Time Flies When You're Having Fun

6 days til Pemba. 8 days til Jo’burg. 19 days til Paris. 24 days til Vegas.

Wow. Time flies when you are enjoying yourself beyond all reason! Woke up at 5am to head to Mavala for distribution today. I feel so blessed to have been at two Mavala distributions in my time here. It is an amazing process to be a part of. I rode out with the workers. I had a blast! They all love me and we just took a bunch of silly photos and laughed! I even tried to put a 70kg bag of beans on my head! Augusto thought I was going to die! It was way too heavy for me to hold on my own!

There were quite a few more people at distribution today than there was last time. Some came by foot from five hours away. It is truly humbling when I think about how close I live to food and healthcare. I could crawl on my hands and knees to Market Center over 500 times in the hours it takes for some of these families to walk to Mavala. Pastor Pintos’ house is almost complete and then he can start to preach at the Mavala church. The village can hardly wait. Any chance they get to hear the word of God and their voices go silent. It’s powerful.

I met a baby today and fell in love. Surprised? He was there with his parents and his paternal grandmother. His mom was one of OU’s original orphans. She and her three siblings were orphaned several years ago when their parents were murdered in Maputo. They were brought back to Balama to live with OU until an aunt stepped forward to help. Now she lives with her husband, two children and her siblings. Typical story, luckily a fairly happy one.

Went to Pastor Fred’s wedding today! Africans really know how to party! The pastor who married them rode in on a dirt bike and led their truck around town. The bed of the truck was filled with teenagers singing at the tops of their lungs! It was great! The ceremony wasn’t much different than one from back home. The only real difference was the fact that Fred and his wife were not smiling. Apparently, they have to appear solemn to display that they are entering into marriage seriously. It was SO HOT. No AC and over 90 degrees in a room of 75 people. The room was no bigger than a 10x10ft storage room! It was hot and smelly! When we finally left the court, we followed the wedding truck by foot. There was a group of woman that S and I joined in singing and dancing down the street. Quite the scene!

Last baby day

My best friend Joshua’s grandma passed away. My poor Joshua Giraffe. Naz was an amazing woman, one of the wittiest, stubborn and most charismatic people I’ve ever met. My heart is hurting for Joshua and his family, but I am thankful that Naz is no longer in any type of pain or under any stress. I’m sure that her heaven is full of birds, live ones that look like the glass ones that covered her shelves and tables!

Baby day was the BEST! It got to give a billion kisses and took some AWESOME photos! I can’t believe that this is really my last one until next fall! I’ll miss them all so much. I just pray that they will all be happy and healthy toddlers when I get back. Aminat sat on my lap and napped for a little while this morning. It’s moments like those that make me all the more confidant that I am to be a mother one day. My heart was at total peace holding her little body and rocking her back and forth. I even taught her a song! ‘Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes!’ It was pretty amazing.

I got notice today that my younger sister wants to come spend some time with me once she graduates in December. This is GREAT news! I left home when she was still so young, so I haven’t gotten to spend much quality time with her in the past 5 years. Now we have that opportunity! She is so smart and funny. And so responsible. I’m incredibly proud of her. Babysitter for hire!

It’s mid afternoon and well over 90 degrees. Luckily I got to go to the pond today and put my toes in the water. Simple pleasures.

The Cure for Anything

One week from tomorrow and I will be on the ocean. What is it about the water that affects me so deeply? It’s like I can just think about putting my toes in the salt water or bobbing along in a boat and my heart swells as though I am reminiscing about the first time I fell in love! A wise woman once told me to never love anything that couldn’t love you back. I think we were talking about my coffee table, right L? :) Anyway, I honestly believe that the ocean loves me back! The way it embraces each and every part of me and how it supplies my family with sustenance… That has to be love! I know that He created the heavens and earth and land and water, but I think He had me in mind with the ocean. Or maybe He had the ocean in mind when He created me. He wanted me to be someone who could really appreciate all that He gave us with the water. Well I’m here and I’m appreciating!

