Coconut oil production in Mozambique - first fruits in fulfillment of a 5 year dream

 

Last week I, Steve, made a three day trip to Maxixe (Masheshe) Inhambane about 300 miles north of Maputo to see the virgin, cold pressed, coconut oil plant that has been built and where operations started in June.  I could tell you of the packed bus ride on the way up that was uneventful except for the 7 year old two seats away who threw up the bread he had eaten all over his lap, and the guy that seemed intoxicated enough to sleep 3 of the 6 hours or the "express" bus back that took 2 hours longer than the non-express because it was not full and the driver stopped 50 times if he stopped once to pick up passengers or no one at all!  But that is another story.

 

Our vision for a coconut oil plant that would produce this high quality product started on August 20, 2002 (memorable since it was my birthday and the 30^th anniversary celebration of Zion Chapel, our home church).  During that meeting, a comment was made that we were praying about working in Mozambique.  Afterwards a first time, visiting family came up to us and said, "Have you thought about working with the coconut as a way to promote business in the country?"  Well no, we don't know anything about it.  So David and Kathy Hagen started to share. (Those of you who know them might imagine we were some of the last ones out of the building that day.)  However, we have no regrets as that "chance'" statement and encounter has led to a friendship and interest that will be lifelong if not eternal.

 

The next March we traveled to Mozambique for the first time and met Sam Grottis of WR and as I told him what I had learned over the last 8 months he said, "We could use someone like you to come and give us these kind of ideas so we can put them to work."  I think he meant "put you to work."  These two things are two of the key ingredients that started us on a path to serve in Mozambique with WR.  The rest is history and now for the rest of the story!

 

Our project manager, Romeu took me out to the factory to meet the staff and show me the product.  It was exciting to see the 60 liter (15 gal) containers full of oil in the warehouse and the 70 pound sacks of coconut press cake (what is left after extracting the oil).  In fact, they were running out of space to store things as the building is small.  The small size was intentional to keep costs down and move the product out so it can be sold. 

 

We went back into town with some press cake samples to see if we could find a place to sell it so we could get it out of the factory and get some money back too.  The ideal place to sell would be a bakery as when it is finely ground, it can be substituted for wheat and other flours, adding protein, carbohydrates and fiber to bread.  Since the bakery owner had gone home for the night, we went to an Indian owned store where they sell things in bulk.  The owners were quite skeptical at first since they had never, literally never seen such a product.  The closest their imaginations could come was the coconut you buy in the stores to put on top of cakes and pastries, "but you need a highly sophisticated and hygienic factory to do that don't you?"  They were selling "copra" press cake that looked like dirt or dried manure and smelled like well, worse  (hope no one has a queasy stomach today).  They agreed to take one bag as a trial.  When we put them side by side, the difference in appearance was like night and day.

 

The next day we had some ground in a fine sieve hammermill and took it to one of the bakery owners.  He and his wife were both impressed with the quality and saw the potential for making fortified bread pretty much right away and agreed to take a 40 pound sample for a trial run.  He was even willing to pay the same price for it as wheat flour, (8 cents more than we had budgeted in our plan) but it may actually be worth more nutritionally.  We would offer it on a fresh, daily basis for use overnight to make into bread for local consumption.  It should make softer, more nutritious bread than the water and wheat based product they have now (equivalent to pan de agua for those who know it).

 

It was so neat to watch as the coconuts were ground into a finely grated pulp, then put on the large stove top heated by the empty husks and shells.  After an hour of being turned continuously and drying to about 10% moisture, it is put into a cylinder and pressed, producing crystal clear oil worth at least $4 per liter on the spot, $10 a liter in a South African supermarket and more in Europe.  All this from about 60 cents worth of coconut.  Who said money doesn't grow on trees?  This could be Mozambique's equivalent of diamond mines only this is liquid, until it gets below 76 degrees.  That is what makes this so exciting for me as Mozambique has the potential to be one of the top 5 leading coconut oil producers again, to say nothing of making it high value, but there is tons of work to do before that will ever happen.

 

We are going back again this weekend with Janelle and David and hope to bring several large containers back to Maputo to start the bottling and marketing process here. 

 

 

Wedding Pictures

If you'd like to see Janelle and David's wedding pictures you can go to:
http://goodmiller.smugmug.com I will try to post some here later.

Return to our 2nd Home

We have returned to Maputo after our time in the U.S. The wedding was beautiful. I commented to Steve that it went off without a hitch and he said, “No, there was a hitch, just no glitch.” So true. They are properly hitched and in the process of moving to Washington D.C. In two weeks they will come see us and we can’t wait to show them around and be with them.

The glitch in our return was the airline forgetting to tell one of the crew they were on duty that day and we ended up missing our plane to Johannesburg. Three days of travel turned into four, but we got two nights of sleep in a bed, instead of one out of it.

Coming back felt like coming home in some ways. There were not many surprises and we’re back in our routines. Things at WR are shifting some so there are adjustments in the work we’ll do. But God has always been faithful to show us the way and I’m sure He will this time as well. Some greatly encouraging news is that a significant amount of project funding has started coming in from the team of potential donors we hosted in April. We had been asking God to provide them, and here they are, right on time.

We could tell of the bathroom saga-—of holes in the concrete floor and tile walls where they repaired some leaks, of dust everywhere, of plumbers and workers parading through the apartment, of workers who say they will be here at 7:30 amanha and never show, of getting to know our neighbor Abdul better as he organizes the work because it was leaking in his apartment below us. But I’ll spare you the details because I’m thankful we have an indoor bathroom with running water. Many people in Moz have “bathrooms” (more like privacy screens and not very relaxing) that look like this:

I’m (Rachel) in the middle of a challenging book that Janelle and David gave us—The Irresistible Revolution, living as an ordinary radical by Shane Claiborne. It reminds me of some reading I did in the 70’s on living in community, reaching out to the poor, being willing to leave our safe, comfortable lifestyles to follow Jesus, being committed to the Kingdom of God and not just having a narrow view and allegiance to the earthly kingdoms we happen to be born into, loving our enemies. Jesus really was quite radical. He was even killed for it! Am I willing to follow and obey his example?

