A Little Jetlag...

A 2 hour flight, a 12 hour layover, a 15 hour flight, a 3 hour layover, a 2.5 hour flight and a quick check through customs and I see Nunu’s face peering at me though the airport window. That is the short version of my trip.

One child accompanies Nunu at the airport, or so I think. I glance down the road and see that a handful of children are walking back to the Center (it might be a 10 minute walk). A few minutes later Pedro pulls up with a taxi driver and we load my bags in.

Two months have passed in the blink of an eye; well that is how it feels now. My trip home was great. I got to share with new people about our ministry and catch up with others that are already involved. I got to meet my new nephew; David and I got to fill both my heart and my stomach (never a bad idea to be in the States for Thanksgiving!)

A few things became clear to me in my time home. One being that 2 months away from Nunu, was way to long. Another thing would be that 2 months isn’t enough time to build our support team. Friends were so generous to give me new contacts and I didn’t have the time to follow up with them.

I guess there is more to say but that is the short version and I’d rather tell you about being back in Moz.

This is my first time coming to Moz in December. I knew it would be hot, but after spending 2.5 hours shivering on an airplane my body isn’t sure how to react to the drastic change. It’s like my body was in culture shock… literally one minute I’m so cold my arms are inside of the hoodie I’m wearing and the next I have beads of sweat forming on my forehead with the hoodie wrapped around my waist.

All I can do is talk about how hot it is. What gets me through is the thought of sitting in front of our fan with a cool wash cloth. We get to the house and THE POWER IS OUT! What?

I can’t even wrap my brain around that because I think my brain might be sweating too.

About 2 hours of just laying in bed with a wet rag… the power comes on.

The kids are so great. I can tell they want to just stare at me or show me something but they give me space and it is SO appreciated. Sure I give out some hugs but I’m so exhausted and did I mention… I’m hot!

Nunu and I sleep inside of a bug hut, it’s a tent but with no solid panels… the point is just to keep bugs out. And whatever other creatures lurk in the night. It’s so hot Nunu convinces me to sleep with the tent open… it sound crazy but the bug hut gets hot and it big time dulls the power of the fan. So the compromise is to sleep with the light on. More than I hate the things that go bump in the night, I hate not seeing them even more! If something is in my room, I have no desire to step on it or walk into it… if I can see it I know which direction to run in avoidance =)

My guess is it’s needless to say but I don’t get the best nights sleep. I skip church on Sunday so I can unpack… for about 2 hours I unpack and organize. But then I lay down and the heat carries me into the most beautiful deep sleep ever. I wake a few hours later my hands and feet are all swollen.

It’s funny because I have this problem in the States. It’s cold out, I come in and warm up and my hands or feet swell. Or the other way around, it’s summer and I leave the nice A/C for some time out doors and my hand start itching and then they swell. But it’s never happened here in Moz… until that day.

Julie isn’t here and her room has A/C, so I decide to see if she has left a key. I find one and can’t turn the air on fast enough. Nunu drags an extra mattress into the kitchen (which is connected to Julie’s room) and we lay on the floor watching movies. Eventually the itching stops and my hands and feet return to normal.

Monday we meet with the builder to talk about things. He says he will have the building done on December 28 (10 days)… right. That is a whole different blog.

I write Julie to see if we can use their room and A/C till our room is complete… with A/C! And so I write you this blog from the comfort of an air conditioned room… yay! But the funny thing is that their toilet doesn’t work, so we still have to use our bathroom.

So each night at some ridiculous hour I find myself making the walk outside over to our other room. One good thing did come out of that though.

One morning on my way to the bathroom, I came across Nelson. He was getting ready to leave to go visit family (buses here leave really early in the morning here). I felt like I hadn’t even gotten a chance to say hi to Nelson, so I told him I would miss him and gave him a hug. As I leaned in to hug him, he put his head to the side, but not before I saw the corner of his lips turn to a smile. Again I’m in awe of the smile that such a simple gesture puts on a child’s face and as always… the smile melts my heart just a little and brings me much welcomed chills.

My jetlag has been so intense. Worse than I ever remember and I think in part to the fact that the temperature change was so great. They (whoever they are) say that it takes about 10 days for your body to fully adjust. Well on day 5 when I woke up at MIDNIGHT… I was feeling hopeless! But it’s now day 11 and I’m feeling much better.

But the strange thing is that I’ve always a night owl, through and though. Or so I thought… I’ve been going to bed around 9 and waking up at like 5. And around 5:30 I’m out of bed and so productive… it’s ridiculous! Then I got to thinking and in the States my best time is like 10 pm to 2 am… well guess what time 10 pm is here? Yep… 5am.

I’m torn if I want to keep this sleeping arrangement, but for now I like it… I mean with the exception of losing all conscious or productive thoughts at 7 pm and the fight to keep my eyes open at 8pm… I’m okay with being up early.

It’s good to be back, while the heat is a lot for this lady to handle… like all things here in Moz… it’s by the Grace of God that I make it through. He delivers a cool breeze, the shade of a tree, smiles that bring chills to my body and of course the wonders of air conditioning.

Prayer Requests:

- Before leaving the States, I purchased Rosetta Stone (RS). While I’ve used other things to learn bits of the language, my goal with RS is to be able to have conversations. Prayers for discipline and absorption.

- We are getting ready to enroll the children into school. Prayers that we are able to get them into the desired schools (as spaces can fill up) and that they are excited to go back. As they are all enjoy their time off of school.

- General health and safety. Everything from when we drive to Malaria.

Kill the BEAST!

“Do you have a flashlight?” Many nights that is the question. The answer is always yes, but my response is “What do you want it for?” Some of the kids ask me so often, I think they are just playing out in the yard, so now I ask and lend the flashlight when it seems necessary.

