MaputoBound's Xanga

Thursday, October 02, 2008

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 20:58:03 GMT

New Family Member: Paulo

My announcement is on the slow side as Paulo joined Vella's boys exactly a month ago, but I'm behind in blogging about many things. I was prompted tonight to write about him because of a precious moment at church.

Paulo was discovered many years ago in a plastic bag sitting beside a dumpster. He was a baby. A few years later, he was taken in by another center in Mozambique, but not well taken care of because he is seriously disabled and cannot walk or talk. He came to Iris nearly 2 years ago and it has been amazing to watch the transformation in this 8 year old boy who has suffered rejection his entire life. He has blossomed into a boy whose smile lights up an entire room and can make anyone's week easily! His laugh is even more priceless. I first got to know Paulo when he was being cared for in the girl's area (the only place when he arrived he could get some extra care). He's been a special part of my nights giving milk to the girls over the last couple years. However, it has become clearer over the last months that he really needed more individual attention and to be in a home with boys his own age so that he experience life as "normal boy!"

So, he joined Vella's family (one that I'm growing rather close to!). There, he has blossomed even more with some extra attention and he is now learning to stand up for about 15 minutes each morning (with the help of lots of kisses!). The doctors say that he should one day walk! He's smiling and laughing much more and so brightening up our lives. Though disabled, he is still quite bright which I discovered again tonight at church. He was "giving me 5" with much more force than usual. And, sometimes I would hold his little hand and kiss it repeatedly. The next thing I know, he had my hand and was kissing it. These are the moments I wouldn't trade for the world that make the challenges of long and hot days like today worth every moment! Welcome to the family Paulo! We love you already!

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 15:52:58 GMT

Thank You Coinspiracy Group at K.E.S.!

Many of our kids here at the Zimpeto Base of Iris Ministries have been blessed by an incredibly thoughtful donation of 2 boxes of gifts sent by the Coinspiracy Group in the Grade 6 class at KES in BC, under the direction of teacher Carol. After a year of fundraising, finishing with a bake sale at the end of the year to pay for the hefty postage to mail the boxes, the group mailed off 2 boxes stuffed with stickers, bright coloured yo-yo's, girls' hair accessories, toy cars, gum, colourful pens, beads, skipping ropes, bookmarks, bracelets, string for finger art, and more. The gifts have been given at a number of different birthday parties and every item included has been a hit with our kids, ranging from 5 year old boys, to 16 year old girls. It has been priceless to watch Vicente and Paulito try to figure out how to use Yo-Yo's and their delight when they finally got it to work! The girls' faces lit up instantly when they opened up their bags and found the beautiful skipping ropes. All ages of girls at our last birthday party had a blast making figures out of the string. We had to carefully explain to the girls not to eat all the gum from the package at once! Some very quickly had mouth fulls! Perhaps the most priceless moment of all was watching Vicente and his sister put all the stickers from the page on their faces at once! THANK YOU COINSPIRACY GROUP! Your gifts have brought hours of fun and put smiles on MANY kids' faces!

Click on any photo to enlarge it

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 15:57:03 GMT

Tudo Bom?/All is Well?

There are 3 advertisements and company's colours and slogans that you see EVERYWHERE in Maputo: Vodacom's "Tudo Bom," (All is well) MCel's "Estamos Juntos," (We are all together/united) and Coco Cola's "Good to the last drop." On some streets it seems that every other building is either painted in Vodacom's blue and white, Coca Cola's red and white, or MCel's yellow and green. Vella's boys have a particular eye for Voda Com's slogan so on all our trips out of the center for the past few months, we hear a chorus of "Tudo Bom" every time they see a sign or building with the slogan.