Here are a couple of quotes by Mother Teresa that are thought-provoking:

“In the poor we meet Jesus in his most distressing disguises.”
“We can not do great things, only small things with great love. It is not how much you do but how much love you put into doing it.”

Steve here; it is Sunday afternoon and I am reminded that we are returning to a part of the world where soccer is king. There are very few sports here except soccer, unless you count seeing the highlights of Wimbledon and the occasional golf tournament as sports. Sometimes during the NBA season, they do show the occasionally game on Saturday. Right now they are showing a rerun from the World Cup last summer, Brazil vs. Australia. They sure like to feature the Portuguese speaking teams.

People sometimes ask us what do you miss the most when you are in Africa? Well, besides being able to sit down and spend time with family and friends, my list would be some of the things we take for granted like, soft water, water pressure, and the opportunity to work hard physically. It must be the farm boy still in me that finds physical work to be therapeutic. I just don’t have those kind of outlets over here and if other people see you working hard, they want to come relieve you of your burdens as soon as possible. After all, the boss/white guy/maybe old guy shouldn’t be doing the work.

Até a proxima (until the next one or next time)

Back home again in Indiana

This entry comes to you from Elkhart. We arrived May 3rd and have since attended two graduations, a conference, a seminar and are having good times with family and church. Here’s a picture of David and Janelle, the graduates. Janelle graduated with a BA in biology and David with a BA in mathematics and economics. Let me brag on them just a bit and tell you that they both graduated with highest honors. They are smart, hard-working kids! David will continue studying economics at Georgetown in D.C. and Janelle would like to eventually get a masters in sustainable agriculture.

We are settling into a routine of attending to WR work in the mornings (forget trying to get us by phone as we are online most of the a.m.), yard work and getting the other side of the house ready for new renters as the former ones just moved out, reading Ted Dekker books, wedding planning, meeting with people, relaxing. It has been a good change of pace. The tempo will pick up closer to the wedding and then we’ll return to Maputo the middle of the next week (June 20).

I’ll leave you with a quote from our travel home as we were landing in Johannesburg: “Sorry about the hard landing, folks, but there was a flock of guinea fowl on the runway.” Can’t say I’ve ever heard that one before!

Trying to catch our breath

It's been a whirlwind week and it won't get much better until we are on the airplane to the U.S. May 2. Last week we spent most of our energy on organizing an Ancient Paths facilitator's training and then a seminar. We had a group of five that came from South Africa to help us. We had most of our meals at Evangeline's guesthouse and it was fun to interact with the other guests. There are so many interesting people who come through her doors! We had some fascinating conversations with some folks from Texas and England.

The seminars both went very well. People really seemed to appreciate them and are asking for more. It feels like we've tapped the tip of an iceberg. The next training and seminar will be in August unless we find time to squeeze in another seminar before then. Next time I will find someone to coordinate all the purchasing of food and serving the teas, etc. I did have Yolanda, one of the facilitators that helped get meals organized. We went to the market together to get food for less. I had just come from exchanging money for all the seminar needs. We were in the car and they wanted some Rands so we were exchanging the money. We put the windows up for security even though it was sweltering weather. There were several sellers surrounding the truck waiting for us to get out and buy from them and they were all looking at us and all our money. Yikes, that didn't feel too safe. Some of these markets have a reputation for pickpockets. Even the Mozambicans that go there don't wear any jewelry and put their money in very safe places. I was thankful for Genesis, who accompanied us and served as bodyguard for the occasion.

This week was supposed to be a calm week in the office but now Steve is planning a 2-3 days in Maxixe (6 hrs away) to work on the coconut oil facility and I am making a quick run to Macia on Friday to talk with the chicken growers. Next week Steve will be with the group of VIPs coming to look at business in Mozambique. They include the CEO of WR and his wife and the president of the Ntl. Assoc. of Evangelicals. There has been a lot of preparation for this trip and still lots of details to arrange. They will cover a lot of ground, going north to Nampula, to some villages around Chokwe and to Maxixe to see the coconut process. I will be in Beira all week, working with some women on their business plan for a sewing business and training them in the MED course. I plan to spend a day or two with Tanneken also.


We are feeling encouraged, although we have our days when we wonder if we are really making a difference. But we know that God is the one that changes hearts and we need to rest in planting the seed and letting Him bring in the harvest. The Parable of the Sower makes more sense now and there is hope for those who will produce a harvest of one hundred times what was sown.

Here's a picture of the view we see from our rooftop veranda at work where we eat lunch sometimes.


A shot of the Maxixe oil "facility" (in process).

This is the drying table(below). It will be topped with a stainless steel sheet.




We're looking forward to seeing some of you soon!

Quote of the Day

Here are some quotes we have heard lately:

 

As I was planning a menu for a seminar with some folks:  "You can have a tomato, cucumber, onion salad or a tomato, onion, lettuce salad.  But you can't have a tomato, cucumber, onion and lettuce salad.  That is not the Mozambican way."  During the same planning session, "We can't serve beans and rice.  Beans are heavy and will make you sleepy."

 

"If you have two wives you are not sinning."  Said from a pulpit.

 

"We will give you your refund."  Said several times but with no results.

 

"If you have a business without challenges, it is not a real business."  Helena, the chicken project manager

 

"You need to tell a Mozambican something seven times before you get a response.  By the fifth or sixth time he says, hmmm, I've heard this before."  From one Mozambican to another who was wondering why he hadn't heard back from him.

 

"Where is the miner?  He didn't return because of AIDS."  "Where are his parents?  They died of AIDS."  "Where is the driver?  He crashed into AIDS."  Billboards for AIDS awareness.

 

"Today I need to learn how to say in Arabic, 'You are a beautiful child.'"  said by a short-term missionary in Morocco regarding some children who were making fun of her.

 

"You can't plan for a disaster until it happens."  Heard in a meeting shortly before the floods and hurricane came to Moz.

