Nikki In Africa... South Africa

Time Flies!

2010-03-01T14:15:00.000+02:00

I can hardly believe that it's March already! The past two months has flown past so so quickly... it's kinda scary when I realize that my first uni assignments are due this week and exams are practically around the corner!

My new job (the one I started in January) is going really well - I'm learning lots and lots everyday, and working very hard :-) You can read about my adventures on my other blog...

Other than that there is nothing really new or interesting in my life, basically just work, study, eat and sleep. My roommate is getting married at the beginning of April, so she has moved out and took her TV with her - I am all alone in a quiet appartment now :-( LOL! They did however give me a whole bag full of books to make up for taking the TV, so I am keeping myself entertained with reading instead of movies... but it's just not quite the same is it?

Till next time!

New Years 2009/ 2010

2010-01-17T22:05:00.001+02:00

I decided I wanted a New Years with a difference and so was born the 'great adventure'! I had read in a magazine earlier the year about kayaking on the Orange River and had wanted to go ever since then, but never had the time or anyone that would go with me, until I randomly mentioned it to my roommate and she said "OK, lets do it!" Wooohooo!

We called the number in the magazine early the next morning and was told that the next trip was over New Years - in 2 weeks- and yes they still had 2 places open!

It was so exciting planning for the trip. Everything we took had to firstly fit into the kayak, but more importantly had to be waterproof and any trash we made we had to take with us. So planning what we were going to eat was fairly important.

The article suggested that we portion the food into ziploc baggies and label them for each day. So we did just that! We didnt have a little gas cooker to take with us, so we planned to cook supper over a fire each night (vacuum packed steaks, vacuum packed veggies in foil and some breadrolls to make grilled garlic rolls!), breakfast just required boiling water (oatso easy and coffee) and lunch was bread/ crackers, cheese and biltong. For snacks we had energy bars, wine gums, crisps and of course more biltong!

The prepacked ziploc baggies

The starting point was in Hopetown, about 120km south of Kimberley - pretty much in the middle of SA. The drive down was about 8hours. And we were booked into a nice guesthouse called 'Frieda's B&B'.

The trip was 4 days, 3 nights on the river - from Dec 31st - Jan 3rd.

Welcome to Hopetown!

Crossing the Orange River

Me and the magazine that inspired the whole trip

Liz and I on the river

Each day we rowed about 15km, just a few hours, and very much within our means fitness wise! I loved the quietness, the beautiful scenery - we even saw a few fish eagles! Gorgeous.

All the kayaks - we were 16 on the trip

Night 1 - Old Years Eve: Making a fire to cook supper.

It POURED with rain the first night - we were standing with tarps over the fire to keep it dry, but we were soaked! After the food was cooked we retired to our tiny tent to eat and with the howling wind shaking the tent we went to bed at about 8pm :-) Happy New Year!

Day 2: Packing the Kayak (aka: trying to get everything to fit again)

A rapid. They look a lot more impressive from inside the kayak!

Hell's Gate. A waterfall/ rapid that we couldnt shoot.

Portaging around Hell's Gate

Everyone said that 'You havnt really kayaked until you've tipped', so I guess I can say "We HAVE kayaked!" Shortly after this portage Liz and I hit a rock and tipped over. It was kinda scary getting the splash cover off and getting out the kayak. Liz headed straight to shore and left me to rescue the kayak and paddles. Swimming across a strong current with a dead weight with another rapid looming was not the easiest but I made it to the eddy and dragged my weary body onto the rocks. Then the tiring job of pumping the water out of the kayak started. Liz and I both had huge bruises on our thighs were the kayak had hit us when we bailed - so we can say with pride "Been there, have the bruises!"

Final Day! Camped out on the same beach as what was on the cover of the Go! Mag

Our kayak and tiny tent

Gavin our fearless guide

4 days later and we are still smiling :-)

This holiday was the best I've ever been on, it was so much fun! LOVED IT! Who wants to join me on the next one?

Moving Forward!

2009-12-18T21:16:00.000+02:00

I've just moved! I now live in a very nice quiet 'suburb' of Sandton (in Johannesburg) called Sunninghill. I'm sharing an apartment with a girl I've known literally all my life and even though Bala can't live with me (1st floor, no pets allowed) Pretoria is still close enough for me to go visit!

