Cow meat

[Teril] We were walking home on our street last Monday and saw this truck backed into the store front.  A man was hauling in a quarter of a cow.  We looked and saw this amazing sight.  I don't know how many cows this truck could haul.  It looks like they are halfway done hauling in this meat to the store.  It looks like they lined the truck with cardboard and then loaded the meat from where ever they butchered, hauling it with another lining of cardboard on top to this store.  The street people were laughing at me for taking this picture.  Amazing.

Visiting Castro Deus' in Beira

We had fun with the Castro Deus'.  Bro. Castro Deus was taking the picture.  We went to the market where they sold these carvings in the famous black wood of Mozambique.

[Stan] This couple, the Castro Deus, are from Brazil.  They are such wonderful people.  We were well taken care of on our trip to Beira.  We would not have gone there except for being assigned to check on a previous project there that needed some attention.  Our projects are supposed to be within a 100 K radius of Maputo and Beira is a one and a half hour flight away.

Dug out used for fishing in Beira

[Teril] Isn't this an amazing beach there in Beira.  This is the first time we have walked the beach since we have been in Mozambique.  We saw men repairing  fishing nets next to this boat.  There were some jelly fish that had been scraped out of the net. 

Funny Pine cone

 

[Stan] This pine cone was interesting.  You would not want to step on this.  I was fascinated by it for some reason.  It was very stiff/hard and you could be easily scratched by it if brushed it along your skin.

Mateque Primary School

[Teril] This is one of the schools we are thinking of working with.  These are a two windows we are looking at.  The children inside sit on the cement floor taking notes on their backpacks.  The door is in the closest bottom right in this picture.  There is one chalkboard on the walls of each of these rooms 6 rooms.  There are 3 classrooms held outside because there are not classrooms to fit them in. 

They do have a pipe in their yard with running water.

classroom under the tree.

  The teacher had written something on the board and they sat there unattended copying what was on the board.  Aren't these beautiful children?

This is the latrine.  There is no running water to the latrine.

[Stan] We have spent the last few days visiting some schools in the Maputo area.  When we find the community/parents being involved and doing what they can for their children's school, then we are more likely to create a partnership and see what we can do to help.  We cannot build buildings, but there are other things that can be of benefit.  At this school we were able to meet with the local school council made up of parents.  Each school is supposed to have such a council.  It broke my heart seeing the conditions under which these children attend school.  Not sure I know how I would teach is these circumstances, but these teachers do it.  

sandy road

chopa

This first photo is of a sand pit in the road.  The second picture is the chopa(pronounced shopa) that sank in the sand pit in the road.  All the people in the it were out pushing the chopa when we arrived on the road. They did manage to get it out of the pit and were loading back up in.  We came next to cross the sand pit in the road.  I am glad we have a 4 wheel drive truck to drive in.

I will send a picture of a chopa showing the people inside.  Chopas come in several shapes.  Some are like these vans. Some are more like buses.  Some are open trucks that people stand in for the long ride.  Most people use a chopa to get where they can't walk.  It is quite a site to see all the produce wrapped up in a capalana, tied at the top or loaded in with the people and the people crowded in moving thru the town. 

One of the "chopa corners" is not far from where we live.  Although, it looks like you could hale a chopa anywhere you see it, you have to know where the shopa is going if you want to get to a particular place. (that is written on the back of its window.)However, this one place we call the busy corner is where you can find most chopas going everywhere.  People wait here for hours and you will witness groups of people here all hours of the day and night.  Each of these van chopa holds maybe 10 people and there are hundreds of people wanting to ride this particular shopa to get to that particular destination.  People run to catch their chopa and get a place inside. The chopa driver and his helper pile people in along with all their wares as quickly as possible.  If you are not agressive, you could wait a long time to get to your destination. THis is all fine and dandy if there are one or two but there are 10 or so chopas on one side of the road trying to load people in quickly in between the changing of the lights and between traffic and get out on the road.  This is besides the buses and the trucks that are doing the same thing.  If you are a vehicle that is just trying to drive by, it is quite a spectacle to get thru.  People running thru traffic to catch their chopa, chopas pulling in and out as fast as they can, buses and some times semi trucks trying to get thru the same corner.