 

From a wisecracking friend:  "They have computers in Africa?  But only powered by bicycles, right?" 

 

"Me, Me, Me" a Renault billboard with a picture of a new car

 

"We have sinned and God is angry with us."  A comment by Alda, the vegetable lady regarding the floods, hurricane, drought and arsenal explosion in Mozambique this year.

 

Given as an example of self-control:  "Sometimes I am very hungry and I want to eat other people's food, but I have to use self-control and not take it."

 

On the wall of the WR office:  "Meekness is not weakness, but power under control."

 

And we'll end with a joke Steve heard:  A South African, an American and a Mozambican were bidding on a job.  The South African bid 9,000, the American 10,000 and the Mozambican 12,000.  The guy who wanted the work done said to the Mozambican, "You were supposed to underbid the others!"  "No," he said, "I'll just hire the South African and we'll split the 3,000!" 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Bombs Bursting in Air

Bombs literally were bursting in air over Maputo yesterday. This is the way a news agency described it: "A series of powerful explosions rocked Maputo on Thursday afternoon, as once again obsolete military equipment stored in an arsenal of the Mozambican Armed Forces (FADM) in the outer suburb of Malhazine blew up."

Helena and I were sitting in the office and suddenly we started hearing thunder. I kept looking at the blue sky and wondering where the storm was. Then we saw a cloud of smoke in the distance and Helena got a call from a friend who said the arsenal was blowing up because of the heat. A couple of loud booms rocked the office and rattled the windows and people decided it was a good time to go home.

At home I watched TV and saw many people walking away from the noise. Some were looking for their children who just left school, others were just walking, they didn't know where. Most looked afraid. I wasn't too worried because the arsenal is pretty far away but then I heard that the bombs have a range of 30 km. We had two loud blasts that rattled our windows and the second one shook our 5-story building. All I could do was pray and trust God to be my strong tower.

TV footage started showing the injured and dead being taken to the hospital. As of this morning they are reporting 72 dead and 300 injured although I'm sure that number will increase. Many houses have been damaged or destroyed. I just got a call from Amelina whom I wrote about in a previous blog. They are asking people to evacuate Zimpeto because there are still unexploded bombs there. So it looks like she and her family will spend some time with us.

Steve is on his way home from Zambia today. The airport here is closed until they remove debris from the runway. If his afternoon flight is canceled he will come back with a WR driver who is taking a group to Jo'berg today.

It's time like these where we really know we need to depend on God. I'm extra thankful today for His protection. Your prayers for Maputo and Mozambique are appreciated.

Greetings around the world

Since we’ve been here, I’ve seen several different kinds of greetings.

Of course, you know the American way—stand and look at each other and say Hi. Every now and then you give a handshake or if you’re close to someone, a hug. That’s it. Well, the rest of the world is a bit different.

In Mozambique the standard is two kisses on the cheeks. Actually, it’s not really a kiss, it’s more like cheek to cheek. Sometimes I need a towel because some people really sweat! And there are a couple of different kinds of hand shakes that are a bit hard to describe, I’ll just show you sometime. If the hands are dirty, then you grab arms. You always ask how they are: “Como esta? Estou bem, obrigado or graças a Deus.” If they ask you how you are, but you forget to ask them, they will just tell you “eu tambêm” or me too.

I made the mistake of thinking all Africans kissed. Once I kissed a Malawian guest and felt him stiffen up. I think in Malawi they just hug or shake hands. South Africans are more about hugs and shakes also.

In France it’s three kisses. Two is plenty for me …

In a tribe in Nigeria they get down on the ground like they would be doing a pushup. I’m trying to imagine that as you walk down the street and see several people you know.

Then I saw two Congolese men who bumped foreheads. I’d heard of rubbing noses like the Eskimos, but foreheads? I think they did it three times, left, right, left.

I found a website that has lots of other greetings from other cultures. It’s fun reading if you’re interested - http://www.brucevanpatter.com/world_greetings.html

So, hugs, kisses and shakes to you all.

Tshembeka - Faithfulness

Today my work included interviewing some folks involved with World Relief for a story that will be sent to our church partners in the U.S. I thought I'd share one story here as well.

Luisa Vilanculos, pastor of a 300 member church in Maputo (in red at right), is grateful to be a member of Tshembeka, the WR HIV/AIDS program in Mozambique. The community used to only hear about AIDS. Now they learn, they are open, they know what is dangerous and what is not. Her home and church have changed. She accompanies people for testing and supports them if it is positive. Luisa tells people, “You need to know if you’re well or not, not to live in the dark.”

Pastor Vilanculos shared that in Tshembeka they are like a family. They visit and help each other. Before Tshembeka came to their community they used to only visit believers. Now they go to any house, any religion. They have good relationships and sometimes serve as intermediaries in families. Some of the people they visit come to church now. The Tshembeka volunteers in the church care for 56 orphans and at least 60 people who are HIV positive. AIDS is increasing. Many are in denial and don’t want to be visited in their homes, but will go to other homes. Young people listen but don’t change. The pastor says, “Their spirits are dry. God needs to open their eyes.” Luisa talks about AIDS from the pulpit and tells the congregation that this is serious, it’s not a game.

Children are victims of youth and men. The rumor goes around that having sex with a virgin cures AIDS. So the church teaches their Sunday School children to be careful, and not take money from any men. The volunteers accompany them, they help them cook, clean and sometimes sleep there. Then the community knows that someone is looking after these children.

The pastor applied for a grant from the Mozambican government and it was granted for six months. With it she furnished clothes, food, school fees for orphans. She reapplied but was told she needed to have a project to make a profit for a revolving fund. They have not figured out what to do and so they are without funds once again. They have the will to help, but not the means.

* * * * * * * * * *

This is where we come in with ideas for microenterprises. Sadly, we can't reach everyone who would like a loan to get started, but we do what we can. We were very happy to learn that at least 11 chicken-raising groups have paid off their chicken house loans and are well on their way to having a sustainable business.

