Jamene and Irene's Wedding

After we moved to Mozambique an accountant from the WR office in Malawi came for a short visit to the Maputo office. He stayed with us at the WR guesthouse and became our friend. It felt like we bonded quickly as we are both TCK's (third culture kids). Jamene's family lived in the U.S. and Canada during his growing up years.

During that visit he mentioned that he didn't think he could live in Mozambique. However, later on he ended up moving here and it seems he will be here a good while since he just married a Mozambican! Irene is a lovely person. She is the deputy director of AfricaWorks and is studying law.

Here he is with his uncle and some of the bridal party, waiting for the fun to start. The wedding time was moved up due to many ceremonies taking place at the church that day. Towards the end of the ceremony we could hear the other wedding party singing.


They had the cutest junior attendants. This little guy caught my eye - he can really move to the music!




After the church ceremony we traveled to Matola for the civil ceremony and the reception. This is the civil ceremony with the godparents, Larry and Mandy, friends of Jamene's from Malawi.


The reception was very nice in a huge tent in a park.


The happy couple. Congratulations!

Moving News and Prayer Request

Here we are in our naturally cooled office. Many times in July and Aug we’ve been in the U.S. so we haven’t really experienced a Moz “winter.” It hasn’t been bad, but it is strange to feel cold in Moz. We moved to our new temporary place last Saturday and it is cooler than our other house because of its orientation. Sweaters and blankets feel pretty good.

The move went quite well. We took a load of boxes Friday night. Saturday Maria, our cleaner, and her strong son came to help us move. Antonio actually carried the small stove up the stairs without any help from Steve! That was fine with him… :-) We had things moved by noon and then the unpacking began. We actually left many things in boxes in anticipation of moving again - it's a long story.

We received hard news about our pastor in Maputo, Sammy Gumbe. He has been ill for the past months and no one could come up with a diagnosis. Last week they did a biopsy and this week they said he has aggressive lymphoma. He started chemo in SA yesterday, but he is very weak and thin. They really need a miracle. Please pray for him, his wife Christine and three young sons. They are Kenyan/Mozambican. The church needs prayer also. Thanks.



We were together at Christmas '09. Sammy is at the head of the table.

Burundi

My arrival in Bujumbura, Burundi did not go as planned as the schedule challenged folks at Rwandair moved the 8 pm flight back to 5:30 pm and did not tell anyone ordering tickets. I arrived at the terminal in Kigali looking for the transfer desk and it was smaller than a lemonade stand. Literally a small stand up desk that said, “transfers.” With no one around, we asked the cleaning lady, who asked someone else, who got a third person who eventually tracked down a fourth. After ushering us through a keyed door way, he told us to wait here, they needed to load a flight to Uganda first. About our flight, there wasn’t one. "May we have your passports and tickets?" After about 30 minutes, when the flight was supposed to leave, a fifth person showed up and said, we would be put up in a hotel and get the 11 am flight out in the morning. We were introduced to a 6th person who said all was well with our tickets and handed off to a 7th person who took us away to the hotel. There were three of us and we were all expected in the WR office at 8 am. This is Africa.

They did put us up in a nice hotel. The going rate is $189 per night, supposedly a 6star, but I think the ladies at the front desk were exaggerating a bit. I have stayed at one 5 star in my life and this was not close. Maybe a 4 but I’m not complaining, except they did not give me the wakeup call I requested. Fortunately I woke up at 6 by internal alarm and made it to the pickup site on time.

We got the airport and you guessed it, 1) our tickets had not been changed and 2) the plane was not even ready for its first flight of the day on time. We left a half hour late, making it 10 am, pretty close to the predicted 11 am, although they had said it was to leave at 9:30. Their in-flight magazine for the month said, departure at 11, so who knows, the employees didn’t and they get the planes ready! This is still Africa.

I had lunch with some of the leadership team in Bujumbura and the expectations were pretty high. “Tell us what to do so that when we get to September start date of the new program, our implementation team will have it all figured out.” Hmm, at least I get three months to do that. This is more of an assessment trip for me since the first time I did not make it out of the capital city due to meetings and shortness of time.

To round out the afternoon, we took a road trip along the coast of Lake Tanganyika and then up into the mountains of the southern provinces. We stopped to visit an association that WR had helped start with a few goats, vegetables, bananas and cassava two years ago. My task was to ask lots of questions and try to figure out how to fashion a real, business-based agriculture and value chain development program out of what is and what ever opportunities exist in the region. These 17 young men were trying to raise small eggplant on a hard rocky and clay soil mix. It is the kind of soil that someone cultivated so poorly years ago that all the top soil has been eroded off and washed away. They get some water from a stream up the mountainside so at least they don’t have to spend money on pump fuel. They just dug a trench across the dirt road, around the bend and into their small garden field and the water just runs. It doesn’t even soak in that well.

