Bruno's Warning of the Rat

This is one of the neighbor kids, Bruno, telling me the story of a rat that crawled under my gate one night. Sorry if you can't understand the portuguese, but hopefully you can enjoy his enthusiasm. He even told me the exact day and time the rat came for a visit.

mozambican sunrise

Sunrise one morning on the way to school.

When Honey just wasn't enough....

So my entire life I've gotten a lot of grief for my name. It started as far back as I can remember when I had brothers who constantly chimed in with "honey bunny." I hated it! In elementary school I remember a specific teacher who teased me with the same joke every single week, probably for about three years straight. "Honey, I'm home!" Then I got to jr. high. I was super self-conscious, as most junior high girls are, and didn't like my name one bit. I even considered trying to change it, or go by my middle name instead. In high school I got over it and Honey was fine, I started to like the fact that my name was unique and that I never had to worry about being confused with someone else. I was used to the jokes and actually liked it when I heard a new, original nickname or joke that was actually funny.

When I got to college I started to observe people's responses to my name more closely. When meeting someone I would wait for a response after I told them my name. If there was absolutely no response I would know they didn't really listen and most likely weren't going to remember my name. It was just a question asked out of courtesy. If they were actually engaged in the conversation I could tell because there would be the split second of what? is that really your name? So then it was an automatic conversation starter and made making friends easier. People always seemed to learn my name before I learned theirs. Thus I have learned to intentionally learn and remember peoples names.

Why am I telling you this? Because my entire life my name has been one of the things about me that make me stand out, it makes me different. If I am remembered for anything it is usually my name, at least at the beginning. Here in Mozambique I've even been able to cross the language barrier (even if only slightly) by saying that in Portuguese my name is Mel. I still get strange looks from that, since it doesn't exactly translate as a term of endearment, let alone a name.

I want to tell you of a new name that I've recently been given by the son of another missionary family here. One day he started calling me Mamona. I asked him where he got it and he said a girl in his class. Nothing special. Just a name he's heard and decided to give me. So he started calling me "Mamona" and it quickly spread to his siblings. It started out as a little joke, no big deal.

To get to most places around my house I walk. So I walk down the street most afternoons and have gotten to know many individuals in the area, at least surface level how are you types of communication. I see them often. Sometimes there will be people out and about who I haven't seen and I am made aware of it by hearing "Malungo, Malungo!" from across the street. (which is shangana for white person). I've gotten quite used to this by now and have even caught myself amazed when I see another white person, saying to myself, "Hmm...I wonder what that Malungo is doing here." It isn't a negative term, just a matter-of-fact. But we really do stand out.

Eventually it spread to the kids in the neighborhood and they really thought it was my name. So much as the other night I was walking home and all the sudden I hear a small child's voice call out, "Mamona, tudobem!" I turned around to look for the source. It was different than the typical "malungo" that I hear. Sure enough it was a little boy who lives close by and his face was just glowing. So I stopped and chatted with him for a bit, then he walked with me down the street. It was sweet to me that he had picked up on my "mozambican" name and was actually using it. Much better than just being called whitey.

It's interesting how much a name gives us an identity sometimes. How it helps us relate to people. If you know someone's name you've already made a connection with that person, even if it seems minuscule. But isn't that how every single relationship we have starts? What is your name?

David and Goliath

I thought I'd take a quick minute to share with you some of the small things we do in my classroom day in and day out. In Bible we started the year out in Genesis going from Adam and Eve to Abraham to Joseph to Moses to Joshua through Judges and we are now in 1 Samuel. Today we learned about David and Goliath. A story that is so well-known that I feel like it often looses its weight. SO in an attempt to show my kids how HUGE Goliath really was we measured how tall he was (around 9 feet) and made our own Goliath. You can see it's pretty overwhelming when you give it a new perspective. I think it does a good job of showing that God really did use a young shepherd to defeat and kill, a massive giant who had been mocking His glorious name for forty days straight!

music from the heart

During my time in Beira I was told that Beira is the heart of Mozambique, it's right in the middle, the major city for all of central Mozambique. The culture, languages, landscapes and architecture are all very different. Living in Maputo I've grown to love this city and the culture I live amongst day in and day out. It was interesting to observe and learn from a different culture within the same national bounds. People jokingly told me that I was from the feet of the country, and needed to instead venture to the heart.  Allow me to share with you some music from the heart of this beautiful country! 





