New Website!

The last month or so I've been working to get the Widow's Might a website up and running. I'm happy to share that with you all now =)

www.TheWidowsMight.net

In addition the new site includes a new blog for all things Widow's Might!

http://www.thewidowsmight.net/blog-the-mighty.html

Find the Spoon!

One of my favorite games to play with the kids involves a giant ice cube and a spoon! I freeze the spoon in the middle of the cube and they have to melt it to get the spoon out with out breaking the cube! It's so funny to see how each personality shines through in a game like this. I just love watching!

Juma P (for Pequeno or small). While he loves being the little guy and the extra attention that goes with it, even more he LOVES proving himself. Anytime I ask Juma to do something he works hard to show he can do it and that his size doesn't matter. Melting a block of ice is no different. I had so many great pictures of him... it was hard to narrow them down. His expressions are priceless and at one point he was concentrating so hard at melting the ice, he drooled! It was hilarious!

The half ninja!

Holding hands with Saide, one of the
community kids. 

Nelson is the exact opposite of Juma. He tries to act SO uninterested... note he is melting ice with his fingers. But as the game goes on, I notice that it's Nelson's turn quite often. I pay more attention, after his turn he goes only about 3 deep in the line... a nice way of saying he is cutting. =) I found it so interesting that he was cutting, as he was acting too cool for this game. I would have actually thought he would have let others go in front of him to avoid having to play. Some kids jump to play, others need nudging but love it just as much.

Osvaldo, is another one who is a little to cool for this game. But he kept playing and would try out some of the most ridiculous ways of melting ice, such as the over exaggerated swiping from side to side that is shown below.

Then there is me! Ahahha I love getting involved when I can. And yes my personality shows too, you can see I'm trying a few different techniques to see what works the best =)

On the left in the picture below is Pedro and on the right is our staff member Zito. It's sort of perfect that they are pictured together as I would describe some of their main characteristics as being the same. Pedro is known for his honesty; the kids would probably call him a tattle tale... but kids will be kids. If you ask Pedro to go buy you something you never question for a second if the change is right, because it's Pedro. The kids kept trying to sneak rocks to the ice and so we were having to check hands. It was funny as if to try and earn some street cred with his friends, Pedro was holding a rock in each hand and then holding his hands in the air with 2 fingers folded down to hold the rocks and then he would say, "look no rocks." Funny guy. 

Zito is one of our hardest workers, and similar to Pedro he will help with anything. Going above and beyond isn't common for our staff, but I'm happy to say Zito does such things!

Helder is the second youngest. And I think he sort of likes to get lost in a crowd. He is expressive and loves pictures but doesn't want to be the center of attention... unless there is a camera. He is always happy to join in but doesn't make a fuss if he isn't involved. He is just an easy going kid.

His alter ego would be Nchuale... our resident funny guy. Nchuale wasn't home when we started and I kept looking for him, knowing if Nchuale was here the kids would feed off of his silly energy... and sure enough they did. He walked up the to ice and started scratching it with his long nails, we all thought he had a rock and were left speechless when he showed us he was just using his nails... uh okay. I always try to convince the kids to use more than just their hands... I suggest arms and of course the stomach. Nchuale once again is the first one to take me up on the suggestion and we all just die laughing. He is hold the ice and moving it and he looks like a chicken... so of course I encourage clucking which he is happy to do! This guy will do anything for a laugh!

The goal was to get the spoon without breaking the ice at all. Osvaldo was working so hard to melt the ice that when the spoon went flying out and I started yelling in English, "You won! You won!" He was confused and I think he thought I was saying he broke the ice, because he started defending himself. When the kids realized the game was over, no one was excited because they won, rather they all came diving at the table because they wanted the ice!

Picture Day!

For those of you who know me, you know I've always been obsessed with pictures. I mean WAY before there was such a thing as a digital picture... I used film as if there was. A family trip was easily 7 rolls of film. A day with a friend who knew what could come of it? Not only did I take a million pictures but I printed them all and often got 3 sets of each roll! Because I love to give them away. I once had a friend tell me that when they wanted to tell their kids about our High School experience, they would call me to ask for my scrapbooks!

When I first came to Moz, the kids were so obsessed with seeing the pictures I took of them. We could spend more time looking at the little image on the back of my Nikon that we actually did taking pictures.

Then Nunu and I started dating. I remember his brother was looking though some pictures and I asked Nunu if he had any pictures of him as a child. His answer was simple and to me heart breaking... “No.” I'll never get to pour myself over pictures of Nunu as a child much less a baby and for someone who loves pictures so much, it breaks my heart and more than just a little.

A few months after Nunu and I got married, he spent a few weeks at his dad's. While he was there he found an old bible of his tucked away in a drawer. He had taped a few pictures of himself in the front cover. The one in the top left corner is the youngest picture we have of him.

Nunu at abour 12 years old.
I could recognize that smile anywhere!