As I was leaving the city on Tuesday I passed a disabled man with one leg begging at a street light. As I looked in my mirror after passing by I noticed he was wearing a Voda Com T-Shirt with the famous "Tudo Bom" on the back. For the first time in 3 years in this country the irony of the phrase hit me- all is not well in a country where the disabled are forced to beg on the side of the road, where women are so desperate for water that they scoop it out of roadside puddles, when a few day old disabled baby is left in a plastic bag beside a dumpster, and where kids run barefoot on top of garbage while their parents scrounge for the best garbage they can find. Perhaps the signs speak of hope for a future when one day, all will be well in this country. I realize, however, the longer that I am here, that money is not the answer to this and other country's problems. Billions have been given to Africa over the years, and the same countries are still poor. What is the answer? The greatest minds over the centuries have struggled to solve the problem of poverty, so I don't pretend to have answers. I see, however, that transformation in lives comes through relationship- discipleship and training must come through longer term relationships where "disciplers" point the way to Christ and not simply to themselves, where rather than simply looking to the "white man's money," people are trained and empowered with skills to support themselves, and also taught to trust in the Lord's faithfulness. I know, however, that I have not the ability to do any of this within myself. So, I continue to cry "Lord- your kingdom come, your will be done, in Mozambique as it is in Heaven." I think then, and only then, will we truly be able to say "Tudo Bom!"

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 21:28:10 GMT

Chicken Pox

Vicente, the youngest of Vella's boys, has had chicken pox this week after a number of other kids in the center have also had it. You can imagine what a nightmare controlling the spread is at a children's center where all the same kids go to school together, eat together, play together, and sleep in rooms of sometimes 10+ together! Whereas most kids in the west would be delighted to have a week off school, Vicente has been quite upset about the whole thing as going to school, playing on the playground with other kids, going to church, and day trips out of the center are highlights of his life that he is missing at the moment. He had quite a sob over missing church! Our main concern is that our HIV+ positive boy in the house has had it already. Something as simple and routine as chicken pox for a healthy child can be quite serious for an immuno-comprised child. Now we'll see if any of the others get it. You should hear them try to say "chicken pox" in English and see Vicente's cute little black body covered in camomile lotion! Seeing his little body covered in spots is not so cute, however.

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 17:31:32 GMT

THIS IS AFRICA
Even filling up with gas can be an adventure in Mozambique! We have long known to be watchful when filling vehicles because the attendants have a "habit" of not zeroing the pump, meaning that you don't get what you pay for (there is no such thing as "self serve" in this country- there would be too many driveways!). Tonight while waiting to fill the truck with gas, we watched as the attendants starting shaking vehicles to get as much gas in as possible! Some of the trucks and "taxis" or chapas (mini vans crammed with 20-25 people) were really rolling!

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 21:35:04 GMT

Treasures

Some sights I will never forget, and this week a number of moments have been imprinted on my memory and spirit:

Antonino using the plastic coil used to open a juice container as a ring
Another one of our kids using an empty 2L plastic container as a soccer ball
Kids on the street joyously playing with a plastic bag blowing in the breeze as if it was a balloon
A woman scooping dirty rain water from a street puddle into a container to take home- I can only pray that she won't use this as drinking water

Plastic coils, empty containers, plastic bags, and dirty water in a street puddle: garbage to most, but treasures of the poor.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 18:29:54 GMT

White Ticket Success

Little white tickets in hand, we finally made the Catembe ferry, one week after our first attempt! The fun began before we even left the center gates, however, as the boys each "drove" to the city, using their frisbees as steering wheels! The drive was complete with plenty of sound effects (loud turns, horns beeping, quick stops, fast speeds, etc!) As we neared the mall where we rode the escalators last week, we heard non-stop "is this where we ate the ice-cream up high?"