We got an emergency call to the bush, or further into it that we already are anyway, to pick up a pregnant woman who was having complications due to malaria. We drove back to get her and she was literally in the bushes. With only one week until her due date, she was feverish, vomiting and everything else that goes along with those nasty amoebas. I had serious empathy for her. I know how awful I felt last week and I can hardly imagine the fear that would go along with being pregnant as well. We prayed for her and dropped her off at the clinic. We will know in a few days how things turn out.

We drove from the clinic to a very remote village that is interested in getting a church. Within fifteen minutes, B had bought the land! Looks like we have some fundraising to do, friends! The team will need as many donations as possible to cover the cost of construction and the $75 a month to house and feed the pastor and his family. It’s very exciting!

Today at lunch was another episode of Westside Story: War at the Watering Hole! I know I haven’t mentioned it before, but every afternoon around 1pm there is an epic battle between the mongooses and the crows. The crows are like mafia hit men! They aren’t like our crows back home. They have on little tuxedos. They’re smaller than our crows too, but just as obnoxious! They don’t let ANYONE get to the water! Not even the smaller birds. The mongooses, though totally outnumbered, put up quite a fight. It’s good ol’ bush entertainment!

Tomorrow is the best day of the week! Baby day! And it’s my last one here until next year.

The Ocean!

I can’t for the life of me remember what I dreamed about last night, but it must have been great! I haven’t awoken with such peace in my heart since my arrival to Balama. I was literally giggling! Maybe I’m just going crazy. :)

In a little over a week, B and I will be departing for Pemba. I am so excited to see the ocean! The Indian Ocean! B said that it is really inexpensive to rent snorkel gear, so you’d better believe that I will be in that water and ready to explore! I wish I had one of those Baywatch propeller thingys to use. Haha. I can just see the look on everyone’s faces. ‘Silly American girl.’ THE OCEAN!

‘If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water.’ Loren Eisley

I totally agree with this sentiment. Nothing calms my nerves or heals my heart as much as being in or on the ocean. I feel so blessed that following such an incredible month here in Balama, I get to spend TWO DAYS on the water. It’s like a reward for working hard!

The next nine days will undoubtedly fly by. I am looking forward to whatever adventures they are sure to bring.

Kathryn VS Malaria part 2

I’m feeling better today than I was yesterday! Hallelujah! I’m still very lethargic, but I can move a bit faster and I have kept down oatmeal, rice cereal, and papaya with banana. ‘Man cannot live on bread alone.’ I think that woman can live off of papaya and banana! :)

Everyone knows me well enough to know that I am a total wimp when I get sick. I power through all of the aches and pains, but I am a big baby deep down and all I want is my mama. I woke up yesterday morning and just cried. It’s the first time I’ve felt so horribly homesick and all I could do was pray that someone, anyone, would email me to tell me they loved me. I needed it so badly and the Internet had been down for a day so I was even more lonely than I should have been! Arg!

But low and behold, my prayers were answered in the form of a phone call from Sitka. PASTOR AND CAROLYN! They called at 7am and it was exactly what I needed to lift my spirits. It’s nuts that we are literally a half a world away from each other and the phone call was so clear! Modern technology at it’s finest! I was so glad to hear that my blog is being well received by the people who are reading it! I’m so happy to know that my babbling is entertaining! I promise to put more meat into each of the entries when I get home. It’s hard to write a really in depth entry when I’m working on B’s computer and we’re running off of a solar powered battery! Thank you everyone for following me on my travels. I can’t wait for the chance to post photos so everybody can see the fantasticness (not a word, I know, but it fit!) that I write about when mentioning the children. And the very raw reality that is the village of Balama and her people. I am confident that it will move everyone deeply. I am hoping that everyone is moved deeply enough to want to help! :)

I’m going to assist at school this morning. It’s the first time since Friday that I’ve been able to really function semi-normally. I’m praying that by tomorrow, I’ll feel good as new! Again, thank you for your prayers and well wishes! And thank you Pastor and Carolyn for the phone call. It really was an answer to my prayers.

