Quickening of Pace

It has been quite a while since I have posted on here.  Somewhere around 2 weeks I believe.  Finding time now is becoming harder.  So I can just wake up earlier and write it in the morning.

Let me tell you what has been going on.

A mission group came here from the States at the beginning of August.  They stayed here for 7 days.  We had a lot to accomplish during that time.  There was a total of 2 medical professionals and 1 medically trained person.  So we were definitely doing medical clinics.  The total for the trip was 10 people, which was quite a bit.

We had 3 cars come in total to pick them from the airport and we headed back to Bowe.  Once we got there we showed them around and then headed to the pharmacy to prepare for the rural medical clinics during the week.

We  had planned for 4 medical clinics but it turned into much more than that.  The group arrived on Tuesday and we started Wednesday.  Wednesday through Friday we spent time in the bush doing medical clinics there.  There was quite a few sick people  and they all got treated.

The first day though we went to a village called Chipuku and when we got there, nobody was there.  I was in a state of confusion, not sure why nobody was there.  Then we figured out there was a funeral and everyone had gone to it.  One of the few things Malawians don't mess about with is funerals.  But the people finally came and we were swamped.

 

the group at the Chipuku church

Saturday we held clinic at Bowe, where we saw a bunch of people also.  Tom, one of the men on the mission trip (he also came last year), taught Araceli and I how to survey (I will explain later why this was important).  So we took a bit of time out and were walking around with the equipment, surveying the land.

 

 a medical clinic at Kamutuwale

Sunday was great.  We all packed up into the truck and headed to Phoka.  They were having first holy communion out there (not the same type of ceremony in America) but still the same steps.  About 8 of us went out there and it was great fun.  The villagers were expecting us so they had been practicing some of the songs in English.  I was quite impressed when I heard, "Holy, Holy, Holy" versus ,"Njitua, Njitua, Njitua".  It was very touching that they did this for us.  The rest of mass was great and we ended up having lunch there also.  The meal was great.

 

All of us at mass in Phoka

When we returned on Sunday Scott headed down to the dam to check it out while I took some of the group for a little mountain climb.  They really enjoyed it and it was nice to get some exercise in.

On top of the mountain

 Descending the mountain

Monday we did a medical clinic again in the bush and Tuesday we were busy with meetings.  Wednesday we headed to the lake to relax a bit and that was a lot of fun.  Alex, Tom's son, and I went out into the lake for a bit of a swim.  We could never figure out if there were crocodiles or not but we just hoped not.  Later we found out that yes there was, but we were lucky.  We ended the night with a volleyball game and some good chow.

We took the group to the airport the next day and saw them off.  It was sad to see all of them go.

The rest of the weekend was just organizing and meeting with Ray.

During all of this we were organizing for Kasese.  Organizing to move to Kasese.  Meeting and making lists about all that which we had to do at Kasese.  This is where life got busy, but a good type of busy.

After the weekend passed we had a lot of work to do.  We started surveying Kasese and making a conditions report of everything which we needed to fix.  There are a few things we are focusing on there which is the house for Araceli and I, a Mission house for mission trips and the site itself.  It is quite an undertaking.

Last week we spent time driving around getting quotations on supplies and contacting vendors and having meetings.

 

60,000 Gallon water tank near Kasese

All in the middle of it I got pulled over by a inept police woman who tried to convince me that the make and model of the vehicle, including the year of production was all included on a piece of paper attached to the seat belt.  Well we argued for a bit and I told her that was not the case.  So she searched the car trying to find a ticket to give me and she finally did.  It was a little upsetting but I could not do much.

I have chatted with Little E here and we have put a timeline on our time at Bowe.  We have said that within 2 weeks, Araceli and I will be moved out of here and into the new place.  This will work very well.  Although there is still a lot of work to do, plus removing thousands of bats from the attic space of Kasese will be not the most fun.

But it will all get done and we are having a blast doing all of it.

We are heading out today to prepare for the bat removal this week and along with that set up for the painters to come out and give an assessment.  Plus the termite guy is coming out to inject poison around the buildings for termites.  Plus the plumber will come out to give an assessment.  I am quite excited.

 

A day at the lake

Apologies for the delay in writing this post but life got busy busy.

For the Children

Well it was about 3 am when the house began to shake.  It felt as though a bus had driven into the building.  I waited for a moment and then the house shook again...."Was it another bus?"  Well it turns out to be an aftershock from a minor earthquake. 

I am not even sure to call an earthquake but the ground was definately shaking.  When Araceli and I woke up the next day we walked around and chatted with all the villagers about it, asking about their experience of the shake shake.

The time since the last blog post we have been nothing but busy.  We are preparing for a group to come here tomorrow so we have been busy running around getting quotations for building materials and house supplies.

We started about a week ago surveying bore holes.  We have a few to finish up but could not earlier this year because of water damage to the road.  As we began surveying I quickly realized the damage the rain did.  The roads were pretty horrible but we slowly slowly got through them.

 

After mass one day with Little E

In the midst of surveying bore holes we have been going out with Little E for mass in the villages.  It is quite a lot of fun.  One time we just went up the road, not too far and celebrated mass there.  The second time wwe had to go for about an hour to this other church.  At the second church we brought along dresses and crocheted hats and handed them out to orphans.  Of course it is always interesting finding children because those in charge of finding them have preference to help their own family.  So I think that some were not orphans but there is not much to do about that.

 

Out checking out our new house

Well the dog we have here in the compound has been having a pretty bad case of fleas and a genereal demeanor of "im a dirty dog, bark woof bark" so Araceli and I decided to give him a bath.  At first he was scared of it but then once we started washing him he stopped moving, I think he really enjoyed it.

 

Bathing the dog

We just got back on Saturday from the city.  We went there because we had to buy some groceries for the group coming this week.  But along with that we also had to get quotations on different supplies but also on different appliances for our house.  We spent some time out at our future house last week, checking out everything which needed to be done.

 

Araceli with the girls after mass

Today is another busy day.  I am arranging to pick up medicine today along with renting a bus but I have to drive to a city to check out the bus to make sure it is good.  Along with that we need to clean the guest house for the guests arriving tomorrow.  But it will all be good.

 

Handing out hats

We are looking forward to this week, we will be doing renovations of the new house along with doing medical clinics.  Next week we will be repairing some new bore holes.  We are excited for the group to be here and are looking forward to spending time with them.

After handing out dresses and hats