To their credit, they had covered the stony ground with a grass and weed mulch, and apparently used come goat manure underneath. The plants looked relatively healthy and had fruit. If all goes well, they could earn up to 30,000 Burundian franks, or $25 every two weeks for the next 6-7 months off that patch. Some of that money will go to buy spray to keep the bugs away, if they can find it. There were lots of little raggedy clothed, bright eyed little kids around, some with swollen bellies. Many of the young men didn’t look much out of their teens themselves.

How to have a real lasting impact on agriculture, incomes and development in such a situation? That is quite a responsibility to carry the next couple of days. When I thought about it, it was a little overwhelming. Fortunately, there is a team here that should be a good resource. The idea is to see the situation as it really is before we try to envision, with God’s help, how it could be different. We'll use the skills of the local people, the resources they have been given, plus realistic ideas from other places that if implemented, could change the future of many who now live lives of quiet desperation.

On a lighter note, needing to have a gluten free meal on the plane, provided me with sirloin steak instead of the chicken, fish or vegetarian option. That was a first. I am staying at the UNHCR hotel in Makamba and the chef said the meal would be ready in an hour. I had a pretty good lunch, so I told him I only needed a small plate of food. I was tired enough to fall asleep on the bed, then was awakened by a knock on the door about 8 p.m. He came in with 3 plates of food. Since it was late, I was hungrier than I thought and could have eaten it all. The temp is pretty cool up here and I will use it to keep warm tonight. As for the meat? You guessed it, sirloin steak, two days in a row. Another first. My compliments to the chef!! He has pretty good taste.

Mongu, Zambia

We've just returned from two weeks in Zambia. We started from Lusaka with an 8 hr. bus ride. Normally the buses are good but this one was crowded with 28 passengers behind us in seats for 17. Then they filled the baggage hold with freight so the aisles were jammed with boxes, suitcases, you name it. It was an obstacle course to get on and off the bus!


Once we got to Mongu we hit the ground running. We thought we were doing a CHE seminar the second week we were there and the coordinator thought we were doing it the second week of May. We were hoping for a week to prepare, but we had a day and then evenings. Once we got going it went well. Now the question is whether these folks will start a program that is community-based with volunteers. We had an interesting discussion and they stated that volunteerism does not work. They suggested that the communities pay the volunteers. Well, that could work, except that those funds should be used for community initiatives. And when the money to pay them runs out, then what? One pastor stated that we need to pray that God will transform minds and give people a willingness to volunteer again. Sad to say, it is one of the down sides of receiving so much aid from NGOs and other organizations when it shuts down local initiative and looking for their own resources.



When we weren't at the seminar we were working on other Zambia Works work. Since Steve grew up on an apple farm he was very interested to find a guy who is growing apples in Mongu! He also has tangerines and oranges in the same mini-orchard. He says the apples grow quickly as they can grow year round. These are Mexican apples.


At church on Sunday we enjoyed the worship team, except that the keyboard sound ran through this big speaker which was on HIGH. I definitely wouldn't sit right in front of it if I attended this church regularly. Whooeee! It was ear-splitting. Note the other items besides money in the morning offering - some reeds and something in a bag.


The pastor of the church is our friend, Lubinda, who directs a ministry to orphaned children, Kids Alive Intl. They have 57 kids in different houses and they wish they could take more as the need is great, but they are filled to capacity. Here he is with his wife, Esther and some of the boys.





Lubinda also took us to meet a man, Emanuel, who was an Angolan refugee. (Angola is about 500 km from Mongu.) He started a preschool and then an elementary school. He also takes in the elderly and others who need a place to stay. He calls it is "village of refuge." It was encouraging to find someone who is giving his life to help others.


No recounting of a trip to Mongu is complete without a note about the Oasis Restaurant. It is Lebanese owned and has great Shwarmas. Their business has gone down since they raised their prices, so we'll see if they survive. The ambience is great with mounted animal heads, a fountain with bubble soap and golden oldies music.




The trip back on the bus was a whole lot better with no overcrowding or stuff in the aisles. We got on at 10 p.m. and got to Lusaka by 5:30 a.m. Sleeping sure does make the time go faster!

I'm always amazed at the signs that include references to God or the Bible and the Christian music on the buses. Zambia definitely has a different culture and history than Mozambique!













This is a little hard to read - it is the Good Samaritan Bar and Guesthouse.

