My mom commented that if you had that many children at a party in the USA, you'd have some problems with fighting, or children who misbehaved. But all the little friends here are so pleasant and they were a joy to entertain. Here is a photo of some of the friends who came. Toby was in his element, as he loves to have friends around, and actually was very eager to change the date of his party once I told him he could have more friends at it if it was changed. He is no wallflower and is always in the middle of any social interaction.

Here's another photo of Toby. We are so proud of him and his accomplishments this past year. The biggest one is learning to READ! He reads fluidly and joyfully, and we hope that the love of books continues his entire life. He is also doing very well in math at school, which is encouraging to his math-challenged parents. He loves going to school and it is a blessing to have him at a Christian school with children from many countries.

This year, Toby has done all kinds of interesting things, like learning how to snorkel (and doing so with enthusiasm and skill), going horseback riding, climbing a local mountain, going on a safari boat ride and game drive in Malawi, shooting down the (small-homemade) waterslide repeatedly at our annual conference, writing to his pen pal in America, and learning to care for our animals. He's learned lots of verses (thanks to his school) and expressed a desire to be baptized this year! He is often very helpful with Ben and frequently he and I exchange looks of frustration or amusement over Ben's head. He tries to help his little brother in all sorts of ways, and we see him trying to be a good friend to others as well. Toby is a joy to us and we are so thankful that God blessed us with him. - Cami

Putsey and Poppy On the Move

2009-05-16T17:03:00.003+02:00

I haven't written for quite awhile, and that is because I was busy enjoying the visit of my parents April 6 - May 12th. Here is a photo of them with the boys, on our trip out to the coast. Ben and Toby hadn't seen them for over 2 years, and last time they were with Ben he wasn't even walking yet, and now he is 3! That is a hard part of being here, having the kids away from their grandparents. We feel so grateful that they were able to come, and they brought with them many gifts, and hearts ready to serve both us and our colleagues. My mom did about a thousand loads of laundry and my dad fixed all kinds of things. But the best part was seeing them interact with the kids.

During their visit, we took a trip north to see some of the work our AIM colleagues are doing, and we also took a trip east to spend 3 nights at the coast. We visited Ilha da Mozambique, which has an old Portuguese fort (and the oldest European-built structure in the Southern Hemisphere) and then went to Nacala where where enjoyed staying beside the bay and snorkeling. We rented a 12-foot fishing boat, which took us (by sail power) across the bay to enjoy some turquoise waters and beautiful coral reefs. Toby is snorkeling easily now, though he has not yet learned to dive down and then to clear his snorkel. We plucked starfish off the bottom of the sea (there are thousands!) and the kids enjoyed looking at them in the boat.

My parents helped us in so many ways, and it was very sad when they flew off back to America. We hope it won't be another 2 years before we see them again. - Cami

Why Africa Needs God

2009-03-25T14:40:00.004+02:00

Much has been made of an article written in the London Times Online on December 27th last year. Probably you’ve heard of the opinion piece written by Matthew Parris, who grew up in Malawi. He had just returned from a visit there (I wonder if our paths crossed in December?) and he stated: “As an atheist, I am truly convinced that Africa needs God.” Here's the link:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/matthew_parris/article5400568.ece

We couldn’t help but agree, but why in the world would an atheist say this? Why doesn’t he just say, like many do, that we just need better funding, more rigorously-administered projects, more education, more schoolteachers and orphanages and agricultural workers and solar cookers? We need trees planted, wheelchairs built, food aid distributed, AIDS education. The list is seemingly endless of what Africa needs.

Well, we would not disagree that any of those things are needed. And we would not disagree with the idea that Christians should be the hands and feet of Jesus, helping the orphan and the widow, serving the poor. Indeed, Christians should be the first in line to help the needy.

However, during our time here, we have watched those who are involved in trying to provide those things become very frustrated with lack of progress. Wherever there is push to change, without corresponding "heart work", we don't see progress. A friend of ours, who works with the government, estimates that over 90% of development projects fail. We were shocked to hear this. Now, this is not to say that projects don't bring some relief. Medical work, in particular, eases the suffering of the, well, suffering. What I am talking about is local projects, designed to change communities, change people's attitudes and practices, designed to alleviate poverty permanently. The West's efforts to "fix" Africa don't seem to making the progress we expect. Don't even get me started on that idea!

Often they fail because although they change people’s circumstances, they do not change people’s hearts. Take a look at the opinion piece I referenced above. He goes so far to say that the societies he has seen impede personal progress. Well, yes. I think in the West we put too much emphasis on individualism, but there are aspects of the "group think" here that I'd like to see change. Specifically, we see the evidence of selfishness and fear destroying hopes for change. The AIDS workers who were trained by the NGO don't care about their patients, and don't follow up. They were glad for the jobs, but do them sloppily and the AIDS rates don't go down. The agricultural workers steal as much as they can because they are afraid the jobs are temporary. Local farmers are afraid to change their environmentally destructive practices because they might offend the ancestors. When someone becomes ill, they are sure they shouldn't follow these new ways. The NGO comes in to help a poor village improve health, sanitation, and agricultural practices. "How should we start?", they ask the people. "Buy us a mill so we can make some money" comes the reply. The mill is purchased, and after the foreigners leave, it is sold by the chief and he buys a car, which then breaks. 3 years down the road, nothing has changed for the village. The young mother who tries to get her microbusiness going finds that her relatives come and ask for money whenever she makes a profit. Culturally, she is unable to refuse for fear they will become angry and curse her or spread lies about her. She never gets ahead.

What will end corruption, bigotry, cruelty, greed and selfishness, and most of all, FEAR? We believe the answer is a change in the human heart, done only by the Holy Spirit. It doesn't surprise us when people act like - people. It is not that people here are more sinful than they are in America, it is that this sin comes out in different ways. We don't believe real change will happen widely until people's hearts are changed.

When we are affected by his presence, we start to change. Then and only then can we be the instruments the Holy Spirit can use to change the hearts of others. We begin to understand the power and goodness of His plan, even in the midst of this suffering. We gain power over the curses of our neighbors and begin to love our enemies. And together we see bits of the kingdom of God here on earth. We see it in kindness and sacrifice, in believers standing up to traditional practices which operate in fear of the ancestors, we see it in families being united in the desire to know God, not simply act out what is expected.

This atheist has seen it, the difference in the Christians. We see it here. We hope you see it there, in your self, in your family, in your neighborhood. Christians SHOULD make a difference in the communities in which they live. It is a struggle here to equip the Christians to live as salt and light - they face many obstacles, and one of those obstacles is lack of understanding of who God really is and who THEY are in Christ. That is powerful knowledge and we continue to hope more and more people will grasp it. - Cami

AIDS and the news

2009-03-25T09:46:00.007+02:00

Recently, this editorial appeared in the Washington Post:

Condom Sense
Pope Benedict XVI is wrong.
Washington Post Editorial, Thursday, March 19, 2009; Page A14

THE LATE New York senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan once said, "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion but not his own facts." This holds true even for the pope.

While on a flight to Cameroon on Tuesday to begin a weeklong journey through Africa, Pope Benedict XVI said, "You can't resolve [the AIDS epidemic] with the distribution of condoms. On the contrary, it increases the problem." In a perfect world, people would abstain from having sex until they were married or would be monogamous in committed relationships. But the world isn't perfect -- and neither is Pope Benedict's pronouncement on the effectiveness of condoms in the battle against HIV/AIDS. The evidence says so.
___________________
Obviously, that is just a short piece of it, and you can read the rest of the article here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/18/AR2009031803136.html

Why do I bother to mention this? Because I totally agree with the Pope on this one. Condoms are not the answer to the AIDS epidemic in Africa. In other places, perhaps they are, and in certain populations in Africa, like truck drivers and the prostitutes they frequent, they are the answer. But in the vast majority of cases, condoms are not going to solve the problem.

I'll tell you more about that in a minute. But first, I wanted to explain something that is not commonly known among people in the West. Before I came out to Mozambique, my cousin and I were having a discussion about WHY there is such an AIDS epidemic in Africa and why it hasn't spread so rapidly in America. Certainly there are lots of people having unprotected sex in America, but the epidemic really has been limited to high-risk populations for the most part, and education and condom use has really slowed the infection rate. Why has it taken off like a rocket here? Was malaria weakening the immune system of people so that they were more likely to contract HIV? That was one theory, but didn't account for its spread in areas where there is little malaria. Poverty certainly has its role to play in weakening people, or giving women few sexual rights. All those are factors, certainly. But in talking to our mission AIDS coordinator, who has a lot of on-the-ground experience with this, and with people here, especially missionaries who have been here a long time, I found that the answer is that many, many people have multiple sexual partners. In America, people tend to be serial monogamists. They have one parter for a number of months or years, then have another (Then there are those who abstain or who have only one long-term partner).

Here, one person will have several partners during the same time period, and each of those people have several. This spreads the virus much more rapidly. Women have few sexual rights, and this makes the problem much worse. It was hard for me to believe that this was going on at first, but unfortunately it is true.

So, why won't condoms solve this problem? Just pass them out to enough people, make them available for purchase, educate people about the risks, and the incidence will fall, right? Experience and research has shown that this is not the case.

Here's an excerpt from an interview was done by Christianity Today:
_____________

Condoms, HIV, and Pope Benedict

Leading HIV researcher Edward C. Green says criticism of the pope 'unfair.'

Interview by Timothy C. Morgan | posted 3/20/2009 04:27PM

Edward C. Green is one of the world's leading field researchers on the spread of HIV and public health interventions. He's the director of the Harvard AIDS Prevention Research Project, and is a leading advocate for evidence-based interventions. He has been sharply criticized by some public health experts for supporting sexual partner reduction programs and for endorsing the so-called ABC method ("Abstain, Be faithful, or use a Condom") for fighting the transmission of HIV. After Pope Benedict's comments earlier this week, Green agreed to answer Christianity Today deputy managing editor Tim Morgan's questions by e-mail.

(Here is one question that he answered)
CT:Is there any country in Africa with a high HIV infection rate that has implemented new programs and seen infection rates fall? If so, what strategies are being followed?

EG:I'm glad you asked this. We are seeing HIV decline in eight or nine African countries. In every case, there's been a decrease in the proportion of men and women reporting multiple sexual partners. Ironically, in the first country where we saw this, Uganda, HIV prevalence decline stopped in about 2004, and infection rates appear to be rising again. This appears to be in part because emphasis on interventions that promote monogamy and fidelity has weakened significantly, and earlier behavior changes have eroded. There has been a steady increase in the very behavior that once accounted for rates declining — namely, having multiple and concurrent sex partners. There is a widespread belief that somehow Uganda had fewer condoms. In fact, foreign donors have persuaded Uganda to put even more emphasis on condoms.
____________
Here's the link to the whole article:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/marchweb-only/111-53.0.html

Why won't condoms solve it? Well, for one thing it doesn't address the behavior that is causing the problem, but also the vast majority of people simply won't pay for condoms, and even if given them, quite a few won't use them. When people are involved with multiple partners, then condoms are needed every single time, with every single partner, and this is realistically not something that is going to happen in an economically poor society. And women with little sexual power cannot force their male partners to use them (especially poor rural women whose husbands work in urban areas, returning for visits). There are all kinds of problems. This is not to say they should not be available, or not be distributed.

