Discoveries
I can not say because of our move to Chimoio, that we have discovered the following things, but it has been since our move. Perhaps some has to do with being in a city or that because our beloved fellow MCCer, Brooke, returned to the States, we now have several kitchen appliances that we didn’t have before because we are storing all the things from her house. However, we have discovered some of the following in the past few weeks:
• Smoothies—we now have a blender (thanks to Brooke’s kitchen). And because of our proximity to a large fruit/vegetable market, we’ve been making smoothies. This morning we had a banana, tangerine juice and yogurt smoothie. The other day we had an avocado, banana, milk, and cinnamon smoothie. We’ve made some with papayas, orange juice and bananas. It’s fun way to get more fruit and to spice up our life.
• Soccer—At one of our recent Bible Studies, Joél was talking with some of the men about soccer. They told him that there is a group of guys that play early in the morning close to our house. So, since then, Joél’s gone at 5:30-7:00 and played soccer. The first few times the men we know didn’t come so he bravely played with the Mozambicans that were there. Then the last time he went, several of the men from the Bible Study were there and that was more fun for him. He’s now trying to practice at home more so he can improve his skills on the field. He practices with our day guard, Vumba, who seems to really enjoy the interaction.
• Taking walks—perhaps this isn’t so much of a discovery as much as a renewal of a favorite activity. In Denver, we enjoyed taking walks around our neighborhood, looking at peoples’ landscaping, and talking. In Gondola we tried to but often came home frustrated because it felt like we were always the center of attention. Here, we are able to take walks and walk places—shopping, the bank, CCM, church, etc—and we aren’t the center of attention. We’re able to just talk and be, admire the beautiful flowers in people’s yards (that we didn’t see much in Gondola, probably because of the lack of water directly in people’s houses), and it feels really good to be able to do that. It reminds us that we do live in a tropical country with all the beautiful flora that the tropics have.
• Ice cream—we knew that one of the cafes in town had ice cream and most of the time that we tried to get it, they had a flavor that would give me a migraine—chocolate or strawberry (It’s really rough to be “allergic” to chocolate and strawberries.). But a few weeks ago, we went into the café and they had vanilla! We celebrated and each had a cone. Joél got coffee and we discovered that they also sell individual bottles of sparkling grape juice. Yum!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Shortcuts
I think God created the diversity of the landscape in this world to confuse us sometimes to show us how humble our existence really is. Or maybe he created us this way so that our lives are interesting or for a laugh or two at our expense. Flora, fauna, rocks, trees, mountains, seas all seem to be laid out in maze in which humans throughout the centuries have lived and died, explored, traversed, been divide, found themselves or gotten lost. These create our stories, our histories and all in all just make life interesting.
I have returned from the maze of roads, forests, rocky hills and bush lands in which I found myself the last few days in the effort to see the results and ongoing work of our projects in Mandie. The sand dams are coming along and in each new community I find myself memorizing the landscape with my eyes, the wheels of my car or my feet in an effort to remember how to get there the next time. The land in which we work is difficult, and the roads often wind around trees and rocky hillsides, avoiding deep eroded ravines and mud if the rainy season is in course. The temptation is always there to take the shortcut and the local people are always quick to point you to them.
Our colleague Sr. Manwensa who travels in this terrain daily on motorcycle and foot to work with communities is well aware of the pluses and minuses of which routes to take but there are always the surprises. The first day, he, along with Anthony was traveling to two different communities, one of which was quite a distance. The road they were on was rock filled and difficult for the motorcycle. On encountering a local leader he pointed them to the shortcut (which there always is). The temptation was there and they took it. Thus began an adventure of travel through high grass skin slashing grass on a path in which my colleague exclaims,”Not even an Antelope would travel.”
It was the second day and we arrived at the dam site in which we were to visit a little earlier then Sr. Manwensa. We were to go and see the site shortly and he would catch up. After finishing our work we returned on the path, winding through the bushes, grass and trees, passing various other paths in which we would have never been successful without our faithful guides.
“Is there a shortcut,” Anthony asks.
“Ummm, no!” the guide says.