Tonight’s response was one I’ve never gotten before… “There is a snake in our room, we can’t find it.” This is cause for borrowing a flashlight.

Nunu heads out of our room (we are staying in the main Missionary house and short-term friends are in our normal room) to find out what’s going on. He doesn’t make it very far before we realize it’s in the room next door to ours.

I make it to the door as a dresser is pulled out the door. A few kids are going inch by inch through their room looking for a snake. Yowers! Mattresses, clothes, and dressers… everything gets pulled out and someone carefully opens each drawer and pulls everything out.

Like many things in Moz, a crowd is drawn. It’s pretty entertaining, but I’m also worried. But no I’m not helping. This is Nunu’s department! I stand in our doorway and I let Nunu go see what is happening. I’ve never seen a snake in Moz and I’ve been okay with that.

The search goes on and on and I’m thinking, “How hard is it to find a snake?!” I venture out and sit on the porch across the way so I have a better view. I take pictures of some of the kids… there is so much excitement in the air, you would think we were hosting a block party.

Could Juma be having any more fun?!

Yep... that's my husband looking for the snake!

Pedro asks me for matches. Once again… I’m like why? To make a torch to smoke the snake out. That sounds like a good idea… but I don’t know I’ve never tried finding a snake!

Njuale and another child are in the room and the door is completely crowded with kids. THEN just like that it happens. The children explode from the door like a firework. They all run in different directions. It didn’t take much to know they found the snake.

One second...

and the next... I love Juma's (in red) face!

I still avoid, Nunu jumps in to capture pictures. The kids gather back around the door and I see them wacking it with some bamboo posts.

Nunu shows me this picture…

What? THAT is the snake? THAT snake caused all of this? That looks like the largest worm I’ve ever seen!

The children gather around Njuale who has the stunned snake hanging on a long stick. I go to check it out and before I know it I’m in a scene from Beauty and the Beast. You know toward the end of the movie when they rile up all the towns people to go “Kill the Beast!” Yep that is what it’s like.

Kids are carrying bamboo and sticks like weapons. Pedro still has his torch. “Kill the beast! AH Kill the beast!” The words play over in my head. In a big group all 20 of them march over to our burn pile, so they can burn the snake.

I found out later that they burn them because they think other snakes will come if they smell a snake.

It’s so funny because I don’t exactly like snakes, but I look back at my first Mozambican snake experience with a smile. I love who these kids are. I loved watching them meticulously take apart their room. I love how determined they were. I love that the hunt to find a snake had the same joy as a block party. I love that some of the kids expressions are permanently etched in my mind from that night.

I love that I love something that is so unexpected. 

What a Difference a Day Makes.

I’m not even sure when it started but I think it’s been about a month now… but we keep running out of water!

We have a cement tank in the ground, my guess is that it’s about 6 feet wide by 10 feet long and probably 10 feet deep. Ideally as the water level goes down, water is pumped in from the city supply to keep our tank full. For the last month or so, this hasn’t been the case. It seems we run out of water at least once a week.

The view from the opening in our tank. 

Keep in mind that we have 20 people living here. That’s 20 people showering, flushing toilets, washing dishes, doing laundry and drinking water… and that doesn’t include the many children that come and go throughout the day. So yes we use quite a bit of water.

The water that comes into our tank isn’t purified or treated or anything glamorous. And when the water flows on a daily basis the water isn’t that dirty, but when you start getting down to the bottom of our cement tank, you start to realize just how dirty the water is. The lower the water level the dirtier the water.

Don’t worry I don’t drink this water, we have a reverse osmosis water filtration system that the Missionaries use for drinking water. However, the children and staff do. When Julia purchased the system, she was advised that our children and staff drink right from the tap, because their bodies have built up immunity to the water. And if they ever drank water at school or a friends house, it would make them sick. 

About a week ago, the water shut off… again. Even after the water shuts off, we still have some water in the tank. We use a small oil jug with holes cut in the side to fill up larger buckets for showering and such. So that day I got a bucket of water. The very next day Nunu wanted to take a bucket shower, but he needed more water than what was left over. So he went and got another bucket.

Joao using an oil jug to get water.

In the bucket it goes.

I was shocked at what he brought back. What a difference a day makes. My bucket was clear water, his was a foggy mess! I suggested that he wait a day and let the dirt settle, but I can neither confirm or deny if he used this water to shower =)

What a difference a day makes!

We decided that since the tank was so empty, it would be a good time to clean it out. Ernesto climbed down into the tank and scooped buckets out… each bucket got darker and darker. I started saving the nasty dark water for flushing our toilets. I think the kids thought I was crazy when I asked them for a bucket of dirt water!

When our tank runs out of water, we have to get water from a local well. The kids usually take on this task for us. Juma G even came back once with the bucket perched on his head. I think they like going because we pay them well for their hard work. Sometimes the neighborhood kids even ask if they can go and they will carry a big bucket together and grin from ear to ear when we let them keep the change.

This last week for the first time, the community well was out of water. It wasn’t a pretty sight… or rather scent. Imagine living in Florida without air conditioning and a bunch of boys who don’t wear deodorant. Last night I had a dream that I went back to the States and one of my friends pulled me aside to tell me that I had really bad B.O.!

Thankfully this morning a little water had come into our tank. Enough to be able to flush our toilet =) This afternoon I went to get another bucket of water and I hear the sound of running water… the tank proceeded to fill up and just like that we have running water!

I think it must be the time of year. I have a feeling we will continue to go a few days each week without water for the next few months. We are planning to build a water tower to house more water and increase our water pressure, but until then, if you could be praying for our water supply, I would really appreciate it!