In other news: I'm also starting a new job in January ... as a SOUND TECH for an events company in Midrand (about 10km from my new place!) To say I am excited it an understatement!!! That means I'm finishing at the University (Tuks) now in December.

AND finally I'm in my final year at Uni!!! I'll still be studying via correspondence next year (a full-time course load)... I've got some International Politics, English Lit and Philosophy modules left to do (and then I'll graduate! Yay!)

Not sure if I mentioned it, but I also bought a car a few months ago - so now I am well and truly an independent adult... which I've come to realize just means having debt! ;-)

My 2008 Honda Jazz 1.4 dsi

Here are some pics of my new place:

My Room

(all equipped for studying!)

The Kitchen

(we've gotten a washing machine in the meantime and will

be replacing the brown towel with some blinds...soon...)

The Couch

The TV

The Lounge/ Living Area

(we are planning on getting new curtains... soon... )

The Hallway

So there you have it!

An Update

2009-09-20T09:23:00.000+02:00

Since I've started my other blog I haven't really thought to update this blog! (I do apologize)

Winter has come and gone, Spring/ Summer is here and I must say I have been quite busy these past few months: I am still working at Tuks (my 'day job' doing admin at the university), I am still studying towards my degree (BA Linguistics & International Politics... urgh it's slow going) and since my last update I have started freelancing! Yes, my diploma in audio engineering is not going to waste!

The freelancing is quite exciting, it's mostly corporate shows (conferences etc) but it's doing something that I love (sound) and it's a really nice feeling to finally be working on building my career in a professional environment (as opposed to the 'volume control management' I did in the bush bush) :-)

To chronicle my new adventures as a freelance tech I started my other blog (but you have to be on the list to access it - so drop me a line and I'll add you!)

Till next time!

Dassieklip Farm

2009-05-04T20:44:00.000+02:00

I've just had a lovely getaway! I spent the majority of the past week on Dassieklip farm (near Volksrust) where Kobus & Mariaan, friends of my parents live.

View of Dassieklip Farm

Arriving at the farm - Bala with her head out the window! (photo by Ani)

We went there for a break and also to get the wooden chest I'd bought on the drive down from Pemba fixed. It felt like April had more public holidays than workdays (which was really nice) so apart from the 2 days I had to be back in Pretoria for work, Bala and I were at the farm for 7 days! It was loads of fun:

I spent quite a bit of time in the work-shed working on my box: It had to be sanded down completely, which meant doing each side - inside and outside - with 7 different grades of sandpaper! After that was done, the bottom had to be replaced, and 'feet' put on to give it some ground clearance. I probably worked on it for a total of 4 days...

The old stone work-shed

Inside the work-shed

Me sanding the chest

The finished (Smooth and Shiny) chest ...albeit upside-down and back to front in this photo!

The farm is pretty much located where the Free State, KZN and Mpumalanga Provinces meet, so its fairly chilly! It's not a working farm as such, they have 3 horses (Mike, Misha and Jasmine), 2 sheep (Poplap and Meh) and a smattering of cows on the hills (the cows actually belong to the owner of the farm).

Bala meeting the sheep (photo by Ani)

Karlien (the horses' owner) on Mike and her puppy Toffee (photo by Ani)

I also had the opportunity to go riding! I'm still nice and sore, but it was totally worth it :-)

Me riding Mike with Bala running alongside (photo by Ani)

Me and Misha

There are plenty of things/places to explore:

Me sitting on the cliffs (photo by Ani)

Plenty of open veld to ride: Karlien and I riding with Jasmine running with us

Some old-fashioned farm implements were still laying around... (photo by Ani)

At night the stars were so bright! [Southern Cross and Alpha Centauri] (photo by Ani)

My sister (who was there for 3 days with her husband) and I also had some quality sibling time

And of course, we HAD to have a braai! [Sarel, my Dad and Kobus]

Bala also had a blast - she and Toffee became great friends and at times could be seeing chasing each other round and round playing like crazy! Bala also loved barking at the sheep, the cattle and she even had a go at the little filly, Jasmine (although she soon realised it was best not to mess with a horse!) When we went out riding she would run full speed next to us, bounding over the grass. She was usually exhausted by the time it got dark, and I'd find her curled up all alone in the bedroom, fast fast asleep :-)

But now it's back to work. I start my exams soon too, so I guess I have to study at some point :-S

Back in SA...

