young generation

This weekend was filled with young people as I went to an orphanage and to a youth gathering. 

On Friday we were out of school for yet another Mozambican holiday. This time Heroes Day. In the morning I went with some other teachers from CAM to visit an orphanage. It is at a place called Iris Ministries. It has been running since 1998 and houses over 300 orphans. I was impressed at how nice the place was for an orphanage. One requirement for the kids to be able to stay at the orphanage is that they must attend school each day during the week from 8-12. One other surprising thing was how much freedom the kids have to come and go as they like. This is something that is very much in line with Mozambican culture as kids are independent at a young age. The kids are taken care of by Mozambican women called tias, they are able to discipline under their own culture, which is much better than someone from a completely different culture trying to come in and discipline in a foreign way. After we were given a tour we were able to play with some of the younger kids. They were precious. Once a few of them realized that when I was holding them they could reach some leaves on a tree a line formed to be lifted a get some leaves. 

Some of the kids at the orphanage.

On Saturday I went with two of the interns, Reggie and Emilio, to a youth meeting at a local church. When I came to Mozambique two years ago we went to a youth meeting at the same church. I actually recognized the place. The people were extremely friendly and there were people representing youth groups from seven different churches. The church that it was at was actually Emilio's church. We sang some songs, some of which I recognized from church on Sundays. Then there were a few skits about evangelizing to people. And we watched a video and closed by singing and dancing to a couple more songs. As it started Reggie was trying to help me out and explain what was going on without really being able to communicate very well, but definitely trying. A man then came and sat by me asking if I spoke English. He then interpreted what was happening for me. I was so grateful and encouraged by being able to finally understand what was being said besides a few words here and there. 

Picture taken after the youth meeting on Saturday evening.

My dusty feet after walking to and from the youth meeting. 

allow me to introduce you to my furry friends....

So lately we have been having a slight rat issue. The little fellows started coming around about two weeks ago. It started during the week at night they would come out when things started to get quiet. They would usually be spotted scrambling across the room to a dark corner to hide. So we soon put some poison out. After a couple of days it started to disappear. We then put out some of the most massive mouse traps I have ever seen in my life. They were seriously as big as my shoe. The picture doesn't do it any justice.

Then early one morning one of the rats was spotted in the toilet. It was pretty creepy. We tried to flush him down, but he wasn't going anywhere, and his beady little eyes just kept staring up. So we closed the lid and put something on top of it until it could be taken care of later. A little while later the house help was  cleaning and spotted the rat before being warned. It gave her quite a shock, but she got someone to help her get rid of him. 

The next day another critter was just walking around the bathroom in broad daylight, he had no shame by now. The poison must've started to kick in and impaired his reasoning abilities. He soon started to slow down and eventually just started to wither away in the open area. We took him outside so he could pass away peacefully. 

Then on Saturday we spotted one under the bookshelf as dead as could be. One of the interns came and took him outside. It was great to see that the poison was finally working and starting to kill them off. After that we figured that the rats must've all gone away or died and we once again felt safe. 

Then on Sunday night we were sitting in the living room and heard a loud noise and some scurrying in the kitchen. Another rat then came rushing into the dining room. In the kitchen another one hurried to hide behind the stove. They had been fighting over something. We couldn't believe it. More rats! So that night we decided to close off the kitchen after chasing the run away back in there. We set out some more poison and a few days later we smelled a dead one under the refrigerator. 

Well we thought it was finally over, until last night I spotted one more. I couldn't believe it. The little guys just walked around like he was at home. They are ruthless! So this morning he got locked in the pantry and the guard got on a ladder and found him in a box which was then taken outside so he could be set free. 

We need a break around here from furry friends. The count is officially up to 11.....

weekend in South Africa

We went to South Africa this weekend for an extended weekend. Monday was a national holiday in Mozambique, and CAM by law has to take off from having school on all Mozambican holidays. So we used the long weekend to our advantage to get some visa issues under control, so a little shopping, and just get away for a couple days. 

I was having problems getting the correct visa  needed to stay here. But luckily it got taken care of, surprisingly enough in an easier way than we thought. It was a direct answer to prayer and God showed Himself faithful once again. I'm relieved to not have to leave the country every thirty days now, which could get a little annoying and become pricy.

While on our way we went through the border. It was quite a pain and very crowded and hot. It wasn't a necessarily pleasant experience, but it was an experience to say the least. Once we got through it was about another hour drive to Nelspruit. The highway is close to Kruger Park so it was exciting when we even spotted some baboons on the side of the road.

In Nelspruit we went to the mall, which was very western, it felt like it could be found in the states, except for that fact that I didn't recognize any of the stores. We had a slight complication when we went to exchange money and they were no longer accepting meticais. Meticais is the money used in Mozambique, and rand is what is used in South Africa. All we had were meticais, except for about ten American dollars, and all of the stores only accept rand. We worked through it even though it did slightly complicate things. 

One other great adventure in Nelspruit was going to McDonalds. It opened there in the past month. Everytime we drove by the drive through was completely packed and the lines were forever long. A fellow missionary from Maputo, told us that they went down last weekend and waited in a line that was all the way out the door just for a McDonalds hamburger. The surprising thing was how similar the food tasted to McDonalds in the states. The only major difference was that it was a lot less greasy. And the only thing that could've improved the meal would have been an ice cold Dr. Pepper, since that is a rarity in these parts of the world. 

singing at MozOvos last weekend

singing at church last weekend

go to this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdeWo4esIKM

birthday fun

Once every couple of months the group that meets outside the Schmidt's house goes out to MozOvos to have a special sunday together. That day was today. Some girls came over yesterday and we spent the entire day baking cookies. There were tons of cookies and lots of singing and laughter. It was enjoyable and great to see so many people coming together to worship our great God. 

A brief snapshot of the some the cookies waiting to be baked.

This is an appliance that is plugged in and can bake things like cookies and cakes, I've never seen anything like it. It's used often instead of an actual oven.

The chickens at MozOvos

I was also wished several feliz aniversario (happy birthdays). It was great. Afterwards the interns, and Mary and Felix's family (my neighbors) came over for lunch, just like every Sunday afternoon. I was then sung to and had a lovely birthday cake. It was a great day.

my birthday

 In the afternoon I was headed home and Mary and I decided to check out the wedding that was happening at our landlady's house for her son. We went and met people and were able to enjoy some time there. It was definitely a full dose of Mozambican culture, as I was strongly urged to stay and take a seat and mingle with people. 

Food being cooked for the wedding, notice that the chicken is being grilled over a wheelbarrow.

two boys at the wedding who kept wanting their pictures taken

I was far from America, but it was definitely a birthday to remember!

my class of sixth graders

Here are a couple pictures of me with my lovely class of 6th graders!!

making pizza and learning portuguese

There are some girls from church that come over on Saturdays. They wanted to learn how to make pizza, so Lynne taught them. While we were cooking everything had to be said in English, while we ate only Portuguese was spoken. It was fun to be able to bond and pick up on some more Portuguese. The girls were scared at first when they knew we could only speak English while cooking. They picked up real quick though and did great!

Getting ready to make pizza!

laying out some flour to roll the dough

measuring oil for the dough

shredding cheese!

before entering the oven

explaining how to cut pizza

the finished product

After making pizza and eating it, we walked down the street to watch a soccer game that the interns were playing.