In a Coke Bottle?!

Those of you who have been reading my blog from the beginning are probably noticing that something is missing lately.

Mice. Where are all the mice stories? The truth is for three or four weeks I don’t even think I saw a mouse and then I got behind on blogging and mice went to the bottom of the list of things I wanted to talk about… but alas here we are!

The day before Nunu and I moved rooms, it hit me that we hadn’t had a mouse in our room since Nunu arrived. It felt like an accomplishment to say the least. But that night I lay in bed listening to some plastic bags moving… no big deal because we got a new fan today and it’s on oscillate… of course the bags are going to be blowing around.

I decided to go to the bathroom one more time before going to bed and asked Nunu if I could turn the light on since I’d been hearing the bags. I flip the switch and glance around the room to find the bag that our glorious fan wasn’t on oscillate, so I started looking at the bags around our room. I look to the garbage bag, nothing. I look at our bag of bags and yell, “the bag moved, it moved!” I start justifying because I’ve accomplished a mouse free room… remember?!

“Maybe it’s a cockaroach or maybe it’s Georgia (the lizard we named), maybe I’m just seeing things!” Nunu got up and went to grab the bag, but I was like wait!! I opened the door and handed him the broom to pick up the bags (the last thing in the world I want is something running up Nunu’s arm!). He goes outside and we call Black, the dog, over. Nunu starts pulling bags out and he turns to say that the bag is empty, but mid-sentence I see the brown fur ball go flying out of the bag. Black takes off and they both run around the corner of the building.

Part of me imagines one of those cartoons where once the enemies get around the corner one pays the other one off and they share a cigarette together commenting on how convincing the other one was. But I’m pretty sure that Black went to sleep that night with a full belly!

A few days later, I’m walking across the yard and I see a dead mouse just laying there. I take a step back and start asking around why there is a dead mouse in the yard and it looked a little funny. Nunu was like, “Oh Amido found it in a Coke bottle in our room.” What?!?! He goes on to explain that some of the boys were helping him clean out our room for John & Laura and when they picked up the bottle, there he was sitting in the bottom.

The mouse looked so strange because Amido somehow got him out of a glass coke bottle. I’m not sure that you could fit a nickel inside of one of these bottles but this little mouse figured it out. Welcome to Mozambique.

A few nights later, we arrive in Chubia (to celebrate our wedding with the kids). I was so exhausted by the time we arrived that I couldn’t even eat dinner. I just went into our room to lie down and try and escape from the group for a bit. I was too tired to worry about the bug net, I just put the air (and fan) on and pulled back a corner of the blanket, so I could curl up for a little nap.

It was so strange though, I kept thinking I was seeing movement out of the corner of my eye. I thought once that something popped up from my backpack that was on the bed less than a foot away from me. Nunu came to check on me and brought a bag of bread and put it on the floor, I thought I heard the bag move. He came back again I asked him to leave the bag in the Kitchen, but I kept thinking I was seeing things. But like I said I was so exhausted, while normally I can just sense a mouse in the room, I was so tired that my game was off, I kept telling myself that I just need to sleep and I’m exhausted a seeing things.

I get up to go join the group and poof a mouse runs right in front of me… right under the bed! I was still so tired, I couldn’t conjure a scream… but I’m pretty sure my eyes popped out of my head. And I did one of those run-walks out to the living room. Nunu and John went in to investigate. They found a hole in the bathroom window and I noticed a window up high that was open, so they plugged the holes and closed the window. They searched for the mouse and they were convinced it had gone back out. I on the other hand, was not.

I hung with the group for a bit, but needed to lie back down. This time I pull down the bug net and tuck it firmly under the mattress. I feel so funny that a mouse can’t even keep me out of this room. After another nap, I get up to join the group. Yet again the mouse goes running from the corner right near me, under the bed!

I go out and I tell Nunu the mouse is still in there. In the nicest tone I can muster, I ask him to go into the room and not come out till they have the mouse. He and John go back and I start recruiting reinforcements. I get Pedro, Antonio and Latino to go help.

Laura and I stand at the end of the hall listening. I hear furniture being dragged across the floor and I can tell by all the talking they are trying to decide how to pick up the bed because the mouse is probably hiding in the wicker bed frame (yuck). It’s then that I hear the screaming, jumping and stomping. Which eventually leads to the crashing and breaking of something. Laura and Julie (both visitors) decide they need to get a peek at the action and they squeeze in the room for about a minute. Someone comes out and tells me they need a bucket to trap the mouse with.

Not a minute after I empty out a bucket, does Pedro come walking out of the room holding the mouse by it’s tail! Ah… big YUCK!

Everyone that was in the room walks out as if they just got off a ride at Six Flags… they have a bounce in their step and a smile on their face. I ask John for a recap and he tells me how the mouse was under the bed and when it ran out he tried to trap it with this pottery vase and as soon as he put the vase on the mouse it shattered. It looked like a sturdy vase to me too, but I guess on a concert floor it didn’t have a chance.

He then goes on about how the mouse tried to run out the door but it was shut, so he just kept jumping into the door. I think John said he was like 18 – 24 inches off the ground. I made a joke to John about all the screaming, because I didn’t think Mozambicans were afraid of mice. Johns response was so priceless… “Yeah all the screaming, that was probably all me!”

On Sunday night, we returned home only to find the power was still out. Almost every Sunday the power is out from 6am to 4pm. It was 10pm and all the kids were in bed. I suggested that John bring a bucket of water in their room incase they needed to flush or shower. He got the bucket and came out of the room and was like, “Uhm there is a dead mouse in our bucket.”