Begging for a Bribe (oh, so subtly)

Jumping through bureaucratic hoops is never fun, especially here in Mozambique. We get to do it at least once a year from now on as the government has decided that holders of foreign residency documents (DIRE) must appear in person to renew them. Last year they also upped the prices by 1200% and re-interpreted the quota systems for foreigners to apply to each office, i.e. not just on an organization or company-wide basis. Since some of our work is in Gaza, our Dire process was shifted to the provincial capital of Xai-Xai, about 3 hours north of Maputo by car. We left April 30 at 6 am to miss the worst of Maputo rush hour.

Since this was the first year of the new “bio-metric” process, it took extra time to take photos and fingerprints. That was understandable. The one handed, one finger approach to typing by the person in charge, did drag things out considerably. Once we had filled out all the forms, it took about 30 minutes per applicant to do the data entry and photographs. We had arrived at 9:30 and were finished by 1:30, most of the time standing up in a small waiting area with 15-20 other Mozambican.

Now you might think that since everything was in the computer, the process would be speedy from then on. Well, it will take at least another 15 days to get our Dire’s back. In the meantime, we have two trips planned. The option of traveling without Dire’s is somewhat formidable since you have to buy a new visa upon re-entering the country or have an authorized letter. Last time they almost did not let Rachel out, because she did not have either. In the meantime, visa prices are now $66, up from $25. The government likes visitors for obvious reasons, but sad to say it seems like fewer are coming due to the price increases.

Since we knew we were traveling, we asked up front if we could get two letters, one for each trip. No problem, but you have to wait to start that process until after you have your receipts for the Dire. OK, no problem. So at 1:30 we made copies of the receipts and started the process for the travel letters. Now it was. “Oh, you want two letters at the same time? No, that is not our way of doing things. “ So we appeal to the next level. Sure, you can go ahead and fill out two forms each. We do and pay but the receipt says we can collect the next day. You have got to be kidding. When we appeal, it was a resigned, “OK, just wait here.” By now we are getting hungry and tired of standing, but the few chairs were all full. Finally, we got to sit down.

After an hour, I stick my head in the office of the person who said we could fill out two forms each. “Ah, just be patient, 15 minutes, it will be coming.” Well, we know 15 minutes is never 15, but we surrender and wait. Finally, we are some of the few left in the waiting area as closing time has come and gone. The person who promised us 2 letters each and 15 minutes appears with only two letters and the word that he would be hung to death should he attempt to issue two letters per person in one day. “ Come back tomorrow.” We take our papers and leave. Someone else will have to spend a half day coming back tomorrow for the forms that are already finished.


Upon review of the letters, they are pre-printed forms with about a half dozen words hand written into blanks to identify us, the date and place of issue. And that took two hours with three of us sitting there. A total of 6 person hours lost forever. The only conclusion we can come to is that he was waiting for money under the table. We did not pay any cash, but it cost us anyway.

By 4 PM we are on the road again, hurtling back toward Maputo knowing we will never make it before dark. The traffic is not too bad, but we come across vehicles with no tail lights and no reflectors, some of them moving slowly. At one point, we round a curve and face cars coming at us two wide, on a hill, that forces us off the road, onto the berm. But by the grace of God, we did not get hit head on. By the time we got home at 7:30, I was exhausted from the travel alone. In times like these, we repeat the words of the national anthem with tongue in cheek, “Moçambique nossa terra gloriosa (our glorious country)!”

April Thoughts

April started with a bang with two Ancient Paths seminars in a row. We had a small one in our home the second weekend and when it was over I felt like I was on a high. It reminded me of how I felt when I was a doula and a baby had just been born. One participant who experienced some significant healing said: "I learned about the power of the blessing. I was healed, especially in areas that I never knew I needed healing. The Holy Spirit just flowed and showed me things I didn’t know in my life. It was an amazing experience of God’s love." This sounds a bit cut and dried on paper, but in real life it was so exciting to see the years of anger, confusion, and unforgiveness melt away.

The rest of the month has been spent getting ready for teams coming from the U.S. Steve has been to Chokwe to work with the group that is making marula jelly (canhu in Shangana). He got a label approved for them and it went much faster than the coconut oil label. It helps to have been through the process before.