2009-03-26T17:28:00.003+02:00

I'm back in South Africa (nearly 2 months already!) and I've sorta settled into life in the 'civilized' world! I'm really enjoying it.

I continue to study full-time thru a correspondence university here in Pretoria, called UNISA (University of South Africa) - I am doing a BA (General) with majors in Linguistics and International Politics, and a minor in Portuguese. I've only ever taken one or 2 modules per semester, so now that I have a full course load it's pretty intense. But I'm excited, I should finally graduate June 2010.

I also found a job! I am working for the Faculty of Education at the University of Pretoria - I am administrating a Government bursary called Funza Lushaka, which is specifically intended to help Education students. It's a lot of work, and quite challenging - no 2 days are the same!

An aerial view of the Groenkloof Campus where I spend my working days
(the tall buildings are the student residences)

The campus is quite pretty - with lots of green!

The job unfortunately doesn't pay enough for me to rent an apartment nor buy a car, so I am living back with my parents and borrowing a car. It's quite an adjustment after having lived on my own for the past 7 years... but with that said, I'm really happy to be back in SA, its a new season and I'm excited to see how things pan out!

Ilha de Moçambique

2009-01-20T23:39:00.009+02:00

On the way down to South Africa I took the opportunity to stop on Ilha de Moçambique for 2 nights - its a beautiful little island - very run-down, but oh so picturesque! There are not much in terms of museums, but they were busy renovating the São Sebastião Fort, which houses the Chapel of Nossa Senhora de Baluarte, thought to be the oldest European building in the Southern Hemisphere. The island, which is only 3.5km across, used to be an important part in the slave trade, and today there is still a very big difference between the largely uninhabited "Stone Built Town" and the over-populated "Macuti Town" - its like there is an unspoken divide on the island...

Ilha de Moçambique is on the UNESCO's World Heritage List and totally worth the visit!

Here are some photos - click on the thumbnails to get a bigger picture.

Final Dive in Pemba

2009-01-09T18:20:00.000+02:00

Just before I left Pemba, I was sponsored to go for a final dive!

It was easily one of the most beautiful dives I've been on - visibility was fantastic and the bright sunlight streamed in and illuminated the vibrant colors of the coral reef! We saw a Napoleon Wrass, an Octopus hiding under a rock, Scorpion fish, Trumpet Fish and lots more.

It was a great way to say goodbye to Pemba!

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T20:20:00.007+02:00

I welcomed the New Year on the beach out at Maringanha with Jacinto, Katie, Raphael, Ana, Jessie and Rui - and of course my dog Bala had a blast running around chasing crabs!

The sky was clear and the stars bright as we built a fire in the sand

and roasted marshmallows to make 'smores'

and to add the usual African flair to the festivities, the guys cooked pork...

As midnight approached we made sure to keep a close eye on the clock. But when our cellphones displayed 00:00 we realized an important thing: We had totally forgotten to countdown! So we promptly started a countdown - and when we reached '1', the few cheap fireworks Rapha and Ana had bought at a store in town were meant to go off. But they didn't, so we counted down again and finally halfway thru our 3rd countdown they lit up the beach.

We were all laughing quite a bit by then!

It was a fun way to spend New Years and I wish you all a wonderful and prosperous 2009!

A Final Project

2008-12-27T20:24:00.002+02:00

I was doing movie night for the kids one night a few weeks ago and was shocked at what they had. 150 eager eyes were focussed on a small TV and the dodgy DVD player kept skipping and jumping throughout the movie. This really wasn't fair - we are a children's ministry after all! So I decided to tackle it as my final project here. With a very kind donation from South Africa, I was able to install a projector and Media Player in the library, and now ALL the kids can actually see the movie!

It took me about 3 weeks to get the entire DVD collection converted to divX format and loaded onto the Media Player. It was over 100 DVDs! Most of them are bible stories, but there are cartoons (Tom & Jerry) and also a few Disney movies. All in Portuguese of course!