Finally Bilene

I felt like a math whiz last week during the microenterprise training course I taught at Iris Ministries. When that is the case it must be because other's math skills are really elementary! We were working on finding out how much a woman with a batik business spent per meter to get her finished product. It involved some division, addition and figuring percentages to come up with her final price. Some got it, but there were a lot of glazed over eyes as they tried it on their own in groups and then as I worked it out on the blackboard.

Sadly, this says a lot about the Mozambican educational system. Most of these people have at least a 7th grade education and they should have learned this by 4th or 5th grade, but apparently it wasn't learned or it didn't stick. But then, how much can you learn in only three hours per day? That's how long the average child is in school in the public system. On the news this week they reported on a school up north that was scheduled to be finished in 90 days but is still a shell with classes starting next week. They are planning to have 3,000 students sitting under the trees as their classroom. All the books and materials are stacked from floor to ceiling in the director's small mud room office. Somehow, I don't think much learning will take place in that setting.


At training I met a woman named Amelina (in center of picture). She was always there early, eager to learn and a good teacher as well. She told me she loved to crochet, so I gave her some thread and she showed me her handiwork. It is beautiful and she uses no patterns, just looks at things to reproduce them. She and her husband have three small children and no jobs. She says things “are bad.” She would love to crochet all day if she could find a market that would pay her what it is worth. If anyone reading this is interested in having something made, contact me or e-mail me a picture of what you’d like done and we can discuss it. I could bring things home in May when we come for meetings, graduations and Janelle and David’s wedding.

This week we spent time with the leaders of WR. First we made some home visits. The home my group went to was a family with six children 9 and under. Both parents have AIDS and the mother was just sitting under a tree and hardly able to move. His mother lives 1 km. away and they have no one else living with them. WR volunteers come by most days to check that they are OK. I couldn’t help wondering what would happen to these six children when they are orphaned. They will receive some help with food, but who will train them, parent them and love them, see that they get their homework done, protect them? Nine is awfully young to be the head of a household, especially with a sickly infant. It’s hard to even imagine what it will be like for them.


We then traveled to two villages. In one village several of the WR leaders met with community leaders to talk about the model village that is being set up there. A large donor from the U.S. has designated money for that village and now the challenge is to use it appropriately with their input. We slept in tents and reed houses and I even saw a rainbow overhead from the roofless outhouse. That’s not an every day occurrence! It was also nice to see the field that is being prepared for an ag project. Some of the volunteers were out digging a trench for the irrigation pipes. Most jobs are done together in community, whether it’s carrying water, preparing food or digging.

The next stop was Bilene for our meetings. It is about a half hour off of the regular route we take when we go to Chokwe. (Rachel has always wanted to go there.) It is the slow season for tourism, so one of the hotels gave us a good deal. It is on a lagoon that felt like a big bathtub, with great Indian Ocean breezes. Each day after strategic planning (which sometimes got a bit long) we played beach volleyball with a soccer ball and now we have sore hands and arms, but it was a lot of fun. It was a good break from all the mental activity and sitting.


We have just added a comment line to our blog so you can interact with us! Now you can say hi or ask questions without writing a separate email.

Coincidences? and more

When we went to South Africa we were asked to share a bit at the church we were visiting. Steve read the passage from Acts that tells of the Macedonian call and that we were looking for someone to come and help us start Ancient Paths in Mozambique when we were put in contact with their pastor. Later the pastor got up and said that when he got Steve’s first e-mail he wasn’t sure what to do with it. But he prayed and got the distinct impression that this was a “Macedonian call” that he should answer.

Sunday we visited the Tembe’s church outside of Maputo that we talked about in our last newsletter. They have been wanting help with the church as they have been involved in a mixture of Christianity and traditional religion and now want to drop the traditional religion. Steve had prepared a sermon from I John 2 that talks about little children, young men and fathers. He talked about spiritual maturity and that we start as little children and then grow into maturity. Later a letter was read and presented to us that in part said that they were “young newborn children needing the milk of the Word” and that as children they need the strengthening of the Reverend Pastor and Pastora (new titles for us!). The letter was prepared well before we arrived.

Later they set up a table for us and the leaders and served Coke and crackers. One of them looked at me and said, “You could come and share with the women during the week.” He went on to describe almost exactly what I had thought of the first time we visited—doing a small Bible study, praying together, teaching some skills or crafts or maybe teaching some to read, just relating together.

So are all these coincidences or is God working behind the scenes? I choose to believe the latter.

On Friday morning I, Steve, got up early and went out to the local hatchery where we get our chicks. I took our driver and project manager to orient them on loading the truck to carry 3000 plus day old chicks. When we arrived I could tell immediately that they were not ready for us. There were almost no chicks and none were in the proper shipping container that we normally use. After some inquiry, they told us they didn’t have enough chicks because the heat from earlier in the week had damaged the hatch. We could only get 600 of the 3100 we had scheduled to transport and they were going to have to hand sort those 600 while we waited. We thought not!

It had been as hot as we have had it for two days--100 F. Rachel was out doing microenterprise training in Zimpeto both of those days and found that using a hand fan, made her feel hotter. It was adding insult to injury by pushing more hot air around - kind of like standing in front of a furnace!

On the way back to the office we drove by the dump. Since I was driving, I almost didn’t catch it, but there were a bunch of day old chicks that some hatchery had disposed of. They had been dumped on a tarp and people were sorting through them to find the “living among the dead.” They looked like they had been through a mud puddle. Instead of being all yellow and fluffy, they were reddish brown and all matted down. I can only suppose that the people collecting them will either try to sell them or take them home and raise them for food. Who knows, some might even make it to a dinner plate. I am still shaking my head.

Today is the deadline for the submission of a grant proposal for a coconut project to the Gates Foundation. Our colleagues have been working around the clock and Steve has put in lots of extra time as well. There have been many Skype calls to Indiana and Nicaragua but thankfully the end is in sight. Now the praying begins!