I've also found myself pondering Rob Bell's new book, "Love Wins." I have only read excerpts and reviews, but the distortions and omissions of key truths and scriptures is disturbing. Yes, it's a nice message and one that is well accepted by some. But is it the truth? There is a reason Deuteronomy tells us to choose life. It is our choice, and if we don't, there are consequences. I have no doubt that Jesus loved every Pharisee, but he was not afraid to tell it like it was, calling them fools, blind, hypocrites, whitewashed tombs and more. And at the end of that chapter 23 of Matthew he mourns over Jerusalem. "How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! I firmly believe God is a God of love, but when we turn our backs and are not willing to come to Him, we make our choice for judgment and not life. I choose to believe that God is a just judge, and as my Creator He is so much greater than I am, that I can trust him completely with my life now and in eternity. You can read more about this controversy here: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2065080,00.html

To end on a more positive note. Resurrection Day started bright and early as we joined our church's sunrise service at the park. The sun coming up as a bright orange ball over the Delagoa Bay was a great way to start the day, remembering that because of Jesus' sacrifice and resurrection we have new life.

We invited several young women to our house for dinner and had a wonderful time with them. We have met many people who come and go from Maputo and they are each a gift as our lives intersect during this time.

Swazi Adventures Again

Written April 4.

We just returned last night from another weekend in Swaziland. This may be the last one for awhile as we feel our job is done with mentoring the new AP coordinators there. We had a great seminar and were hosted very well. We had planned to take a facilitator in training with us and he made it to the border when he realized he forgot his passport! So we found him a ride back to Maputo and continued on alone.

Swazi is very beautiful. Here’s what we saw out our bedroom window:


Sadly, I couldn’t find the camera when we went for a walk. I wanted a picture of the nice waterfall we walked to but you will just have to imagine it.

A friend had just purchased a batik at Baobab Batiks and wanted another one so I said we would get it for her. Swazi is notorious for poor signage on their roads, so we had to backtrack a bit but we did find the place. It was actually the factory so we also got to see the ladies working with the wax, sewing and dying the products. They are very beautiful and quite different in texture than the batiks lining the streets of Maputo. Here’s what our friend asked for. These are expensive but beautiful and they don’t fade.



Gone Rural is close to Baobab so we stopped in there to see their products made of woven grass and sisal. I’m trying to find a way for the women in the village in Moz to use the sisal that grows wild there. This organization has created jobs for many Swazi women and their products can be seen in many parts of the world. Check out their website: http://goneruralswazi.com/

The other thing we enjoy at Barry and Viki’s is their large garden. We are trying to start some cuttings of their tree tomato plant. The fruit is amazing – quite tart and good. It looks a bit like a tomato but it is more oval and has a hard peel. This is a big garden with a full-time Mozambican gardner. The picture only shows a small portion of it. They sell some of their produce and use it at the health food shop/café that Viki owns. The eating is always fresh and organic at their house. And the open spaces, clean and beautiful are like a cup of cold water to these thirsty, rural at heart souls living in a city.

Ndagala anyone?

Ordering from a lunch menu in French is a slightly daunting task, if you don’t read or speak French. When the writer starts to throw in local words, it is even more challenging. The dish title was “Plate Tanganyika,” and the line underneath read Ndagala. When my host asked what it was for me, the response came back fish, even though we later discovered the waiter could barely speak French. Since we were at a lunch/sandwich type of place, there were not a lot of non-wheat options for me besides salad, so I said, "Ok let’s try the fish and chips" (fries for Americans).

When the plate arrived, we were both surprised, if not a little shocked.
Ndagala is the local word for what could best be described as a larger than life, fresh water anchovy (and they were slightly breaded too). Well, I ordered them, so I may as well try to eat them. My first response, not too bad! It tastes a little like a cross between a French fry, potato chip and some crisp drippings from a mild flavored meat. Add a little mayonnaise and wala, they just go right down. It was a fully deep fried meal.

I offered some to my host and he politely declined. Afterwards he said he would have sent them back. He is not that adventurous with his food. First time for everything and maybe a last.

Rwanda, Congo, Burundi

The last two weeks I (Steve) have been on my new assignment with WR in East Congo and Burundi. It has been a great experience.

Travel. The planes were normal, but the airport in Nairobi was small and cramped. It is a half circle with lots of shops packed between the relatively narrow hallway and chairs. The transfer desks (if you can call them that) are stuck in a corner with no lights and limited signage. In fact, the first time through, I missed it entirely, but when I went to enter the gate, the agent rejected me saying that check-in had closed and I did not have a boarding pass. I had asked at the information desk and they said, just go to the gate and get your pass. We discussed, I ran back to get a boarding pass and made the flight. Phew! I did not want to spend an unnecessary night in the town some call Ni-rob-u.