Since our interpreter rides a chopa to and from town for whatever purpose he has, he tells us about the "chopa" experience.  It costs 20 to 50 cents each ride depending on where you go.  You could ride a shopa for hours.  The chopa drivers are rarely the owners.  They get paid by the amount of people they can take everyday.  Their concern is getting as many people in as they can in a day.  I can tell you the concerns that are "Not" theirs are the shape of the choppa, (driving off the road thru pits and bumps and rocks etc. and even on the wrong side of the road if they think they can move faster there)Naldo, our interpreter, says he wants a chopa business with several chopas of his own but he wants one that only takes people from nice hotels.  He wants drivers that are mindful of not only the amount of people they can take a day but the condition of the chopa.  Another "Not" concern is who they squeeze out of traffic as they rush around, or the traffic rules or the pedestrians. 

The young elders use the chopa service as their transportation.  The young sisters drive a 4 wheel drive truck.  I am amazed at both sets of missionaries.  Manuvering the chopas...Wow!...or manuvering the traffic...Wow!

My dinner at the Radison

Stan

Stan took me out to eat at a new restaurant.  We invited the other senior missionary couple, the Kimballs.  My meal was grilled prawns.  Sis. Kimball says she always sees prawns served with the head and shell still on.  These had the meat laid open so they could be grilled.  They were very tasty.

 

 

Stan's lazagna

Stan's lasagna was made in a bowl.  They laid a strip of lasagna noodle on the bottom of the bowl.  Then they put spicy beef  on top of that.  Topping the whole thing was about an inch of all kinds of cheeses. Then it was baked in the bowl.  Delicious.

We haven't found a place that makes ribs but what we have found is pretty good. 

Crazy sunglasses vendor

This man comes to people as they are stopped in traffic selling sunglasses.  He shows his wears by sticking them all over his clothing.  I believe you can buy just about everything from the window of your car while you are driving the streets of Maputo. Who needs to go shopping!!!!!

It is amazing.  Children in Maputo grow up "running the gauntlet" everyday.  They cross one lane at a time and stand in between lanes until the next lane has a little space.

[Stan] We were able to get all the bids in for the Impaputo School project and sent in our PDW.  If it is approved then we can actually do it.  Will keep you updated.  We will be flying to Beira at the end of next week. We will only be there 2 days.  Our supervisor wants us to follow up on a project that was started there with the hospital over 2 years ago that did not go well and we are trying to get a final report and close it out.  Ordinarily, we would not be working that far from Maputo even though we are the only welfare services couple in the country. 
The children are soooo cute!!!  I am wanting to get a picture of the ward's primary children.  Will work on that.  A baby was blessed today in our sacrament meeting and I was so touched by the spirit.  Maybe it was just a touch of missing my grandkids, but the thought that came to me was an overwhelming witness of the power of the priesthood in all the world.  Everywhere, among all people, that power is operating, blessing and protecting the saints who are faithful and those who desire it. Pres. Castanheira, stake president, was attending our ward and after sacrament meeting he approached me and said there was a special stake devotional (fireside) in 2 weeks for married couples and he wants Teril and I to speak for 20 minutes.  I think I can do it if it is all written out.  Will be interesting.  My language is improving incrementally, but it is improving. 

"GALITO" the mascot across the street

We have a little restaurant that we have been to a few times across the street.  We are standing outside that restaurant in this picture.  "Galito" comes by every so often so the kids can get a picture of him with them.  I thought you would like to see him.  Chicken is very "big" here.  There is no McDonalds.  THere is Kentucky Fried, lots of them but no McDonalds.  Beef is not "big" here.  This little restaurant is pretty darn good grilled chicken.  I think you would like it.

Future Project

We visited the school we hope to do a paint project with.  One of the suppliers for the paint needed to be led out to this school which is an hour outside of Maputo.  Maputo is where the paint companies have their offices.

This is a picture of something we would like to work with them on in the future.  We will partner with them on the paint and see how well that works.  Then maybe, with approval, we can work with the floors.

