A Christmas like no other…

This Christmas was wildly different from any other than I’ve ever had. Different, but good. It was my first Christmas in Africa, and my first away from Canada. I have made some great relationships with friends and families here so don’t feel sorry for me that I was away from home :) I thought maybe I’d give you all a little play-by-play, just so you get an idea of what Christmas in Mozambique is like…

December 24…

The day started off like most others do here- hot and extremely humid. All of our Christmas decorations (lights, little tree, nativity scene, advent calendar, etc) tried their best to convince us that it was indeed Christmas. By late afternoon a huge thunderstorm rolled in- just in time for the Christmas concert. It went from feeling like the 4th of July to Halloween in a few hours. The Christmas concert took place in the Church – the church has an A-frame roof, but is not fully enclosed- this led to an interesting evening…

The night started off with a group of the girls from the mission singing a few songs for everyone. As they were finishing up, the rain stopped. This resulted in a huge swarm of “flying ants”. During this season of famine, many of the Mozambicans live off of flying ants and mangos. The ants are quite large- the body is pretty fat and almost an inch long, with a two-inch wingspan. The ants come out after rains and are attracted to light -we’ve gotten used to sitting in the dark reading with flashlights :) So anyway, the ants were attracted to the fluorescent light by the thousands. When the girls finished, the next group of entertainment, the boys of the mission wanting to do a dance, went up the front (the dance floor was under the light). Although the boys didn’t seem to mind too much, I was terribly distracted by the dozens of crawling ants climbing up the boy’s shirt and swarming their heads. At one point in the night, the generator went off (and with it the light), and all of the ants swarmed the candles on the tables. At this point I temporarily lost composure and ran to the back of the church.

After the program, we had a delicious meal of potatoes, rice and beef stew. It was really good, and at this point it could have resembled a church potluck back home- with a few little differences. For example, the salt shaker at our table was a guy named Antonio who had a hand full of salt to which we helped ourselves. At the end of the night a couple ladies swept up all of the ants (lunch for the next day), and we headed home.

We came home to discover that the bunny that we are bunny-sitting , BunBun, was in a terrible state of convulsions on the floor (possibly bit by a scorpion?) . We kept a close eye on him for the evening, and asked the Lord to take him quickly. We were surprised to find a completely recovered BunBun the next day. A Christmas Miracle! Anyway, while we watched BunBun that night, we also opened a few presents, ate chocolate brownies, and sang “O Holy Night”.

December 25…

On Christmas morning we went over to one of our favorite families here- a family from Ireland who have been here for 16 years, and who run an elementary school for the local children. While at their house we had lovely pastries, hot chocolate, and got to open another present. We love to be at their house which is equipped with good food, a comfortable couch, and a nice mom and dad.

At about noon we headed off to the local prison. People from the mission go to visit the prisoners once a week, although this was the first time that I had gone. The prison was just one large room filled with about 60 young men. Carlos, my boss, brought his accordion along, and everyone enjoyed singing a few local songs- even the guard, who played his AK-47 like a guitar- this was slightly alarming. After the singing, one of the men gave a Christmas message, and food was handed out to all the prisoners. It was very sad to see the despair in these young men’s eyes, as well as sobering to think of how their Christmas was compared to ours.

When we got back from the Prison we had a nice lunch with Carlos and the family. Later that afternoon we had lovely cake and coffee at a Dutch family’s house- about 6 different kinds of cake, and a good opportunity to spend time with everyone who lives on the mission.

So, it was an interesting Christmas! I hope everyone back home had a great Christmas! I miss everyone and look forward to seeing you all when I get back in February! Merry Christmas (Feliz Natal)!

Zimbabwe

Last weekend I got a chance to go to Zimbabwe with three friends. What an experience! The Zimbabwe border is only an hour and a half west of us, but it is a totally different world. It is currently a country in crisis. Their economy is plummeting downwards, and the people are suffering. One US dollar is now worth ten million Zimbabwean dollars- this is since they cut ten zeros off the end of their currency a few months ago. Driving through town, we saw crowds of people standing beside banks- trying to take out money- money that is worth more in the morning than in the evening. People there are literally getting poorer by the minute.

Zimbabwe is a beautiful country- once the “breadbasket of Africa”, but now on the verge of collapse. Carlos is now helping to start home based care in Zimbabwe- striving to reach the thousands of children orphaned by this thing we call AIDS. It is hard to imagine that such a beautiful country is having such troubles.

We met a lovely couple who worked at the hotel that we stayed in. They had retired a few years ago but recently had to start working again. Because of the crazy inflation, and cutting ten zeros off the currency, their life savings is now worth about seventy cents. Less than a dollar. The schools are in danger of closing- teachers are no longer showing up to work because they aren’t being paid. The hospitals have no medication in them. We were told about a child who died because the hospital didn’t have Tylenol to give to get a fever down. Just staying alive is a huge challenge- thousands of people have to cross into Mozambique just to get food.