Driving in Cars. This was not normal. The first car I got in seemed perfectly normal (steering wheel on the right, normal for Southern Africa). But, when the driver pulled out onto the road, he also drove on the right! (normal for the US). This puts the driver on the shoulder side of the road, not the center line, making it really hard to see around big trucks when you want to pass on a 2-lane road. I can do left side steering wheel on the right side of the road, and right side steering wheel on the left side of the road, but not right on right. I was afraid it would scramble my thinking too much. Needless to say, I let others drive. After the first week, all the cars I rode in drove on the side of the road they were designed for. (If you look in the side mirror you can see the driver on the other side.)

Rwanda. It is a beautiful country. Green and clean. The roads are in good shape, being upgraded and in the capital, there a lots of 4 lane roads, with lots of room. I was there on two weekends, so maybe the traffic was lighter. At the airport, there is a sign, “no non-degradable plastic bags allowed.” If you have shrink wrapped your luggage, it must come off before you leave the airport. Once they checked my suitcase crossing the border back in and someone said they were looking for plastic bags. There is a designated work day (couple of hours Saturday morning) when all citizens must be involved in community help projects. If you are found driving about during that time, the police will stop you and put you to work right along the road. One visiting U.S. church team had that opportunity. Overall the country side was gorgeous.


DRC (East Congo). The town of Goma is right on the border with Rwanda. We stayed in a hotel that was literally built on the water’s edge. There was no beach and if you looked closely enough, you could see where the volcanic lava flow cooled as it hit the water. It was right beside the foundation walls. According to the web, Goma had a volcanic eruption in 2002 that destroyed the city. Apparently several large fissures opened up right in the commercial center and vented towards the lake. It destroyed everything including a large majority of clinics, hospitals and pharmacies. It sounded like a disaster of biblical proportions. That explained why everyone was building, everywhere. Why they are building 3-story, 3-4,000 square feet per floor in this undeveloped town in the middle of nowhere, I don’t know. Just dig down to get your building materials.

It is a stark contrast to Rwanda. Most of the streets are volcanic gravel and ash, with lots of litter. The paved roads are in poor shape, with no traffic lights in evidence. The UN has basically occupied the region as the government does not have enough resources to deal with the rebel fighters who still regularly stop cars to take cell phones and valuables. Go jogging and you meet soldiers carrying machine guns on their morning exercise in sweats. It does give one pause.

We avoided the remote stretches of roads during a visit to the neighboring city of Bukavu by taking a speed boat (2.5 hours) across Lake Kivu. It was a long ride, especially the outbound trip as the lake was rough and it really jarred us hard. Plus you are cramped in small seats with your fellow passengers. Coming back was smoother, but I was ready to get out of the boat.
Lake Kivu is one of the three exploding lakes in Africa. It is extremely deep (18th in the world) and loaded with methane and CO2. Every millennia or so it explodes and causes mass extinctions in the surrounding area. Presently 2 million people live in the area around it. Rwanda has a project that is harvesting the methane and generating electricity. I figured the chances of it not exploding while I was there for 6 days were pretty good.

My primary reason for being in Goma was to participate in two full days of meetings with the WR micro-finance board and review the agricultural loan pilot project. I learned a lot and still have more to learn.

Burundi. Here I never made it out of town, except to go to the airport. Partially because I was in meetings for four days (two days for microfinance called Turame and two days with WR. It did not make a lot of sense to travel with WR when we needed to talk and set some direction first. They were all good meetings even if they were long. I met some great folks and learned lots more.

There is not a lot of adventure when you stay in the same hotel for six nights and just go to meetings, but the people I spent time with said that the rebels still come into town at night and attack the police posts with grenades and machine guns.

One morning I went running and as I headed down the dirt road just beyond the hotel, I heard the guard whistle. Was that for me? I stopped and looked back and sure enough he was running toward me, jabbering in French. So I said, “I don’t speak French.” Then he grabbed his throat and said bandi, bandi, making a choking sound. Even if I didn’t speak French, I sure got the idea that that particular stretch had some potential bandit risks and I should jog on a different set of roads.

Bujumbura is the capital and perhaps the only capital city in the world without a single stop light. The drivers are nearly as crazy as Mozambique and the traffic is worse than Lilongwe in Malawi during rush hour, with long lines of traffic. Most main roads are paved, with some in cobblestone. With all the mountains, there are plenty of resources for that. They say the Chinese are putting these in more residential areas. What is really tough is seeing the cobblestone speed bumps since they blend in to the rest of the road so nicely. For real!

Bujumbura is located on Lake Tanganyika, not exploding, but one of the great lakes in E. Africa. You can read a little more about it in my next blog.