While I can't change things for Nunu, I can give pictures to all the kids around us... and so I do. Each time I return to Moz, I have carefully tucked in my carry on (to guarantee it's arrival) a stack of over 100 pictures. For each child who lives at the Center I try to bring a couple and then I print up as many as I can for kids who live around us.

I'm not sure why, but I usually save the pictures until I am about to leave. And so a few days ago I sat down to sort them all out.

The kids at the Center usually pass the pictures around as if they are baseball cards. Each laughing and poking fun at silly faces. When I had pictures out there are usually a few kids missing and it's funny because when they next see me they sort of stare with a half smile. As if they are trying to imagine what treasure I have for them this time!

It's a little heartbreaking because there is no way to bring pictures of everyone. I'm not perfect. Not to mention some of the kids don't realize that I took these pictures a year ago, so if you're new to the neighborhood, I don't have a picture of you from a year ago.

Anyways I gave one of my Itty-Bitties a picture of the two of us. I didn't understand her response but I felt like she was asking me if she had to give it back, as if because I was in the picture it was my picture. When I gave her the picture, she was in a group of other kids who I didn't have pictures of (the little ones always travel in packs so it's nearly impossible to give them the pic when no one is around). Two of the children who were with her started BEGGING me for pictures! I had other pictures for the neighbor that I was also delivering and this little boy was pleading with me for them.

I accidentally print 22 of one of the pictures, not 2 (oops) and so I went back into the house to get a few of those. These 2 little kids were so excited to get pictures of other kids, I ended up giving them each 2 of the same picture! And then other kids came asking for them?!

Sometimes I'm just so caught off by things and this was one of them. I always thought the kids loved pictures of themselves but no, they just love having pictures. It's something I doubt I will ever truly understand but it's just some food for thought that I hope helps you to understand the people we work with.

Since picture day, anytime a kid gets a glimpse of my camera what do I hear? “Mana Manda, picture, picture!!” It warms my heart.

The rest of the day that I hand out pictures even if I don't have my camera the kids call out for me to take their picture. The following are the poses I was given... yes even the last picture!

Rain, Rain and Then a Little More Rain...

On a Sunday night a few weeks back, we went to sleep like on any normal night. Like many nights during this season, I wake to the sound of rain on our roof. Maybe some of you are imagining the tranquil sound of the rain pitter-pattering across your roof. Scratch that from your mind. I look up from my bed and see a metal roof, the same metal roof that the rain is pouring on outside.

There is nothing tranquil about this, the slightest rain and Nunu and I have to yell at each other even if we are right next to each other. It's like living in a drum and some kid is constantly pounding on it.

Sleep comes and goes, but even Nunu who can sleep through the light rain is waking up to the sound. I wear headphones as often as I can but even my ears start to hurt from those. I won't painstakingly take you through each day, but basically it rains and pours for 3 days. And in those 3 days there are only short spans where there is no rain. Each time I hear the sound let up, I think to myself, “The rain is FINALLY over.”And I go back to what I'm doing, but then I hear it... rain on the ground, slowly coming toward our house... yes I can hear it, as it slowly creeps it's way over our house.

Tuesday is the third night of this and by then, we are both so exhausted we sleep.

Stream running past front porch.

Post rain picture.

On Wednesday it's still raining, and at this point the noise is really starting to get to me. I forget what silence sounds like and as an introvert, I treasure silence! I keep reminding myself it's just rain, you have a good (loud) roof over your head... there are others around who probably don't even have that much. Have I ever mentioned it's really hard to have a pitty-party for oneself while living in a 3^rd world country... well it is. Others' reality is always a slap to the face, and usually a much needed one =)

So Wednesday the power goes out. Can I have a pitty-party now? Nope because some of our neighbors have never had electricity.

I watch TV shows on my laptop, headphones are not optional, as you can't hear the laptop without them. I watch as my battery get lower and lower. But losing power for hours at a time is so common, I keep watching. 35% it's gotta come back on anytime now, 27% just one more show, 22% it's 8:30pm for sure by 9:00 it will be back on, 15% uh-oh well I'll just finish this show, 6% shows over... but the power should be back on in the next hour or so, I mean it's already been out for 8 hours.

We got to bed, no power. So we sleep with our windows open and risk the rain coming in through our windows. I run my little battery operated fans and we actually sleep really well, besides the constant drumming!

Thursday goes by very similarly, still no power. Nunu studies at night. I light the 4 candles that we have, turn on this little solar lamp from the Dollar Tree and put on my head lamp. I read. But I can't tell you how many times I thought Nunu was home or someone was at the door. The rain just throws sounds all over the place, it takes a lot to just read and not get up every time you hear something.

Dollar Tree find! Could use a few more of them, if you
see them and buy me some, I'll even pay you back =)

By Friday at noon when we still have no power (48 hours now), I text a friend who lives just outside of town and ask if I can sleep on her couch for the night. She kindly picks me up after work. And I'm treated to a night of sitting on a couch watching television! Might not sound like much to you, but we only have our bed and kitchen table chairs... so the couch is a nice change!