The country itself is beautiful- lovely rolling, green mountains, beautiful birds, exotic flowers and trees… we stayed up in the Vumba mountains in a lovely little lodge that had an amazing view and a fireplace (it was cool enough there to actually use it too). We drove to a very fancy hotel called “Leopard Rock” that used to entertain celebrities, and had a game park and a pro golf course on it. It was empty. There were staff, but no guests. The restaurants were the same. Beautiful with excellent food, but we were the only ones there. We had the opportunity to ride horses in a game park. We actually rode right up to giraffes and zebras. It was very surreal. Please pray for Zimbabwe.

Here is a picture of Me, Brooke, Sarah and Dara half way up the mountain.

This is Dara in front of the giraffe (she's on a horse).

Here is a picture of Dara and me at the restaurant- our bill was over 50 million Zim dollars

needs...

We were driving with Carlos and Pascua the other night when Carlos got a phone call- it was from the chief of one of the communities that Rubatano does Home Based Care in. Over the phone, Carlos learned about a child that just become an orphan. The child’s father had died years ago, and the mother had just died the previous day. The grandmother had taken the child and gone looking for help. She had no money, and no food. Carlos drove to Rubatano’s main center and got some maize, beans and salt for them- the last food parcel that the center had, and we drove to meet the grandmother. When we arrived it was already late- out of the darkness walked an old woman carrying a small child on her back. The grandmother had been traveling all day- trying to get help- desperate for help. She gratefully took the food which would last her for just a few weeks, and left with the child…

A couple of days ago a woman named Maria came to Carlos to ask for help for her neighbor… her neighbor is a girl who is about 13 years old. This girl is an orphan and lives with her two young uncles. Her uncles don’t want her. They are trying to sell her for money. Maria came to Carlos to see if he could help the girl somehow. Carlos and the volunteers are now trying to find a place for this girl to live. Maybe an old granny or a sick patient that she could help in exchange for a place to live. Rubatano will give her some food- an incentive for a family to take her in. Just imagine being this girl. Your parents are dead - the family you do have is trying to sell you…
These stories are not rare here. People come to Carlos and the volunteers almost every day with needs like these. AIDS is rampant here, and turning kids into orphans every day. Rubatano needs help caring for these children.

Currently, volunteers at Rubatano provide orphaned and vulnerable children like these with a monthly food parcel, assistance with education, and visit them at home twice a week. It is amazing to see the care and dedication of these volunteers. Most of the volunteers are very poor themselves- many with holes in their shoes and hungry kids of their own. As of January 2009, Rubatano no longer has money available to cover their operating costs. This is due to their two main government donors completing their commitments. It is now time for the church to step in- for us to help the church in Africa to take care of these little ones.

It is the goal of Rubatano and Hands at Work to provide each orphaned and vulnerable child (OVC) with basic health, education, and food security. This costs about 15USD per child/month. Currently Rubatano cares for almost 650 OVCs in the Gondola area (where I live), and over 400 in a new area called Nhamatonda. As Rubatano is expanding to four other new areas, hundreds more OVCs are being added to this these numbers.

I have been so impressed by what God is doing through Carlos and the volunteers at Rubatano, and I encourage you to be a part of it. If you want to donate to Rubatano, please let me know, and I’ll send you more info about tax deductable donations. My email address is lauraeliason@hotmail.com

"Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed." Psalm 82:3

another cake...

Here is one of the latest cakes that we’ve made… it’s a unicorn. We made it for our 15 year old friend Matthew- not sure why we picked a unicorn- just seemed like the thing to do…

fruit...

A few weeks ago, four of us girls went away to the beach for the weekend. Here is a picture of us- our friend Jess from the USA is here for a few months, then me, Dara, and Jenny from the Peace Corps (she’s leaving next week and we are very sad!).

Believe it or not, this is how cashew nuts grow! They looked like a joke fruit- like someone has hot-glue-gunned a plastic cashew on top of an apple, but they were real… The cashew nut is inside of a larger, harder shell, and grows on top of an apple-like fruit that has a pink, kind of sweet/kind of bitter flesh… who knew?? This is Jen and Jess with our new discovery.

One of the things we enjoy a lot here is all of the fruit… mangos are the fruit that we’ve been enjoying lately! When we went to the beach there were so many people selling mangos on the side of the road, that we got a bit carried away… here is Jess buying us mangos- she bought eighty (80) mangos for eighty (80) cents! They tasted so good! Jess later developed an allergic reaction from all of the mangos she ate- swollen eyes and sores on her lips- I think she learned a valuable lesson that weekend…

a few pictures...