People in the West see the propagation of the "abstinence, monogamy" idea as an imposition of moralistic religious people on the culture of Africa. They believe that this idea suppresses people's sexual freedom, and therefore that we should encourage sexual freedom, and try to stem the tide through condom use. They forget that traditional African culture IS monogamous. It has been, in major part, the influence of the West that has caused the problems that are now occuring.

I encourage you to read the article in CT and investigate this matter further. In a later post, I'll talk about AIDS and our local situation. - Cami

Ben turns 3!

2009-03-25T09:25:00.002+02:00

I've been delayed in posting this entry about Ben's birthday party on March 1st. He had a "bug" party, so we put up pictures of bugs all over, spread out all our plastic bugs, and made a "dirt cake", which was layers of chocolate cake, pudding, chocolate shavings, gummy bugs, and oreo crumbs. It sure was good and Ben enjoyed his party very much. We invited five little friends and their parents, and some other adult friends, and it was a very happy day. Hard to believe it has been 3 years since Ben made his appearance at the hospital in Portugal and how many places he has been toted since then! We were counting up his plane travels the other day and they were quite impressive. Portugal to USA, Florida to LA, Connecticut to Hawaii to Minnesota to Colorado, Florida to Ohio, Connecticut to Florida, New York to Mozambique! Then quite a few car trips since then. Ben is a sweet little guy, who is VERY stubborn and quite adventurous. Everyone comments on his love of climbing on things, and he travels everywhere to his own soundtrack (DUHM Duhm Duhmn) as he hums his "theme music" while he plays. Often he sings to himself and he loves the Rescue Heroes, Spiderman and Superman. Last week Kevin urged him to eat his food, ben, and he replied "I not Ben! Right now I Superman!" Ok Superman, eat your food. He keeps us in stitches and we can't imagine life without him. -Cami

Those Fine Young People

2009-03-20T12:48:00.003+02:00

Sorry about the title, guys! I know you'll hate it. But I wanted to post about some wonderful young people who are trying to make a difference here. There is a local orphanage, run by a young Mozambican man who is married to an American, and some of the missionary teens periodically try to do things to support them. Last week, they had a car wash/oil change and asked all the expats to come by and donate in exchange for services. I couldn't make it to the location, so they came to my house and whipped out their vacuum cleaner, buckets and sponges, and cleaned up our car in a jif. I realized, as I watched, that Benjamin doesn't know what a vacuum cleaner is! He hasn't seen one since he was less than a year old.

Anyway, these "fine young people" (really, they are!) did a great job and raised some money to donate to the orphanage. These same folks lead the worship at the English Fellowship every other Sunday night with overheads, keyboards, drums, guitar, piano and singing, and we feel greatly priviledged to benefit from their talent. You have no idea how much professionaly-done worship can minister to a tired missionary!

So, thanks guys! And yes, there in the front row is Ian, the young man who was airlifted out near death with malaria just a couple of months ago. We are all glad to see him back and looking great (no matter how dirty he is). Praise God! - Cami

Boogers

2009-03-20T12:00:00.004+02:00

Well, I complained in a previous post about people digging for boogers and God thought He'd have a laugh at my expense. Me and the boys have been sick this week with croup/cold/flu with fever, wet cough and lots of congestion. Ben, predictably, has been very boogery and I've been too sick to follow him around the house wiping his nose constantly. So, he's taken to wiping his nose on the back of his arms, then coming to my bed and wiping it on ME or on my bed. Ewwwwww! Finally this morning I hit on the idea of giving him a big cloth handkerchief and he seems interested in wiping on that instead. Here is a photo of him, fast asleep with his head on the kitchen table. I asked him to take some cough medicine so that he wouldn't be up all night coughing, and he refused. When told he would sit there until he took it, he said "ok" and there he sat until he fell asleep. It is so pathetic! He is such a stubborn little guy, and even an offer of chocolate could not budge him. Toby was always such a sensible little guy, and when told "Here, drink this bad-tasting medicine and I will give you a lollipop." it went right down the hatch. Ben would rather die than let it touch his lips. I managed to get a little into him, but he did indeed cough half the night, keeping both of us up. Next time: we sit on him. Sheesh. - Cami

10 Things I Have Not Gotten Used To

2009-02-28T07:10:00.004+02:00

Things are just different here in Mozambique, and although there are things that don't phase me at all anymore (like seeing a mentally ill naked person walk down the street - although it is sad) there are some things that make me just shake my head in disbelief.

1. On a positive note, the generosity of some of the poor continues to overwhelm me. Kevin will go to preach at a church outside of town, where everybody is hungry or has been living on powdered manioc for months, and will come home with a big bunch of bananas or a bowl of peanuts. That kind of generosity is astonishing to me.

2. The callousness of medical professionals toward people here. The attitude seems to be, "If you don't pay me something extra, you are not worth my time." This week, we went to visit the wife of a pastor in the hospital who had her 4th c-section and she was moaning in pain. She told us she hadn't had anything for pain for 24 hours (and this was only 48 hours after the surgery). When I questioned the nurse, she was irritated that the woman hadn't told her. The nurse hadn't checked on her at all? Apparently not. The nurse said they didn't have any of the injectable pain medicine, the hospital was all out. I dug some ibuprofen out of my purse and gave it to the poor woman, and the nurse said, "Well, we have THAT". But apparently didn't care to give her any. You should have seen the sewing job on that massive 8 inch scar that ran vertically. I could have done better, and I have no medical training. I am so thankful I have the means of avoiding treatment in that hospital.

3. Some of the personal habits of people here are somewhat disturbing to me, though none of the locals seem bothered. The "ick factor" is pretty high when I see someone digging around in their nose for a booger, and on the street this is not uncommon. People we know don't do it, though among children it is rampant. A personal habit that irritates me, without the "ick factor" is men who walk down the street, hand firmly planted on their crotch. Again, educated people don't do this, but quite a few of the poor young men do. I want to yell out the car window at them "Hey, is it still there?" but quite frankly that would be inappropriate as it would indicate too much interest in the matter at hand. Funnily enough, we saw this quite a bit in New York as well!

4. Although I am used to the crazy drivers, pretty frequently I am annoyed and upset at the inconsideration and aggressiveness (not to mention stupidity) of some drivers here. Yesterday, I was driving behind a minibus taxi, on a very bumpy dirt road. We were going along at an ok clip, but too slow for the guy behind us. He pulled up beside me and then, when another car approached from the other direction, tried to run me off the road so he could get in front of me. Not kidding. I laid on the horn, and he missed me by inches. I drove in New York, including the city, for quite a few years, and I don't mind high-speed, aggressive driving. But this kind of thing happens all the time, and is just plain dangerous and ugly. Cars turn suddenly in front of you to do a u-turn, motorcycles weave around you and cut you off, and bicycles laden with charcoal or wood wobble unsteadily down the road, blocking traffic. Quite a few people drive in ways that are unsafe.

5. Closely related to that is the large numbers of small children who ride around on motorcycles and bicycles, hanging precariously with no helmet and without being strapped on in any way. Last week I passed a guy on a bicycle tooling down the road with a baby that couldn't have been more than 14 months old sitting on the bar in front of him, holding onto the handlebars. He wasn't holding the child, but was driving the bike. He was on a main street, with cars whizzing by. It made me shudder. Frequently, I pass motorcycles laden with 2 or 3 children positioned around the driver. These drivers are usually careful (they don't want their children injured of course) but it seems a recipe for disaster. Nobody has a helmet in these cases.

6. Overall I have adjusted to the street boys who harrass me next to my car. I've created ways of entering and leaving my car with my purchases to minimize the risk of theft. However, at the central market I struggle not to lose my patience. Only once have I ever paid a boy to carry my purchases (in the two years I've been going!) when I was on crutches after knee surgery. But these kids see my white face and think "Bonanza!" or at least hope for a few pennies anyway. They follow me through the whole market, repeatedly asking me to buy their plastic bags, or to carry my purchases. Whenever the vendor weighs out my tomatoes or whatever, they hopefully try to grab the bag to carry it for me. "No" I repeat over and over and OVER. As I dig in my bag for money, they edge closer and closer to look in my purse. Theft is pretty common there, so of course I wonder if they are going to make a grab for it. Frequently, I gently push one of them back from my elbow. When I bring my kids, they tease and laugh at them, which is upsetting for Toby and Ben. However, they are kind and help them get up if they fall. Although I feel very sorry for these kids, I get awfully tired of being harassed. I guess I do feel kind of like a rock star, with an entourage of toughs following me around like a pack!

7. The "Great White Hope". The Christians here are lovely people, and sincere believers. Unfortunately, quite a few of the Christians see foreigners as the answer to their prayers. The answer for financial support for the church, the answer for evangelism and the answer for teaching. Churches hope to get their own missionary so that someone will pay for their church buildings, transport their pastors and leaders around to conferences (and pay for them), teach the church, and give their group prestige. There are very good reasons why they feel this way, including grinding poverty, lack of transport, the history of this country and the very real lack of training for pastors and leaders (one reason we are here). But it is hard to convince some of the believers here that they can do it themselves. One has to disentangle oneself from requests and expectations, and try to build up the Church by building up the leaders, instead of taking over and running it (what many want you to do). When you visit a church, you are treated like royalty and although it reflects the hospitality and generosity of the local people, there is also sometimes the attitude that the whites are better than the local people. It is so upsetting, the low self-esteem of many of the people here and we wish that people felt better about themselves and their ability to run things.

8. People chatting in the local language in front of me. Now, I can't say I blame them, because for everyone here, Portuguese is their second language. Same as for me. So, when I visit people, often there are side conversations going in Macua, the local tribal language. Frequently, however, people make comments about me and chat in front of me (while I sit watching) in Macua, which I understand not at all. It is not considered rude here as far as I know, but I wonder what they are saying about me! Especially when they laugh.

9. The inconsistency of services. Internet goes out suddenly and can be out for days, and no apology is offered. Water goes off and on, and electricity suddenly cuts out. The cell phone network goes down for no apparent reason, for a whole day. In general, we have adjusted to this and understand that this is just the way life is. The water and electricity, especially, we have learned to deal without. However, we often get frustrated when we can't contact people or send out information that is needed by others. This is more a matter of control of one's attitude and attempting to keep a sense of humor, rather than descend into a bitter anger about "all that is wrong here", as we see some expats do.

10. Pregnant ladies everywhere! I haven't gotten used to this yet. I think I have trouble reconciling this in my mind because I see the burden that all these children are on the ladies here. Children are a blessing, I believe that firmly, and whenever someone tells me (or I see) that they are expecting, I am truly happy for them. However, I wish that circumstances (misunderstandings about the body, difficulty in getting birth control that works for women, no access to birth control in some circumstances, ignorance, and ridiculous expectations for sexual performance from women) all contribute to almost constant pregnancy for many of the ladies here. Of course, there are lots of good reasons for this, too. Babies are lost at a much higher rate here due to hundreds of reasons I don't need to go into here, and large families are considered a blessing. But the constant work and struggle of so many of the women to care for and raise all those children is hard for me to see. I don't advocate abortion, by any stretch of the imagination, but I do frequently wish that the circumstances of women here could be changed on all fronts. I believe it will, over time, but it will be a long road.

