Weekend at the Coast

We took the boys to the coast on Saturday and spent the night. It was great to get away for a while--the boys enjoyed playing in the sand and water and we enjoyed the break from work and normal routine.

Lowes Project

While we were back in the States for a couple of months this summer, our friends Casey and his son Canaan introduced Stefan and Cohen to the projects for kids at Lowes. Cohen loved it! Then as we were preparing to leave, Casey threw in an extra kit he had picked up one Saturday for Cohen and Stefan to work on. This past week they finally got it out to work on.

After much concentration and examination of the work plans, they got to work. About a half hour later (and several yelps followed by bruised fingers--mostly Daddy's), Cohen proudly showed me his "measuring tape" that he had constructed.

Thanks Casey and Canaan!

Life in Africa...still just "life"

I was thinking the other day about life in Africa and in Mozambique and how very different it is from where we grew up in Brazil or where we spent many happy years in Kentucky. At the same time, though, there are many things about life that are pretty much just the same everywhere. Here are some pictures of just regular "life" for us here in Mozambique.

Making cookies with two little boys...



Horsing around outside...


Helping Mommy make supper...

Waiting for Daddy to get home from work...

Wrestling with Daddy...

Calling up Grandpa and Grandma (on skype)...

I kind of think that we would be doing all these same things no matter where we lived. It's fun to think of it that way, at least...makes things a little easier sometimes.

"Hilaria"

pronounced "Ee-la-dee-ah"

We wanted to introduce you to Hilaria, the new "empregada" who helps us out around the house. As many of you know, she is a real answer to our prayers because we were looking for a lady rather than the typical male help.

Hilaria has been working with us about a month and as you can imagine, it takes a lot of adjustments on both sides to work so closely with someone when we both have such different cultures and backgrounds. Hilaria is a very simple lady and hasn't had a lot of exposure to western culture or how a "foreigner" lives, eats, cares for children, and...cleans. We've had quite some interesting experiences as it regards to that... She is illiterate and only understands simple math so sending her to the market for groceries can also be a challenge. She is really sweet with the kids, though, which is so important to us.

Her "story" is very similar to so many other Mozambican women in this area. Her husband left her several years ago and she now lives with and cares for her eight-year-old nephew in a small shack toward the edge of town. They typically eat "xima" for lunch and supper--a sort of porridge made out of ground corn. And like many Mozambicans, she likes what she describes as "heavy" food (i.e. anything starchy) and so she gives me funny looks when I always add fruit and salad to her plate at lunch :).

I really enjoy talking with her throughout the day as we work together and I especially enjoy hearing about her family and learning about her culture and world view. However, it can be REALLY challenging when she wants to know about us and where we come from...trying to explain snow to someone who barely understands ice...trying to describe America to someone without any frame of reference for geography...discussing my values and my parenting to someone whose concept of "church" seems to be mostly loud music, an entitiy who takes her money (through tithe) and who apparently doesn't even open the Bible, let alone teach from it.

Relationships between workers and their employers here in Mozambique are also very complicated by money. Aside from paying a regular salary and providing food, the employer can become the worker's "lifeline" in every sense of the word and be depended on and expected to pay for everything from her uncle's-cousin's hospital stay, to her latrine that doesn't work, to her nephew's school bribe to...well, the possibilities (and realities) are endless. And in the midst of this we are trying to teach and encourage saving (which is completely counter-cultural), planning (which has little value in a subsistence-based life), responsibility (which means something so different between our two cultures), and independence (which goes against her very understanding of our relationship!) And somehow, in all this we want to convey God's love for her...which is easily hidden if the employee feels we are being stingy with our (apparently) limitless resourses.

Complicated, complicated!

We are very thankful for her part in our lives here in Nampula and look forward to expressing who God is through our interactions with her.