Mark Mozely helped me put up the cage that John Woollet had designed for the projector - but my drill stopped working just as we were about the put in the final two screws on the front. So in true Iris style we improvised and used nails instead. They were really really really long nails, so we only hammered them in halfway - but now it looks kinda ghetto! But at least it's up and works like a dream!

The first time they used it was on Christmas day and the kids loved it!!

Christmas (round 2)

2008-12-25T17:31:00.003+02:00

Merry Christmas (again!) Today went by so quickly, but it was busy busy busy!

It started this morning 9am with handing out of gifts - all the kids got a little gift bag which had been bought from money raised by the children of the Valley Brook Community Church, CT and I helped Jessie hand out the gifts to the Tias, Tios and their kids.

Then we headed down to the church for a live nativity play which was organized and performed by the visitors.

It was great, really well done - they even used a real horse to take Mary to Bethlehem!

After the play, all the Iris kids and missionaries went to the refectory and enjoyed a great chicken lunch. It was family time, and it was really nice.

Then the real fun and games started - feeding all the villagers...

Over the past 3 years our strategy for keeping things organized and calm has evolved into a system that works very well! It has taken some time refining it, but I think we finally have it down!

From the front gate they were let in in groups of 20, holding hands and then via the church they made their way to the refectory - all the while being led hand in hand!

At the entrance to the refectory porch their hands were checked for a purple mark, and if they were un-marked they were let in.

At the door to the refectory they were filed in single file, handed a coke/fanta and a plate of food then directed to a seat.

As soon as they were done eating they joined the 'exit' line, where they were searched for food and plates before being let out. As they exited their palms were marked with a bit of gentian violet and each of the kids got a toy or some candy.

(Gentian Violet is used in wound care, and leaves a nice purple stain which lasts about a day or 2 before it washes off, so it was great to control who had already eaten)

Then they made their way back down to the front gate and went home!

We fed 2500 people today, all in just 2 1/2 hours!

After it was all done, the missionaries got together for a BBQ at John & Margaret's, where we ate and chatted till late!
Mark and Bridget, BBQ Chefs!

And for dessert Jessie baked a cake, and as an homage to the cold American christmas she was missing, I decorated the cake!

Then Jessie, Bala and I went to Maringanha and lay on the beach looking at the stars. It was gorgeous!

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas also!

Christmas Eve!

2008-12-24T21:14:00.008+02:00

Merry Christmas from a HOT Pemba, Moçambique!

Tonight was the annual candlestick fight, or as many in more conservative circles would know it as: "Christmas Eve Candlelight Service".

But I'll stick to 'Annual Candlestick Fight', as it more aptly describes what happens when you give 180 kids a lit candle! But it was loads of fun! (someone also described it as: The Candle Relight Service - well what would you expect?? Haha! Give a child a candle and he will blow it out! - and promptly try to relight it, and then it becomes a game to see who can blow out his neighbors candle...) but it still was fun!

Here I am with Selso, he's the son of our Bible School director. Selso loves taking Bala (my dog) for walks, so he was an instant friend!

Mark and Jen Mozley with Arcelmo, one of our newest kids - he came to live with us 2 days ago!

For Christmas, we all chipped in and gave our laundry lady, Veronica, a chicken, a bag of rice and some clothes, toys and candy for her 5 kids. I drove her out to her house in the village cos it was all a bit much to carry, but I left the camera at home (I'm still kicking myself for that!) She has quite a nice house - here in Mozambique the woman own the house, and they tend to invest in their houses instead of spending their wages on alcohol. So for the past year, Veronica has been putting her income into improving her house - by putting on a decent tin roof and matopi (mud) on the walls. It was really good to see that she has been making such a good investment!

I was tasked with trying to find a chicken - You'd think it would be easy... The first chicken seller I found was in the middle of Natite Market, and he asked me to marry him in the same breath as the price of the chicken. My polite refusal was met with astonishment and immediately he asked me "But why not?!!?" - my answer, "Because I dont want to" was met with another "But why???" Needless to say, I left quickly and went on an expedition to find another chicken seller. I finally found one and bought this chicken, and as I walked away the chicken seller ran after me, and said 'Excuse me, but will you marry me?' And yet again (I just copy pasted): My polite refusal was met with astonishment and immediately he asked me "But why not?!!?" - my answer, "Because I dont want to" was met with another "But why???" Haha, it was pretty funny - 2 proposals in one day! But at least I had the chicken! She lived in our back yard for a day, and Bala had to stay in the house - she liked chasing the chicken!