- Cami

Cholera

2009-02-20T09:01:00.003+02:00

You may, or may not, have heard of the cholera problems this year in Africa. Cholera is generally caused by dirty water. Fecal matter infected by the cholera "bug" gets in the water, and people injest it. That's why we don't have it in America anymore (last outbreak was in 1910). When you become ill with cholera, you can generally survive it. What will kill you is the dehydration, because one of the main symptoms is raging diarrhea and vomiting. It can literally kill you within hours, since the victim goes into shock from dehydration. It is particularly dangerous in children.

Unfortunately, this has been a bad year for cholera in this area. It comes every year, with the rainy season, but this year is worse. I am not really sure why. We hear of cases here and there, and many times the person can be saved if IV fluids are introduced quickly. However, we have heard of deaths. It isn't the kind of epidemic that we are right in the midst of and can really report on, but one that we hear of secondhand from Kevin's students, who have relatives or neighbors dying from it. There is one town very close to Nampula where has been very bad, apparently.

We aren't very concerned about getting it ourselves, if you are wondering. We only drink and cook with filtered water, and wash all our fruits and veggies with bleach. It is rarely spread from person to person, and if one avoids the contaminated water, your chances of getting it are very low.

There is so much suffering here, so much suffering that is PREVENTABLE. Malaria, cholera, malnutrition, AIDS. It is so frustrating. - Cami

The week in review

2009-02-20T07:47:00.010+02:00

Well, our internet was down for a week, and we had lots of "fun" during that week. Kevin got really sick last Tuesday, and though a malaria test showed negative we started him on the medication on Wednesday, when I realized that if he got any sicker I'd have to take him to the hospital. So, he started treatment and within 24 hours showed noticeable improvement. He couldn't eat anything without throwing up for 3 days, though, and lost 8 pounds. He was pleased to be back to the weight he was when we married 17 years ago! At the same time, he had a nasty infection in his leg from a deep wound sustained during a small motorcycle accident the week before. I started treating that with a broad-spectrum antibiotic but after 4 days it really was not much better. A call to a local missionary doctor revealed that it was probably a staph infection, so a new antibiotic was in order. Today, 2 weeks after the accident, it is much better, though still swollen. We continue to hope it will improve and not have to be opened up and cleaned out!

Meanwhile, Benjamin had a nasty case of impetigo and had blisters and sores all over his body. Remember the photo of him with the purple spots? It got much worse than that. Started with ringworm and turned into the bacterial infection. It was itchy and nasty, and he shared it with Toby and I. Toby's spots seemed to not be spreading, but then a few days ago a whole new colony broke out in the other armpit and now he is also on antibiotics (which Ben ended up starting last week).

At the same time, Ben and I were locked in battle in the "vegetable wars". For two years, he's refused to eat veggies and finally I'd had enough. Needless to say, it was ugly but after 2 days of not eating, I won. He is just as stubborn as I am (Kevin says) but I am wilier. for now, anyway. I had a stomach bug all through this and Ben and I continue have upset tummies. We've been a mess!

Here is a photo of Toby and Ben's playhouse. Nice, huh? It was built by one of our guards, Carlos.

Next is our tire swing and water tank. The tank catches rainwater from the garage roof and is used for all the outside washing and watering. We could hook it up to the house and use it inside but that would take more work than we are willing to do right now. Plus the tank isn't big enough to take care of our needs during the dry season.

This lovely mango spider was in our backyard this morning. It is as big as my hand. Ick! However, I am told they don't bite and Toby spent a lot of time last year with little friends catching them. Ugh.

I decided to post a few photos of our backyard, which is looking rather more lush these days. Why no grass, you ask? It breeds mosquitoes. I'd rather have just the dirt and have fewer mosquitoes around. Just with the trees and shrubs, we've noticed a lot more mosquitoes this year. We have to keep our bed nets well tucked in at night to keep them out.

We constructed an arbor across the back porch to grow passion fruit vines and shield the porch from sun and from the rain that drives in. We've already got some fruit going and I look forward to making some juice! In our yard are also papaya trees, banana trees (we've been enjoying those lately), an orange tree, mango tree, and guava tree. Also something called "coracao de boi" or "heart of ox" which I really don't like at all but Kevin does.

Our backyard is full of flowers, zinnias. Right now. Fernando knows how much I love flowers so he plants them all over the place. They are great for making a bouquet and taking to a friend.

And lastly, here's a photo of Fernando, our guard, playing with Ben. He is really such a nice man and the kids love him. it is very rare for an adult man to play with children here, but he is good-humored about it when Ben takes his hand and asks him to play. We go out and save him after a few minutes! - Cami

Going to Nacala

2009-02-20T07:31:00.006+02:00

Every once in awhile we REALLY need to get away, and the easiest getaway for us is in Nacala, a port town just 2 1/2 hours east of us. We went off 2 weeks ago and enjoyed two nights and 1 1/2 days there (way too short) visiting friends and snorkeling off the beach. Toby made his snorkeling debut, after months of paddling around with his mask and fins. He put on his mask and snorkel, inflatable armbands to make it easier, and his fins, and off we went around the bits of reef. We were more than 30 feet offshore, and he did fantastic! He was excited to see a lionfish, clownfish, puffer fish, cowfish, sardines leaping out of the water (and whacking him in the head!), and about 10 other types of tropical fish. Plus anemones, an eel and various kinds of coral. He is one lucky kid, and adventurous too. He was totally hooked, and dad and mom took turns taking him out. He can't wait for our next trip out to the coast. - Cami

Artemesia Seminar

2009-02-20T07:20:00.004+02:00

A few weeks ago, an Austrian missionary friend of ours taught a seminar in our garage on the uses of Artemesia. What is Artemesia, you ask? Well, it is a plant from Asia that has been used there for hundreds (thousands?) of years in the treatment of malaria. A group called Anamed (Action for Natural Medicine) has been promoting its use in Africa as a natural treatment. They do this not because they believe herbal is always better (though sometimes it is) but because in many parts of Africa, people either do not have access to medications, or do not have the money to purchase them. The use of the plant has had a great deal of success in treating malaria, especially in rural areas where it is hard to get or afford medications.

Artemesia is not easy to grow here in Africa, where it is not native. It takes careful cultivation and a lot of attention, and our guard (also who does the gardening) has struggled to get things going in our yard. However, he has had more success that most, and currently we have a small bit of production going on. You remove the leaves of the plant, dry them, then put a teaspoonful into a cup of boiling water to make a particularly nasty-tasting tea. This can be drunk daily to prevent malaria, and Kevin and I have been using this (sporadically) over the last year. Recently we've started using it for the kids, by crushing up the dried leaves and mixing it with chocolate sauce! For us, this is a good prophylaxis (to prevent malaria). However, for local people it is used mainly as a treatment, again by making a tea and drinking it over a course of 10 days.

Sigi, our Austrian friend, led a great seminar and about 22 people attended. Missionaries and local people all showed a lot of interest and purchased dried leaves and creams (it can also be used to treat various skin conditions) and carted away informational books and posters. Whether or not people will pursue its use remains to be seen. People here have to be really convinced that something like this can change their lives in order to use it regularly. We hear that those Mozambicans who drink it weekly see a great decrease in the amount of malaria they have (people here have it regularly), as well as a decrease in other sicknesses. The bitter taste, however, is a real deterrent! We hope that this seminar will really make a difference in people's lives and are so thankful to Sigi (who was not feeling well) for really making a big effort to put on such a great seminar. - Cami

Spotty the Ben

2009-02-07T09:06:00.003+02:00

Ben came down with some very strange skin lesions this week, and at first we thought it was just a couple of sores from falling down. But, when we noticed how round they were, and that they were spreading, we realized that it is Ringworm. Ringworm is actually a fungus, not a worm, and is treated with antifungal cream. By the time we started him on the cream, he had spots in 4 different places, and despite our efforts they are continuing to spread. Missionary Susan here in Nampula recommended we try something called Gentian Violet, which dries out the sores and hopefully will keep them from spreading. So, this morning we told him he was going to be a spotted leopard and painted him up. "Pah-et yepahd?" He asked. Yup. Pah-et yepahd. Cute, huh? We'll hope that this stops him from looking like he has leprosy, though meanwhile he looks like he had an accident with a marker. - Cami

At the Hospital

2009-02-07T08:47:00.003+02:00

A friend of mine has a baby with various problems and I have accompanied her to the hospital a couple of times. There is no "primary care physician" system here. You don't go to the doctor's office unless you have money to pay for a private visit. Completely out of reach for most people. So, whenever you have the flu, or malaria, or any other medical problem, you head to the hospital. It is not easy to see a doctor, however. I believe there is about one doctor per 50,000 people here. Yeah. Bad.

So anyway, we went down to the central hospital to try to see the neurologist because the baby was diagnosed with some water on the brain. We were extremely lucky to have found this out. The baby was in the hospital several weeks ago with bad diarrhea (a big problem here) and while there a pediatrician happened to be visiting from the capital city, and noticed the size of her head. A CAT scan was done (WOW! We were so amazed that there is a CAT scan here! And it was even working that week!) which showed a small amount of hydrocephaly. So an appointment was made with the neurologist for the following week.

We arrived into the big central waiting room and were directed to one corner. The nurse came out after awhile and called some names, and those people were told to go home and come back another day. Then some more names were called, and people went in. After two hours, I told my friend I had to go and teach a class, and we decided I should ask the nurse if the baby's name would be called soon. She told me that we were waiting in the wrong place. Sigh. So we went to that area and were told the baby's name wasn't on that list either. We were sent down to the appointments area, where we were told to go back to another area and ask someone else. We did, and he told my friend that we were supposed to see the neurosurgeon, not the neurologist, which he had told her the day we made the appointment. She had been confused, apparently. We went down to the neurosurgeon's little corner, and were told that he wasn't there, hadn't been there, and furthermore was away at a conference and wouldn't return for two more weeks. Could we make an appointment? No. Back we went to the appointments area, where we were told we could return on February 6th for our appointment. However, we'd already been told that the doctor wouldn't be done with the conference until February 7th.

SO, I questioned the appointments guy. Are you sure he will be here? Yes, I am sure. Are you going to write the baby's name down in the appointments book? No, it is not necessary. So, we have an appointment but you are not going to write it down? Correct. So, we will come here on February 6th and the doctor will be here and the baby will have an appointment? Yes. What time? Come at 9:00.

Now, we both knew he was lying. But in this culture you are not supposed to call someone on it. I pushed the envelope and asked, "What is your name, sir?" "Geraldo". "So, Senhor Geraldo, I will come here on February 6th at 9:00 with this baby and the neurosurgeon will be here?" "Yes." "But he is not due back until the 7th." "He will be here". Riiiiggghhht.

So my friend and I go outside and talk about it, and agree he is lying. I had to go, but she said she would stay and talk to the head appointments guy. Later, she told me that Senhor Geraldo was very "emotional" about my direct queries. He said he had never met a white person like that! I was VERY pushy, even though I had a smile on my face. Oh well! She spoke to the head appointments guy, who told us to return on February 12th in order to make an appointment. Who knows when the appointment will be!