South Africa - a land of many contrasts

We've just come back from a wonderful break. The WR office was closed for the holidays. The first week we stayed in Maputo and did some work as well as relaxed. Then we went to South Africa. We stayed at Mercy Air, a missionary aviation ministry that has some extra housing. They are in the country with beautiful grounds and mountains in the background.
We were greeted by a troop of monkeys climbing through the trees. We were also entertained in our apartment by a toad just as we were getting ready for bed. Hmmm, Steve took that one out but then I saw another one hopping behind the kitchen cupboard. We decided not to pursue him. The next morning I was keeping my eyes open for him but he was nowhere to be found. I went to straighten a sofa cushion and who should be looking up at me but Mr. Toad! I was surprised to say the least. Good thing I didn't sit on him.


Our apartment was built around a big rock which protruded out of the wall--a bit unusual. Here's Steve trying to rearrange the furniture.


We spent a full day exploring waterfalls, canyons (the Blyde Canyon is the third largest in the world), and just enjoying some of God's incredible creation. They say pictures are worth 1,000 words, so here are a few.







Friday we went to visit some folks that we met through Ancient Paths, who live close to Johannesburg. We drove through corn fields and it all looked like the Midwest. It was very strange to think that we were still in Africa. Then we began seeing what looked like nuclear energy plants. Later we found out they produce electricity, liquid fuel, fertilizer and chemicals from coal which is mined in the area. The strip mining doesn't look so pretty. I guess some of the mines are like underground cities with roads and street lights.

We've heard about all the crime in Jo'berg but in this community there is not much besides petty thefts and carjackings. (Yeah, watch out if you have a nice car.) We found it interesting that people don't have guards like they do in Maputo. In our hosts' big yard and house, it really felt like we'd been transported to the U.S. But then sometimes we'd be driving along through the countryside and there would be a mud hut, or a township with houses/shacks made of tin. We were reminded that we were still in Africa and that S Africa is a very complex country. The rich are getting richer and the poor are still poor. Apartheid hasn't been gone that long and though they have come a long way, there is still evidence of some attitudes and separation between the races.

Saturday we watched the videos of Level II of AP without the small group part. We'll do it right later, but it was good to get the lecture content. It will take more than one time through to really grasp the concepts.

Sunday after church we took off for the other world we live in 6 hours away. We were happy to sail through the border. Going into SA was another story as many miners are heading back to work. It looked like they would have to wait many hours.

Now we're back to reality with plenty to do and a WR staff member from Malawi coming to spend the next several weeks with us.

I'll leave you with one last picture of one of the strangest flowers I've seen. I'm constantly reminded of how creative and imaginative God is!

Xai-Xai Beach

Saturday we took some of the kids from Chokwe that do the microenterprise trainings to the beach. Most of them have only been there a few times even though they live about 1 hour away. Public transportation costs about 2-3 days' wages and traveling just for fun isn't a common thing. But they did have fun and so did we, although we got a bit burned.


A handsome man in his sombrero!












We lost track of how many wedding parties showed up at the beach. Apparently most were there for pictures although there was always a group and singing as well.




Happy New Year everyone!

Feliz Natal

It's Christmas night and we've just had a very nice afternoon with friends. Two families from Rwanda joined us for a meal and the afternoon. They are both refugee families with long and interesting/tragic stories that we are still learning about. I once asked Raquel (on the right in the green dress) about her family and she told me they are all gone, meaning they were all killed during the genocide. She was spared because she was away at a boarding school at the time.

It was an interesting meal--a potluck including pizza, chapatis, fried rice, flat chicken (they flatten it when they cook it), fruit salad, fries, and other goodies including buckeyes and ice cream for dessert. Definitely not your typical Christmas meal, but there was plenty of food and it seemed to be enjoyed by all.

Afterword, we got out the playdough and the older kids played pictionary with it and the younger ones just played. Lucas and Nadia were the life of the party. I forgot how intense young ones can be! They are a lot of fun. I wish I'd had my camera when Lucas saw the matchbox cars we got for him. The look on his face was priceless.



We ended our time with singing in Swahili (one family lived in Kenya for a time), English, Spanish and we could have kept going. The kids in one of the families speak or at least understand five languages.

These are some of the friends that enrich our lives here and it is a privilege to know them. We miss being home (the first time we've missed Christmas with family), but we are reminded that many in the world are never able to go home.

Merry Christmas everyone.

The Christmas Season in Maputo

So far the Christmas season has been very low key in Maputo. There is one store comparable to an expensive Target that has gaudy looking decorations up and for sale. We’ve seen one small lighted tree in a window and that’s about it. December 25 is called “Day of the Family” here thanks to the Communist era and the fact that many Muslims and Hindus call Maputo their home. Instead of “Feliz Natal” (happy or merry Christmas) we hear “Boas Festas” (literally good parties or happy holidays).

We haven’t even seen much advertising or commercial push to “Buy, Buy” on TV. We’ll tell you more when we actually experience a Christmas here, but it seems that it’s more about having lots of food prepared for all the neighbors and friends who stop by than about giving gifts. The reality for most people is that once they buy all the food and drinks there is not much left for gifts. For that matter, there is not much left for food in January. Some workplaces actually save part of the December paycheck for January so that their people have something to live on—a forced savings plan so they don’t spend it all in December.

Actually it’s rather refreshing not to have the commercialization that surrounds Christmas in the West. Is Christmas really trees with gifts underneath, snow, too many sweets and red and green decorations? There’s nothing wrong with these—in moderation of course. But what is the real meaning? What are we really celebrating? When the trappings are missing, it leads to reflecting on deeper meanings and why we celebrate.

Here’s a picture of our co-workers in our Ag/Trade office. Tinashe works with agriculture and Helena has been working with accounting and is now taking over responsibilities for the chicken-raising businesses. Helena is Mozambican but spent most of her life living in Kenya. For Christmas she is traveling to Kenya to see family she has not seen in six years. It will take her a couple of weeks of travel by air and land to get there.