And this is the bag of rice we bought her:

Until tomorrow, when we have Christmas (round 2)...!

Christmas (round 1)

2008-12-13T21:37:00.001+02:00

We are having 2 christmases this year - the first one was December 13th and ALL our kids got gifts. It took nearly a month to get all the gift bags prepared, and even though I helped a bit, most of the work was done by Jessie and Tanya.

The day itself was quite busy - gift giving started at 4pm and lasted late into the night. I opted to stay at the 'Christmas Room' and get the bags ready to be sent down to the rooms as they were needed. Heidi personally gave each child their gift, and she spent a few minutes with each one as they unpacked their gift bags.

Jessie also got a chance to sit and have some fun with Victor - usually she has to run around organizing things, but there were some helpful visitors, so she got some quality time too!

Each of the gift bags contained a ton of goodies, most of which have been collected over the past 2 years by Iris UK and shipped over in a huge shipping container.

Inside a Girlie Bag: (We packed over 50 of these!)
*Stuffed Toy/ Doll
*Board Game
*Earrings/ Bracelets/ Necklaces/ Rings
*Nail Polish
*Hair bands/ Hair clips/ Hair extensions
*Candy
*Cookies
*Underwear
*2 sets of clothes
*Deodorant
*Toothbrush

Inside a Boyish Bag (we packed over 120 of them!)
*Toy Car/Truck
*Ball
*Board/Card Game
*Baseball cap
*Candy
*Cookies
*Underwear
*2 sets of clothes
*Deodorant
*Toothbrush

On real christmas day there will be a special chicken dinner, and then each of the kids will get another little gift, just something small - and this includes all the village kids who will join us, as well as the kids from Mieze and Noviane. Also, there are plans in the works for a candlelight service for the 24th!

Niassa Outreach - Dec 2007

2008-12-10T20:43:00.000+02:00

So, just over a year ago I went on a 2 week extended outreach to Niassa Province BUT I never blogged about it! So here it is now... just over 356 days later!

This is what I journaled way back then... "Extended outreach totally blew me away. after I had decided that I would take the plunge and go, I heard that there would only be 2 teams: one to Nampula prov, and the other in Cabo Delgado. I really wanted to go to Niassa, so I was disapointed, but I'd comitted to co-leading a team so I would just go. I saw carlos one day about a week before outreach and randomly said that I wanted to go on whichever team he was on. He said,' That would be great, I'm going to Niassa Province" I nearly jumped up and down with joy! I finally had the opportunity to go to Niassa. So exciting - and then I met my team. Co-leading with me was Jarod and Erica, the 2 HG students that to me had stood out the most for their leadership qualities and ability to have FUN. So I was really happy. I didnt really know the others on my team, but I figured that I would get to know them pretty quickly (trauma bonding!). We also had a really good team of Mozambicans going with us, as translators, worship leaders and cooks.

We were:
Carlos Wacha: Fearless Leader

Erica Grimaldi: Co-Leader

Jarod Ely: Co-Leader

Ruth Donaldson: Keeper of the Cash

Ruth Alexander: Assistant to the Cooks

Rosalind Walker

Sharon Ridenour: First Aid/Nurse

Kara Rowley: Midwife (you never know!)

Jessica Wereley

Stephanie Mueller: Assistant to the Cooks

Emilee Johnson

Marisa Gourley

Don Foster

Lopes Mozambique: Our Driver

Johnny: Worship & Translation

Egas: Translator

Lazaro: Worship

Assane: Cook

Antonio Balanca: Cook

Teresa: Cook

and of course me: Token Missionary, co-leader and Sound Person
.

Using the adage that "A Picture Speaks a Thousand Words" I have decided to tell the story of the adventure with photos!

Team Niassa!

We camped in villages...

...and we camped near the mountains

And I slept in my pickup most of the time (until the generator leaked and I had to evacuate!