Lots of construction here too, but since labor is cheap, most work is done by hand. Check out the cement pouring crew. Another site had more than what looked like more than 100 men, just on top of the building.

Rainbows all around, Victoria Falls

At the end of our team trip to Zambia, we spent some time at Victoria Falls, debriefing and having meetings in a wonderful and relaxing setting. While I have been to Zambia numerous times, I never really took the time to seriously consider visiting the falls as it is quite out of the way from where I normally travel. First, some interesting facts about the falls. It is considered one of the 7 wonders of the world. It is not the world’s highest waterfall, nor the widest, but claims to be the largest sheet of falling water in the world. It is more than a mile across the face and the water drops 354 feet. The local name for the falls is “the smoke that thunders.” If you see the falls from the back side, and you don’t know it was water, you might think it was just another fire in an African field or bush.


The first morning a group of us set out to visit the falls. As we left the hotel, someone said we should take a rain coat or umbrella as you might get wet. I thought, OK and retrieved an umbrella. As we approached the falls, we saw a place where you could rent rain coats, but we had an umbrella. There is a deep gorge that the water drops into, but the gap across the gorge is not that wide, so we set out on the path to look at the falls from directly across from it. A short way down that path, it began to sprinkle. A little further it began to pour and then blow the water sideways. Lots of good an umbrella did. As we continued, we soon realized that we were going to get soaked no matter what.

Coming to a small bridge, we met a group coming from the other side. As we passed, one woman soaked to the skin and wearing a rain coat shouted above the roaring of the falls, “It is not for the faint of heart.” The stairway itself was a series of small waterfalls, with 2-3 inches of water flowing down the pathway. We continued on across the face of the gorge, only about 200 feet from the falling water. It was amazing. The rain was created by the rising mist (smoke) and the wind was generated by the falling water as it pushed the air out of the gorge. We were in the midst of a tropical rainstorm on a sunny day. The effect around the edges of the falls it that you see rainbows almost everywhere you look, particularly if the sun is behind you.

Fortunately the water and the day were warm, but it still took hours to dry out our clothes. If I had known, I would have worn swimming trunks and a tee shirt with crocs. (Some people did, but not in our group.) Fortunately I had taken a plastic bag to wrap the camera in or it might be in the repair shop by now.

We also climbed down the backside of the gorge to the area called the boiling pot, a half mile long trail that dropped the full 530 feet and was a bit challenging in places. From there we had a good view of the bridge to Zimbabwe where people with money and courage bungee jump into the gorge (not on my bucket list, but fun to watch). This gorge is not very wide, but must be quite deep and the water really moves along. We thought we would be gone maybe an hour, but it ended up being a 3 hour visit overall.

The first part of the trip was a combination of excitement of visitors and boredom of long rides by car. We did take advantage of one day in the car (7 am until 11:30 pm) to have a long and detailed management meeting for the business entity ZambiaWorks. We were mostly done by dark and just watched the brush go by or dozed for five hours. The team was mostly from Chicago, with two WR leaders and a videographer from California thrown into the mix. The videographer missed the first leg of his flight and had to come by himself in a small car the second day. The car had two flats and rolled the last 50 km on the steel rim. He was saying his prayers and telling God to take good care of his family should he not make it back alive. We all got a chuckle out of that, but if it was my first time in the middle of nowhere, I might have felt the same way. He was a great guy and very talented. If you watch CNBC or Fox documentaries, you have probably seen some of his work.

One very unique event that happened on this trip was an audience with a second level chief in Mongu. He hosted us in his “palace” as ZambiaWorks and Hands of Hope, our Chicago partner, had build an 8-classroom school block in one of his villages. We had to follow the traditional customs where men and women used different entrances. The ladies said they had to kneel on a mat before entering. We were allowed to sit in chairs, but the under chiefs sat on reed mats and bowed and clapped to call the chief from his home. He came out with a military guard, a very English hat and some kind of animal tail, wisp, whip or scepter that is his symbol of power. The guard is assigned to protect the tail as if this is stolen by the people, he loses his authority and power.

We had a good conversation with him and talked about the school. He mentioned that he would love to host us in his office and not keep us out in the hot sun, but it was too small and falling down (a subtle hint that we could build him a new one). We also had all our bags with us as we were switching hotels that morning. The guard thought these were gifts and told us we could unload them around back.

The school handover celebration was a big deal and quite political as all the “big” people showed up and had to introduce each other according to seniority/protocol. We had four such introductions to get to the main speaker of the day. There was lots of traditional dancing and some of it quite interesting, but not very edifying. It took the better part of five hours to complete the ceremony. Lesson learned: we won’t do it the same way next time we build a school.
All in all it was a great experience.

