A few strange things!

As I drove with Lynn and Dwight down the main highway of Mozambique from Chimoio to the ASAM Farm, one my first day in this beautiful country, I noticed these bags dispersed at various points on the road. I could tell they were on display to be sold but what in the world are they? Dry grass sold to locals for starting a cooking fire. There was no shop keeper in sight but you better believe that he is some where close, and on the look out for a potential buyer.

This is a donkey! Yes, I said donkey and no I am not going blind. Why they call this apparatus a donkey I have no clue but I would never want to live in the bush without one! This, friends, is what warms the water I shower with. Every day a fire must be lit a hour or so before you wish to cleans yourself of the elements of the great outdoors. If you forget, or like I have done a few to many times, make the fire too small then lets just say it’s a very fast shower! A cold shower might be welcoming when the temperature climes to 4o over the next few months but in the winter months of Africa….not so much fun.

You ever tried carrying a heavy load….on your head? These crazy people will walk literally for hours with sakes as heavy as the largest flour bag you can find at Safeway…and then some! O.k. so your probably asking “ have YOU tried it?” this is me we are talking about…of course it tried it. I carried two chairs from the office to the campsite, got a few looks a long the way, got the best arm workout I have had in years, and nearly killed my back. How long did I walk? Five minutes. Ya, I’m a little envious of their physic.

This is our little box of power! This generator goes on from 8:00am to 12:00pm and then again at 5:00pm until 9:00pm and during those times we have electricity!!!!

Don’t see that on a Sunday stroll through the park, but here you do.

With the animals being tucked away at the back of the farm I don’t usually see them so I was a little quizzical when I saw these guys on my way to the showers on the weekend. The pastors are here this week for a training seminar and this is there dinner for the week. Come on people…it’s no different than what you buy at the grocery store except those vacuum sealed packets don’t look cute enough to pet.

Track and Field day

so in case you are interested, here is the full name of the primary school founded and run by the ASAM missions team. Mucombezi Interior Primary School (a.k.a MIPS or ASAM school) this is where i get all the beautiful pictures of the children i want to smuggle home with me! it is also on the top of the list of places the teams will visit as a way to submerge into the culture.

the Stellenbosch team form South Africa brought two bikes, as they did last year, to donate to the school for the highest achieving student. i think this bike is a little too small for this young fella but he can have a stab at earning the small red one.

the school was in a buzz with laughter and cheering as all the students competed in various games which included: long jump, high jump, short distance running, shot putt, tug-of-war, and my favourite, an intense game of soccer, where i end up feeling humbled by my inability to out run the fourth and fifth graders.

the preschoolers show off their strength in a game of tug-of -war.

after seeing the little one have a go at tug-of-war, it is just a given that the adults have to try as well. we had a all out game of girls against guys! use girls though we would be smart by tricking the guys and letting go of the rope on the count of three so they would tumble to the ground in embarrassment. the whole idea was a flop when the rope just fell to the ground because of the fact that the guys had the exact same idea! we all just sortof stood there perplexed for a moment wondering why the other team didn't fall. we had a good laugh and picked up the rope to try again. for real. i think we were all extra motivated to beat the other team because the flag lingered in the middle for some time. and then our strength was reviled when the rope broke! this photo is just seconds before the rope snapped and hit me with a incredible force. i sat on the ground stunned trying to analyze just how bad was this injury. luckily with a little ice the swelling went down and the healing was speedy.

team number three!

well the Stellinbosch team hit the ground running. on there first full day at the farm we needed to take the truck to transport Fred's maze from his corn crop (mashamba) to his house. there was one minor problem that prevented us from completing this task. the truck just got back from South Africa and it had a 3 ton block machine on the back of it. this of course needed to be dealt with first. why was this not taken care of before the team arrived? well that was the plan but Nat and Domingo got stuck in costumes, in Maputo, awaiting import papers for, get this, three days!welcome to mozambique! so the Stellinbosch's first job was a little unexpected but they excepted the sudden change of planes. you pretty much have to be overly flexible if you want to stay sane in a world that is not controlled by schedule. i have to admit that i quite enjoy not knowing what each day brings and the challenge of dealing these minor set backs.

the first challenge was finding a way to level the back of the truck with the ground so we could drive the block machine off the truck.

bags of maze has been purchased by ASAM to store during the famine season. November becomes a difficult time here as most local run out of food. i'm reminded of a famous story that was read to me back in elementary about the chipmunk who worked hard to store up food for the winter while the other foolishly played all day living in the moment and not planing for the future. it seems like it would be common sense to save a little food when you know a dry season is coming and you may not have food. the temptation to live in the moment and get the money now over rides the sensibility of planing ahead. as i ponder this thought i realize that we are no different in the western world. Calgary in itself is riddled with people who spend their last paycheck on a pair of jeans that they really don't need but we have credit waiting at our front step for the chance to find it's way into our pockets. so what drives a person who does not have easy access to "until-next-pay-day-loan" to sell the last of their food for some money? some out the desperate situation of a sick loved one i'm sure but some just can't escape the drive to have more stuff. this simple truth sheds light on the fact that black or white, poor or rich we all humanisticaly live in the moment.

with 40 people and only two small baskets we were left throwing the corn in one my one but unloading was a lot easier....and a lot more fun too. with this seemingly simple task taking us most of the day we were all pretty tired when it was all said and done.