Many an hour was spent in the back of this camião

And some of the time was spent behind it too!

It was a long and dusty road

As I just said"It was a long and dusty road"...

A desperate effort to keep the dust at bay!

We were there to spread the Good News

Dancing...

Fighting off swarms of flying bugs...

...and Preaching our way across the Province

The outreaches served a dual purpose... Generator = Electricity!

We had the biggest, most airy kitchen in the world!

And our leftovers always went to the kids in the village

The man in the tree we called "Mango Man"... he was one of the Niassa Pastors who travelled with us, and he JUST ate mangos. All the time, breakfast, lunch, supper, snacks. For some reason he had a diarrhea problem...

It wasn't all just work work work - we had some down time too!

The scenery was breathtakingly beautiful

We spent 2 nights at the Iris base in Lichinga

Where we enjoyed CLEAN and airy bathroom facilities for the first time in a while...

We also took some time off to visit Lake Malawi (Lago Niassa)

But for the most part this was the first thing we saw in the morning...

:-) OK people lets do the Can-Can!

So there you have it - a quick look at our outreach. It was amazing, we saw miracles and healings and the team was just such a pleasure to be with! Truly one of the good memories I will treasure from my time here in Mozambique"

Jungle Fever!

2008-12-02T11:58:00.004+02:00

This past week a team from SunWest Christian Fellowship in Alberta, Canada came and they built the most amazing Jungle Gym for our kids! The grand opening was last week friday, and even Heidi took a turn to play!

The kids absolutely love it!

Victor at the Beach

2008-11-24T11:34:00.003+02:00

We had some beach fun at Murrebue the other day with 2 of our kids: Victor and Carlitos - my dad had sent a bright green inflatable tube with me, and we had a blast playing in the water with it. Victor absolutely loved it - he loved diving head first off of it too, so we had to watch him carefully! (Carlitos was scared of the green thing, we put him on it and he screamed! - so he went off and payed in the sand)

Jessie and Victor

It was quite windy, so we had hold on to the tube at all time, else it would have blown away!

We have also recently received some donations of beach play things - some shovels, buckets and a cute little water mill. I built a really cool sand castle - but the kids didnt see the sense in it - they were more interested in using the buckets to fetch water! Finally I dug a 'doorway' thru one of the castle walls and got the boys to pour water into the 'courtyard' and watch how it runs thru the door and out. They enjoyed that!

Victor playing in the sand

And of course, you can never leave a sand castle standing and Carlitos had a fantastic time stomping on the 4 castle turrets. It was great to get out and relax over the weekend!

50 years of being a CITY

2008-10-17T14:45:00.007+02:00

This weekend Pemba celebrates the 50 year anniversary of being a city! They have been promoting the celebrations by driving a HUGE flatbed truck around town blasting out music.

I love the way that the speakers are tied to the back of the truck! :-)

Over this weekend there will be parades in town, and our 4 horses will also join in the fun...

Random Facts:
Pemba was founded by the Portuguese in 1904 - they called it Porto Amélia, but back then it was just a little town! Pemba was renamed in 1975 after Portugal granted Moçambique their independence. Pemba is also home to the 3rd largest (and deepest) natural bay in the world! (and it has been my home for the past 3 years!)

Accounting 101: Payroll

2008-09-05T22:16:00.001+02:00

While our wonderful Swiss accountant is off in Brazil to be married, I have been asked to take care of just one tiny facet of his job: Payroll. Iris Pemba employ over 300 local workers, (NO the missionaries do not get paid!) and I have to make sure that they get their money! We usually pay at the end of the month, but because of some other pressing matters, the data I have to use to prepare the payroll was only given to me this week. So it was a busy busy week! But it all went really well.

I spent nearly 10 hours sitting at a white plastic table, stuffing various combinations of dirty bills into envelopes, and needless to say after a while my brain got really tired! I had some help tho for the last few hours, so I was happy! This month I think the idea is to pay some of the workers who have bank accounts directly thru the bank... which would mean less envelope stuffing for me, BUT all the time sheets and spreadsheets have to be 100%, and the encryption program will be tested for the first time.