Pascua, Carlos’ wife, cooks all of her meals outside on a charcoal stove. She’s mastered baking carrot cake on this stove-something one of the last western girls showed her how to cook. This is a picture of me teaching Pascua how to make ‘no bake chocolate cookies’. We had a great time… Carlos loves the cookies and calls them “his heart”.

We have a lot of fun hanging out with Carlos and his family. This is his baby, Jessie. She was born in the same month that my nephew Mason was, so I have a fun time watching her grow and thinking of Mason. Here she is taking a bath on their patio… so cute.

Have I mentioned that there are a lot of bugs here? We’ve learned to cohabitate quite nicely with the spiders - it’s the cockroaches that I have not learned to love yet. When we first moved into the house we saw giant spiders like this on the walls, and were told, “oh, those are ‘crack spiders’ we don’t kill those”. So, Dara and I never really questioned why we don’t kill them, but we’ve gone along with it….

tv show

A couple months ago a film crew was here to film the work that Hands at Work/Rubatano is doing in Mozambique. This Sunday (the 19th) the program will be shown on the "Living Truth" Ministries program. You can look at their website for the time and channels that it will be shown:

http://www.livingtruth.ca/.

It is a great way for everyone to see where I work, and the people that I get to work with. There is a chance I might be on it as well (possibly not though as I had a little spot on the South African Living Truth episode that was shown last week).

I hope everyone will get a chance to watch it!

Vovo

“Vovo” is the Mozambican term for Grandmother. Vovos are holding this country together. AIDS is devastating Mozambique and many other African countries. It is wiping out a generation of mothers and fathers, and aunts and uncles, and is leaving thousands and thousands of orphans. Every day in Africa 6000 kids are orphaned- that is 180,000 every month. Can you imagine? In Zambia, where I was last month, 23% of the children are orphans. It is usually the Grandmothers who take in these children. It is heartbreaking to see these old women, baby on back, walking miles and miles to carry firewood, fetch water, or work in the fields.

A couple months ago our friend Lynn from Hands at Work South Africa came to Mozambique on his way to Zimbabwe. While there, he met an old Vovo who was taking care of 17 kids. Some were her grandkids, and some were orphaned neighbor children. They were all living in one room- renting the other room of their house out to make some income. She was taking care of 17 kids in a country where it is extremely hard just to feed yourself.

The woman in this picture is a Vovo from one of the local communities. I love this picture. It shows the strength that these women have. Strong, stoic, and proud. We need to be helping these women and children.

Zambia...

For the last two weeks I have had the opportunity to help train 6 nurses in the country of Zambia. It was very interesting, and it was an honour to work with these seasoned nurses. The nurses work in remote villages running mobile clinics that take place in classrooms or sometimes even under trees. Mobile clinics provide medical care to people in communities that are that far away from hospitals. Two or three nurses will see up to 300 patients a day- can you imagine? We taught a two week course about HIV and childhood mortality- most childhood death are caused by preventable problems- dehydration, malnutrition, malaria, etc.

Most of our time was in the classroom, but we also got to take part in two mobile clinics. They were overwhelming! So many sick kids, women and babies. I got to spend some time with a midwife, and I learned so much from her (I would love to be a midwife some day). I was amazed by the simplicity of the instruments too- forget an electronic fetoscope! I was listening for the baby’s heart rate through a plastic tube- simple, effective and efficient- primary health care at its best.

One patient that I saw at the mobile clinic really broke my heart. She was a lovely little girl- 10 years old, although she looked much younger. She was too thin, had a rash and peeling skin, a cough and stomach problems. The nurse had her tested for HIV. She came back positive and it appeared that her disease was quite advanced. She was orphaned- her parents most likely dying of AIDS, and was living with her aunt and uncle. One of the nurses in our course, Helen, took special interest in the little girl. Helen will make sure that this little girl will get anti retroviral treatment, and that she will be visited twice a week by home based care. All I could do was pray for her.

It was good to see a home based care project in a different country (also part of Hands at Work). I was able to go out with a few of the volunteers and visit some patients and orphans. These volunteers are so inspiring. They have so little themselves, but they are going out into their own communities showing God’s love. They are dedicated. I am so glad that I have been able to meet them, and walk with them as they march on.

Dara and I are with Carlos and Pascua's kids here (Carlos is our boss). We get along great with the family and really enjoy spending time with them. Last week we had a dance party at their house with Carlos playing the accordian!

The lady in this picture in Inish- she's one of the volunteers that we go out with. This picture was taken way out in the bushes- we walked so far that day! There are lots of paths that go through the bushes with huts spaced out about 500 meters apart.