After trying 2 different ticket "booths," we finally ended up buying our tickets from a very unofficial man sitting outside the little "hut." Official looking or not, our tickets were white and that's all that mattered to us! Agostino and I started down the dock in front, but were quickly informed by Tia Judite that we had to run as the boat was about to leave (one of the first times I've ever been told to hurry up and run by a Mozambican!) Oh, to see the boys' eyes as we sat down in the boat among men, women, eggs, fruits, tin siding, 20+kg sacks of rice, etc. Their eyes did the speaking as they sat in an awed silence! The Catembe dock was lined with dozens of small roughly-made wooden boats that you can't imagine could ever sail, along with a couple huge, abandoned boats from long ago. In the midst of age-old ruin, however, men were working to repair the docks. Though the boys were interested in all the shapes and sizes of fish being sold, the work-men were apparently interested in how "beautiful" Vella and I looked in our capalanas, and what we were doing at Catembe!

After a quick "potty-break" for the boys on the side of the dirt road, we soon made it to the beach where the boys quickly found the water! They were soon running in and out just in time (or not) to miss the little waves lapping the shore. Though the beach is littered with garbage (that the boys wanted to pick up and toss into the water), the beauty is in the view of Maputo from across the bay- a view that Judite and the boys, though they have grown up in the city, had never before seen. From a distance, the tropical sky-line looks like many others from tourist destinations around the world. Invisible behind the palm trees and bill-board lined buildings are wheel-chair bound beggars, street boys scrounging over-flowing dumpsters for food and "treasures," mothers prostituting themselves to feed their families, and the hundreds of starving men and women hawking their wares on the sides of garbage-lined streets. This is part of Maputo: the city we love and call home. (photos from flickr and a previous trip)

The ferry, Catembe dock, fish "market," boats in harbour (one abandoned), Maputo Skyline, and Catembe beach

Saturday, August 09, 2008

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 20:26:05 GMT

THIS IS AFRICA
The "Pink Ticket Day"

Vella, the boys, Tia Judite and I headed out on Friday for a new adventure: taking the ferry to the "island" of Catembe to explore and play on the beach for the afternoon. Tia Judite was incredibly excited as she had never been there before.

The adventure for the boys began just walking down the "pier," to where the boats were docked. The 4 boys were holding our hands and arms with both hands and proclaiming loudly "we're going to fall!" After waiting on the dock for a few minutes watching a ferry loading cars, we discovered we had to buy our tickets back by the street. Vella and Antonino headed up to buy the tickets while I waited with the rest who kept exclaiming that it was a "very big boat!" After a long wait, while entertained by a large rat scavenging for food, Vella returned with tickets (only 20c each for the adults) and we waited for the smaller passenger ferries to dock once the larger car ferry left.

After a brief conversation between other ladies about how we weren't in the line ("lines" are a very fluid concept in Africa), the smaller boats docked and the push began. The gracious lady who thought we weren't in line, then commented that we had pink tickets which were for the car ferry that just left- we needed white tickets. She very assertively declared with all her expertise, and a chorus from other women, that we wouldn't be allowed on the smaller boats. Why did they wait till the "pink ticket" boat left to tell us we had the wrong tickets? Ignoring their protests, knowing the price of the ticket for all the boats was the same, we proceeded ahead in the "line" to try to get on. The moment the "ticket-taking man" caught sight of pink, he hollered that we had the wrong tickets and would have to go get new tickets (we knew the boats would be gone by then). After a few words of our explanation, he quickly started taking people from behind us, ignoring us as if we weren't there. OK- let's try Boat #2: same treatment. By the third boat we were starting to feel like we had a horrible, contagious illness. On the first sight of the now infamous "pink ticket," the man threw up his hand to say stop and refused to even speak to us! Vella asked Judite if she could explain our situation- given wrong tickets, paid same price, 4 little boys, etc. Judite quickly said "Mana Vella, we have the wrong tickets and they won't accept them!" Everyone around us was now telling us that we had pink tickets (really?!) and needed white tickets, to which we finally groaned "WE KNOW" and tromped away.