Swaziland

A week and a half ago we traveled to Swaziland to help the new Ancient Paths coordinators. AP is just getting started there and it is an exciting time. Barry and Viki have passion and vision and are working hard at getting it going.

Swaziland is quite close to Maputo. It is a small country and it took just three hours to reach the capital city, Mbabane. I love the mountains and the rural feel of Swaziland.

Friday we were free during the day, so we went to visit the farm we've heard so much about. It is very remote. You can either choose to travel 30 kms on a dirt road or 5. We chose 5 although it was the longer way around.

They have homes for orphans with one mother who makes a commitment to raise them to adulthood. It is not a typical orphanage! There are four homes and each is given space for a garden and laying hens. The idea is that each household will raise most of their food. They have a school that is also open to community children. Their website does a good job of describing their program.

Another big side project is moringa. To learn more about moringa, the "miracle tree" click here. They have turned this into a cottage industry by harvesting the leaves, drying and pounding them into a powder and selling it. A small plot of trees planted close together yields enough to buy a ton of corn per month (during the "hotter" weather). Swazi doesn't have much hot weather, at least compared to Moz because of the altitude. They also grow vegetables for sale, have pigs, sell eggs and seedlings. Steve was in his element and our time was too short.

We got back to the seminar where people were touched by God and healed of rejection and abandonment issues, lack of blessing and identity and other woundings. There were some deep, life-changing healings going on that we may not fully understand until eternity, but they are real.

Coming back we were blessed to find fresh produce along the road for half the price that we pay in Maputo - mangos, avocados, garlic, bananas, okra and more. We learned from a neighbor from Mississippi how to cook okra--slice it, dip in cornmeal and fry. Yummy!

Deborah

Today is Deborah's 2nd birthday. Birthdays are always a milestone, but this is a special one for a little girl who suffered severe malnutrition. She was almost 1 when she came to live with Mirtha and Yudel at our house. She did not sit or cry much, her skin was pale and she hardly had hair. The workers at the orphanage did not think she had much of an appetite so she didn't get much more than 2 bottles of milk per day.


Mirtha worked with her and found out she really was hungry. She started adding on kilos and developing and walked at 21 months. Now she is 2 and her personality is coming through. They all live at the orphanage now and she will always be Mirtha and Yudel's special girl.



Trying to figure out these new crocs.


Their new house at the orphanage. As soon as they get enough funds to finish the floors of the kitchen, bathroom and bedroom they will move in.



God is faithful!

Poverty

One thing I've learned well since we moved to Africa--poverty is a very complex issue.

I was thinking of the card game that we call Scum. You start the game with a President and Vice-President and a Scum and Vice-Scum. After dealing the cards, Scum gives his two best cards to the Pres. and Pres. gives his two worst cards to Scum. VP and VS trade one card each. It is possible to move from Scum to Pres. but it usually takes several games and it is a lot of work because the cards have literally been stacked against Scum. It is easier for Pres and VP to win and keep on winning because they have been given an advantage to start with.

This is how it is with poverty. The system of injustice has been stacked against the poor. It is possible to get out, but it takes a lot of work, a lot of encouragement, a lot of changes in the ways of thinking about things, and some breaks in order to get a good education.

Sometimes we can think that the poor just don't know how to handle the money they have. We can say there is a difference between being broke and being poor, and that difference is the way of thinking about money. We can say that poverty is not a lack of money, it is a lifestyle, or a curse. But poverty is also being trapped in a system. What can I do to help break the chains of injustice that keep people enslaved?

It is easy to see how the poor become poorer when they are trapped into low-paying jobs and inflation is rising. In December it is reported that inflation rose 3.48% in Moz. Prices always go up because of the holidays, but this is steeper than usual. We notice the differences almost every week when we go to buy groceries. For a long time a liter of boxed milk cost us between 25-30 MT. Yesterday I paid 60 MT ($1.80). Sugar (which is grown in Moz) has been right around 25 MT for a kilo. Now some shops are asking 38 MT. Apparently Brazil had a bad year so the price goes up worldwide. These are just examples of increases for all the basics such as flour, bread, rice, corn flour, etc. Beef has gone through the roof and a scrawny 1 kg chicken costs $4.80 or more.

So what do people do when they are one of the 10-15% who actually have a job such as a household helper and get paid a little more than 100 MT per day and a chicken costs 160 MT? They eat very little meat, and stick to xima (corn flour porridge) with some greens or tomatoes if they can afford them. They walk more because transportation costs are rising, they keep their kids home from school because they can't afford the uniforms and fees, and sometimes they take to the streets to join the riots because they are so desperate.