We aren’t really sure how it got there, but my best guess is that it fell from an opening where the wall meets the ceiling. Just like the mouse in the Coke bottle, he wasn’t full grown.

The funny thing about all of the mouse sittings is that after each one Nunu turns to me and says, “Ooh this will be a good story for the blog!” 

Prayer Request:

- We are going to purchase a piece of land this week or next. Our goal is to get a piece that attaches to our existing land but is along the street front. In the past land has been, all things considered, cheap. But with the oil companies entering the picture street front property has gone up quite a bit in price. So just pray for favor and a fair price.

-  I’m trying to book myself a trip home. Pray for a reasonably priced ticket and that we would have the finances to make the purchase.

As always, thanks for reading. And let Nunu and I know if we can be praying for you!

Another Juma Post... sigh.

Yesterday morning I woke, just like many days. A little out of it, convinced I need just 15 more minutes of sleep… in short not a single bone in my body is that of a “morning person.” Nunu on the other hand hops out of bed and is in the bathroom brushing his teeth. He leaves the room to check and see what the day brings and what everyone is up to. I wake up enough to read and send him on his way. He is going into town to check in on some school things.

I lay in bed reading and get a text message from Julie. She has been throwing up and Adriano went to Tanzania (something to do with his visa), so Julie has called Ida (one of our cooks who is SO great with all the kids) to help her look after Samuel today. But until Ida arrives, she has Sumate watching Samuel. She just wanted me to keep an eye on him too.

I open my door and Samuel is out on the porch asleep in Sumate arms. Safe and sound, he is oblivious to the fact that his mom isn’t feeling good. Just a happy sleeping baby.

I also notice that Juma P. is sitting outside, which is odd because he is supposed to be at school in the morning. He tells me he is hungry but this is beyond normal for him, usually he says this to me 1 hour before dinner, or even just after we ate. I’m never sure if he is actually hungry or just bored and seeing if he can get a piece of bread from me. It’s one of those things that sounds simple… just give him a piece of bread. But I learned on my first trip that it quickly turns into a daily thing and then other kids try to join in too. Yet another one of those strange things that sounds so simple, but it leaves me unsure of how to act.

I leave my door open and start to work on my computer. I check emails and all that stuff that my MiFi (wireless internet) allows me to do. Juma sits about three feet from my door he just stares at me. As my mind is fighting to catch up with my awake body, I realize that this is strange. I realize that I have a banana in my cabinet from dinner last night and I give that to Juma. I ask Sumate why Juma is home from school and find out he has a headache. I feel his body and sure enough he is warm.

In this moment his health issues don’t even faze me. I go into my room to see what kind of head ache medicine I have. I find Extra Strength Tylenol, Aspirin and a Multi-Symptom cold medicine for children. Even though Juma is about 9, he is the size of a 4 year old. So I have to try to figure out what I would give a 4 year old. My thought is to go with the Mulit-symptom because Juma’s nose is running and he was coughing two nights ago. But since Julie is here, I go to get her opinion.

She says I could cut down some of the other medicine but in the end she agrees with the Mulit-symptom is probably the best thing for Juma. As I am on my way out of Julie’s house, Pedro shows up at the door, “Come! Come!” he says. Pedro approaches me like this at least once a week, he is my boy who cries wolf.

I follow him wondering what random thing he is going to show me today, when I look up and see Juma seizing on the porch! I run over, lucky he is laying on a Mozambican bed and Sumate was near him.

I’ve never witnessed a seizure before, but I always imagined them to be a lot more violent. Juma was lying on his side and it looked like he was rocking to a music beat, but rather than just his head his whole body was rocking to the beat. My mind starts racing and I tell Sumate to make sure Juma doesn’t fall off the bed and make sure his head doesn’t hit anything.

I run back and tell Julie and she says we need to get his body temperature down with a cool bath and get him to take the medicine. I ask Izack to get me a bucket of water, but our well is almost empty again, which means we have no running water and he has to pull it out with a bucket. I start taking Juma’s shirt off and sure enough, his little body is so hot. Much hotter than when I felt his head less than 10 minutes before.

I ask some of the boys to find a pair of Juma’s short or underwear, but no one can find anything. That’s when I realize that he has shorts on under his pants (it’s very common for young children to go without underwear here). Latino is helping to get Juma’s pants off and I go into my room and grab a washcloth. Izack returns with a bucket of water and I put the first cloth on Juma’s forehead.

By this time he is crying and his nose is running and he no longer looks like a 9 year old trapped in a 4 year olds body, but rather I am staring into the eye of a confused and scared infant.

Latino gets Juma’s pants off; only to realize that he has sweat pants on under them!! I roll the pant legs up and apply another washcloth to his belly. Latino is speaking to him in Macua for me, even though I speak to Juma in English and he is fluent in Portuguese, I figure the Mother tongue is the best. Latino keeps telling me, “He can’t hear, his ears are closed.”

I realize this medicine isn’t going to happen and resolve to let him sleep and change the washclothes every few minutes. We call his mother to let her know what has happened. I just wanted her to know what had happened and that we were taking care of Juma. Of course she could come, but Latino told her she had to come… communication.

Juma sleeps for about an hour, I sit on the bed with him. At first I wanted to hold him but I instantly felt his body temperature go up and so I slid him down so he could use my leg as a pillow. I had to change the washclothes less and less. He was cooling off and now it’s time to get him to take the grape flavored medicine.

In the last year Juma has been poked and prodded more than most adults are in their entire lifetime. And for that reason I completely understand his aversion to medicine. So I try encouraging him as lovingly as I know how, trying to explain what’s going on and that this will help to cool his body off.

The medicine finally goes down and I can see that he is surprised at how good it taste, as I myself have problems taking medication from the Pharmacy here. They are usually horse pills with no coating and since Juma’s small they are cut in half… yuck!