Plan B so as not to completely disappoint the boys now robbed of a boat ride to an "island:" head to the new mall and take the escalators to the top floor to have ice cream at Mimmos. The looks on the boys' faces and sounds of hysterical laughter as they rode escalators for the first time: priceless!! Who knew riding escalators could be nearly as exciting as riding a boat! TIA!

Saturday, August 02, 2008

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 20:19:33 GMT

Beach Boys

There is nothing that Vella's boys love more than "passearing" which is our Portuguese/English mix meaning "to go out." They love to go on any outing: to the pool, park, playground, airport, and most favorite of all to the beach! One week while my family was here, Vella was away, so Vella and I had decided that a special treat for them after Thabo's death and for her absence would be for us to take them to a beautiful beach called Macanetta, about 1 hour away. It's a real adventure because it involves taking a ferry and going into the "bush." I spent much of the time watching the boys on the beach, realizing that I was growing quite attached to these precious 4.

Some memorable moments:

Paulito saying "we're not going to return" after we got off the ferry on the other side
As we drove close to the edge of the river, the boys yelling "we're going to fall, we're going to fall!"
Many spilt pops on our sheet on the beach while eating lunch of peanut butter sandwiches and rice krispie cake (which was pretty unusual for them)
The boys asking "who will feed Thabo in Heaven?" while we were eating on the beach
The boys using frisbees to "cook" beans, rice, shima, etc. Frisbees were not thrown once!
Playing Spiderman as he would run fearlessly towards the waves and up quickly as they washed in
Paulito nearly drowning in the toilet the seat was so huge
Augustino playing with his shadow
Chasing the beach ball down the beach as it blew in the wind
Vicente finding a bottle of water and throwing it into the waves waiting for it to wash back to him
Boys going to the bathroom in the bushes and sometimes not quite making it all the way- down come the pants!
Digging in the sand using cut off plastic water bottles
Everyone wanting to carry something- Vicente and Stephen both carrying cooler
The boys yelling "boysh" all through the trip back as we passed cattle (the males as pronounced "boysh" in Portuguese)
Blue, shivering lips by the end of the afternoon
Antonino wanting every morsel of sand off his legs

Click on any photo to enlarge it

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 21:11:19 GMT

THIS IS AFRICA

We have had a serious run of thefts here at the center in the last couple months (the most recent one being a toilet and sink from an outside bathroom). There is definitely a stronghold of theft that we are constantly fighting against. For the first time in 3 years (quite remarkable), I was a victim. Just over a month ago, only days after my family arrived, I was standing talking on the phone in my back room and noticed that the truck I drive here was missing its rear-view mirrors. One was completely gone and the other was smashed on the ground. The same night, mirrors from 2 other vehicles parked in different areas were also stolen. Another missionary had her mirrors stolen in the city a couple weeks before (she has since had her sunroof shattered by someone trying to get into the truck here at the center). She tried in vain to find new ones, and finally had to buy replacements on the black market (she possibly bought her own mirrors back!). So, the following morning, I sent our construction driver to see if he could find mirrors for me before we left for a week's holiday in South Africa (horrible timing for the theft). The only ones he could find were $200 for each mirror! So, we left for South Africa hoping to find them there- in vain. After returning to Mozambique, one of our drivers took my truck to look (the driver has to go alone because the price more than doubles if a white person is present). Thankfully, he returned with new mirrors that were only $50 each. One mirror, however, has jagged glass all around the edges and looks like it's been painted on it's so thin, while the other needed to be "glued" in place as it shook so much when driving that it was useless. (photo to come)

Our Mozambican head of transport suggested that I have the truck's vehicle registration etched onto the mirrors to help prevent any future theft of the mirrors (my friend Laura here had her mirrors stolen twice in one week- once in city and once at center). So, today, our driver Albino took the truck to have the etching done. He returned with one mirror etched beautifully, and the other with a "white-ed out" patch in the middle. He explained that the fellow got the number wrong on the first try so etched that out and put the correct number afterwards! Do you think I got a discount on the job? Not a chance!