Then on the other hand we have mostly foreigners and the Mozambican rich who pay $2,000 for an apartment and up to $5,000 rent per month for a house. The poor get poorer and the rich continue to be funded by their organizations, governments and corporations who are willing to pay whatever it takes to keep up the lifestyle. The spiritual discipline of simple living and doing more with less becomes a challenge in a city like Maputo.

And I'm back to the beginning - poverty is complex and I don't have very many answers. Lord help me know how to make a lasting difference in people's lives. Help me to know what my part is today and to be obedient to You. Help me to care enough to give a hand up out of the sink hole of poverty, to work at long-term solutions and not only short-term fixes.

Our Week in Review

 This week Mozambique is in mourning over the death of artist, Malangatana. To tell the truth, I had not heard of him before, although he is apparently quite famous world over. I probably would still not know much about him except that our housemate fills us in every day on the details of his life, his wake, who was there, where they will bury him, etc. It has been the main topic at suppertime for several days and sometimes we have finished our meal and she has barely taken a bite because she is so busy telling us all about it. Actually, we learn a lot about the culture and what is happening in the news and the neighborhood through her. Now basically the whole town where he lived is camping out at his house to eat well for the next week.

 We are amazed at how much it has been raining this year. We have never experienced a true rainy season in the 6 years we’ve been here. It seems like every day or every other day we have at least one good shower. The crops should be great if it doesn’t flood, which is on everyone’s mind. They are afraid that the flood gates will be opened upstream, even to Zimbabwe and then Mozambique will suffer the consequences as they did in 2000. Today on the news they showed a mother who just gave birth to twins and went home to a flooded house. The only place she had for the babies was the kitchen table!

 We live in community within our house and then we live in greater community with the people in the flats above us. Steve has been getting to know them better as their drains on the outside of the building get clogged and affect us down below. Apparently one of them has a garbage disposal, plus they put a lot of grease down the sink so it’s been getting full really fast. Today, Steve had a show and tell right by the drain so we’ll see if that makes any difference.

 We also live in greater community with the apartment house right next to ours (20 feet away). Our bedrooms face the back side of the building. For a long time they had many little yippy dogs that would start a chorus of barking at all hours of the night and especially in the early morning. We felt bad for our visitors, (and for ourselves) when we couldn’t sleep! Well, wonder of wonders, the yippy dogs are gone. We’re not sure if the owners left as well or just the dogs, but we are very grateful for a good nights’ sleep.

 We’re starting to think Steve might have a wheat allergy so he’s taking a break from all wheat until we figure out what’s going on. Now the experiments begin with cassava flour, lentil and rice flour and who knows what else. Thankfully this house came with a grinder which we are starting to use more diligently.

 This weekend we had visitors - a couple from Swaziland who is starting to work with Ancient Paths Seminars there. We have been asked to mentor them, and will be traveling to Swazi in the next months to do some seminars with them. We had a great time getting to know them a bit. The wife even said she would get me some non-wheat recipes. She owns a health food store/coffee shop.

That's a bit of what's been happening with us on this side of the world this week. Who knows what next week will bring!

Pictures of Christmas and New Year’s

We started out in the Chokwe office with Dr. Pieter and the WR accountant. Love the hat. He really is a farmer at heart.




We drove to Mucatine together and saw the agricultural project.
The papayas are almost done producing. We got 5 nice, juicy red ones.



Leonor, one of the association members, watering tomato seedlings in the nursery.


These guys were in the river when we went to look at the pump.
They’re pretty awesome when they open their mouths!














The view from the porch of the house we stayed in, where I spent a lot of time reading. Since we can’t be with family we take the second best option and enjoy the beach!



The Indian Ocean can be pretty wild, and watch out for the rip tides. Because of the rocks by the shore, we don’t go in too far.



One day there were big, dead jelly fish all over the shore.
A storm brought them in, is our guess.


When the tide goes out there are many different sand designs.





Cool moth and a shot from last year of the hundreds of bats that come out of the attic at dusk. They're still there!















Christmas Dinner. First time to have a turkey in Moz!


New Year’s Eve cookout with the other missionaries who stayed in the downstairs apt. We had fun with them, playing Scrabble and Dutch Blitz, watching movies and talking.


Here's a last shot after we walked on the windy beach. Our friend thought it was a "cool Harley look"! I like it because we look so relaxed and happy.


That’s our last two weeks in a picture or two. We hope you have all had good
end of the year times as well. We are blessed and have so much to be thankful for.

Happy New Year!