It's pretty common to see trucks like this on the road. Scary. There are constantly vehicles broken down on the side of the road. They are so hard on them here.

On Sunday I'll be flying to Zambia for two weeks. I'll be going with my American friend Jean Aimee who also works with Hands at Work, and lives in South Africa. We'll be doing some teaching to local nurses there about primary health care, HIV, AIDS, childhood diseases etc. I have no idea what Zambia will be like, so it'll be interesting. I'm anticipating it'll be hot.

a few pictures

Here I am with Santos- one of our favorite volunteers. He does a ton around Rubatano- lots of administrative work. He's so friendly- we love to work with him. He can speak about 4 words of English, but he told us that this is a "special" hat. We find it so funny because the sun shines right through the hole in the brim and into his eyes!

In this picture I'm with our good friend Jenny. She is working with the Peace Corps- she's so brave- she lives in a little house all alone in a village. We have lots of fun with her. I title this picture "Christmas come early". Dara got FIVE packages in one day! Don't worry though- she's really good at sharing and I got some mail last week, so I was just as excited as she was. We pulled a mattress into the living room (we don't have a couch), had tea and cake, and opened "presents". It was really fun.

This is me with one of the older girls on an orphan day. We're playing some sort of a hand game- I don't think either of us knew what hand game we were playing, but it was fun. Last weekend Rubatano had the first meeting for just the older orphan girls- aged 13 and up. The goal is to teach these girls a skill that they can support themselves and their younger siblings with. It's also to give them a chance to talk with each other about thier challenges and to hopefully prevent them from turning to men to fill their needs. The volunteers will teach the girls how to garden, cook little donuts to sell, and once we have sewing machines-how to sew. The first meeting went really well with around 60 girls showing up.

lesson 26- watch where you sit.

Well, I’ve still got a few things left to learn about Africa. This morning I got up early to take a walk, and found a nice, quiet place on the side of the dirt road to sit and think. As I was “sitting” and “thinking”, two nice Mozambican ladies came walking along the road. We greeted each other as they passed, but instead of the normal length “stare at the white girl”, they stopped and lingered. They were staring at me and pointing at where I was sitting. I stood up to talk to them and they asked me if I spoke Portuguese. A little I said. They rattled off a string of Portuguese- I missed most of it, but I did catch the key word- “cobra”. I was sitting right in the middle of two snake holes- about a foot from each hole. Needless to say I didn’t sit back down. After thanking them profusely I decided to walk a bit and watch where I sat next time…

Cakes...

We don't work all the time here... we make cakes too. Here are a couple that we've made for birthday parties. The one cake is supposed to be a monkey, but it turned out more like a rabid bear. This is our Irish friend, John, next to the "bear" on his 18th birthday. Tom is another good friend here- he's from England and has just turned 19... we hear that "theme cakes" are all the rage with the young kids these days...

a new home for Chico and his family

Here are Joao and Luisa- Chico's children in front of thier newly built house! The volunteers in Nhamatonda built it for Chico and his family after they saw what the family was living in (I have a picture of it in an old blog of mine).

servants

I am continually amazed, challenged and humbled by the volunteers that I work with. These people work so hard.

The man on the bicycle is a new patient named Louis that Rubatano took on last month. His elderly sister stopped us on the road and asked us to come help her brother. We walked about a kilometer into the bush and found him in a tiny little shack- his wife was gone at the time to her garden- it was about 10km away, and she would stay away from home for days at a time. On Wednesday three of the volunteers went to his house at 7:30 am and brought him to the road on their bicycle as he was too weak to walk. From there he was able to get to the hospital.

The two volunteers washing the kids are Inish and Adao- in this house there are three orphans that are being cared for by their grandmother. To wash an orphans feet- this is true religion.

To bring a sick, old man 1 km through the bushes at 7:30 am on your bicycle- this is true religion.

James 1:27- Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in thier distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

made for t.v.