My love goes to everyone back in Alaska, Utah, Arizona, California, Washington, North Carolina, Florida, Johannesburg and everywhere else that my friends and family live. Your constant support is definitely a source of strength for me, felt all the way across the world.

Kathryn VS Malaria

I could not sleep for the life of me last night. I knew I was sick when I couldn’t find the strength to hold my book open long enough to read a page.

By the time breakfast rolled around, I was totally unable to function. I had consumed one bite of pancake before rushing to the restroom to throw up. B immediately started me on the treatment for malaria. (Note: For the sanity of my dear mother, I agreed to take the preventatives, but as we can now see, they don’t always do their job.) I slowly made my way to my bed, where I stayed laying down for a full 24 hours. I could do nothing but sip on sugar water and pray. The body aches were worse than I can even explain. I’ve been sick before, really sick. But this was almost unmanageable. By the time my second dose of meds kicked in, around 6pm, I could not even move. I was spiking a fever and getting shakes. To make even the slightest noise or movement caused pain to shoot from the top of my head to my tailbone.

B was such a great nurse. She brought her phone to me so I could call her if I couldn’t find the strength to yell next door. She got me all set up with a bucket and water and crackers (by this point it had been about 36 hours since I’d consumed anything but sugar water.) I drifted in and out of sleep, awaking four times with sweat dripping from my body. The fevers have to be the hardest part of malaria as there is nothing you can do but wait them out.

B came over at 3:30am to check on me. She had been having nightmares that I wasn’t going to be alright and that she would have to medivac me out of Mozambique. Luckily, by the time she got to my room, I was feeling much better. B said that I was the worse case that she has ever seen with the exception of a 20 year old man who waited too long to alert her that he wasn’t feeling well. It is surprising how okay I feel right now. I’m sore and I have another fever, but I was able to get out of bed and get to the office with little assistance.

I’m looking forward to being able to eat. I had a bit of lunch today, but my appetite is really nowhere to be found. I was looking forward to dropping some unsightly pounds while here in Africa, but malaria was not the way I wanted to do it!

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for me. I am confident that I would not be feeling this well if it weren’t for your unwavering faith and support. I will update on this as needed, but hopefully this is the last you will have to hear about me and my new found amoebas!

And Mama..
I’m sorry I didn’t alert you sooner. I didn’t want you to worry. I’m going to be just fine! This is the life of a missionary! Constantly meeting opposition that will lead us on a path away from our goals. I’m still completely convinced that this is where I am supposed to be. My heart is so happy it could burst!

Sad day to be a snake

I can’t believe that it has been eight years since the attacks on the World Trade Centers, the Pentagon and the plane in Pennsylvania. It’s strange to be in a place where people don’t have any idea about 9/11. That day turned America’s world upside down while the folks in Balama were spraying beans with pesticides.

I spent the morning with A and the men up at the mill. They ran a bunch of beans through the shaft and sprayed them with bug juice to prepare them for distribution in Mavala next week. It was quite the process. And the men are worst camera hams than all of the children combined! They all wanted their photos taken next to the mill and on the bags of beans and with the bags on their heads. It was hilarious! Today was filled with first’s for me; first time with the workers at the mill, first time carrying something on my head (I was horrible and got laughed at!) and… FIRST SNAKE!! We were in the dining room preparing for lunch when everyone began yelling, ‘COBRA, COBRA!’ (snake in Portuguese) B called me outside to see what was happening. A three foot mamba had made its way into the dog pen with the puppies! We could see it’s trail in the sand, like someone had written a message to us in cursive. And there it was, in the corner of the pen, just waiting to do its thing! Thankfully, A and S spotted it before the puppies did and with one swift ‘THWACK!’ it was dead. Sad day to be a snake.

We’re spending the rest of the afternoon making little ‘houses’ for the tomato plants. The grasshoppers and birds have been devouring them and it’s up to us to offer some protection! Off we go to save the day! B seriously needs a super hero outfit. The things this woman deals with! And she is almost all better after her bout with malaria.