He falls back to sleep and I think we are in the clear. I stare at this little body that is covered in little marks, scabs that he picked. Like he had the chicken pocks and picked at every single pock. I know that many of these are bug bites, but some he says are a reaction to the Penicillin injections he was getting while he had Phenomena. Juma is so small, how is it that such a little body has had to go through so much. How much more can this little body handle? How many more of these seizures will he have before Doctors can tell us more than, “Watch his sugar intake and don’t let him get to hot.” What is God’s plan in all of this?

Then his mom, Cifa, shows up. I am horrible at reading body language here but to me she appears upset, but it could have been concern. She comes and sits next to us touches Juma and shortly after pulls him off of my lap and cradles him in her arms.

Over and over and through different people, I try to explain that we need to keep his body temperature down. I try to show what I’ve been doing with the washclothes, but it’s obvious she doesn’t understand what I mean. She actually even covers him up with a capalana (piece of fabric). I get it though, it’s cultural. In Mozambique people think their children will get sick if they don’t have on a hat and long sleeves in 70 or even 75 degrees! From what I can tell in Mozambique when you feel sick, you put on more clothes. It explains why Juma had on 2 pairs of pants and how his mother is reacting.

I resolve to flip and rewet the clothes a few more times and then head back to my room. Then I check on him every hour or so, until eventually is see him sitting up and eating. But I also see him putting on a long sleeve shirt, and I’m not sure how to react.

I was thinking Juma was in the clear but around four or five someone tells me that Cifa wants to take Juma to the hospital to have a malaria test done, as they have already told us all they know. Which is, “Watch his sugar intake and don’t let him get to hot.” I go out and feel him and sure enough he is hot again. Cifa puts Juma on her back and ties him in with a capalana, as many mothers do with their young children. I send them on their way with one washcloth tucked in around the collar of Juma’s shirt and the other in his mother’s hand.

I retreat into my room. I’m exhausted. I think more than anything it’s just the emotions that go with a day like today. It’s also tiring feeling helpless and not knowing. All the questions just exhaust me.

Last night I never heard anything about the hospital visit, but today I open my door to a hyper active Juma. As if all the energy he should have used yesterday was stored under his bed and this morning when he woke up he pulled it out and added it to today’s dose of energy. I’ve seriously never seen Juma so hyper. I’ve also never seen such a dramatic 180 over night.

I think the thing that makes this SO hard is that we are alone in this. The doctors here in Pemba basically have no clue what is going on. All we can do is endure and do our best to make Juma comfortable.

I’m planning to make an emergency medical kit especially for Juma, with everything from a pair of short and washcloth to children’s Tylenol. I’m starting to feel like a broken record, but please just be praying for this little body. If you review some of my most recent posts, you’ll get a better idea of his needs, but feel free to ask questions.

Thanks as always for your love and support.

Oh and here is a picture of Juma...

Macarrao Wedding 2.0

The first weekend that John and Laura were in Pemba, we went to this place called Chuiba Palms. It’s a little resort along the Indian Ocean, I think it’s about four homes and a pool. Nunu and I picked this place to celebrate our wedding with the children. The night before our celebration, one of the kids asked when our ceremony would be. We ended up throwing together a little ceremony on the beach that Saturday night.

Anyways, follow this link to see a bunch of pictures from the weekend and a video. 

Link to Pictures!

Link to Video!

A BIG thanks to John Azoni for taking the wedding pictures and making the video. 

He's Back!

On Wednesday after we got back from the Leprosy place, we are putting the final touches on the John & Laura’s room… only to find out that they missed their flight in London which started a snowball effect. And they have been told that Saturday is the next available flight out of Johannesburg to Pemba!!

So we spend the afternoon at the hospital getting an x-ray for Juma’s chest. Then tomorrow we have to take the x-ray to the private clinic to see if he has Pneumonia or Tuberculosis.

Oh one thing that I don’t think I’ve mentioned is that we decided to bring Juma back to the Center to live. It was becoming fairly clear that he is better off with us. The kids have been out of school for the last two or three weeks but in this time we have been unable to get him into a school closer to home and he is unable to walk to this school from his house. In addition to school with all of his medical issues, while we don’t have them figured out, when he’s here at least we know what he is eating and if he is taking his medication.

I’m also not really sure what the situation is but he is saying that his mother isn’t feeding him the eggs we are sending home for him each week. So on Sunday after church he came rushing into Julie’s house and told her that he needed to come back, that he wanted to be here. When we asked Cifa about the eggs she said he is eating them, so who know what’s really going on but if he is here we know what he is eating and we are able to keep a better eye on him. So he’s back!

Thursday morning I dropped Julie, Julia, Maria, Cifa, Juma and Billette off at the clinic. We are going away for the weekend to celebrate Nunu and my marriage. We are off to buy food and a few other things for 35 people for the weekend. Nunu and I run all over the markets and it’s down right exhausting.

We eventually get a call from Julie saying they are done, so Nunu and I pop into one more store before going back to get them. As I pull up I can tell something is off.

She tells me that Juma has been bleeding very badly from a toe prick. I guess it was supposed to get bandaged but the nurse didn’t think it was bleeding so he didn’t apply the bandage. But as soon as Juma stepped out the door his foot started gushing blood. Cifa rushed to his side and started wiping the blood from his foot with her hand and then wiping the blood on her clothes and his clothes. Not good.