I open my computer to check email and such for the first time in 2 days, but my computer won't turn on. So I leave it charging. I've also brought some other electronics to charge. When Nunu gets home from school that night he texts me to say the power is on! Go figure.

When I return home on Saturday afternoon, the power is back off... but this time only for a few hours. But it's still raining.

In the end it rained for just about 6 days straight. And our town doesn't have any sort of sewage system, so whatever water is on the ground makes it's way to the lowest point. Lucky we are fairly high up, so we have a stream going through our yard for the week. Pipes are uncovered as our sand washes away with the rain.

My friend Lyssandra and I drove around to see the damage. Being a coastal community we have a road that runs along the ocean. In one area a 20 foot section was washed away and replaced by a rushing river that was probably 5 feet deep.

View from "road" out to ocean.

View from same spot in the other direction.

The pile of rocks left in the road for "repairing" the street.
I'm curious to see just what they do.

View away from ocean. Looks like someone had started
building a home. This is what's left of the foundation.

The 2 pipes (blue top, black bottom) used to be underground
probably running along the edge of the road. 

Another part of the road sort of fell, not quite into the ocean... but it's on its way there. So now this section of road can only take one car at a time. But don't worry too much about the roads, crews will be out to fill them with dirt in a day or so, and that will last, right?

View of the ocean from the car. You can see lots of debris
and how the rain has eroded the ground... and road. 

A few feet further down you can see the pavement is still
there, just the ground underneath is gone. Also the pile of
dirt on the right will be used to fill this space, so 2 cars can fit.

Prayer Requests:
- My computer still isn't working and so I'm sharing Nunu's with him (which he uses it a lot for school) and our office computer with our staff (so 5 of us are using it). So some days I don't have access to a computer. In addition to the majority of what I do for work being on the computer, it's also was my source for TV and learning Portuguese, so it's been frustrating to say the least. So prayers for sanity.
- Pray for all those affected by the rain, as a mud house can only withstand so much rain. 
- I will be leaving Moz in about 5 weeks and so I'm starting to feel a little overwhelmed by what I still need and want to do for Dream Project.

If You Can't Take the Heat...

A few Saturdays ago I was supposed to meet with Traduzire about something. But he needed to cook in the Kitchen, so I decided to join him to see what it's like cooking in there.

We usually use charcoal to cook, but not the nice little squares we have in the states. They are pre-burned pieces of wood. Because of the rain, we have had a real hard time keeping the charcoal dry and so on this day we were using some broken up sticks.

Lighting the fire. It's very common to use plastic to start a fire, not paper.

The supplies for todays meal... rice and beans.

Traduzire was very annoyed with the younger boys because he didn't think the pans were cleaned good enough. And he wasn't talking about the inside, rather the outside is covered in soot. So he grabbed a scoop of dirt to start scrubbing the outside of the pan. I can't tell you how many times I just feel like I"m camping. By now it's about 10:00 and I kept saying, "shouldn't we start the beans, don't beans take forever to cook."

Cleaning the pan.

The dirt is getting the soot off.

The smoke can be a bit unbearable,
especially with wet wood. 

Before we can wash the beans, we have to clean them and pick out any bad beans. Traduzire is in no hurry, but it's not 10:30 and I'm wondering if we will EVER eat lunch today!

Finally! The beans make it into the pot!

Now it's time to clean the rice.

Similar to the beans we pick out anything weird, including some dirt.

Putting the rice into the pot.

The rice cooks so much faster than the
beans. It's lots of rice and hard to stir.

Round 1 of the beans is finally done! My guess is it's 1:00 or so and I'm beyond hungry! Yet no one complains and comes in asking, "where is lunch?!"Round 1 of the beans is mostly about getting them soft. Now we are onto round 2 which is mostly about getting them to taste good and also a little softer. The flavor comes from a common receipt here, as it's used for making spaghetti and I think even chicken. You put oil in the bottom of a pan and add in potatoes, onions and garlic. After those simmer for a bit, you add in tomato paste and let that simmer some more. Now comes the secret ingredient, Benny (it's a strong chicken stock seasoning). Finally you add the beans and some bean water back in and let it cook for another hour or so!

A pot full of beans and paper pot holders!

In go the potatoes and onions.

Tomato Paste

Stir, stir, stir. 

This is how hungry I feel =)

Having a little fun in the hot sweaty Kitchen.

Clearly, I have thought him well.

The secret ingredient!

Yum! Beans made well are one of my favorite here.

Dishing out lunch. Rice first. 

The pup eats whatever we eat, no special dog food here. 

Beans piping hot off the stove. 

Beans on top, making sure everyone gets some potatoes and juice.

FINALLY DONE!!

To the table and into happy bellies @ 2:30!

Helping cook in the Kitchen is something I've always wanted to do. While Traduzire did most of the work, I promise I helped more than the pictures suggest =) I've always respected those who work in the Kitchen and even been okay with them laying down in between meals. But actually getting to do, I'm not sure what to say other than I'm glad I finally got to see what goes into preparing such a big meal first hand and I'm glad that Traduzire was my teacher.