The last week has been a very interesting one! We have had a film crew here from Toronto filming first in South Africa, and then in Mozambique. The People's Church in Toronto sent a film crew along with their head pastor, Pastor Charles Price, to film Hands at Work and Rubatano Home Based Care.
They will be doing three, one-hour specials about Hands at Work and will be airing it on their television show, "Living Truth", in the last three weeks in October. One show will feature South Africa (where I worked the first two months of my time in Africa), one in Mozambique, and one in Malowi. I may even make it on t.v. myself. They filmed me doing some homebased care visits and asked me a few interview questions.
You may notice in the picture of me with the stethoscope that I'm not actually listening to anyone's chest! I had listened to a woman's chest moments earlier, but they wanted me to do it again to get a close up of my face so I'm just pretending- looking deep in thought about what I'm listening to! In the group photo I am with a woman who is sick- probably with tuberculosis. The two men in the picture are Santos in the blue shirt, and Fransisco- two of our favorite volunteers. They had alot of fun being on camera as well.
I'm really excited about the shows, as now everyone back home will be able to see where I work, who I work with, and what I do!
The picture of the little girl was taken by Jayme Chotowitz on one of the filming days. We've had Jayme and Lynn stay with us for the past week, and have had a really great time catching up with them.
Lynn, Carlos, and George (head of Hands at Work) have all just returned from Zimbabwe this afternoon. They are planning on expanding Hands at Work into Zimbabwe and Carlos will be a huge part of it. Talk about a challenge! I am excited to hear about their experience as Dara and I will probably be playing a small part in it as well. Lynn just showed me a Zimbabwean money bill that was for 50 BILLION Zim dollars (their dollar used to be stonger than ours). When they went to Zimbabwe on the 21st a bottle of coke cost 100 Billion dollars- now, three days later a bottle of coke costs 400 billion dollars. Zimbabwe needs our prayers!

a picture from the last story...

This is Chico and his family next to their "house".

One of our favorite home care volunteers...

I've been trying and trying to add pictures, but with the slow internet here it hasn't cooperated until today. This is Adao teaching a little orphan how to multiply and divide using kernals of corn.

Hope

Last week Dara, Carlos and I went on a two hour road trip to Nhamatanda. This is a new area that Rubatano Home Based Care (who I work with) is planning on expanding to. Carlos had previously preached at a church in Nhamatanda, and the pastor had become very interested in starting home based care in his church to care for the widows, sick, and orphans and vulnerable children (OVC’s) in their area.

We drove out to meet with the pastor and the future volunteers. We arrived at a humble little mud church and met 13 people who were excited to be trained and get working. They had already identified different OVC’s in their area desperate for help. We then traveled to another church ten km away where another 12 volunteers were ready and had identified more OVC’s. I was so touched and encouraged! A community that has gathered 25 volunteers through their own initiative to take care of their poor, sick and orphaned neighbors.

One family that we met really stood out to Dara and myself. We walked far into the community, down little paths, through fields, and came upon a man named Chico and his two children, Luisa 7, and Joao 9. Their mother had died in 2003, and their father was in a work related car accident that left him with pain and limited strength in his right arm- able to lift only a couple kilos. Their house had only three walls, and no roof, so they were living under a small sheet of plastic supported by one wall and a few bamboo poles. Recently someone had stolen the family’s mattress and blanket leaving them with only a sheet to cover themselves with at night. Bleak. We felt terrible leaving them- giving them only our prayers and a little money.

There are so many people here who are just as desperate as they are. AIDS is a very big problem- spreading like crazy, and making orphans of thousands. This is largely because the town is situated on a busy intersection that many truck drivers pass through to get to other countries. These drivers take advantage of desperately poor girls and women who will sell themselves for as little as 40 cents. Bleak.

There are so many heavy, heavy things here that could envelope you if you let it. There is hope though! There are people here that will stand up and take care of their community. 25 new men and women who are so excited to start. Each day when I work with the volunteers I am encouraged and amazed by their love and devotion. They are so kind to their orphans and patients! Yesterday I watched as one of the young volunteers, 24 year old Adao, taught a young orphan how to multiply and divide using pieces of corn. I saw another orphan, one in a family of 6 young kids, run up to him with joy and hug him. The volunteers have been wonderful to us, and have made us feel so welcome here. As long as there is prayer (this is key) and people who will stand up and care for their neighbors, there is hope!

grammer...

As I was deleting some computer files, I came upon an old blog of mine and read the line “he spoke good English”. Apparently I don’t. I’m sure this was noticed immediately by my Mother and Aunts who see grammatical errors from a mile away. For the record let me just say that “he spoke English very well”…. Sorry for letting you down Mom- you did teach me GOOD.

I’m enjoying my time here in Mozambique so far. We’re settling into the community really well and have met so many nice families and couples that have really made us feel welcome.

Of course there are still a few things that we’re getting used to…

1.The language- although we’re picking it up, it has been a challenge. Even simple things are made tricky. The first time we went into the bakery and proudly used our Portuguese to ask for one bag of 20 buns, we came out with two bags of thirty buns. Another time I came out with a backpack full of buns because they had run out of plastic bags.

2.Snakes- while walking to a patient’s house yesterday the volunteers suddenly stopped and pointed to a big snake laying on the path with is head down a hole. Three men sprung into action throwing rocks and dirt clumps, and beating it with a stick. It turned out it was a spitting cobra. Once it was dead, our patient, an older woman with tuberculosis proudly held it up for a picture.