Cifa, Juma and Bilette sit in the back of the truck, which is very common here in Mozambique. They end up going home to clean up before returning to the Center. It’s just so hard and we can only do so much. How does a clinic take blood from someone in a country ravished with AIDS and not apply a bandage? How do you balance the love of a human with the reality of the highly contagious disease that is running through their veins? I do my best to love unconditionally, but it really is a lot of pressure… knowing that how I treat these kids will shape them into the adults they become. Don’t get me wrong I realize that their entire upbringing isn’t on my shoulders but I am responsible for my actions. I wasn't really there when he started bleeding but I wonder with situations like this how would I respond? 

Our day is nowhere near over, we still have some shopping to do and John & Laura now arrive tonight. They had to buy new tickets through a different airline, but they are on their way!

Welcome dance for John & Laura!

Amido is putting a capalana on Laura.

Prayer Requests:

- This seems like a common one lately but just keep Juma's health in your prayers.

Alemo... A bit more on Leprosy

As promised on Wednesday we went to the Leprosy support place called Alemo. It was such a beautiful experience. We arrived during a literacy class that is offered. The class is open to the public and it’s used to help people become more comfortable with people who had Leprosy. This place was so funny… in a good way. In the kind of way where you just want to put people in your pocket and take them home with you.

Alemo's logo. The tree trunk looks like the hands of someone suffering from
Leprosy and the branches & leaves symbolize the growth and change that
comes from healing. The dead leaves that fall to the ground even symbolize
something but I don't remember exactly.

When we first arrived we met three people, two men and one woman. In one way or another they run the place. I think the man who spoke the most had Leprosy as his hands were deformed. He was so passionate and so proud (as he should be) of his work. The woman was so cute, she told us she was happy to have woman visitors. And she asked us not only our first names but insisted on our last names too. “Nichols” popped out of my mouth and then I was like… “oh wait Macarrao” (I think that was the first time someone asked my name since marriage)… the lady thought it was sooooo funny that I didn’t know my last name… and so we all got a really good laugh.

After a quick overview of what they do, we went out to meet the students. They asked us to introduce ourselves and then one by one all 20 of them introduced themselves to us… first and last name. They sang a song for us and then asked that we do the same in return. It was a little awkward, but did our best version of Amazing Grace. I asked if I could take a picture and they said yes, as long as I showed it to the people. So that is what I did… I walked along the front of the classroom with my camera showing each person the group picture I had just taken.

On our tour we also saw the infirmary… a simple small room with a low ceiling. Not many medical supplies as far as I could see but there was one cart of gauze and stuff. We also saw that they had a corn mill. It was just one man standing in a room with 2 or 3 large machines, everything was covered in white, even the man… as if it had just snowed. They use the sales from the mill to help run the facility.

We also met two men who were soaking and cleaning their feet, a vital part in warding off infection. It’s kind of odd looking at these men, wondering just what their feet look like. Are their feet infected? Do they have legions? What does a legion even look like? But never in a million years would I ask to look at their feet, but before I know it our tour guide has asked.

The first man pulls his foot from the red wash tub. I’m not sure what I expected but it’s not this. He basically has a hole the size of a half dollar in his foot, but there is no blood. It’s just a hole. There is nothing gross about his foot, it just looks SO painful. The next man pulls his foot and he too has a hole, but his is shaped more like a 4” carrot. I suddenly understand just what the doctor was telling us yesterday… people whose nerves are damaged from leprosy wear holes in their feet because their body never sends the signal to readjust how they are walking and standing.

As we continue to walk around, I notice that everyone has on good shoes. While flips flops similar to the ones at Old Navy are what most wear, I’m seeing much sturdier sandals like Tevas and gym shoes. Even if people have on Tevas, they also have on socks.

Our tour ends in a rooms that is full of pottery. Handmade bowls and vases, they all are a burnt shade of orange with some dark silver highlights. We eventually find out that the woman makes them and they are sold to help the organization. I get a little lost in translation but eventually figure that she has said she wants to give us some of these but the I can tell that the Leprosy doctor is trying to politely say no.

We realize that the price of the pottery is written on the side of each piece. Things range from 10 mzn (36 cents) to 25 mzn (89 cents). It might sound strange to refuse a gift that costs so little but it’s so hard to accept knowing how much little bits of money help people. This is one of those times that I don’t question paying more than the asking price.

The Alemo staff, Julia, Julie and I with our new pottery.

Before we left, I asked if we could take pictures with our pottery and the lady who made them and they all said yes… but once again the condition was that we show them our pictures. The woman beamed as I showed her, it was such an awesome morning. 

Leprosy??

On Tuesday, I drove Julie and Julia around again. We first went to the Leprosy Mission. A missionary Julia knows works for the Leprosy Mission. It was quite interesting. While Leprosy has been eradicated in most of the world, there are a few countries that are infected. There was a map on the wall (it didn’t exactly look current, but I’m not sure what year it was made) that highlighted Brazil, a few small countries in Asia, and two African countries… one of which is Mozambique.

Walking in, I honestly didn’t know much (if anything) about Leprosy. I found this visit really interesting. Leprosy is “usually spread person to person by respiratory droplets” (according to wikipedia). Meaning if you are talking with someone and they sneeze or spit when they talk and you breathe it in. The other scary thing about the disease is that you can be infected for up to six years before you ever have any symptoms. But don’t freak out just yet Wikipedia also says that 95% of people are naturally immune.

The most common symptom of Leprosy is a rash that loses feeling. Meaning if you poke or touch the middle of the rash, you can’t feel it. Leprosy is curable but you can live with the effects of it for the rest of your life, depending on how early on you started getting treated. The most common problem is that you lose feeling in your feet and hands. So if you pick up a pan that is hot, you don’t feel the burn but you end up with third degree burns.