Speaking of Ag/Trade and Christmas—if you’d like ideas for giving this year, you can see our AfricaWorks giving suggestions by clicking on the “Newsletters” link beside the blog and then “AfricaWorks Brochure.” It’s one way to make a difference in the lives of some Mozambicans.

Turkey Day--and we even had one!

Just to let you know we did not suffer hunger on Thanksgiving Day. Included on the menu was apple-mango pie for a tropical twist. We had a good day with these friends and sat at the table for a couple of hours telling stories and laughing. We did miss y'all though and wish you could have dropped in for a visit!

Smooth and efficient? Not

If you have been reading our letters for awhile you may have picked up on the fact that things don't always run smoothly in Mozambique.  That has been the case this past week.

 

We are trying to set up some systems for the chicken businesses so that we don't have to be as hands on.  The agreement is that WR will supply the feed, chickens, meds etc and the volunteers will take care of the chickens and sell them.  Systems for transporting these items would be ideal so that we don't have to make a run 3 hours north every week.  We had a good deal with the chickens and a driver from the company was taking them up every week along with the medications.  It worked pretty well until his car broke down.  Then a new supervisor came to the hatchery "who knew not Joseph" or World Relief for that matter and all deals were off.  She raised the price of the chicks and said she could provide transportation but we would need to pay for it.  So now we need to find transportation for the chicks plus buy our meds also.

 

We are working with the feed supplier and they said they could transport feed for us, but would just drop it by the road, not take it off road anywhere.  The manager promised it would go Saturday or Monday.  That was OK because the chicks were going Monday.  I had not heard from her yet on Monday so I called.  "Oh, we had a breakdown at the factory so now the feed won't go until Tuesday or Wednesday!"  So now we have chicks in the houses without any feed and the volunteers are having to walk who knows how many km to borrow some from another house.  On Tuesday I got an e-mail informing that the feed would go that day and be delivered at 3 in one town and 5 in the other.  So I called the point persons and told them and they were waiting by the road for the truck at the appointed times.  Problem is, the truck didn't even leave Maputo until 3 p.m. and arrived after dark at the first town.  By then the point person had given up and gone home with instructions to the guard to leave the feed in the church and lock it up.  At 9 p.m. I got a call from the person waiting in the next town.  She was there with several women with carts to haul the feed home.  But she had just learned that the driver decided to spend the night in the first town and was not even coming.  So they all went home and will try again the next day.

 

It's becoming very clear that this kind of arrangement will not work.  There are several factors:  1) Mozambique is not a task oriented society, relationships always trump task 2) breakdowns happen and probably more often because preventative maintenance is a foreign thought, 3) the driver may get hungry or have some other errands to run along the way, 4) efficiency is not a high value and the concept of "time is money" is a foreign one.  A trip that normally would take one hour ends up taking four to five.

 

We are seriously looking for a location in one of these communities to open a store to provide feed and meds to WR people and possibly sell some to others as well.  This will help.  We may need to hire a driver to take the chicks and meds up every week.  This would probably be cheaper than paying transportation fees to others.  We are also talking to the "Rei dos Pintos" (king of the chickens), a new supplier who may be able to help us out.  So hope springs eternal and we will keep working at it until we find something that does not turn our hair whiter than it already is.

 

Thanksgiving is tomorrow and we are really thankful to be in Mozambique in spite of the challenges.  I love looking at the palm tree out my window and seeing the blue sky and the ocean just over the house tops.  I love relating to people from all over the world and speaking Portuguese (even though I still mess it up).  We will join with some fellow Americans to eat turkey and pie.  It is not a holiday here and I was telling our host that we might be at work.  He said “That’s not right.  It’s Thanksgiving.  Take the afternoon off!" so we are taking his advice, especially since he set the time for lunch at 1 p.m.  We will miss the family gatherings and you will be in our thoughts, but we are thankful our kids have lots of extended family at home and will be well taken care of.  They are each having three separate Thanksgiving meals!  Whoa, I can't believe I ate the whole thing.

 

We're counting our blessings and hope you are too.

 

Rachel & Steve

On the road again

Well, on the road for just two days but it was the first time we had visited the communities with chickens since we returned. We were reminded of how hard Mozambicans work and some of the challenges they face. One of these was the fact that the feed company only delivered feed that was for older chickens. So, the groups took that, put it in their big mortars and ground it finer. They already do that with the corn they eat and it’s hard work. Those pestles are heavy, I tried one once!

There is no substitute for face to face communication. Phone calls here are expensive and most people don’t say much on a call. E-mail doesn’t exist for most Mozambicans, so that leaves personal visits. It was so good to connect again after four months. We brought some gifts to our special friends in Chokwe and you should have seen their faces.


One of the guys we work with and that is one of our trainers, Alcides, (above in the middle) gave us a rare treat. He said he doesn’t know where he’d be if we hadn’t come to Chokwe. But now he is a “business professor” and has work with the chicken businesses. He’d probably be working in S Africa if it wasn’t for that, but he’s thankful he can be with his family in Chokwe. It felt like pay day!

While we were in Chokwe I visited the Child Development crew. One of the women asked Sybil, the director, if I colored my hair. Sybil said, “no they have adult children. They could be grandparents.” I overheard the conversation and said, “This hair color is all natural, after all I’m 50 today!” Well, that brought a round of singing and laughing and they even gave me some candy! That night we celebrated with a nice dinner on Maputo Bay, complete with candlelight and live music. Sunday we will have an open house for friends. We invited a co-worker to the party and he wanted to know details. We said we would have cake and punch. “That’s not a party in Africa,” he said. “That’s a tea!” I guess for a party there has to be lots more food. Someone told us the most important part of a party is the meat and the cake. Now we know.

In Chokwe we also visited one of our friends and walked through the village to his house. Lots of kids giggled and pointed to the “mulungus” and went running off. Not many whites walk through there. We saw a larger group of mostly women sitting at a house and asked our friend what it was about. He said it was a funeral of a man who died in S Africa. He left many years ago and had not communicated with the family for a very long time. He was actually married to another woman in SA. The family in Moz asked that he be buried here and his other wife agreed and came to the burial. Sometimes the second family does not agree to that and the burial takes place in SA.