Looks like us here in deepest darkest Africa is catching up with technology eh? :-)

Photo Update: Tete Food Distribution

2008-07-15T13:36:00.014+02:00

Here are some photos of my 3 weeks in Tete Province doing food distribution. We were able to distribute food to ±1 300 children in 9 districts.
That is about 26 000 kg corn, 2 600 kg beans and 1 300 litres of oil!

(Jessie, one of my amazing team, wrote an update on her blog on 20 July 2008, have a look!)

The bridge across the Zambezi River dominates the skyline

The Team: Sitoe, Carlito, Jessie, Annelie, Nikki, Pastor Jeronimo, Travis

Pastors Jeronimo's house - Day 1, making the plans for the coming weeks - we were quite spoiled, he has electricity!

Outside Pastor Jeronimo's house in Canangola, on the outskirts of Tete. In the foreground is the 'kitchen' where the food was prepared.

The little market in Canangola just outside Tete where we bought the first few tons of corn

Here we are measuring out the corn to make sure that the bags really contain the amount of latas we are paying for

The prices spiked when we arrived, so we sent in our negotiator to get the price of corn back down to 125mtn (±$5) per lata (20kg)

Sitting on food for 200 kids in Tsangano

Handing out the beans in Moatize

We had to document and photograph each child that received food

But first we had to make sure that the kids were who they said they were and that they really were being looked after by the caretaker... Matching names to faces using the lists of registered orphans in Canangola

We lived out in the mountains near Tsangano for 4 days:

African 'Drive-Thru Take Away' :-) Chicken and Fries sold next to the road - quite delicious actually!

Driving into the 'bush bush' to get to the village

On the way we saw some boys who were dressed as antelope with long horns stretching out from a grotesque face mask. I think we scared them as much as they scared us, because they bounded away into the bush with a machete in each hand.

There is never a shortage of eager hands...

... and heads to help unload the boxes of oil

This was our bathroom

...and here is the view we had while brushing our teeth (it was beautiful)

We were doing distribution in a grass-walled building (the church), and the kids practically destroyed the walls trying to stare at us

Locally made chairs - we sat on these for hours!

Distribution in progress

The multitude of people waiting outside for their names to be called

Some of the kids would scour the ground and pick up all the spilled corn kernels.

Each child receives 1 lata of corn (±20kg)

Each child also received 1 bottle of oil and ±2kg beans

Then they walk up to 10km back to their home with their caretaker

We had a bit of 'fun' driving back to Pemba - we decided to drive back to Pemba via Morrumbala...

After taking the 'shortcut' we encountered the broken ferry across the Shire River... just 30km away from where we would have stopped for the night!

Our other option to cross the river was the Dona Ana Bridge, the longest train bridge in Africa at 3.2km, which stretches across the Zambezi River to Vila de Sena (Which is close to Caia, where we could take the ferry). BUT they have converted this bridge back into a train bridge, so we were stuck on the wrong side of the river, and because of the current refurbishing work on this bridge we could not cross here either - so we had to drive all the way back to Tete - a 9 hour drive!

The train bridge with the deceptive remnants of the planks put down to make it possible for vehicles to cross in the earlier days - apparently the new railway tracks start just out of eyesight...

It was fun, challenging and quite an experience - there are other teams who have gone out in the meantime and are continuing what we started.

Going to Tete Province

2008-06-18T09:48:00.005+02:00

I am going to Tete Province, leaving TOMORROW morning! I will be leading a team of 4, going for 3 weeks to find, feed and document over 7000 orphaned and abandoned children... I only found out yesterday that I was going, so I'm still trying to process the shock. I have never been to this province before, so I do not know what to expect! Kinda scary, but I know that it will be good and that God is in control!

Please pray for the journey - it is about 30 hours drive from Pemba, and I have heard rumors that the roads in Tete are bad!

The team is:
Nikki Wheeler
Travis Frugé
Annelie Basson
Jessie Turner
The driver of our 5ton truck - Sitoe
and his assistant - Carlitos

We will be meeting with the provincial pastor, Pastor Jeronimo, and he will be guiding us to the various villages where the kids are staying, then we will have to find and buy enough food to give each kid a 3 month supply of: Corn, Beans, Oil and Salt.