We return to the car. Sr. Manwensa’s motorcycle is there but he is nowhere to be seen. Twenty minutes later we see him dragging himself up the road, sweat dripping down his shirt. He gave me a look in which I could see the full measure of his frustration. He had taken the path, which he thought, led to the dam. It was only after a length of time passed that a villager found him wandering the paths opposite the village from the dam site and brought him back to his bike. Shortcut maybe…
We arrived at the final village to see the work they were doing on their dam. They had excavated the earth down to hard rock on one end but had carved quite deeply without encountering the rock on the other side.
“Great work,” said Sr. Manwensa.
“But you have to dig deeper. You have to reach the rock.”
“What if we do not reach rock? It is a lot of work to carve that deep.” one person said. Translated: Is there a shortcut?
“You will encounter rock below. It is there. If you do not dig that deep, the dam will leak or could fall over if not anchored in a strong base,” replied Sr. Manwensa.
He knew. He had learned. The shortcut is not always the best way.
I think God created the diversity of the landscape in this world to confuse us sometimes to show us how humble our existence really is. Or maybe he created us this way so that our lives are interesting or for a laugh or two at our expense. Flora, fauna, rocks, trees, mountains, seas all seem to be laid out in maze in which humans throughout the centuries have lived and died, explored, traversed, been divide, found themselves or gotten lost. These create our stories, our histories and all in all just make life interesting.
I have returned from the maze of roads, forests, rocky hills and bush lands in which I found myself the last few days in the effort to see the results and ongoing work of our projects in Mandie. The sand dams are coming along and in each new community I find myself memorizing the landscape with my eyes, the wheels of my car or my feet in an effort to remember how to get there the next time. The land in which we work is difficult, and the roads often wind around trees and rocky hillsides, avoiding deep eroded ravines and mud if the rainy season is in course. The temptation is always there to take the shortcut and the local people are always quick to point you to them.
Our colleague Sr. Manwensa who travels in this terrain daily on motorcycle and foot to work with communities is well aware of the pluses and minuses of which routes to take but there are always the surprises. The first day, he, along with Anthony was traveling to two different communities, one of which was quite a distance. The road they were on was rock filled and difficult for the motorcycle. On encountering a local leader he pointed them to the shortcut (which there always is). The temptation was there and they took it. Thus began an adventure of travel through high grass skin slashing grass on a path in which my colleague exclaims,”Not even an Antelope would travel.”
It was the second day and we arrived at the dam site in which we were to visit a little earlier then Sr. Manwensa. We were to go and see the site shortly and he would catch up. After finishing our work we returned on the path, winding through the bushes, grass and trees, passing various other paths in which we would have never been successful without our faithful guides.
“Is there a shortcut,” Anthony asks.
“Ummm, no!” the guide says.
We return to the car. Sr. Manwensa’s motorcycle is there but he is nowhere to be seen. Twenty minutes later we see him dragging himself up the road, sweat dripping down his shirt. He gave me a look in which I could see the full measure of his frustration. He had taken the path, which he thought, led to the dam. It was only after a length of time passed that a villager found him wandering the paths opposite the village from the dam site and brought him back to his bike. Shortcut maybe…
We arrived at the final village to see the work they were doing on their dam. They had excavated the earth down to hard rock on one end but had carved quite deeply without encountering the rock on the other side.
“Great work,” said Sr. Manwensa.
“But you have to dig deeper. You have to reach the rock.”
“What if we do not reach rock? It is a lot of work to carve that deep.” one person said. Translated: Is there a shortcut?
“You will encounter rock below. It is there. If you do not dig that deep, the dam will leak or could fall over if not anchored in a strong base,” replied Sr. Manwensa.
He knew. He had learned. The shortcut is not always the best way.
New Things April 19, 2009
I have noticed over the past few years that in the midst of the difficult work, which development work often is, it is the little things that a person notices that brightens life. I have been noticing things that have appeared or have improved over the last couple of years. These things make me feel like things are getting better in the country and that development is really happening to make this country a better place.
I have made a list of 25 things that I have noticed of late:
1. Man mowing the park with a lawn mower in Chimoio. (This is the first I have seen a lawn mower in use in this part of Mozambique, it is normally done by hand. The parks look nice.)
2. Improving parks, new plants.
3. Three new car/truck and/or road grader dealerships
4. Seed for butternut squash, cauliflower and radishes
5. One person mechanical seeder. (It would save so much time for farmers and can be used with no till agriculture better than a hoe.)