And why did I have to go with my friend? Two reasons: First, the appearance of a foreign (usually white) face opens doors and gets you better service at the hospital. Why? Because the staff know that the foreigners will complain to the higher-ups and may KNOW the higher-ups. Not necessarily true, but it helps. Second, most local people here have zero medical knowledge and are afraid to ask questions of the doctor. Doctors usually don't explain what is going on with a patient and often will listen to the complaint, write a prescription, and go on to the next patient without even telling the patient what the problem is. Just take the pills! So, I am able to listen, process the information, and ask questions.

We'll be back for yet another exciting visit and will hope that we make some progress soon. Please keep baby Cremilde in your prayers. She is doing well but faces some medical problems that need to be addressed. - Cami

Cow in a Bag

2009-02-07T08:24:00.003+02:00

You don't see too many cows around here. Mostly it's goats and sheep, and there isn't any milking of goats that I know of. Anyway, we don't really like goat milk!

There is fresh cow's milk available here in Nampula, from Maputo (2 days drive south) and last I checked it was about $8 a gallon. Price has probably gone up by now. Prices on the boxed long-life (Parmelat) milk range from $8 to $10 a gallon, so needless to say we try to drink powdered milk, but even that is a bit pricey.

Recently, we received a personal donation that allowed us to buy this big bag of powdered milk - more than 50 pounds of good Irish powdered milk! The taste leaves something to be desired, but the kids have gotten used to it and drink it a couple of times a day. On our recent vacation to Malawi, though, we drank only fresh milk, and consumed tons of it since it just tasted SO good! :-)

The cost of a bag like this is over $200, believe it or not, but it will last us for months and is significantly cheaper than purchasing powdered milk by the box/can. So, every day we scoop some out into our nalgene bottle with the screw-top lid, fill it with water, and shake it up. Bottoms up! - cami

The Chicken Hats

2009-01-24T08:47:00.004+02:00

Ok, so I just had to post this photo of the boys in the frog and chicken hats my grandparents sent them. I don't know WHERE these things came from, but my grandparents have had them for some years and decided to send them out to the kids, who love them. They argue about who gets to wear which hat. They are wearing the "pajama pants" that are made from local fabric. Kevin's mom had these made up for them while she was here, by a local tailor. In reality, these are not pajamas, but are worn by many of the children and young men around town. Very comfy! - Cami

Shape shifting and a shift in attitudes

2009-01-24T08:36:00.004+02:00

So I was reading news on the BBC website this morning and came across the following story: Nigeria Police Hold "Robber" Goat

Apparently it is a fairly common belief in Nigeria that people shape shift, and this particular story outlines how a group of citizens arrested a goat who had previously been a man who stole a car. Here's the link:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7846822.stm

Now, the tendency in America is to laugh at this kind of thing, probably even to shake your head in disbelief that people could believe such a stupid thing. However, as I read it I just felt really sad. That is because we hear about things like that here, too. It is a reality whether you believe in magic, or spirits, or not.

This week, I saw a man who looked like he was mentally disabled. With screeches and hand-flapping, he lurched up and down the street. I asked someone who knew him if he was disabled, and they told me that no, he had stolen a lot of money, and the people from whom he stole had cursed him. That is why is was like this. I asked if he was like this when he was a child, and they said that no, it started some years after the thefts.

I know a young woman whose son had eczema. For months, I gave her creams and pills to help treat the condition, and explained to her that there is really no cure and that most children grow out of it. However, the child had difficult sleeping at night and when she ran out of the anti-itch pills I gave her she didn't contact me for more, or couldn't afford to buy them, or thought they weren't helping. I heard last week that after taking the child for the 20th time to the local hospital to try to cure him (she didn't believe my diagnosis), she was advised there to return to her home district and find a witch doctor (not just an herbalist, these folks also use spiritism). She did so, and from the grapevine I learned that the child is seemingly cured. She is a Christian and attends church regularly.

There is also a belief here that you cannot kill a snake, that it is in fact a spirit. Which explains another reason people are so terrified of snakes, besides the fact that there are many deadly snakes here (we found a small spitting cobra in our yard last year).

Lest you condemn these folks to the category of "uneducated", I urge you to remember that even now in America people believe in spirits, in ghosts, in strange and mysterious happenings. Although not all those stories are believed, those who experienced the events would swear that they happened. And we cannot dismiss the folks here for their beliefs. True or not, people here can tell you story after story about how the ancestors or the spirits blessed or cursed them, how someone fell ill after another person cursed them, or how something bad happened to a family after they mistreated someone. And it is not just bad things happening to bad people. When someone has good crops and then falls ill, people say that the neighbors were jealous and put a curse on him. When a baby is sick, people say that the ancestors are upset with the parents and an offering must be made.

If you come into situations like these and try to explain to someone that the illness is caused by a virus, or poor nutrition, or by an evil spirit or other spiritual reasons (like using charms), they generally will not believe you. Too many experiences over too many years have cemented these beliefs into people's heads. The only way to change people's hearts and minds is through slow change through understanding of the Bible and through the Holy Spirit. Only then do they begin to understand the work of evil spirits and of God's call to follow only Him, not the ancestors, and to live in freedom, not in fear.
-Cami

Unmentionables

2009-01-17T06:50:00.002+02:00

Ok, so I held up a certain piece of underwear last week and asked my houseworker what it is called in Portuguese and she said, roughly translated, "boob keeper." I won't post a photo, for which I am sure you are all grateful. This is a "PG" site. I almost choked, and then burst into laughter. Kevin, who was also standing there, went off into gales of laughter. She looked a little embarrassed but also giggled. Now, the REAL word in Continental Portuguese is "Soutien", which is very lovely. But here is is called that other thing, and that is pretty typical. The Portuguese which is spoken here is nothing if not functional. Entire classes of verbs have been eliminated (which means we spent a lot of time mastering something that isn't used here. Well, we never did master it. We poked around its edges.)

People who come here from Brazil can find themselves shocked at the difference in words. There are different names for men's and ladies' underwear there than in Continental Portuguese, and more of the CP words are used here. They have to be careful, or they will end up calling men's underwear "panties" by accident. The kind of thing to make you chuckle.

But seriously, we are surrounded by mammary glands here. it was rather shocking when we first arrived. There are no pacifiers, and so babies go for the real thing. Moms just pull down the neckline of their shirts, grab ahold of it and pull it out. This goes on up to two years old. Sometimes you are talking to someone and there it is, hanging there. Having nursed two babies myself I can cope with this while feeling vaguely uncomfortable, but I'm sure that western men really struggle. Kevin has adjusted really well, but often feels that he OUGHT to look away from the woman in question. But in reality it is just considered normal here and it would be rude to look in the other direction while talking to someone! Ladies walking down the street, baby strapped to the front, nursing away, it happens all the time. I told a friend that in America you'd get arrested for walking around with your boobs hanging out, and she about fell over laughing. Funny thing is, it is terribly shocking to lift up your shirt and expose any part of your midriff. Tummy is totally off limits here, but boobage is normal.

Actually though, the constant nursing of the babies is really good for them. Diarrhea is a terrible, terrible problem here and without this constant nutrition we'd see death rates much higher. Did you know that some years ago formula companies tried to convince Africans that they should give bottles, not nurse? I wonder how many babies died as a result. Few people have access to good clean water here, and it is not safe to give local water from the tap to young babies. So now we see signs all over the place encouraging women to nurse their babies. Very few could afford to pay for formula anyway, but there was a belief for awhile that formula was BETTER for babies than breastmilk. All this nursing creates an interesting societal dynamic, though. It means that women simply can't get away from those babies unless they are able to shift feedings somehow to further apart. It means that there are babies in all the church services, and all the women's meetings, and things are a lot more "exciting" and noisy. Babies are brought everywhere, carried on their mother's back on front in a type of sling made by a piece of material. I was at the central hospital yesterday with a friend and her baby and they were everywhere! - Cami

Humbled and Confused

2009-01-17T06:37:00.003+02:00

We had a couple of things happen this week that just left us shaking our heads. But in a good way. As many of you know, our financial support has been low for a long time. Many missionaries around the world are experiencing this, and many have had to leave the field. So, we don't take it personally and know that lots of folks in the USA (and in other countries) are struggling. We have adjusted our lives somewhat, where we can, and are trying to ride out the storm.

Last week, one of our supporting churches held a meeting to decide what they were going to do about their missions budget. We felt pretty sure that we would hear back that our support was cut by half, which would have been a blow. However, after the meeting we heard that almost all of the staff of the church has agreed to work for free. Yup, free. No salary. Now, how these people are going to live, to pay their bills, I have no idea. But they said they would do this. The Board there also said that they feel they have a commitment to their foreign missionaries, to keep us on the field, and that we would continue to receive their full promised support, Lord willing.

When we heard this news, we felt humbled. Thank you, Bakerville Church, for standing behind us even when it hurts really bad.

This week, we received our regular monthly statement (list of donations) for December. For the first time since July, we received our full salary. And there was much rejoicing. There were some folks who gave sacrifically and we are going to celebrate by going out and buying a big bag of milk powder! Well, actually I did buy two blocks of cheese, which we rarely eat these days, and invited friends over for pizza! However, every month, whether we receive all that we hoped for or not, I look at the list of people who sent money in and I feel humbled. Well, I feel somewhat guilty too, but that is fodder for another blog entry. It can sometimes be hard to receive. I look at the names and think "You know, she could have gone out to eat with that money. He could have bought a new CD and gone to the movies". There are a million other things those folks could have done, including giving to some very worthy causes, but they sent it to us to keep us here doing this work. Why? That's where the confusion part comes in.

God works in people's hearts, I know. He does it in my heart. And I don't believe everyone should give to us. But for some reason he's chosen these folks to stand with us in this work. And I am humbled when I think about it. I just have to shake my head, and say "Thank you. We'll try our best." - Cami

We're not in Kansas Anymore

2009-01-09T10:06:00.004+02:00

This little house (called a "dependencia" here) used to have a roof. And the "porch" area also had a roof. We had a massive storm here a few days ago, that left me wondering where our early hurricane warning system was (my dad keeps us informed of incoming heavy weather). The driving rain and fierce winds were whipping everything around, and peeled the roof right back, about 10 feet. The tin roof pieces will have to be removed, pounded, new cement blocks put in the wall, new wood crossbeams, etc. It's always something. We are very blessed to have this little shed, though. Before we moved into our rental house, the guard and his whole family lived in this 2-room cement house and were glad to have it. Many people here have straw roofs, which tend to leak badly and blow away in high winds. Now we use it for storage of things which would otherwise tend to "walk away" when we are not around. - Cami

This and That

2009-01-08T08:39:00.003+02:00

We are back at home and the usual things are going on around here. The water goes on and off, sometimes for a few hours and sometimes for a couple days. We felt kind of self-satisfied here at our house for the first year of our residence, because the water almost never went off. However, in the last 6 months we are sinking to the poor water service of everyone else! Of course, we are located right next door to the city water pumps and tanks, so we can go next door and get a bucket of water if we need it.