This is quite a big project (as you can imagine) and there is NO way that we will be able to connect with each of the 7000 kids on this trip, so we will be the initial team, with more teams following later this month to continue what we started! But we aim to feed and document as many kids as possible.

(Image from WikiPedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tete_Province)

Thinking Outside The Box

2008-06-13T20:59:00.004+02:00

What you get when you have:

A projector which for no apparent reason would not focus no matter how much you twist the little focus dial; 4 guys trying to make it work; a random funny comment and a pair of glasses?

... and so the story begins:

Movie nights here at mission school is a night out, literally, a night out. I set up the screen outside one of the student's houses (house 5) and then everyone gathers round and sits under the bright African stars and watches the evening's movie.

Last week everything worked fine - no problems, this week the projector refused to focus at a distance - the largest we could get a picture that was in-focus was maybe 5cm from the lens, and then it was about 5cm x 5cm... not very helpful when you have over 40 people trying to see! A general consensus was that the projector was missing a lens - which inspired the random comment of "We should try a pair of glasses!" - Everyone chuckled, but I figured that we couldn't lose anything by trying, so I held my glasses in front of the projector and it worked! We tried several different prescriptions, but mine was still the best. One of the other ladies had an extra pair that was a tad stronger than mine, but for astigmatism, so I wore them for the duration of the movie and the projector wore mine!

We got some books, carefully positioned the pair of glasses on them, a bit of duct tape and we were all set! The picture was still a bit fuzzy around the edges, but we could see well enough, and most importantly we didn't have to cancel movie night!

I still have NO idea why the projector wouldn't work, nothing weird happened to it between last week's movie and tonight - it just sat in it's bag in a corner of my room. Who knows? But I think that the improvisation of tonight will make me smile for quite a long time still! :-)

Coming Soon... HS8!

2008-05-29T11:33:00.004+02:00

Just a few days to go before HS8 kicks off! Things are a-buzz here in sunny Pemba as the students start trickling in AND to add to all the excitement it is Children's Day on June 1st, so we are gearing up for a busy busy weekend. (Yippee for a public holiday on Monday though!)

I have practically finished preparing all the sound systems - just a few more cables to make - and I also have to move ALL the sound stuff that is currently nicely stored in my house mate's room back to the sound room, seeing as she is coming back this sunday... :-) But all in all it's looking good, and I'm really excited to see what life changing things happen in this school!

Cool Nights

2008-05-21T12:24:00.002+02:00

Back in Pemba and things are cooling down quite a bit! The nights are chilly enough for me to switch off my fan and snuggle up under a thin blanket! Its lovely!!!

At the moment I am busy preparing for the next Harvest School of Missions (HS8), getting all the sound systems upgraded and ready for the many many outreaches we will be doing. I am also 'on staff' for this school, meaning that I will be more involved with the actual running of the school and all the programs that will be offered. It will be a busy time (as usual), but I am looking forward to a brilliant, uplifting and encouraging school - is all kicking off June 2!

My other big job is getting the church system installed, but this is proving to be a bit of a challenge - part of the floor of the church will have to be dug up to lay a pipe with all the cables running to the stage. A fairly straightforward task, but getting hold of the maintenance guy is a like playing cat & mouse! But I hope to have that done before the students arrive...

Slideshow: Road Trip... Pemba to Pretoria

2008-05-01T02:09:00.004+02:00

Here is a short little 'video' of the road from my recent 4-day road trip from Mozambique to South Africa!

(The name labels you see are just more or less where we were when the photo was taken...)

Road Trip!

2008-04-16T05:00:00.002+02:00

That time of year has come again, where I have to renew my 'carnet de passage' - the temporary import permit for my car. To do that, I have to drive down to South Africa...!

I am setting off on this marathon drive early, 5am and will hopefully be arriving in Pretoria (South Africa) late Saturday evening. Please pray for a safe drive, good companionship and laughs, and that all the radar speed guns will miraculously jam just as we pass ;-)

The proposed route is as follows:

Day 1: Pemba - Mocuba

Day 2: Mocuba - Inhassoro

Day 3: Inhassoro - Lindela

Day 4: Lindela - Pretoria

So, as usual I shall let ya'll know how it goes...