Update
It has been a while since either Joél or I wrote on our blog. We blame it on being new parents and pokey internet.
We are doing well. The hot season is upon us. Our housekeeper arrived this morning saying that the forecast is for 34 C (93 F) today and yesterday was 36 C (97 F). The humidity doesn’t help. Fortunately, in Chimoio, the evenings are cooler and so there is some reprieve. Yesterday, Nadia was cranky and not knowing what else to do, I wiped her body (already just in her diaper) with a cool cloth. That cheered her up so we filled up her baby bath and let her splash around in the water for a bit. It seemed to help.
Now we wait for the rains. Joél says this is his favorite time of year because everything turns green. I don’t particularly like the heat (when I was a kid, I’d spend summers reading in the cool of the house all day to avoid the heat). In my mind the rains redeem the heat. Here it heats up then it rains and cools down then repeats the cycle. Mozambicans tell us that it will be a good year for rains. I don’t know how they know but that’s what they say. I hope they are correct and have the right amount of rains for a good harvest.
Nadia continues to grow. She’s now four and half months old. In general she’s a happy, easy going baby. She loves standing on our laps and when we’re eating fusses until Joél puts her on his lap so she can be at the table too. She’s starting to try to sit up by herself and is on the verge of learning how to roll over completely. For several weeks, she’s been able to roll from back to front; then she gets stuck. She hasn’t liked being on her stomach much but now she’s able to prop herself up and entertain herself for a bit of time before fussing to be rolled back over.
It’s interesting to me to see how having Nadia has opened doors for us. For example, frequently we take walks in the late afternoon. Often, we’ll pass a group of people who have noticed the “baby in the bag” (bebe no saco as they say in Portuguese about our baby carrier) and be talking about us. Sometimes someone in the group is brave enough to stop and talk with us about the baby carrier or talk with Nadia. Other times, people will stop and talk with her and ask us about her. It’s almost as if having a baby makes us less intimidating. And Nadia charms them with her wide open smiles and laughter.
Last week we did the first traveling with Nadia. We’ve gone to Beira several times but never out to projects. We went to Machanga Girls’ Center to visit the SALTer. The United Church of Christ started this center for girls from rural areas to have the opportunity to go to secondary school. Alexis, the SALTer, organizes activities for the girls when they aren’t in school. There are two school sessions—one in the morning and one in the afternoon. So Alexis runs the same activity twice in one day. She does English language, physical activities (yoga, hoola hoops, soccer), art, song/dance and several other things with them. When we visited only 15 of the 40 girls were there. The rest had gone home on summer holidays and these 15 had to stay to take their exams. It was neat to see Alexis’ reporte with the girls and how quickly she’s learned how to communicate with them in both Portuguese and Ndau (the local dialect). The girls are very fond of her and were disappointed to learn she was leaving before their exams were over.
It has been a while since either Joél or I wrote on our blog. We blame it on being new parents and pokey internet.
We are doing well. The hot season is upon us. Our housekeeper arrived this morning saying that the forecast is for 34 C (93 F) today and yesterday was 36 C (97 F). The humidity doesn’t help. Fortunately, in Chimoio, the evenings are cooler and so there is some reprieve. Yesterday, Nadia was cranky and not knowing what else to do, I wiped her body (already just in her diaper) with a cool cloth. That cheered her up so we filled up her baby bath and let her splash around in the water for a bit. It seemed to help.
Now we wait for the rains. Joél says this is his favorite time of year because everything turns green. I don’t particularly like the heat (when I was a kid, I’d spend summers reading in the cool of the house all day to avoid the heat). In my mind the rains redeem the heat. Here it heats up then it rains and cools down then repeats the cycle. Mozambicans tell us that it will be a good year for rains. I don’t know how they know but that’s what they say. I hope they are correct and have the right amount of rains for a good harvest.
Nadia continues to grow. She’s now four and half months old. In general she’s a happy, easy going baby. She loves standing on our laps and when we’re eating fusses until Joél puts her on his lap so she can be at the table too. She’s starting to try to sit up by herself and is on the verge of learning how to roll over completely. For several weeks, she’s been able to roll from back to front; then she gets stuck. She hasn’t liked being on her stomach much but now she’s able to prop herself up and entertain herself for a bit of time before fussing to be rolled back over.
It’s interesting to me to see how having Nadia has opened doors for us. For example, frequently we take walks in the late afternoon. Often, we’ll pass a group of people who have noticed the “baby in the bag” (bebe no saco as they say in Portuguese about our baby carrier) and be talking about us. Sometimes someone in the group is brave enough to stop and talk with us about the baby carrier or talk with Nadia. Other times, people will stop and talk with her and ask us about her. It’s almost as if having a baby makes us less intimidating. And Nadia charms them with her wide open smiles and laughter.
Last week we did the first traveling with Nadia. We’ve gone to Beira several times but never out to projects. We went to Machanga Girls’ Center to visit the SALTer. The United Church of Christ started this center for girls from rural areas to have the opportunity to go to secondary school. Alexis, the SALTer, organizes activities for the girls when they aren’t in school. There are two school sessions—one in the morning and one in the afternoon. So Alexis runs the same activity twice in one day. She does English language, physical activities (yoga, hoola hoops, soccer), art, song/dance and several other things with them. When we visited only 15 of the 40 girls were there. The rest had gone home on summer holidays and these 15 had to stay to take their exams. It was neat to see Alexis’ reporte with the girls and how quickly she’s learned how to communicate with them in both Portuguese and Ndau (the local dialect). The girls are very fond of her and were disappointed to learn she was leaving before their exams were over.
Tia Amelia, Tia Casilda and Alexis with Nadia
Nadia, on the other hand did not know what to do at Machanga. It was hot and dusty one night and the next night cool and rainy. The head mistress loved Nadia and wanted to hold her but initially Nadia cried when she was held. Finally she allowed Tia Cassilda to hold her and got a bath, Mozambican style from Tia. After that she was friends with Tia and happily looked around from her perch in the capulana.
Nadia in Tia Casilda's Capulana Mozambican StyleFrom there we went on vacation to Inhassoro for a week. We rented a house on the beach with friends who have two little girls. We were the only ones at the place and so their girls were able to run around without fear and loved playing in the pool and the ocean. Nadia didn’t get into much of the action (preferring to nap) but enjoyed interacting with the girls and put her feet in the pool a few times and in the ocean one day.
Now we’re back. Joél continues to work with both CCM Manica and CCM Tete on the sand dams/food security projects. I am gradually starting to work again, primarily with the savings groups—planning for next year’s activities with the UCC Women’s Society.
MCC Mozambique has changed. Holly, the SALTer in Tete left. She was working with CCM Tete on their sand dams/food security project. Tony finished his three year term and returned to the States. He’s getting married next week to the woman who patiently endured three years of long-distance engagement. Just before he left, Jon arrived to take both Holly and Tony’s places as the engineer working on both the sand dams projects. And Alexis, the new SALTer arrived. Our team is completely different than when we arrived, save for the MCC reps. It’s good; there’s a lot of positive energy and new ideas. Though we still miss those who were here.
I guess that’s all for now.
No comments:
Post a Comment