3.The Food- I am getting quite accustomed to eating a variety of meats and the traditional maize-meal staple of “sadza” or “pap”. Yesterday Dara and I took two 18 y.o. American girls with us out on our home care visit (there is a team of 20 young people here for 10 days). After the visits we usually eat a meal with the volunteers. The girls gave the food a try, but it was obvious that they were struggling. I realized that I was starting to enjoy the food a bit too much when I leaned over to one of the girls and said “are you going to eat your goat?” and finished it for her.

4.The Missionary Garb- Dara and I always have to wear long “missionary” skirts when we are out in the community. At times it’s a bit of a struggle to feel cute here- with the wardrobe requirements, bucket baths, bugs, heat, etc. Yesterday we were out with the above mentioned two girls. Dara and I were feeling pretty good about the long skirts and t-shirts we’d chosen for the day until one of the girls asked, “so do you always dress like this?” Um, ya, we do.

5.Bugs- There is a huge variety of oversized, weird bugs that live with us here. When we were first orientated to the house we found three monstrous spiders in our bathroom. Our host commented “oh those are crack spiders, we don’t kill those”. So Dara and I followed her lead and have been cautiously cohabitating quite nicely with them. I’ve been watching a 2.5 inch spider on the my ceiling the past four nights and am glad to say he’s only moved about a foot. We’ve gotten pretty used to all the geckos on the walls (although I was slightly alarmed to see one on Dara’s back while she was cooking), and don’t mind the mosquito nets. So far the only thing we always kill when we see are the cockroaches. We think we have those under control though…

mailing address

Here's my mailing address- just in case someone is inspired to write!

Laura Eliason
Associacao Rubatano
PO Box 454
Manica Chimoio
Mozambique

a whole different world

We have arrived in Mozambique! We landed in Beira on Sunday afternoon. One of the men from the mission came to pick us up, and drove us to Maforga mission- about a three hour drive seemingly into the middle of no where. We just kept driving and driving- we passed a few little villages, no towns, high grass and rolling hills. Once we got to Maforga (30 min outside of Chimoio) we drove about 3 km down this dirt road through a forest. We were a bit concerned- It barely looked like a road! It was better in daylight. We have a really cute little house that has a lovely veranda.

The area we live on is like a huge farm/saw mill/ school/ village/ church commune/baby clinic. We live right next door to a lady called 'Nana' who is a really cool, old retired RN and has been here most of her life. Every morning at 7:30am on the dot her sheep and cows are herded out of her corral and across our front yard to who knows where. There are also goats, chickens, guinea fowl, mosquitoes (we sleep under mozy nets) and little geckos. The other day Dara was cooking and she didn't know it but had a little lizard on her back- I about screamed!

Today we went out with two of the Rubatono home based care workers (who we will be working with closely). We were very impressed by them. Although their nursing knowledge is limited, they are very committed to their job. We went out with a young man named Adau today. He spoke English very well, and was a great interpreter for us. Every Tuesday and Friday Adau goes out and sees the same13 patients and orphans. It sometimes takes him 7 hours to see them all- walking or riding a bike.

We walked and walked and walked- It is rural here! We walked through little paths in fields of grass that were at least 12 feet tall- visiting little villages that you would picture when you think of Africa. I actually didn’t think these kind of places still existed. They cook over a fire, live in little round huts made of mud or bricks with straw roofs. Babies and kids EVERYWHERE. Little kids with babies on their backs. Lots of the kids have big tummys, have runny noses and wearing dirty clothes that are full of holes. Poorer than poor. I am humbled by some of the orphans that we met today- getting themselves washed and ready to walk to school all on their own. Wearing their cleanest clothes, and often not even having shoes- going to schools that are benches under straw awnings or trees.

It is overwhelming, but we are excited to start working. We’ll be able to give out medications, work with the hospitals and clinics, help with paperwork and different teams that are coming, and lots of other things. We will be busy!

pain

Last week I met a lady named Elizabeth. She was about 50 and dying of AIDS. I've never seen anyone so skinny. Just bones. A neighbour lady would check in on her everyday- the neighbour was an old granny who was looking after 8 orphans (some her grandkids, some were neighbour's kids). 8 little kids and a dying neighbour. We got to wash this lady, and talk and sing with her. She wanted us to sing the South African national anthen- I'm afraid I wasn't much help there. We washed all her filthy clothes and blankets -African style-in a river. I was so happy to be there- to help this dear woman who was suffering so much. Elizabeth died a few days later, but we were able to get her into a hospice for her remaining days so she could die comfortably.

Driving home from Elizabeth's we passed three women who were returning from the clinic. One of the women was carrying her friend on her back. The woman being carried was about 30, dying of AIDS, had an 8 month old baby, and could barely walk. Her friend was carrying her down a huge hill . On her back. A woman carrying another woman. I am shocked by what the
people here have to go through. Sometimes people are even taken to the hospital in wheelbarrows. There is so much hurt here, but we can do small things. We were able to comfort a dying woman, and we were able to drive the ladies to thier home. We can always do something.