Kevin has been working on our broken pipes all week, and today we have water in the house and in the washing machine! It felt so good to take a shower last night instead of the bucket bath we've had for 2 weeks. Those never leave you feeling completely clean.

Our electricity is going out a lot more frequently, too. Over the last couple of months, we lost power almost every day. Usually only for about 15 minutes, but it means we go around and shut off and unplug computers and appliances (in anticipation of a power surge), and get the flashlights and oil lanterns. About the time we grope about in the dark to accomplish all that, the power comes on. It is frustrating.

We've had some little visitors around the house and yard lately. Earlier this week, Toby and I were working on replacing the porch screens when I noticed the cat pouncing in a corner of the veranda. I looked again and SNAKE!!! We lept up on the chairs near us and watched as the cat wrestled with the long, thin, green snake. I immediately think "green mamba" when I see a green snake, but this one turned out to be only a harmless yard snake. Our valiant cat Lucky turned it's head into mush and then carried it off to eat the rest of it. Kevin was unable to get the snake away from Lucky, but we got an ID on it so we could see what kind it was.

Yesterday, our house worker called out to me in fear, and I came to see what was happening. She had a large centipede trapped behind a door, and was holding the door shut with a broom. I thought it was no big deal, and tried to capture it with a dustpan and small broom, but quickly realized that it moves FAST! and it's wiggly little legs were waving around wildly. She mashed it on the head with the broom and carried it out, and then it started roaming around again. Finally I killed it with a big rock. It wasn't until I saw it in the sunshine that I saw the large poisonous pincers that make a nasty sting. Ick!! It was about 8 inches long, no lie. This is a photo of a South American one, only one I could find on the web with a quick search, but it looked pretty much like this.

This morning, I was walking across the yard and spied a 9 inch milipede off on some adventure. This was quickly put to an end with the back of a shovel, and he now reposes under a tree in the corner of the yard, forever and ever. Harmless critter, really, but I can't have those coming near the house. Sorry, just can't.

Meanwhile, the heat is impressive these days. Nothing compared to what folks in the Middle East suffer in the summertime, but we have high 90s and high humidity. Ben walks around covered with cornstarch since he breaks out into a bright red heat rash without it. He likes it, though, and frequently asks to be powdered.

- Cami

Putting out a Fire in Nampula

2009-01-07T20:52:00.002+02:00

Ok, so another missionary told us this story and we think it is just so funny that we have to repeat it. I probably have some of the details mixed up but oh well.

So, this missionary was outside of his apartment building in Nampula and noticed a big crowd at another apartment building. Smoke was billowing out of the windows, but no one was doing anything. He walked down the street to the fire station (the only one in town happened to be only a block away) and found a fireman sitting there in front. "You know there is a fire, right?" "Right" the guy replied. "Are you going to go there?" he asked. "Yes," replied the fireman. "We are waiting for the fire truck to come from the airport.". Apparently the fire truck at the airport has an extension to allow the hose to go into a higher building.

So, eventually the fire truck comes driving up and they raise the pole and fire away with the hose. Gush!! Unfortunately, it is into the wrong apartment. They flood the place. So, they reposition the hose. Gush! Again, wrong apartment. The stairs must be a waterfall by now. So, finally they move the hose outside the right window and "phhhtttt", nothing comes out. No water in the truck. Off goes the fire truck to get more water.

Meanwhile, they send a fireman walking up the stairs to the apartment with a little hand-held fire extinguisher. He uses this to put the fire out in just a few minutes.

And yes, this is a true story.

-Cami

Thanksgiving

2009-01-01T11:46:00.006+02:00

Now that I'm getting caught up on posts, I wanted to put up some photos of our Thanksgiving celebration (on the actual holiday of Thanksgiving. Organized by me and Melissa Maddux, a Church of Christ missionary, we had about 30 people and nationalities including American, Dutch, Mozambican, and Canadian. No turkey this year - it was toooo pricey at about $60 for a turkey at the supermarket. So, we bought frozen chickens from the Christian business here in Nampula that sells them, and the staff at the SIL center roasted them for us over the fire. Yummy! SIL has a translation center here in Nampula that is a hub for missionary activity. It has housing for passers-through to rent (it was built to house their missionaries and translators for seminars), the missionary kids' school is there, and the Sunday night english fellowship meets on site. We had the opportunity to rent their dining hall and use their staff to cook the chicken, set up the tables and wash the dishes.

Here's Ben and his little Dutch friend, Eslie. I am sure I am spelling it wrong. Ben had his chicken bone and was rolling around on the floor. During the evening, we had some excitement when a huge bunny spider was spotted creeping across the floor. It was quickly caught between two bowls, and the MKs had a great time looking at it. Ewwww.

It was really so nice to celebrate this special day with our friends and colleagues, and to be thankful for all that we have been blessed with in the past year. And the yummy food didn't hurt any,either! We had REAL mashed potatoes (mashed by hand by exhausted Melissa!) and apple and pumpkin pie (made from scratch), and all sorts of other good things. - Cami

Deforestation

2008-12-30T11:24:00.004+02:00

While in Malawi, we learned a few things. First, Malawi is considered to be one of the poorest nations in the world. Apparently, it has made some of the top 10 lists. What is funny is that Malawi is more developed than Mozambique. I suspect that the problem lies in the population density. There are many, many more people per square mile in Malawi than in Mozambique, where there are large tracts of sparsely-populated land.

In Malawi, there is a great deal more industry. Locally-made products are sold in all the stores, while in Mozambique only a small percentage of products are local. It seems, also, that there is a more fertile environment for growing crops. We saw corn planted on every spare square inch of land. However, there have been droughts over the past 15 years and to the subsistence farmer this is devastating. We see the same thing over here - in a year of good crops, people get by just fine. In a bad year, you see malnutrition, sickness and starvation.

One of the problems that Malawi faces is deforestation. We took this picture while we were driving up on Zomba mountain. Long-term missionaries tell us that not long ago, it was like driving up into a rain forest up there. It was dense with trees. As we drove up the winding road, we saw bicycle after bicycle loaded down with cut and stacked wood. We even saw one man carrying a huge load on his back. And up on the mountain, we saw entire slopes like this one, with every tree cut down. When all those stumps rot out, I imagine the mudslides will begin. I am not an expert on this stuff, but it seems a grim future for Zomba mountain. There is a forest service up there, and I hope that they are caring for it responsibly.

Why are they cutting down the trees? For cooking. Many, many people are still living in homes with no electricity, or do not have the money to purchase or use an electric hot plate. A very high percentage of people (and in Moz especially) are still cooking outdoors over fires. To use bottled gas is very expensive (especially to get it set up, with a cooker and with buying the gas), and solar ovens are complicated. When we lived in Namibia, I constructed and used a solar oven, but after about a month I gave up on it. It was very difficult to cook with, even in a constantly sunny place like Namibia. Of course, there are better-quality ones and better systems, but often it requires a commitment to longer cooking times, and different cooking methods that poor, uneducated women aren't willing, or are unable, to make. There are no easy solutions, and there are quite a few people who are working to try to create options for the poor, and to work on education so that deforestation will not continue to be the devastating force for land destruction that it currently is in many third-world countries. - Cami

Oh, I Forgot

2008-12-30T11:03:00.002+02:00

We had a "funny" moment yesterday. When we arrived home several days ago, we found that our well had collapsed, a pipe had broken under the house, mold was growing on some of the walls and some of the roof is leaking again, after a major repair job a few months ago. Kevin came into the kitchen and said, in frustration, "Why does everything have to go wrong when we go away on vacation?". I said to him (I hope with some compassion), "Kevin, you've just forgotten. Things are always like this." He looked at me intensely for a moment, then burst into laughter. And it is true. There is always something that needs fixing, and usually it is something difficult.

Of course, these things don't happen just to US. Back at home, things happen too. It's just that here, often it is difficult to get these things taken care of. Instead of a call to a professional, you are faced with sorting it out yourself. Or, you have to speak to 10 different people to figure out what you ought to do about the problem (like the collapsed well). You have to find the tools to do it with, and the materials. Kevin has been outside all morning digging up pipes, and the poor man looks like he's taken a shower in his clothes. Very humid today. The pipe that is broken will have to be cut and capped, and a new one run. This is because when the house was built, all the pipes were buried in cement and there are no access points.

Kevin is a champ. He's working on it and I am so thankful that I married a handy guy! Otherwise, I'd be out there with a shovel instead of typing this blog entry. Thank you, Kevin. :-)

Christmas in Malawi

2008-12-30T10:26:00.003+02:00

I updated our blog up to our stay in Zomba, which was a beautifully cool spot where we stayed in a small house reminiscent of a lake cottage. With flagstone floors, Readers Digest Condensed books on the shelves, bunk beds in the corner of the living room and chintz curtains, it felt like a cottage in New England. We enjoyed visiting with our hosts and neighbors, the Theissens, and our kids played with their kids quite a bit. Two trips up nearby Zomba mountain were like a little taste of heaven, with green forests, ferns and walking trails. Kevin and Toby went on a nice long hike and Ben and I hung around near the trail beginning looking at all the ferns, throwing leaves in the bubbling creek, and investigating various bug homes. You just cannot imagine what a breath of fresh air this was for us. After living in the northeast USA, we really miss being able to hike and spend time in the cool, green outdoors. Here in Moz, it is not even possible to go for a walk. There are just people everywhere here near town, and further outside of town there is just not a lot to see. And it is HOT. So, we drank in the beauty.

On our way from Zomba up to our new digs on Lake Malawi, we stopped at a game park. A Christmas gift from a family member allowed us to go on a little safari trip. The park was too wet to navigate in our truck (bridges had collapsed) and so we paid for an hour's boat trip up the river to see hippos and animals on the shore, then for another hour in a safari jeep where we saw warthogs, Waterbuck, Impala, Bushbuck, Baboons, and monkeys. We had hoped for elephants, but this time of year they move further into the park where we couldn't follow. The kids really enjoyed seeing the animals, though Ben got bored pretty quickly and fell asleep lying face-down across my lap. I think he is much more of a homebody than Toby, who is always up for adventure. Ben seemed to tire so easily on the trip, and it makes me believe that he is less of an adventurer even though he is much more personally adventurous (in the form of pursuing danger!).

At Lake Malawi, we had a big house all to ourselves. It was only about $15 per night for the four of us, and we had a gentlemen to cook our food and wash the dishes, and he graciously cooked with the simple things we had brought. We had our own little beach on the very still lake, and a little cabana with comfortable beach chairs. What a treat! Despite a torrential rainstorm with thunder and lightening that kept us up until 1 am, Santa did indeed arrive. Our small people informed us of this at 5:30 am. Needless to say, we had a nap later! That night, we drove down to a nearby resort to eat their buffet. It was a small, family resort that was very cozy, and we enjoyed the feast of pork, chicken and goat on the menu while we watched the Queen's speech on the "telly" in the small dining room.