6. Seed corn signs appearing in people’s fields to advertise seed.
7. Two new, very high class hotels in Chimoio.
8. New tractors for use by the municipalities
9. More and more cars being parked on the street.
10. Car modeled after an Indian rickshaw
11. New schools and administration buildings going up in the countryside
12. Sparkling grape juice now available in local cafes as well as new kinds of cakes and sweats.
13. 2 brand new cell phone stores in one block down town
14. New individual cement stalls/stores being constructed for all the major markets in town
15. New conference center just finished last year, complete with functioning cordless microphone and speaker system, power point projector, wireless internet, beautiful pool and rooms, café and mini-golf course. (This may be commonplace in the states now, but it feels like luxury here.)
16. Gondola now has city water
17. New water piping going into the lake 50 kms outside of Chimoio. It will bring more water to the burgeoning populations of Chimoio and Gondola
18. Electricity has arrived to all the major towns along our route to Tete and Mandie where we have projects. (The hospital no longer needs to run on a generator.) These towns also have new mini banks complete with ATMs.)
19. Solar panels in the towns in the bush for small stores, lighting and services.
20. Railroad from the huge new coal mines in Tete to the port city of Beira almost completed. (Tete is a boomtown of foreign workers, this also means that we will be able to take a train from Beira to Tete which will be nice, quicker and safer.)
21. New bridge across the Zambezi River almost completed will speed traffic from the south to the north of the country.
22. Construction on the Tete/Chimoio road is moving at a good pace and travel next year should be easier, faster and safer.
23. The bus station in Chimoio has been filled with twice as many buses as were when we first came. Better, bigger buses are running between major towns. Large towns are starting to get luxury buses like Greyhound (believe me this is luxury for us)
24. Fields of crops planted for Bio-Diesel production in coming years.
25. Newer and better tourist investment and opportunities. Mozambique is a beautiful place. Come and visit!
I have noticed over the past few years that in the midst of the difficult work, which development work often is, it is the little things that a person notices that brightens life. I have been noticing things that have appeared or have improved over the last couple of years. These things make me feel like things are getting better in the country and that development is really happening to make this country a better place.
I have made a list of 25 things that I have noticed of late:
1. Man mowing the park with a lawn mower in Chimoio. (This is the first I have seen a lawn mower in use in this part of Mozambique, it is normally done by hand. The parks look nice.)
2. Improving parks, new plants.
3. Three new car/truck and/or road grader dealerships
4. Seed for butternut squash, cauliflower and radishes
5. One person mechanical seeder. (It would save so much time for farmers and can be used with no till agriculture better than a hoe.)
6. Seed corn signs appearing in people’s fields to advertise seed.
7. Two new, very high class hotels in Chimoio.
8. New tractors for use by the municipalities
9. More and more cars being parked on the street.
10. Car modeled after an Indian rickshaw
11. New schools and administration buildings going up in the countryside
12. Sparkling grape juice now available in local cafes as well as new kinds of cakes and sweats.
13. 2 brand new cell phone stores in one block down town
14. New individual cement stalls/stores being constructed for all the major markets in town
15. New conference center just finished last year, complete with functioning cordless microphone and speaker system, power point projector, wireless internet, beautiful pool and rooms, café and mini-golf course. (This may be commonplace in the states now, but it feels like luxury here.)
16. Gondola now has city water
17. New water piping going into the lake 50 kms outside of Chimoio. It will bring more water to the burgeoning populations of Chimoio and Gondola
18. Electricity has arrived to all the major towns along our route to Tete and Mandie where we have projects. (The hospital no longer needs to run on a generator.) These towns also have new mini banks complete with ATMs.)
19. Solar panels in the towns in the bush for small stores, lighting and services.
20. Railroad from the huge new coal mines in Tete to the port city of Beira almost completed. (Tete is a boomtown of foreign workers, this also means that we will be able to take a train from Beira to Tete which will be nice, quicker and safer.)
21. New bridge across the Zambezi River almost completed will speed traffic from the south to the north of the country.
22. Construction on the Tete/Chimoio road is moving at a good pace and travel next year should be easier, faster and safer.
23. The bus station in Chimoio has been filled with twice as many buses as were when we first came. Better, bigger buses are running between major towns. Large towns are starting to get luxury buses like Greyhound (believe me this is luxury for us)
24. Fields of crops planted for Bio-Diesel production in coming years.
25. Newer and better tourist investment and opportunities. Mozambique is a beautiful place. Come and visit!
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