Ahh languages...

Communication is one of the big things that we’re learning about here- how to communicate effectively with people from other cultures. How to be culturally sensitive, how to learn, how to teach etc…

Right now Dara and I are busy trying to learn Portuguese before we go to Mozambique. This week we got to practice what we’ve learned with Carlos. Carlos is the project leader in Mozambique, and we will be working closely with him and his wife. I was trying to ask him about the challenges in the project, so I asked him how to say the word “challenge”- he replied “dez a few”. I thought he was saying that there were a few words in Portuguese that meant challenge, so I smiled and said “all I need it one of the words- that I would forget more than one word for challenge”. Again he said “dez a few”, and again I asked what the word was- then my friends yelled at me- “Laura! That’s the word for Challenges- “desafio”.

Another funny moment was when one of the men from Nigeria was leading a song in Church. The song repeated a few phrases such as “everyday God, give me love”, “everyday God, lift me higher”. Then he started repeating – “everyday God, give me sausage, everyday God, give me sausage”. He was actually singing give me “success”, but the resemblance to the work sausage was extremely close, making it very hard for me and many others not to giggle through the long and repetitious verse! I expect a lot more of these experiences!

here's a few pictures...

We went to the Kruger National game park for a whole day last Saturday. Got up nice and early at 4am. We saw tons of animals- hippos, rhinos, elephants, giraffes, water buffalo, birds, etc...

The group of five people are the ones I've been living with for the last month. Dara is the girl standing next to me on the rock. She and I are very similar- we have alot of fun together.

Now that I've figured out how, I'll post pictures more often. Thanks for all the comments on my blogs- I LOVE reading them!

Home Based Care

A huge part of Hands at Work that I will be helping with is Home Based Care. Home Based Care consists of community volunteers going into their own community to take care of sick patients, orphans and vulnerable children. On Monday and Tuesday we had the opportunity to go out with local volunteers into two communities. We saw elderly stroke patients, two women dying with AIDS, one with tuberculosis, some with wounds, and several orphans.

Many of these people have ZERO money. The poorest are refugees from Mozambique- many without any personal identification. Without ID or South African papers they are unable to receive any orphan grants, disability or pension. The Home Base Care volunteers do basic care- washing patients, cleaning houses, doing laundry or dishes, basic wound care, checking in on orphans, advocating for them in their schools if needed, assisting with government grants, and whatever else is needed. Right now I am learning a lot about the program, and preparing for my time in Mozambique where I will continue on with Home Based Care programs.

I was really upset by one visit in particular. We visited one little old man who lived in a room- about 7’x 10’, all by himself. He had no food, no water, and no one to look after him. Occasionally a neighbor would bring him a meal. He was very thin, and had painful swollen legs- possibly from malnutrition or heart disease. He was still able to walk, but barely. He was from Mozambique, so he had no papers, meaning no pension- no money. In his community water was a huge problem- both of the pumps for their wells are broken, so getting water is not easy! We fetched some water for the little grandpa- we took two large jugs down the road, down a smaller trail, and across a small dirty creek to a little well. The well was sunken into the ground and had about two feet of water in it. To fill up the water jugs I had to reach way down with a small bucket and slowly fill up the larger jugs. It was very hard work (that the grandpa physically couldn’t do) to get the water and then carry it all the way back to the house- maybe a kilometer journey.

One of the volunteers gave her lunch to the grandpa - a sandwich and some juice, which he clapped his hands with pleasure to receive. After sweeping his house, doing some yard work, singing and praying with him we left. My heart breaks for this man when I think of my own Grandpa, and how terrible it would have been if he had been alone, and forgotten with no one to help him. Although they are often forgotten and ignored, this Grandpa, the sick, the lonely, and the hopes and dreams of the orphans are not forgotten by Jesus. Psalm 9:18- But the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish.

Driving in South Africa

I have now successfully driven in South Africa a number of times. This has been a bit intimidating for various reasons. The enormous size of the vehicle (a huge VW van that comfortably seats about 12 people), the fact that they drive on the left side of the road, shifting with my left hand, and being yelled at by road-raged drivers to name a few. I took my first “driving lesson” with five other people in the van after I set the ground rules that people couldn’t yell out driving instructions- particularly one of the male footprinters who is 18 y.o., doesn’t have his license, and loves to yell out random advice- the first (and last) bit of advice that he offered was “don’t forget the clutch”. Unfortunately I’ve already experienced the heart pounding fear of being pulled over by the police here for speeding-thankfully I got off with a friendly warning. Anyway, it’s been fun to have a vehicle here to get around the beautiful African countryside!

back from the community...