We headed home on December 26th after quickly packing up all the presents and bidding farewell to the gardener and cook. They were busy getting ready for the next instalment of visitors. We drove south and then east, crossing the border without problems. We drove on beautiful tar roads to the border, and then were pointed down a small dirt road after we crossed. "That is the road to Cuamba", we were told. Good grief. 2 1/2 hours of bumping later, we arrived at the Piper's house, Australian missionaries with SIM who gave us a warm welcome. We enjoyed talking with them and hearing about their ministries there in the "frontier" town of Cuamba. Our trip home the next day to Nampula took only 6 1/2 hours, much less than the 8-11 hours anticipated. We found that our heavy LandCruiser handles these bumpy dirt roads fabulously, holding the road and handling the punishment while not punishing the passengers. We were very thankful for our strong truck. It handled great. When we love it, we love it, but when we hate it (paying for diesel, paying for repairs) we hate it.

At home in Nampula, we found some wonderful Christmas packages waiting for us, and had our second Christmas with much rejoicing. We found that our well had collapsed, and that a pipe under the house had broken. More on that in a later post. The pets were all still alive, including the chickens, and the summer planting has begun. A month's worth of african dust has settled over everything, and I spent quite a bit of time unearthing all of our electronics and valuable documents that I had hidden all over the house. Almost everything has been found. :-) Our faithful workers were happy to see us and we have been busily unpacking and cleaning.

We are so thankful for a good vacation. It only lasted a week, the vacationing part, but it was great and we enjoyed it a great deal. We were all grumpy (except Ben) after returning, wishing we were still in Malawi, but glad for the time we had and thankful for the safe and "easy" return.

Thanks for your prayers!
Cami

Times are Tough All Over

2008-12-30T09:26:00.002+02:00

I know we have mentioned from time to time that things are rough for us financially, for various reasons including rise in prices here, and being under-supported. However, times have been even tougher for our non-American colleagues. We had word this last month that the Brazilian Real was devalued in Mozambique by 40 percent. Months ago, the South African Rand lost 33% here in Moz, and the Euro has decreased in value as well.

Can you imagine losing 40% of your already-small missionary salary, simply to a bad exchange rate? We wonder sometimes how our colleagues are getting by. It puts into perspective our own difficult situation. We are very thankful, because our US dollars continue to have the same value here. This is because the Mozambican Metical is tied to the dollar, for reasons we don't understand.

Above, you can see how we were “rich” for the day. This is Malawian Kwacha, and when we took US$100 out of the ATM, we received almost 15,000 Kwacha! In 500 denomination notes, that is 30 notes. It seemed like a lot to us, because in Mozambique a 500 note is worth about US$20. However, in Malawi 500 Kwacha will only buy you about 20 eggs. It is confusing dealing with different currencies, as you always have to calculate things out in your head to think if you are getting a good deal. Calculate Kwacha to dollars, then calculate how much that would be in Mozambican Meticais to compare. Phew!

Fun and Freaking Out in Malawi

2008-12-21T15:26:00.003+02:00

Well, our trip to Malawi went well. We left Chimoio at 4 am in a driving rain (the rainy season chose to start 18 hours before we left) and had a wonderful road - for 45 miles. Then, the diversions, deep mud and potholes started. That went on for an hour or so, then we found the road turned back into cement along with the requisite deep craters that go by the cute name of "potholes". Really, they weren't too bad and you could dodge them if you saw them soon enough. After enough dirty looks from me, Kevin slowed down and worked on his "truck slalom" moves more. We arrived at the beautiful new border post into Malawi about noon and spent 2 hours trying to get someone to take care of us. Well, Kevin did. I stayed out by the car and tried to keep the boys entertained while I fended off all the men and boys who wanted to "help" me. Most just wanted to sell me something, but some just enjoyed harrassing me or seeing how close they could get to our possessions in the truck. Sheesh. Kevin meanwhile was inside the beautiful customs building where no one was manning the desk and the supervisor was asleep in his office. He finally emerged, quite frustrated and exhausted, to find that Ben had just pooped in his pants and that several beggar boys wanted him to provide them with lunch. Poor guy. When we tried to exit the border post, no one would come to open the security gate. We sat for awhile, and finally Kevin went out in the pouring rain to ask for assistance. Apparently he was supposed to check out there in the little tent by the gate. No one ever bothered to inform him of this. The guys there hemmed and hawed for awhile and finally took his information. He returned to the truck and we waited there some more. Finally someone poked his head out of the tent and looked at me (at the wheel) in confusion. Obviously, I was not Kevin. There must be a mistake. He returned to the tent. Pokes head out again. Finally he ambles out, while Kevin is gesticulating wildly "See, I am in the car!!! I am Kevin Zwart!!" and slowly opens the gate. We entered Malawi in a less than thankful mood, with poopy Ben stinking up the place.

A few miles outside of Blantyre, our destination, Kevin pulled over because the radiator was steaming. The pinprick that he had repaired from time to time with epoxy had widened into a crack, and the car was overheating. He was also very concerned because the car really lacked power going up hills at high speed (40 mph +). He filled the radiator again, and we came into town to buy a phone card to call our accommodations.

Meanwhile, we stopped at the "Game" Store. That is the name of the store, which is a South African chain which resembles an upscale Kmart. It is a place where you can buy all kinds of good quality things which are simply not obtainable in Nampula, and Toby had been much anticipating its toy aisle, in order to spend Christmas money sent by Kevin's folks. He was beside himself with joy, but his spirits lessened somewhat when he saw the prices of the toys. We had tried to prepare him, but even we were shocked. One Hot Wheels car - $10. One Hulk action figure, 9" tall, $30. One plastic bucket of Mega Blocks - $50. It took our breath away. We soon realized that anything that is a "brand" item was astronomical. But the things that were not were more affordable. In the end, Toby very happily exited the store with some new guns and a robot, and Ben had a robot as well. We wandered up and down the aisles, wide-eyed at all the beautiful merchandise for sale. Look at that - a rice cooker! Good-quality knives! Curtain Rods! Luckily we have all we need already and didn't need to purchase anything, but it was funny to feel like the country mice coming in to the city.

We got quite a few looks as we parked at the store, in our big Land Cruiser with the roof rack and yellow metal jerry cans (filled with extra diesel) on top. It was completely covered with mud from our trip and we looked like we had just come off of safari.

We settled into our guest accommodations (provided very cheaply by missionaries serving missionaries there in Blantyre) and the next day found Kevin spending all morning investigating how to fix the car. He about had a Freak Out in the toyota dealership. We have a plastic radiator which cannot be soldered, and we thought we ought to replace it. He inquired at Toyota and they quoted him a price of $1,800 and told him it would take a month to get the part in. He almost had a heart attack right there and then. He started praying for God to help him, because we couldn't get back to Moz with the radiator the way it was. God provided help in the form of a local Christian mechanic from South Africa, who spent a great deal of time the next day repairing the radiator in a way that we feel will hold for a long time. They also solved the problem of the low power by simply replacing the fuel filter. What a relief.

Kevin was able to have his annual ECG done on his heart, and the doctor noted with satisfaction that nothing has changed since last year (he has some mild problems that we need to keep an eye on) and commented that he could start doing the test less frequently now. Kevin has been jogging 3 miles 4 times a week since September and is feeling great. I had my knee checkup, which I commented on in a previous post. We pulled out of Blantyre at 6 pm on the 19th to drive an hour north to our cottage to begin our vacation, very much relieved on several fronts. And God continues to provide the finances we need along the way!

We are currently ensconced in a lovely small home on a mission compound 12 km south of the town of Zomba, where the Zomba mountain is. We drove up there yesterday, and up to the top of the mountain, which is covered in forest and ferns. It is so beautiful, green and cool. After the dusty, hot dryness of Moz, it is a balm to the eyes. We are enjoying wearing socks and light jackets, and resting a lot. As I sit on the couch and write this, I can hear the birds and see green leafy trees out of the window. It is nice to be away from the stresses of Nampula for a bit. Our vacation is cut short by the car troubles, but we are thankful that we didn't have to cancel it. Tomorrow Kevin and toby plan a hike around on the mountain and on Tuesday we'll head to a nearby game park for some game viewing by boat. Then we'll continue up to the lake for a much-anticipated Christmas celebration. Usually we have a birthday cake for Jesus, but this year I'll have to figure something else out. Maybe cookies. . . or ice cream, which is a big treat for us.

Meanwhile, we wish a very Merry Christmas to all.
Love, Cami

17 days in Chimoio

2008-12-20T19:34:00.004+02:00

Since we have internet access for a few days here in Malawi, I thought I'd update with how our trip has gone so far.

We arrived in Chimoio and stayed at Maforga mission with friends who are working there in medical work and mobilizing people to spread the Gospel. We enjoyed seeing the different kinds of work going on there. As we approached the driveway, we pulled over to bid farewell to our colleages, Inge and Angelika, who had kindly caravaned with us for the day. We had heard of an armed robbery on that road and didn't want to travel alone. After we said goodbye, Kevin noticed a huge amount of liquid on the ground under our car and realized that it was Automatic Transmission Fluid. Not good. We bid farewell to our friends the next day, and after topping up the ATF, drove into town to the mechanic. We left the car with him and then drove out to our AIM Mozambique conference with colleagues.

We had such a nice week with all of our colleagues. I think there were about 30 adults and 17 children. We stayed in a Catholic retreat center, and had two rooms for us and our kids, which was great. Last year we were all in one tiny room (I was in charge of housing, so that was my fault!). We all slept well, and enjoyed the many times of fellowship and teaching and catching up with the colleagues whom we only see once a year. There were some new colleagues on the field this year and it was fun getting to know them a bit. Best of all were the 3 children's workers who had come out from the USA and Canada to do ministry to the kids. It wasn't just babysitting, it was ministry! They brought two huge suitcases full of toys, treats (chips ahoy!!) and teaching materials. The kids were in bliss, and we came away with a huge bag of wonderful things for the kids. They were so kind and had such servant hearts. I was able to attend all of the meetings htis year knowing that my kids were happy and safe. Thank you Carol Ann, Cindy and Barbara!!!

Unfortunately, on the 3rd day of the conference I slipped on a wet floor after doing some laundry by hand, and twisted my knee badly. I didn't rip out the ligament that was repaired in April in South Africa (from my motorcycle accident last year), which I am thankful for. However, 2 1/2 weeks after the fall I continue to have pain and swelling. The doctor in Blantyre, Malawi, that I saw last week couldn't tell if I had torn the miniscus or not and we have to wait and see if I continue with this situation for another couple months. If so, I'll have to fly back to SA for another, more minor, surgery. I did rip the miniscus last year and it healed on its own, but there is only a 10% chance of that. We'll see! Please pray.

After the conference was over, our mechanic informed us that the seals on our Torque converter needed to replaced, and needed to be flown in from South Africa. So we ordered them, and started waiting. We started our wait in the home of dear friends from Nampula who have moved to Chimoio, Jacob and Jaynie Michaels. Here is their website: http://www.goodnewsforafrica.org/gnfamichael/
They made us feel so welcome and comfortable, even though they had finished painting parts of their "new" rental house only the day before! We had such a nice time with them, getting caught up on various things and going out to see the farm outside of town that they hope to buy to start ministry in Chimoio. On the 12th, we moved down the street to the empty home of AIM colleagues since the Michaels had other guests coming in to stay and we felt we had imposed on them long enough! The house was so ideally situated, because we could continue to visit with J & J, as well as our new AIM colleagues, the Allens. It was fun getting to know them and spending time with them, and our boys especially enjoyed playing with their girls. Toby and Rebecca (age 5) had a fantastic time.