I was able to go to an ACAC (Associação Cristão de Artistas Criativos) meeting. These guys are able to be part of a community that helps them have the ability to write their own music in their native languages (which are different than what is spoken in Maputo). This is so important! Lately ACAC has also been able to get their hands on a small recording studio so the music can be preserved and spread to others. Opportunities like this are easy to find and obtain in America, but here it is very difficult and usually expensive. So this opportunity is wonderful and encouraging for these guys. I find something special about being with people as they are able to worship in their first language. Words cannot explain it. I thought I'd share some of what I was able to experience with you and let you see their talent for yourself. Be encouraged as they are singing for the Glory of our Great God!

day at the clinic

When I was in Beira I was able to go with Brian Meyers (a fellow WorldVenture missionary) to the hospital. He teaches medical students most mornings then spends time in the afternoons at the clinic. When we first arrived he showed me around the hospital. We then made our way to the classroom that he was going to lecture in for the morning. It was as I expected. A modest room with desk and a white board. It even had an air conditioner! We hooked up Brian's computer and projector and students started to come in. It was interesting how much I was able to understand, since in the world of medicine most portuguese words are very similar in English. 

After the lecture we walked a ways to go to the clinic. Once we arrived Brian introduced me to several of the people that work there. Something that I wasn't expecting was for the clinic to be so nice. I was informed that it is because Americans fund and run this particular clinic. Local Mozambicans are able to come to this place for medical attention at a very cheap price of 1 met, which is less than 5 cents. 

We saw several different patients throughout the time. Most were women with their sick babies. Some people had strange symptoms and had to take a malaria test. Most of the children had some sort of anemia. I was grateful that I didn't have to witness any graphic procedures or situations. I was even able to take the vitals and check blood pressure. I am grateful that a place like this is available in a place where health is sometimes hard to come by and sicknesses are even harder to treat. 

Living here has made me more aware of the effects of diseases and lack of treatment. AIDS is a simple fact of life for most people, if not directly then through a close relationship. It's a different reality than in America. This hospital is the central hospital and serves all the people in central Mozambique. There are only two other hospitals of this type in the whole country, which is four times the size of California! Patients who make it to the central hospital almost always have a serious problem and have most likely already been referred from the local, to the regional, and finally to Beira. Chances are they will have to go through some intense treatment or may not live much longer. It is a rough life, something I have a hard time imagining even though I see it before my eyes.

Getting ready for a professional day in the white coat at the central hospital.

Patients waiting to be seen at the clinic.

travel time

I was lucky enough to travel during our ten day spring break. We started out leaving early on the first for our WorldVenture Mozambique team retreat. The drive was about 12 hours and consisted of roads that wouldn't be considered actual roads in many parts of the world.

We had a couple of days of meetings, including a good time of worship and sharing our hearts and how God brought us each individually to living, loving and serving here in Mozambique. This did so much for my heart and was a HUGE encouragement to me. Easter we were able to have a service together, in English, and spent the day at the beach. We attempted to build a large sand castle but the high tide was coming in faster than we had expected.

After the retreat I went with the Meyers, north to central Mozambique to the city of Beira where they live. Brian does teaches at a medical students at a hospital and works at a clinic. His wife, Megan, works with an organization that started about three years ago called Christian Association of Creative Artists. They meet to help Mozambicans write and produce their own worship music that is Mozambican instead of translated western music. I stayed with them for about five days and was able to check out what they do. It was a great opportunity to see the lives of other missionaries in this country. And Beira is right on the ocean, which was an extra treat!