Storm Breaks Over Gondola

Snippets…

It’s rained almost every day since December 1st. What started out as a projected good harvest because of good early rains is now almost completely ruined from too much rain. The ground is completely saturated and most people’s corn plants are yellow instead of green. I heard of a woman this afternoon whose corn field has been covered in water up to her mid-calves so she planted rice instead. We keep hearing that it will be hungry year. As for me, I like the rain and the cooler temperatures that it brings. But I am not depending on the corn in Joél’s fields to feed us the rest of the year like most everyone else is depending on their harvests.

The savings group that was associated with the Mennonite church disintegrated in October when there was much confusion about a church conflict. However, last week during announcements, one of the men stood up and announced that if anyone is interested in starting a savings group again, to talk with him. I know several others are interested. The CCM Women’s group is also interested in beginning one. I have a conversation with Sara’s (a fellow MCCer) assistant on Monday about starting savings groups in communities where there are Anglican preschools that MCC supports. I am going to focus on savings groups this year.

We are starting to find friends. Yes, after over a year, we are finding friends outside of our work relationships! Last year we did not have opportunities to reach out beyond our work because of lack of transportation and too much travel. However, this year we are beginning to attend a Christian fellowship of other missionary types in Chimoio. We also discovered that biking to Maforga (see our Christmas entry) is doable and so are getting to know a couple who work there. It feels healthy for our well beings as well as helps to give us perspective on our work and life here.

Cholera is going around because of the amount of water. They tell us that this is the season of many sicknesses—cholera, malaria and the flu. So many people are sick with fevers, not all have malaria but they call it that. Fortunately we haven’t been sick. We are taking extra precautions against cholera by making sure we soak all our fresh foods in water with chlorine. And we always treat our water. On Saturday when we brought a chapa back from Beira, everyone had to get out at one of the towns to wash their hands off with chlorine water and step in it too. It seems like there is still little knowledge about how cholera is spread. Many people have wells in their yards, but their houses are surrounded by lots of other houses and latrines. Very few treat their water here by boiling it or leaving it out in the sun for 8 hours (also kills all the nasty things in the water). So, Joél and I have decided that we’re going to decline any water offered at someone’s house for now. We were always a bit careful but now will be even more.