The biggest problem is your feet though. Think about a day that you spend on your feet. Even if you are standing still, your feet get sore and you constantly change your position. You move your body weight from one foot to the other from heal to toe and so on. Well if you lose the feeling in your foot, your body no longer communicates that it’s time to shift your weight. So people with Leprosy end up with legions on your feet. But you don’t even feel them, so you have to constantly be checking your feet and hands to make sure you haven’t hurt yourself or began developing a legion, which could get infected.

We learned that one of the things that the Leprosy Mission does is help set up support groups from people who are in recovery or have recovered (I’m not sure what to call them but those who aren’t contagious). Julia asks if there is a local support group and if the PA’s would be able to spend a day there.

To make a long story short, not only can the PA’s visit there but we are going to see the place tomorrow! I’m not really sure what to expect, but I so curious now.

We head out and while sitting in the car we call another contact and decide to swing by Food for the Hungry (FH). We meet with the Director and try to gain a better understanding of what they are doing.

I guess even thought their office is in Pemba they are actually working about 8 hours to the North. They have developed a system to try improving the quality of life. They have this amazing set of 8 picture books that explain everything from how you should defecate near or in your water source to how a baby will need to eat 24 hours a day. Since many in the villages can’t read, the picture books are perfect. The drawings tell the story… it’s awesome!

Then they have one contact in each area who teaches the material to “mother leaders” who have been appointed in their village. Then the mother leaders commit to work with 10 families from their village.

They also work with farmers. They focus on foods that the locals don’t eat which helps to ensure that the farmer will make a profit… since he won’t be eating his crop. One thing they focus on is sesame seed. They also have helped to start a share cropper network. While a big sesame seed company won’t pay to have 20 kilos of seeds transported they will pay for a truck load. The share cropping has done so well that they have even created a system of pooling their money to help each others farms grow.

I’m sure I didn’t get all that this guy was saying and this probably isn’t the most exciting post I’ve ever written but I get so encouraged to see how other ministries are helping Mozambicans. I feel like it helps me to think more outside of the box and to think bigger. I think it also keeps me in check… am I putting band-aids on problems or am I helping to come up with life long solutions. Am I seeing a problem that really isn’t important?

I really love that song by Hosanna (by Hillsong and so many others), the lyrics are “break my heart for what breaks yours.” It’s easy for my heart to break because of the things I’m used to, because of the high standard I have being from the States. But I have to try to see things from a different perspective… God’s perspective… what breaks His heart? 

You... Big Problem

The last few weeks have been so exhausting… the thought of reliving the events in this blog makes me want to take a nap. But I will do my best to share what I’ve been up to.

One of our visitors names in Julie to try to keep things clear, I will refer to the visitor as Julie. When I say Julia, I’m talking about our full time missionary.

In mid September we have to PA (Physician Assistant) students coming to do their medical rotation with us. Julie and Julia have been overseeing this as they are both PA’s themselves. While Julie is here, she and Julia will be spending much of their time looking into the medical community to see if there are possibilities for the PA students to shadow different aspects of health care in Pemba.

Julia’s drivers license was stolen while she was in Brazil and so she is trying not to drive. She was able to finally find a photocopy and requested a new DL, but by the time it got to her mom’s house she didn’t have the time to mail it to Julie. So it will come Wednesday with our second set of visitors. Until then, I’m the official driver.

On Monday we went to IRIS Ministries. IRIS is the big orphanage in town and they also have a medical clinic. We met with a South African (or maybe Australian) doctor and she explained that they see 20 patients each day and also do outreaches to remote communities on Mondays and Thursdays.

It was interesting but I guess it’s kinda what I would expect from a Clinic.  There was a cluster of people just outside the door sitting on a porch. Some with very obvious ailments, such as a misshapen leg and others who you not sure what is wrong. They had two national staff that helped with the bandaging; I think they both want to study medicine to be nurses. The inside was a nice organized space, they were bandaging someone so I didn’t look to closely. But from the other room, I could see drawers of medical supplies… everything put neatly in it’s place.

The afternoon we spent driving all over the villages looking for Maternity Clinics. Maria our house mom was giving directions, but here directions were all based on the way she walks. On a few occasions I wound all over a village to find it and then on the way out we were only two minutes from the road.

The Maternity Clinics were very interesting. They are located in the villages and that is where most locals go for their prenatal care as well as delivery. The first one we went to was constructed of cement blocks, the exterior was nicely painted… the bottom half of the building was peach and the top half white.

A nurse and a helper run this clinic. The nurse was very talkative as Julia explained about the PA students coming and how they want to offer a class for expecting mothers. We were given a tour. We walked in through the double doors and immediately took a right. We were in a hallway that was about 20 feet in length. The hallway had about 4 rooms off of it. The rooms did not have doors, rather the opening was the size of the room and then there was a simple metal framed three-partition screen for privacy. The rooms were very small and each had a very simple metal cot covered by some sort of vinyl or plastic (whatever it was it looked easy to wipe off). One room had a young woman laying on the bed. She was sort of rocking herself side to side, but she was facing the wall and so I couldn’t tell what was wrong.

At the end of the hall there was a room. It had eight simple metal framed beds each with it’s own mosquito net and there was one tv in the middle of the room. I felt horrible as soon as I walked in because the first thought in my mind was that it looked like how the movies portray old Phyc wards in scary movies. I’m not really sure why I thought that other than that it was so simple, plain and white… with the exception of the bug nets.

In this room there were three woman and their new born babies. All the babies were wrapped in colorful capalanas (common fabric, usually with beautiful designs). One woman was at the bed right by the door and she positioned her baby so we could see. The baby had been born yesterday!

We went back out the same way we came in and she pointed to a room that was an office and another room that was for prenatal exams and such. The nurse told us that the rooms off the hallway were for delivery. It was kind of surprising though because the young lady I saw didn’t appear to have a big baby bump. But it didn’t feel right to ask.