There was delay after delay in getting the part in and our car fixed, and we had to keep calling our housing in Malawi to let them know we would be delaying a couple more days, a couple more days. It was so frustrating. In the end, the car was fixed well by our great mechanic, and the price was one we were able to pay! God provides.

Originally, we were to stay in Chimoio until the 11th, but didn't leave until the 16th. We were sad to see days of our Malawi vacation slipping away. . . but grateful that we were in such a good spot, with good friends, to spend that time. And, as we commented at the end, it was really restful and peaceful. When we left, the dark circles under our eyes were gone and we were all feeling much healthier. -C

Getting Ready to Go

2008-11-26T13:19:00.003+02:00

As we are leaving on Saturday for a month away, you might find this space static for awhile. Hopefully we won't have any grand tales of adventure that we feel we must share with you all. Just 7 hours of driving on Saturday over mostly cement roads (part of that with enormous potholes) to stay with other missionaries. Then taking the ferry over the Zambezi river next morning, and another 5 hours or so to our friends at Maforga mission near Chimoio. Next week is AIM's national conference in Chimoio, where we'll go on Monday. Then a couple days with friends after that, then the long drive north through Tete to Blantyre, Malawi. We'll be in Malawi for about 2 weeks doing medical appointments, shopping and some vacation. We are much looking forward to it.

We are experiencing the usual stuff here at the moment. Our water has been on and off for the last few days. The person who brought the water bill explained that when it rained, more water came into the dam and they had to turn off all the water pipes to clean that new water with bleach. I don't know. . . I think it sounds like he doesn't know what the heck he is talking about! We did have water for 30 minutes on Tuesday morning, and then 30 minutes Wednesday morning. As soon as it came back on, I ran to the washing machine to fill it up and wash, but discovered that the power meanwhile had gone off. Sigh. See, I thought I was being really clever and brought white towels with me to Mozambique. And all of these needed a good wash before we left. Nothing stays clean here. The water isn't even clean! I have a nice big bathtub to soak in, but once I filled the tub in anticipation and couldn't bring myself to climb into that brownish water for a luxury bath. :-) With a shower, you don't notice.

Later, the power came back on, along with the water, so I could turn on the water heater and carry buckets of hot water from the bathroom to the washer outside. About 8 buckets each load, two loads. Then the towels were hung outside in the sun to dry (as is all our laundry) along with the other 4 loads of laundry, including cloth diapers. Meanwhile, our house worker was peeling and slicing a mountain of sweet potatoes for the dish I am making for our Thanksgiving dinner tonight. We'll have about 30 people meeting together to enjoy fire-roasted chicken and the various side dishes we have brought. Happy Thanksgiving!

When Kevin went to pick up Toby at school yesterday, he found him sitting and watching the children playing, which is extremely unusual. He found Toby pale and ill, and immediately took him for a malaria test, which was positive. We started him on the medication immediately and he seems to be improving. He'll be tired for about a week, probably, and we are glad that we will have 2 days drive in the car to keep him still. He has the kind that is resistant, and we'll dose him again in a month to kill the parasite but good. Poor kid really was feeling ill last night but seems to be on the mend. Please keep him in your prayers.

Kevin meanwhile has been going over the car, preparing everything for the many miles we will drive, on some bad roads. Much bouncing ahead! We leave behind all of our pets and an empty house. Please pray for the safety of all! All of our chicken eggs will go to a local orphanage while we are gone, so we pray that they produce well.

Christmas will find us at Lake Malawi, in a cottage at Monkey Bay. It will be a bit lonely, to be honest, so please pray that we are able to find others to celebrate the holiday with. But we are very thankful for the restful time that we will be able to have. It is the "hungry time" here in Mozambique, the time before gardens are planted and harvested, and we find the many requests for help very tiring. Our resources are small and we are just not able to help many. And there is always the dilemma of who to help and how much, many questions there.

Tomorrow afternoon we will pack the car, with full toolkit and a trunk of Christmas gifts sent out by loved ones for the boys. Off we go!
-Cami

Earthquake in Nampula

2008-11-26T13:15:00.004+02:00

Wow, pretty exciting! An earthquake in Nampula! However, thankfully I don't have tales of desparation or horror to share. No collapsed homes, no mudslides. Instead, I have only this to relate: When the shaking started, I woke up, shook Kevin's arm gently and said sleepily "We're having an earthquake". He stirred, said "Yes, it's an earthquake" and went back to sleep. And then I did too. I think we ought to lose our parenting license - oh wait, we never did get that. We SHOULD have raced to take the kids from their beds and safe into the yard. Thankfully, the earthquake was not a "big one", just enough to shake our house a bit. Anyway, that's all the news! - Cami

Lying to the Believers

2008-11-23T13:25:00.002+02:00

This morning I visited a nearby church with my neighbor. I had promised to go with her one day because I wanted to encourage her to be part of a church (she had fallen away for some time) and today was the day. It was very pleasant to be with her and I know she was pleased that I took the time (3 1/2 hour service in 98 degree heat!) but being there at the church was very uncomfortable.

When we walked in, the service had already started and the members were praying. In many churches here, that means that everybody is praying. All at once. Out loud. In this particular flavor of church, it means that you feel like you are surrounded by crazy people, because people are pacing about, throwing their arms into the air, twirling around, or jumping up and down. All the while, literally shouting up at the sky. Shouting the same thing over and over again, weeping desperately, beating their breasts. I wish I was exaggerating, but sadly I am not. It makes you want to turn around and run out again! There are many believers here who think that the louder your prayer, the more likely it is to be answered. In some of the churches we visit, the windows are all covered and doors closed before the pandemonium begins. This is because they believe that where the Bible says you are to "go into your closet" is to be taken literally.

Anyway, most of the service was great. Nice singing, a bit of dancing, great drumming and some church elections done in an orderly fashion. Then it was time for the preaching. The regular pastor was away, so a higher-up from the district had come to preach.

I am sorry to say that the Health and Wealth Gospel is alive and well here in Mozambique. There are various denominations, including the one I visited today, that follow this teaching. The preacher started out well, reading verses from Matthew and Romans that talk about not worrying about eating or drinking, but seeking first the kingdom of God. He went on to talk about how the Kingdom of God is Peace, the continued into how the Kingdom of God is in our homes if we live peacefully. Not really scriptural, but ok. Unfortunately, then he veered into the all-too-familiar teaching that the Kingdom of God is here on earth among us and that if we pray hard enough and seek it hard enough, we will all have riches here on earth. He actually said: "Is the kingdom of God in the sky? NO! It is here!!". After emphasizing that the Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking (based on the scriptures), he went on to say, for 20 minutes, that the Kingdom of God is money. Houses, cars, a good mattress to sleep on. Of course, everyone loved it. He kept saying "Do you want the Kingdom of God? Do you want glass windows in your house?" To which everyone replied, shouting: "YES!" They were thrilled.

It is particularly hard to listen to this in view of the lack of Bible teaching that people have. Most know almost nothing about the Bible, beyond the verses that explain they will prosper. These very poor people continue to poor their money into the church, most of which is sent on to the leaders, who are indeed becoming rich! And the poor continue on hoping for the riches which they feel God will soon be sending their way. When it is not forthcoming, the people are blamed for lack of faith, not enough "seed money" given, or not enough time spent praying.

All of this is just another example of why we are here. Denominations like this one will continue on and likely we will not have much impact on them. Usually, folks from this church are not allowed at our classes. However, teaching believers from the other churches what the Bible says, and how to read the Bible, will bear fruit for generations to come. When people understand what they believe, and how to understand what the Bible says, they are less likely to be taken in by these wolves in sheep's clothing. - Cami

Driving Around Nampula

2008-11-19T08:02:00.002+02:00

Well, I haven't posted in awhile. Seems like life suddenly speeded up. However, my mom sent me a link to a short video on YouTube of a guy driving around Nampula and I thought some of you would find it interesting. I think it was done within the last 5 years as not much has changed.

He starts off driving up a street that we drive on quite frequently, from Toby's school to our house. If you continue on that first street straight (he turns right) you'll soon turn left onto another street, then right onto our street.

He drives on the two main streets on Nampula in this video, where all the shops and nice buildings are. Not all of Nampula looks like this, not by a long shot, but it gives you an idea of what the shops look like and the college, and the biggest hotel. The minibuses you see driving around are the taxis that everyone uses. 15-20 people per taxi. And this is what the terrain looks like, a lot of scrubland, palm trees, and dirt!!

I apologize that the quality is absolutely awful. But for those of you who are interested, you will see some of the sights we see every day.

What's for Dinner?

2008-11-07T10:52:00.003+02:00

Last week, I learned how it is to be a Mozambican woman in one way - cooking the meals. Our propane stove literally ran out of gas, and there was none to be found in town, so I was cooking on a little charcoal stove, outside, for four days.

Now, last year we lived with a lovely family in the bairro (slum area) for a week, and daily I watched the lady of the house do the cooking over a one-burner charcoal stove. It took hours, but I kind of chalked it up to the fact that she didn't have a lot to do and so could kind of dawdle over the preparations. However, I have a two-burner "grill" here at my house and I still found that cooking anything took a great deal of time. Just getting that stupid fire started was such a hassle. The you have to stand and fan it, and finally put your pot of water or whatever on top of it and wait for it to heat. It takes a long time. Thankful for my microwave, I just cooked once a day and we ate leftovers the rest of the time.

And boy was it it hot! The furnace blasting in my face was especially unpleasant in this 95 degree weather. Didn't like the smoke much either.

But back to the point. What I really found was that to cook anything takes a great deal of time. I didn't even want to fry an egg because in order to do that you have to light the fire 30 minutes ahead of time. You have to monitor the food closely because you can't regulate the temperature. For each meal of the day, you must light the fire and hover nearby. Everything is cooked from scratch, and to make the daily staple, shima, takes quite a bit of time. And that is if you are cooking that and not the cheaper option, mandioca, which must be pounded with a giant mortar and pestle, then boiled, then kneaded, then some other things I can't remember. And this is just for basic, daily living.

I was talking to some colleagues about having ladies' meetings, and they cautioned me that the women really only have two 2-hour blocks of time in a day, in the morning after breakfast and then after lunch. That is because they need to return home to cook lunch, then again to cook dinner, and they must be home after dark since it is dangerous to be out past that time in our city.

People talk about African women having it hard. I must confess that I didn't expect this level of work for city women, but for the majority of ladies in our city, this is reality. Which doesn't include of course, washing all the laundry by hand (including cloth diapers), nursing constantly, shopping daily for bits of food to put in the pot, etcetera. They do have a pretty good system with having the children and young people help with carrying water and cleaning the house, though. Absolutely necessary.

This week, I am very thankful for my propane stove. -Cami

Not Halloween

2008-11-05T19:47:00.005+02:00

Ok, so we don't celebrate Halloween over here but everyone else is sending around cute photos of their kids in costume, so I'll post this one of the boys as pirates. Those teeth on Ben just crack me up every time I look at them!