We stayed with Dr. Pieter in Chokwe and he regaled us with stories of the wildlife here. He was in the village of Mucatine which we have visited. He was looking in the river and saw a large snake. The next day he went back to look for it and there it was stretched out on the hillside, catching a few rays. It was a python, 15 feet long and as big around as a man’s thigh. Pieter also saw an African spitting cobra, so I think I’ll watch my step a bit more, especially walking through the tall grass.

The people in the village killed some monkeys that were getting into their field crops and then discovered a baby monkey. By the time they showed him to Pieter he was very dehydrated and almost dead. So Pieter gave him some milk and sugar and he perked right up. He loved Pieter’s hairy arms and got quite attached. But Pieter didn’t know what he’d do with him when he travels so he gave him away.

Today, November 10, we’re enjoying Maputo Day. Each city has a holiday just for their city. We didn’t know it was a holiday so we scheduled a meeting with the groups in Matola, the next town over. They are needing encouragement and some instruction to get their businesses going well again.

Ate a proxima!

S&R

Interesting People

A couple of weeks ago I, Rachel,  was walking to work and praying.  I said, "Lord, bring some people into my life that I can share with."  Not more than two minutes later a young woman walked up.  (We had met her two days earlier when we were out for a walk and she was looking for a place.  Apparently she had seen us at church so she started talking to us.)  Now she was bored so she walked with me for awhile and we talked.  Then one day she said she needed to come and talk.  She told me all about herself and wanted to set the record straight because most of the things she had told me before were not true.  She is South African and is here illegally.  She was promised a job so she came, only to find out that what the boss really wanted was a girlfriend (he is married).  She quit that and was desperate to find another job.  She didn't have money to go home and the situation there is not the best anyhow.  She was feeling confused and felt like God was far away.  We prayed and she came along to a Bible study where we are reading When God Doesn't Make Sense by Dr. Dobson.  This is an appropriate subject for her right now!  A couple of days later she was so excited and called me to say she got a temporary job.  That is one answer to prayer and we will continue to relate to her.

 

At church I met a Cuban doctor.  She had worked in Mozambique and Angola for six years previously.  She is retired now, but a woman from here contacted her and asked if she would come for two months with promises of room and board, ticket costs and $500/month.  This sounded really good because in Cuba she has a $7/mo. pension.  She sold most of her things in her house to buy the ticket and came.  Now there has been no money, very little work and Maria despairs of even getting reimbursed for her ticket.  The woman she works/lives with is into witchcraft, control and fits of rage.  Maria is desperate to leave, but determined to get her money first so is waiting it out, although she says she doesn't know if she can make it another 50 days.

 

Maria has a Brazilian friend, who is in a similar bind.  He is a massage therapist from Brazil and was promised big bucks, etc. for a short stay in Maputo.  He had work in Brazil but thought it would be nice to make more money fast so he could buy a house.  Now the job fell through, his living situation is not good and he missed his flight home because he had not received any money for the tickets.  He used his sister's credit line for a loan and refuses to go home before he can pay that debt.

 

We spent Sunday with both of them and they were thankful for a day off from their living situations.  It is interesting that God has brought me into contact with three very different people who have similar situations.  They are all desperate and looking for answers and someone to care for them. 

 

On another note, our co-worker shared today that there have been more deaths in his family.  He lost a brother to AIDS last May.  Now that brother's wife died and another half-brother also died a few days apart.  The orphaned 3-year old will either go to live with his grandparents or his mother's family.  Our co-worker is not able to attend the funerals in Zimbabwe but will spend most of his leave in December visiting the families.  It is true that attending funerals in Africa is becoming a major part of people's lives.  Where will it end? 

 

On a more cheerful note, we are doing well.  We had a good week with Dennis from Malawi who stayed with us.  God is bringing some very interesting people into our lives and He is giving us the grace to receive them and the gifts they bring.

 

Take care.

A Shell "Angel"

 

This past week we held an Ancient Paths seminar here in Matola.  A team came from South Africa to lead the seminar and we hosted two of the men.  The first night they stayed with us we were in their vehicle and directed them to our apartment.  The second night we headed separate ways and Steve made them a detailed map to get from the guesthouse (where they had supper) to our place.  Around 9 p.m. I started wondering where they were.  At 9:30 I made a phone call to the guesthouse and found out they had left an hour earlier.  Now what?  They didn't have a cell phone that worked, and we didn’t have a vehicle so all we could do was pray.  Then Steve decided he would go out and see if he could find them.

 

He stood under a light at a Shell station close to our house where there is a roundabout.  In the meantime, these two guys got a little turned around but eventually found the road they were to be on.  They were in our neighborhood but got it into their heads that we lived in a 10-story building (we had told them we were in Apt. 10).  So, even though they had the map, they thought it must be wrong and started looking for 10-story buildings.  They went around and around, even going the wrong way down a 1-way street.  Of course there were 3 traffic cops right there ready for him.  The police asked them for some whiskey (note they did not ask for money!) but since they didn't have any, settled on some Rands.  They decided to go around the roundabout one more time and then they saw Steve, their angel!  They were so happy to see him and get to our house.

 

The one guy is a pastor (he reminds us of Don Cripe) so I told him he had the makings of a good sermon illustration.  Well, he's turning it into his whole sermon.  When we don't have proper perspectives and let deception creep in, we go around in circles, waste time and pay unnecessary fines even when we have a “map” right in front of us.

 

So we had a good seminar and the people who participated are excited about continuing to be involved.  It looks like Steve and I will also be more involved and eventually become coordinators for the Maputo area.  This will involve more training in S Africa in the coming months.  We met a very good couple from Cameroon who have been missionaries in Moz for 5 years.  They are Genesis and Yolanda and Genesis really had a touch from God, a new beginning.