Their part in the partnership of the paint is to install the glass that we will provide, wash and prep the walls for the paint we will provide, and do the work of the actual painting.  In this way, we hope to find a champion, and teach good principles to maintain the paint and windows for the future.  If we can find a champion and they are able to do their part, we can submit other projects for more help needed at this school. 

This is a possible water project

There is a well, a community well, of clean water at the school.  It was being used while we were there visiting.  We have seen it used each time we have been out there to visit so I know there are community members who use it.  However, from this picture, we can see there is much need for good clean water.  These community members are washing their clothes, washing their bodies in the very water they are taking to their homes for drinking and other uses.  Education???  This are needs we would like to address if we can.

Cows being driven on the side of the road

I was so excited to see these cows.  I scrambled to get my camera as the car drove past for the second time.  There are not many cows or cow products.  I am not sure what they do with these particular cows.  There is no sour creme, no cottage cheese, the cheese they have is not like the states.  The milk is sold in shelf life quart or (liter) containers.  They have hamburger and steaks but they are expensive in comparison.  If is is not "CHICKEN" it is rare.  The grocery store we shop at does not sell pork products of any kind.  NO BACON!!!! We have to go to a second store to get bacon or ham or sausage or pork shoulder, steaks roast etc.

We had our first "MOZAMBIQUE" meal prepared for us in our own kitchen.  (You want to have a Mozambique cook, cook in your own kitchen so you can be sure it is safe to eat, cleanliness as we know it and all)  She brought with her Couve.  I did not know what this was.  It is very much like Chinese Cabbage I know as Bokchoy.  She boiled this for about an hour.  She also brought with her ground coconut she ground herself from a coconut.  She brought ground peanuts.  I love the word for peanuts.  It is so fun to say.  Amendoin.  Accent on the last syllable with an "eeeeeeen".  She said she wanted Frango (which is chicken) but used some hamburger as the meat.  Nothing was fried.  All was boiled together with some onions in a thick stew of sorts.  It was served over rice.  We have eaten it for two meals now.  Wish you could try some with us.  I asked her the name of it but she just said Couve, Coconut and Amendoin over rice.  (In Portuguese of course) Her name is Teresa.  She cleans our house once a week for $20 a month.
[Stan] We are working on paint bids.  As Teril mentioned above we are looking for what we call the "champion".  This is the person who has the vision and/or passion for the project.  They see it through.  We are not the champions, because if we step in as such, then sustainability and self-reliance are not taught.  The needs are always more than we will ever be able to provide.  So we strive to find the champions.  

Bogunvia pretty yellowish orange at Garden

Champions from previous projects

These two pictures are taken at the Jardin dos Professores.  This means the  Teacher's Garden.  We have used this great little spot for a couple of meetings.  There is a little library at one end.  There is a fountain in the middle.  You have a great view of the ocean.  There is a play ground for children and this little restaurant.





















This is a picture with Elder and Sister Hamilton, a General Authority we were able to have dinner with.  I learned some things I did not know visiting with him.  He and his wife are great people.  He served his first mission in France and later went there to serve as a mission President.  He is a counselor in the Area Presidency over Africa South East.  The couple opposite us are the Kimballs.  They serve in the mission office.

The mission office

Naldo Ujembe , our interpreter

The mission office is a design using ancient African style thatched roofing.  They say it will last 30 years!!!(roofing that is)

Latrine and faucet

This is a picture of a latrine and faucet in a school yard that no longer work.  Latrine is in the back right of the picture.  It has no water as well.  Depending on what support we can get from the community, there may be a possibility there may be something we can do to help.

[Stan]  Below are pictures of a future project.  We have submitted a proposal to repaint and supply glass for windows at the Impaputo School.

 

The community has replaced doors and are willing to prep and paint walls.  If all goes well we may be able to help with inside paint and desks.  It is hard to imagine going to school and sitting on the hard concrete floor or on the ground outside.  We will get 3 bids for the job and submit all necessary paperwork.  Because of the remote location of this school, we will have the paint store employee doing the bid follow us.  There is no real address to look up and put into google maps.  Once we locate it we can then mark it properly.  I wanted to do that on our last visit, but it did not mark correctly.  So we will lead them out to the school. 

Well in school yard - Impaputo

Outside of Impauto School to be painted