There was a little girl at Toby's school who told he had yellow teeth. Apparently he hadn't been brushing his teeth very well. So, we got him cleaned up and sent him to school with the yellow pirate teeth. He grinned at her with those awful teeth and asked "Are my teeth still yellow?" It was hillarious. Anyway, enjoy the photo of the pirates with their foam swords.

By the way, we don't celebrate Halloween here because people don't find the idea of pirates, ghosts, vampires, or witches funny. And they aren't, when you look at the circumstances here. People here still are quite fearful of witchcraft, and people do put curses on one another. It is not uncommon. Bandits and thieves beat people up and rob them regularly, and the spooky creatures of the night are not a joke. So, the skull and crossbones will not be flying on our house because people would believe we were advertising for performing evil magic!
-Cami

Obama the President

2008-11-05T19:31:00.003+02:00

Well, as we shared the news of our new president this morning with various Mozambicans, there wasn't much interest. However, when we told them that the new American president was a black man, it was amazing to watch their faces. A slow grin crept over them, ending in a beaming smile. "Wow!" many of them said.

You see, it never would have occured to most of the people here that a black man could be president of a country like America. The USA is revered as the "land of milk and honey" and widely considered the most powerful country in the world (whether that is true or not). And for Americans to CHOOSE a black man as their president. Well, that is amazing.

Here in Mozambique, many black people consider themselves inferior to whites. There are many reasons behind this, related to the tortured history of this place, to the poor quality of education that many receive, and also due to the whites that they see coming through here in their big trucks and seemingly loaded down with money. Whites are powerful, educated people. So for a country of whites (their perception of America) to choose a black man is truly surprising to them. They think to themselves "Wow, a black man can be president in a country like that!" I love watching that realization dawn on them. It is a real self-esteem booster for them and makes me feel so good.

It also makes me proud to be an American. From over here, we see and hear terrible stories of racism from all over the world. There are many places where a black man (or anyone of a minority race) would never have a chance to hold the most powerful office in the nation. But in America, it is possible. Putting politics aside, forgetting about all the issues and about all the people who agree or disagree with our president-elect, I am proud that we are a nation who can look beyond race. And happy for my Mozambican friends to know that THEY are capable of great things, that their color does not mean that they are less. It's a beautiful thing.

-Cami

Our New Addition

2008-10-31T08:21:00.003+02:00

Who doesn't love a puppy? They are so sweet and cute and fluffy and they smell so nice. Here is a photo of our little 6 -week old girl. We are still deciding on a name for her. She is quite a contrast to our hulking dog Spotty (pictured in a previous entry) and will be lots of fun for all of us. Of course, she arrives in the very week that Benjamin appears to be potty-trained . . . so now it is back to square one for training someone else - the dog. Hopefully she'll learn quickly and we are thankful for the tile floors.

Here she is with her bowl. . . ain't she cute? She came from other "missionary dogs", the dogs of our AIM colleagues the Slaytons. They are currently on home assignment, but our other colleague, Sueli, and the folks who are living in the Slaytons' house have been caring for the puppies and getting them ready to go out. Dogs like this are a HOT commodity around here - everyone wants a good guard dog because of the crime situation. You have to be careful that your puppy doesn't get stolen, though! We are thankful to have a yard enclosed by a high wall, which is already occupied by our 12 year old Chow dog, who will protect the newcomer. She is actually afraid of the puppy (as are our cats) but doesn't seem to be acting aggressive.

We are so thankful for this dog, who will be a great guard dog (just because she is scary-looking) and also a wonderful family dog if we raise her right. - Cami

Which Came First?

2008-10-24T08:10:00.006+02:00

Pictured here you'll see two sizes of eggs. The "huge" ones are actually normal sized ones, like you'd find in your grocery store. Those are the eggs from our chickens. The teeny white ones were given to us on Kevin's trip out to Lilini (see his blog), as a gift. They usually don't feed their chickens - they scratch around for bugs and scraps. These were very nice, yellow-yoked eggs and we enjoyed them very much, though feeling rather guilty about it. The giver didn't have any eggs this week, and here we have so many. People outside of town always give a little gift to Kevin when he visits (in this case, we also received a huge stalk of bananas which are currently ripening on our veranda, suspended from the ceiling!!) and are so generous. Once, he received a chicken but managed to pass it off to someone else before he got too far down the road (on his motorcycle). - Cami

Car Parts across the World

2008-10-21T17:39:00.003+02:00

Here is a photo of Kevin holding up two of the new springs for our LandCruiser. Some of you people out there who know about cars will be impressed by how huge these things are. For those of you who aren't, I'll just tell you that these are massive springs!! We broke two of our springs last year on two separate trips by hitting deep potholes, and they were welded back together. We've been getting along just fine since then but fearful that any day we were going to hit a big one and feel the thump of a broken spring. Those springs were old when we bought the car, and really needed to be replaced in the beginning. But finally, four months ago we heard about a good price to replace a car suspension that another missionary had gotten in Johannesburg, South Africa. So, we emailed them and ordered the parts, paying by credit card. They were delivered to our regional headquarters there in Joburg and spent a couple of months in our boss's garage before another mozambique missionary picked them up and dropped them four hours south in Nelspruit. There, they were picked up by another mozambique missionary and taken across the border into Maputo, Mozambique and left with a missionary there. Then, we hired a taxi to pick them up and take them to the truck depot of a Christian business where they were put on the truck coming north. They bounced along for 3 days, probably, and arrived out at the business outside of town where a Nampula missionary picked them up for us and brought them to his home. Kevin picked them up there on Sunday night. WOW! We are so thankful that these much-needed parts arrived safe and secure, and will be installed on Saturday. We are making a big car trip at the end of November and feel so much better with a new suspension system. There are 4 new springs, and 4 new shocks. Hooray!! - Cami

Visiting the Refugee Camp

2008-10-15T16:19:00.008+02:00

Last week, Kevin went to visit the Maratane refugee 'camp' 20 kilometers outside of town. You can see it pretty much looks like a village, with the exception being that there is not much growing. The soil out there is pretty bad, which is probably why the camp is there, although it is said originally it was a leper village. Many of the refugees come from DR Congo and other war-torn central african countries and have no hope of ever going anywhere else, let alone home. They are allowed to leave the camp and look for work (walk 20 km to town!), but even the locals can't find work here. Most don't speak Portuguese at all, and that makes moving to a different area impossible. They do receive a stipend from the government, which allows them to survive although this is being cut and next year they will receive nothing. How they will survive, they do not know. They live on next to nothing now and will soon have less. If you can imagine, no form of income, dependant on outside charity for all--all your food, shelter, materials to build your 'house' (plastic/bamboo/maybe tiun roof). You live in a three room house most likelysmaller than your one car garage. You have two chairs (made out of sticks), sleep on the dirt floor on a bamboo mat---with the five other members of your family. Kevin was moved not by the poverty as he sees it often on his village visits, but by the strength adn faith of these people.

There are groups of Christians within the camp, and Kevin hopes to train one of the young men who speaks Portugues, Swahili and French to teach the TEE classes there. There are many small churches as well, and Gods work is being done.

It was sad, though, to see these people who are "stuck". They can't go back and they can't go forward. What will life be like for their children? We can only hope that somehow they will be able to integrate eventually, or that the situation in their home country improves enough so they can return. But return to what? Therein lies the reality of being a refugee.

BTW, If you ever thought the United Nations High Commision for Refugees and groups like CARE, Compassion and other NGO's are useless and unneeded...pray for them all, they are still overwelmed with needs and providing nessecary helpto those in need.

Momade

2008-10-15T14:58:00.004+02:00

Last week, up north where our colleagues are working in a mostly Mu$lim area, the wife of one of the church leaders committed suicide. Apparently she believed that he was cheating on her somehow. Our long-time colleagues here in Nampula explained to us that, if she believed that someone had cursed her, causing this misfortune, and she couldn't find out who made the curse, the only escape was to kill herself. Whether or not this was the case, I don't know, but it seems likely.

Please keep Momade (Moh-mah-dee), the church leader and husband of this woman, in your prayers. He has two young children and his wife's family believes that he caused this misfortune. They have vengeance on their minds, and the police kept him in jail for 48 hours for his own protection. His children have lost their mother, and they probably cannot move back into their house for some time, as that is where the suicide took place. Momade is a recovering alcoholic, and we all fervently hope that he does not relapse.

This also leads us to the question of what will happen there in that town with ministry. He was living at the new community center that had been constructed by our missionaries. It was an open, non-denominational place that was attracting a great many people, both Christians and enquirers. Now that someone has died there, we wonder what will happen. What will its reputation be now? Beyond the personal tragedy, we don't know what will happen to the ministry. Please keep this situation in your prayers.

Carol

2008-10-10T15:39:00.002+02:00

I would just like to say a few words about Carol Nauta.

Passionate. Committed. Do-er.

I didn't know Carol very well, but those were the things that I really noticed about her. She contacted me via email a few months back to let me know she would be the liason between one of our supporting churches and us. She was bright, energetic, and through her emails I sensed a great sense of humor.

But what really made me sit up and take notice of Carol was the newsletter she sent out to us. In it, she explained how she felt that missionaries and churches needed to be connected, so she had started an organization to do just that. She was raising support so she could do it full-time/part-time. She also had led missions trips to Uganda, and written the photo of one of her group members holding a child, she had the caption "Anyone can do this. You can make a difference!" She believed passionately that everyone could contribute to missions. A verse in her newsletter caught my eye:

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms. I Peter 2:11

Amen, sister. She believed it. She lived it. I firmly believe that when she arrived in heaven earlier this week after a car accident that took her life, God said to her "Well done, good and faithful servant." We will miss her, although I'm sure those who were close to her and loved her will miss her a million times more. But we wanted to give tribute to this wonderful lady who believed in the Good News. Thank you, Carol, for believing in missions and for helping others to believe in it too.

Goodbye to Spotty

2008-09-27T16:47:00.005+02:00

We acquired a Great Dane last year from other missionaries, named Spotty. A 3 year old male, his massive stature is quite impressive to all of our neighbors and visitors!! If anyone wanted to find our house, they just had to ask a passerby where the giant dog lived. In an area where crime is common, I always have felt secure at home, even when alone at night, because Spotty was in the yard. I knew that if I were ever attacked, he would defend me with his life, no question.

However, today Spotty went to a new home because he bit our little Benjamin last week. It was a terrible event, brought on by Ben hurting the dog. Spotty retaliated with a "nip", but that nip left Ben with 13 stitches on his head. I won't post a photo because Ben's grandparents don't want to see how terribly his head was injured. I don't blame them - it makes me wince when I change the bandages. Ben is fine, and his hair will cover most of the 3 scars. But we never want to have a repeat of this awful experience (awful for all of us!!).

But I will post a photo of Spotty, whose massive hulk was an entertaining and reassuring presence in our yard. He was a great source of conversation when visitors arrived. I will miss him and his goofy antics. However, I won't miss the work I had every morning in changing the bandages on the leg wound that never healed because he chewed it all the time. And I won't miss having to put him away whenever children came over or a neighbor arrived to visit. We hope we can get another dog soon, to keep the place more secure. Meanwhile, good luck to Spotty in his new home.

Cami