This woman was very excited about our classes for new mothers saying that they try to teach them the importance of things like Iron and even good hygiene. I can’t remember the statistics right now but I know that many babies die before they reach the age of two in Mozambique.

We ask about medication during labor and the nurse tells us that it is only provided if the mother can pay for it. I’m not sure of the cost, but I would guess that many women go without. I also highly doubt they are administering epidurals in these Clinics, but I didn’t think to ask what the medication was.

We wound our way to another clinic. This one I had to squeeze our truck between a fence and a jagged rock. My depth perception for the left side of the car is so off, being that we drive on the right. And the mirror is messed up on the left, so I’ve never really figured out my bearings. So I skimmed the fence and Julia had to get out and help me. We arrive at the Clinic and while the first one made me think of a Phyc ward, this one… was scary. The outside had once been painted blue and white but the years have gathered layer after layer of dirt… or maybe it was chipped paint. This clinic also had a massive tree growing about three feet from it’s door. So rather than walking up steps, we had to maneuver our way up tree roots.

The inside was just as dark as the outside. But it was pretty much the same thing as the first Clinic, minus the white walls. We only walked in and walked out. When we got back into the car, we went out a different way and easily found the road. Well we found it but we couldn’t get to it. The main streets are lined with these big cement water ways for when it rains. Some of them you can drive over and some of them the angle is to sharp to drive over, so there are footbridges. Well this one just has a footbridge and when I look left and look right, all I see are footbridges. There are some kids around us and I can tell they are thinking what is this girl doing.

Maria tells me to go left and so I wind my way around electricity pole and people, all while I have fences and homes a few feet to my left and the cement drop off to my right. I think eventually we will hit the road and there won’t be a water drain, but I’m not really sure. So we drive for a few minutes and sure enough we are able to get back on the road.

We are now driving along the Indian ocean (that’s so fun to say!) I notice the road splits and so I go to the left, but Maria motions for me to go to the right. So I break a little and then realize no I’m going the right way, it’s then that I look up I see the police about 50 feet up ahead. So I get nervous and try to start driving.

Our truck is diesel and it’s stick. So it’s powerful and I have to shift with my left hand. A few times each day I lose 3^rd gear. I’m not sure where it goes, I think that is what I’m shifting to but I either end up in 1^st or 5^th … both gears give the truck a good shake and it sounds like I am revving the engine. I try to play it cool and shift into 3^rd gear, but I miss. And I draw a lot of attention from the police.

In Mozambique the police stand on both sides of the street and just motion you to pull over if they want you to. Sometimes they have a reason, but often it’s just to check to make sure you have all the required papers. My heart sinks a little and my stomach is instantly full of butterflies as the police officer mentions for me to pull over.

Julia says that she isn’t going to speak Portuguese unless she needs to and just to do my best. I put down my window and he just starts talking. I give the most innocent smile I have and say in Portuguese, “I only speak a little Portuguese.” I offer him my International Drivers License and he says something I don’t understand. Julia says quietly give him the car documentation. So I pull down the sun visor and hand him whatever papers are there and he takes what he needs.

He walks around the car looking at our registration and who knows what else. He comes back and says…  “You, Big problem.” And more Portuguese, Julia again in a little voice says give him your passport. I had that to him and his mood just changes. He becomes happy and starts making jokes… even Maria in the passenger seat is laughing. He hands me all my papers back and tells me to have a good afternoon.

As we pull away, Julia asks Maria to repeat what the police officer said. Laughing she talks to Julia in Portuguese and then Julia tells me that he said that he wanted to marry me!

We go to one more Maternity Clinic. This one is by far the easiest to get to, which I’m happy because I’m not sure how much more driving my stress level can take today! This Clinic looks fairly new, it’s all white inside and out. When it comes down to it all three clinics were pretty much the same, the difference was just how clean the space felt. There is one thing at this Clinic that strikes me as odd. When we are in the delivery room, which is much bigger than at the first clinic and it’s full of equipment. I look near the door and I see two pairs of white rain boots. My gut reaction is that it’s because of the blood during delivery and it freaks me out… a bit later, either my common sense or desire for justification jumps in and I decide the boots must be for clean up. But it’s an image that will stay in my mind for a long time.

Driving is exhausting but it’s so interesting to see some of these places that I’ve never seen before. It’s also fun to meet people, like the first nurse, and see their passion for what they are doing as well as their desire to help people.

I later found out that Maria, had six children and two of her daughters died in child birth in the clinic we visited. One of the babies was still born and the other died a few weeks after.

Days like these are so full of emotions, and this was just one day. While it’s hard seeing some things, I can’t say enough how happy I am to be in Mozambique!

Welcome to Projecto Sonho!

I think I mentioned that we have a few visitors coming though in August. The last few weeks have been busy preparing for them. So I haven't had much time to write and blog, but I want to keep you all in the loop... so I've decided to do a photo blog =) 

Ben and Julie first arrived at Projecto Sonho on Sunday morning and joined us for church. Our children have been preparing a dance for all of the visitors and so below are pictures of the dance and our church services.

Sunday morning church service at Projecto Sonho.

Worship leaders... Ernesto, Antonio & Izack

Ben & Julie

Let the dancing begin!

Don't you just love the matching outfits!!

Joao... what a smile 

Some of the neighbor girls joined us for church. They started giggling when I  pointed my camera at them.

Joao, Juma G, Nelson, Izack, Njuale, Antonio, Latino
Osvaldo, Pedro, Juma P, Helder, Amido
These are the boys that live at our house, minus Carlos.
Antonio is one of our community kids.

The whole gang!