 

It was funny to hear the South African's reaction to the heat.  It was in the 80's one day and you would have thought it was 100!  Where they live it is quite cool and not humid.  Thankfully the next couple of days it was cool and rainy.  I'm loving the weather, it's just right for me!  We hope you’re enjoying life where you are too.

 

This week we found out that the government can call a holiday from one day to the next.  The funny thing was that we didn’t even know it was a holiday until the end of the day because we were at the seminar. Steve went to the office in the afternoon and everything was all locked up with no one around.  Then he found an e-mail announcing “Samora Machel Day,” a 20^th anniversary of the death of the first leader after independence (his plane was shot down just across the SA border).  We don’t know if this will be an annual holiday or not.  One just never knows what a day will bring in Moz!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Utility capers

We have been back in Mozambique for two weeks now and in some ways it feels like we never left.  Indiana feels like a long way away and a long time ago, even if we just spent two months there with family and friends.  It was truly an amazing time that God set up for us, both restful and occupied with enough to keep us focused.  Coming back we feel like we are to get more involved with the local church and in Maputo with relationships and ministries. 

 

Hope the title catches your eye since paying utility bills in Mozambique is quite a challenge.  Normally we just get the bill, put together the money and take it to our landlord’s house so she can have her house worker go stand in line to pay it.  However, this time the payment was due that day or a fine would be applied. 

 

The utility payment offices close at 2:30 so I was sure the clerks/tellers worked through lunch.  After all they get off early!  Being it was the last payment day of the month, I decided to wait till 2 and once I was in the doors, they would keep things going until they finished all the clients who were there before the doors closed.  That was the case, but I did not foresee several things.

 

First, they installed a “state of the art” number system where you select the type of service you want and out comes a number for that line.  You then choose any chair in the room and don’t have to play musical chairs to keep in line every time a new customer is served at a clerk.  It used to be quite a sight.  You can even go out and do something else if you want and get back before the doors are locked or your number is called.  So I took a number 718. 

 

It took me awhile to get oriented to what number they were now serving.  The sign said 0568 01.  Was it 0568?01 (i.e. was it missing a number?) or was it 056801, or was it 568 and who knew what the 01 was for?  Part of the problem was that the “01” stood for the register number that was serving the current client. There were 5 registers, but only two were currently occupied and only one was handling any clients.  Everybody else was either MIA or out to lunch!  That meant I was 150 numbers from being served.  It also meant they had helped less than 100 clients per hour in the first 6.5 hours of being open, even with more clerks.  Why didn’t I bring that book? 

 

Since I had a half hour before they locked the door, I decided that I would check out the water company situation next door.  Not a chance, they had the same situation there so I was ready to just walk out, mostly because they don’t fine you for a late bill.  We will get it next month.  However, since I had the time, I started looking at the bill for the months we were gone and noticed we had charges in the second level of water usage where you have to pay if you exceeded 10 m3 per month.  We (or guests) used 4 one month and 1 the other.  So I asked, why the charges.  The answer came back in English so I did not misunderstand it.  If the billing cycle is not exactly 30 days, you are charged a portion of your water at the higher rate whether you use that much water or not.  It is not if the month has 30 days, it is the number of days between the days they read you meter.  So you pay extra no matter what.  As the Malawian’s would say, shame!

 

Well, you can believe I was back inside the electric company office before the doors locked at 2:30.  The number being served was #620.  Somehow they had managed to serve about 40 people in the last half hour.  Suddenly things began to happen.  A new teller appeared.  Then the “guard” made an announcement that if you had the exact change, you could be served first and the vocal protests began.  People who came in late might be served before those who came in earlier.  Maybe they could pull off the “exact change” stunt at the beginning of the day when no tellers had change (a normal business practice), but not at the end of it.  It took a second employee to intervene and correct the guard to calm everyone down. 

 

It took another 50 minutes to get through the next 100 numbers before I was served, and it went “so fast” because about half of the people had given up and left or gotten locked out.  The next time you pay your utility bill at the bank, on-line or through the mail consider yourself blessed that you don’t have to wait 1-3 hours to do it and you are not charged for services you don’t use.

 

I, Rachel, taught the 8-11 yr old Sunday School today.  We were having an interesting conversation and somehow got to whether animals have eternal souls or not.  One boy said, “Well, when animals die they go to the animal kingdom.”  So there you have it, it’s clear in his mind!

 

 

 

 

We've arrived back in Moz

Just a short note to say we have arrived safe and well in Maputo (only one hour late) and have found it sunny, windy and about 80 degrees. The long flight is starting to get familiar and doesn’t seem quite so long anymore. We had good connections with only 2-3 hour layovers that really helped. For those of you interested, as of September 30, Delta and South African Air no longer have a code share agreement. That means we will have to use our Delta miles on Delta and we came back just in time to get the return miles on SAA credited to Delta. (We found out by reading the small print in the back of the SAA monthly magazine, so maybe it was a long flight!)

In some ways it seems like we haven’t been gone and in other ways it feels like we have been gone a long time. The rooster crowing in the neighborhood sounds normal, yet strange. We are definitely living in the “city” again, blaring radios and all.

At the airport the man that picked us up said there were a couple of Malawians staying at our place. When we arrived we didn’t see anyone or any suitcases and when we called WR they said, “Oh, we didn’t want to put someone in your apt when you were just coming back.” But a little later there was a knock at our door and there was another WR employee with suitcase in hand saying he had been told to stay here for some nights. So, welcome to the guesthouse. If there is an empty bed, you are welcome to sleep in it!

Rachel commented that this last stint at home may be the last time we live with any of our kids for an extended period of time. Joanna was with us for the two months, but is now moving toward Indy. Janelle is now officially engaged to David Phillips, and they are talking about a summer wedding. We are excited about having David in the family.

We want to say a huge thank you to all the people who made our time special back in the US by being supportive in fellowship, travel to and participation in reunions and our open house, and hosting us in your homes or sometimes favorite restaurants. It was a special joy to get caught up on the events in your lives. Even though it may seem pretty everyday to you, we want/need to hear about it to stay connected.