This is one of the SIGHTS that I will always cherish -- beautiful babies, wrapped up close to their Mothers. I love how these babies look around and smile at me -- while they feel very safe attached to their Mothers.
August 12, 2007, Sunday
On August 14
th we will have been missionaries for one year – we only have six months left. It seems that I am just beginning to learn the ways that I can benefit the mission effort here in Mozambique.
It gets more difficult to write home because after a year everything has become so commonplace. However, in the near future, we will be going to
Beira (pronounced Beta) and I will have new experiences to share—there will be new sights, sounds, smells, etc.
However, I am sitting here trying to think of those experiences, sights, sounds, smells, etc. that have become too common but were uncommon to me when I arrived in Africa. The good thing about email is that if my musings become boring you can stop reading – whereas, if we were talking face to face – you would have to be polite as I droned on. J
One of the sounds that I never heard at home – was the Muslim calls to prayer that we hear most everyday. There is a Mosque nearby and we hear their calls in the morning and evening – if they do it each of the five times a day that they are to pray – I do not hear all of them. Of course, the sight of many men and boys dressed in the long dresses (more like graduation robes) with their little hats on is unusual to me. (I apologize for not knowing the name of their
head wear.) To see boys running in the street in these robes is an interesting sight – but all too common now. I have heard (but do not know first hand) that many of the richer population of Maputo (Muslims) lock their house staff inside their homes – and only let them out when the owners return. This stops stealing – but I have only heard this from the Elders (missionaries) who have knocked on the doors during the day and were told that they could not let them in because the doors were locked. (
Hmmm?!)
I know that stealing is very prevalent because two men that were installing a security system in the home of our Humanitarian couple – stole their brand new camera. The camera that was the replacement – for the camera that had been stole just a short time before. Again, this is a common experience – one that you just say “what a pity” and “oh, well – it just happens.)
One of the sights – I had never seen before – but then I have not lived in a major metropolitan area – are the beggars. Oh, at home we have people standing on the entrances to freeways begging – mostly, they look healthy. Yet, to see beggars on the main streets in Maputo is common and they do not look healthy—they look in need. One sight that affects me and never becomes common – is the beggars or just handicapped people that are crawling on their hands and knees. The Humanitarian couple (the Dow’s) contributed from The Church a large number of wheelchairs and they invited us to an event where they distributed 25 of these wheel chairs. The people who crawl – have very large calluses on their knees. Imagine a ball (the kind I used when I played softball) – now smash it down to half its original height. This is what the calluses on their knees look like and it is a heart wrenching a sight. At the ceremony to give out the wheelchairs – there was this young woman with such knees. She was dressed in an attractive skirt and blouse (like office attire), her hair and make-up were impeccable, and she had a smile that was incredible. She was cheerfully visiting others who were waiting in line for wheelchairs, but who were handicapped mentally and not just physically like her. I was so pleased when this young woman finally got her own wheelchair – she climbed into it and just beamed.
For those of you who contributed to The Church Humanitarian fund – know that in Mozambique your funds are used very well. Yes, in addition, to wheelchairs the Dow’s have helped communities get their own wells. There was an article about the Dow’s in the May 12
th issue of the Church News. These well projects are organized so that the villagers themselves – do most of the work that way they will know how to maintain the well once they receive it. All the Church does is provide the materials and the know how – the villages must provide the labor and the commitment to maintain the wells. It is an interesting experience to listen to the Dow’s and learn the ways our humanitarian donations are being spent. By the way, the Dow’s leave in October – any volunteers to come to Mozambique and replace them? He is a retired dentist and never had any training for this calling – remember, “Whom the Lord calls – He qualifies!”
I though I would never get used to the smell of smoke – yes, they burn everything here. Just below our kitchen balcony – there is a little grill where the woman cooks her food. They use coal as their fuel and cook all type of food on these grills– even bake their bread on it. Of course, living in the city not everyone cooks this way. But, in the basement of this building live many people – I have no idea how many because they seem to come and go – but some of them do use this means of preparing their food. Of course, there are many stick house on the ridge of the hill just behind our apartment and behind the Mission office – and these shelters (if you can call them shelters) have no running water or electricity – so they cook in this fashion. Also, the trash here is burned – people pile up the trash and burn it. (Or dig pits and burn it!) In the breezeway near my bedroom window, they have burned their trash. Down the street, there is a large dumpster near the Mission complex and several homeless people live by it. During the day, they sort
thru the trash – for whatever, while keeping out the burnable trash – which they burn for fuel to cook their food and for warmth at night.
One interesting sight, in connection to these homeless people, is the man who has a cast on his leg. The cast is from the knee down and it is a white cast. I know that he has had is for more than a week and it is still white. I never could figure out how he kept it white living in all that dirt and garbage. The other day I drove by and he was asleep on a piece of cardboard –but he had the cast wrapped in a tee shirt to keep it clean. Mystery solved!
I had an experience yesterday that tickled me –my neighbor (two floors above me) was telling me in Portuguese (so I had a hard time figuring out what she was saying) about something that made her cry. She kept saying “
pont…” after telling me that she was crying (which I did understand) – here in Maputo the native speakers swallow the sound at the end of their words – I thought she was saying “
ponta” which is point – I could not figure out her point in crying – but she was saying “
ponte” which is bridge. She had been crying because of the bridge that collapsed in Minneapolis. There are so many things for her to cry about here – terrible unemployment, homeless people just down the street from where she and I live, beggars, people sick with AIDS, people living in stick houses who get malaria frequently, people who are hungry, etc. Yet, she was sad because a few people died in a country far away. This is interesting – to me and typical.
I hope that I will never become so accustomed to the sights here – that I do not appreciated the warm, friendly smiles of the people in Maputo. I especially love the smiles of our people when they are baptized and they come up out of the water glowing smiles – this makes being away from home worth it.
I was speaking with a friend who was baptized a month or so ago. Before she was baptized she was worried that she would be able to find the time to serve in The Church. She knew that membership would give her many opportunities to serve others. I had to smile when she told me this – I said, “you are never forced to serve and somehow it works out so that you can.” Last Saturday we were speaking and she was just glowing with happiness – I said, “I hear that you have been going with the missionaries when they teach lessons to investigators.” She smile and said, “yes, and it is such a joy.” I had to tease her a bit by mentioning our previous conversation – when she was concerned about finding time to serve. I then had to testify to her that I knew that things would work out. It is true some how the Lord makes 24 hours a day go farther when we are doing His work. She smiled and I said, “I could never have explained this to you before you were baptized – this is something you had to learn for yourself.” And, so must we all – there is always time to do good.
I could go on for a much longer time – but if any of you are still with me – this is probably enough. I am still staying busy and mostly out of mischief – I hope you are too.
Love, Sister Wick (Mom, Grandma, Pat)
PS I am adding this email to my blog:
http://www.pattiesprattle.blogspot.com/Because some people have not been receiving my email – I think some of these email are swallowed up here in Maputo.
Couldn't resit snapping this patient mother -- not only were we three feet from her -- but here baby was teasing her. However, she does look a bit befuddled.
On our tour -- I called these Guinea fowls -- the tour guide corrected me and said they were bush chickens (of course, he was just kidding.) He was a delightful guide.
I sat here and had breakfast -- this was the camp area where we rented a bungalow. All visitors had to be in their respective camp areas by 6:30 PM -- to keep us safe? Or the animals? Of course, when we were on our tour -- we got to be out later -- but the big truck we were in seemed safe. Unless, a cat decided to jump in -- I got to hold the spotlight to try to catch a glimpse of their shinning eyes. No luck, it was raining and no self respecting cat would be out in the rain.