Well, the community stay was quite an experience! On Wednesday the five of us "footprinters" got assigned to five different families. I stayed with a 24 year old name Tabisile - her English name is "Happiness", and she suited the name. She lived with her 19 y.o. brother Stanwell, 9 y.o. brother, Treasure, and her daughter, Education. Yes, that is her English name- Education! The house we lived in had three bedrooms, a kitchen, and a living room- quite big actually, but a very different living situation than I am used to! There was no running water- we used buckets to bathe, did the dishes outside, and used an outhouse. We did have electricity though, so that was nice.

The family was very close to each other, and to their neighbours. We spent alot of time outside, visiting with their friends and relatives, eating, and braiding eachother's hair. I was amazed at the huge deal everyone made out of having a white person stay in the community. Relatives, friend and neighbours would come from all over to meet me, and would often stay the night as well. One night I slept in the same room as Tabisile, her daughter, her neighbour, and her cousin (three of us in the same bed, and two on the floor!) I probably slept about 3 hours a night (not much considering we went to bed at about 8:30!)- between the heat (verrrrrrrrry hot in the community), mosquitos, frogs, being kicked by Education, and sleeping with the light on, I just couldn't sleep! I also got to take a field trip across town in a taxi with Tabisile to meet her aunt and uncle, who then invited their neighbours over to see the white person! I had learned some Saswati greetings before I went to the community, and the people were amazed to hear them coming out of a white person! It is verrrrry segragated here!

The people in the community were very poor. Most did have enough to eat, buy clothes, and go to school, but college, buying a car, or traveling are usually hopes that are out of reach.

On the weekdays the group would meet at an orphanage to help cook, clean, paint and play with the kids. We mostly ate rice, maizemeal (made into something like sticky mashed potatoes), cabbage, beets, and fish and beans, and chicken. The flavours are quite nice. I also got served chicken feet- I had to ask one of the boys how to eat them- first bite off the fingernails, then eat the fat (or whatever it is) that is around each "finger" and whatever else you can get off the foot... not my favorite meal!

It was a very good experience. I was very warmly welcomed by the family, and was treated very well. I felt quite safe in the community (although we didn't go out after dark). We got back to our house yesterday, and we were all very happy to have a shower, sleep in our own beds, and to come shopping and use the internet today! All for now...

I made it here!

Well, after a very long and eventful journey that included a stop in London to see Big Ben, the Queen's Palace, and Westminster Abby, I finally made it to South Africa! It is beautiful here- very lush, green and hilly- not at all what I expected. We live in a nice, clean house- four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen and a little dining room. Quite clean and comfortable. I'm sharing a room with Dara, and there is another girl named Lacey, and two guys in the house- Dustin and Callen. We live on the Africa School and Mission campus- quite safe- good locks, alarm system, and an electric fence that goes around the whole place. The fence separates us from a pond that supposedly houses a hippo. We haven't seen him yet, but we've been watching. There is a small mountain beside us, tons of beautiful flowers, HUGE hummingbirds, and some monkeys (I haven't seen them yet either, although I'm pretty sure we've heard them running on our tin roof!) We haven't needed to 'rough it' yet- there are a couple towns nearby with every western thing you could need. Today we started orientation- it went well. So far I am loving the environment, and am very impressed with the organization. Last night Jayme (Haskey) and Lynn Chotowetz had us over for a great pasta supper (candle light as the power was out). It's fun to have familiar faces here! On Thursday we will be going into a local community, and will be spending five nights there- we get split up, and paired with a local family. We will be eating what they eat, handwashing our clothes, and getting to see what life is really like out here- I'm expecting a big eyeopener! During the days we will be helping with some of the projects that are being run out here. Next time I write I should have some good stories from the community!

leaving tomorrow!

Tomorrow I'll be leaving for Africa! I fly out at 1:20pm- touching down in Toronto, London, J'burg, and eventually in Nelspruit, South Africa at noon two days later! I plan on meeting up with my friend Dara in London- It will be nice to have some company on the long flight! I'm going to miss everyone (especially my new little nephew Mason!). Please keep in touch- I love to get emails! More from Africa....

8 days and counting...

Eight days from now I'll be leaving for South Africa. My plan is to stay in South Africa for 11 weeks -training and preparing for my time in Mozambique. Once in Mozambique I will be working as a part of the footprints program (handsatwork.org) with my friend Dara doing homecare nursing, palliative care, AIDS and orphan work, and who knows what else! It's going to be quite the adventure- I'm getting really excited to go! I'll try to keep everyone updated with this blog, as I should have internet access there. More once I get to Africa...