Being Set

I was sitting at immigration yesterday waiting to renew visas for Araceli and me.  While standing there a policeman was also waiting in line.  So I struck up a conversation with him and we just started chatting about things.

One topic which we focused on was different economies of countries.  We talked about the UK, Australia, Asia.  Then the policeman asked about the US.  And he asked me, "are there any poor people in the US?"  I replied, "Yes, there are."........."impossible"..........

 

 

I had to think on his response for a bit.  Not really sure on how to reply to his statement.  I assured him that there were and although the US is different from Malawi, similar problems exist in both.    In the end though I do not think he fully believed me.  After calling me a millionaire and referring to the US as "heaven" I do not think I could convince him.

It has been an interesting couple of weeks.  Since the group has left we have been nothing but busy here at Kasese.  One of the interesting phenomena here at Kasese is......us.  I find that the villagers find us odd.  I sit here this morning, like every morning, in the office drinking coffee and reading the news while villagers are passing by outside.  They are either coming from the mountain where they cut wood or are heading to the bore hole to draw some water.  But as they pass they crane their necks to look at me while they do.

 

Araceli preparing coffee with our makeshift table which also plays as our tablesaw

I cannot say much more for the children who sit outside all day and just chat and stare at us.  Unfortunately we have run out of cloth for curtains and so had to block part of the windows.  I cannot say it is a bad thing for them to be curious, but it is somewhat annoying. In any case it is one of the many interesting little things happening here. 

 

Cat getting ready to drink

Besides that, we took Little E to the airport yesterday where he will be going to spend 1 month in Nigeria.  It was quite sad to see him go as we have become especially close with him over the past few months.  But I think he needed the break.  I will miss having our chapel masses with him every morning.  But he will be back soon enough.

Araceli is being taught by George on how to cook nsima, although Timeyo has said that George does not really know how to cook it and should not really be used for it.  And life is just going on here.  The cat has been staying inside and I am thankful of that as I have seen no more cockroaches which makes life much easier.

 

Araceli being taught the secrets of nsima

With all that is going on we are still plugging away.  We have a group coming here on Sunday which we are preparing for.  We will head to the market on Thursday to buy some of the food and will buy the rest on Friday or Saturday.

 

George warming himself by the halogen

The ground is being prepared here for farming.  People are out by 4:30-5:00 preparing their fields.  I happened to be up by 5:15 today and when I got outside, everyone was already working.  I was talking with Timeyo and I think we are going to go in on some land together and grow some maize.  I am seeing the prices of things here and I figure we could amend that a bit if we grew a couple acres or a hectare of maize.

We have three Malawians with us here: George, Timeyo and Olivietta.  I have to say it is quite a pleasure working with all of them.  They are all cheerful, upbeat, jolly and trustworthy.  Maybe all of these are easy to come by except the last quality and I am thankful for that.

George, Timeyo and Olivietta taking lunch

Whirlwind

When Araceli and I woke up yesterday we did not think we would be have lunch with all of the Bishop's of Malawi......but we did.

Yesterday (Saturday) was a quick morning.  We were invited to a parish to celebrate it's Diamond Jubilee, celebrating 75 years since the parish was established.  Although tired from the previous medical mission we decided we should go, and we were glad that we did. 

 

Arriving at Mass, the altar is in the distance

We carried a few people with us, a catechists, our cook and a villager.  When we got to the parish we strategically put the vehicle in the forest where it would be well out of any sunlight and then headed to the gathering.  We departed ways from the rest of our companions and started looking for a seat.  The only option we saw was for direct sunlight seating.  Being fair skinned I realized this would not be good for me so we looked for other options.  At this point we were grabbed by an usher and placed in covered seating about 10 feet from the altar to the East. 

As it so happened this is where the politicians were sitting along with all the priests.  So mass got underway, and it continued.....and continued.....and continued.....and finished.  But then there was fundraising afterwards.......and then speeches after that.....and then it really finished.  So 4 1/2 hours later we departed from our cramped seats all the too happy.  As we were going we wanted to greet Little E, Big E and a few other priests.  After greeting them all Little E grabbed us and told us we needed to eat something before we were on our way.

 

In our seats waiting for mass to start

So we went into the rectory and we ran into the Vicar there who was really surprised to see us and let out a big "Ahhhhhhhhhhh" when we saw us and we joked for a while.  he took us inside and showed us where the food was.  Once we dished up he led us into the living room and told us to sit.  We sat down and when I looked up I realized we were in a room filled with all of the Bishops and along with them was the Papal Representative (I am sure there is a more prestigious name).  So we sat and ate and chatted and then headed outside for a breather with Little E and chatted some more.

As we were leaving we ran into Father Mark whom took us to see Father Paul.  It was Father Paul's parish which we were celebrating at and we wanted to congratulate him and then be on our way.  Once we met him he pulled us into another room and we went and met the last of the Bishops who is quite a funny man and then met the representative of the President.  Wow, it was quite a day.

Once we finished that we headed back to home and once we reached here my plan was to have a cigar and then relax the rest of the day.  But my body had other ideas and I came inside and immediately fell asleep for some hours.  We spent the rest of the day chatting with Little E.

It is Sunday now and we celebrated morning mass in the Chapel and are now just cleaning.  I gave the dog a bath this morning and proceeded to remove a colony of fleas from it. 

 

Andrew running a day care

I write all of this in the aftermath of the medical mission which took place last week.  It was a small group which was here but we had a lot of fun and saw a lot of people.  Two of my childhood friends (Andrew & Maureen) came here on the mission which made it great.  We had a lot of fun together and it made me happy to see them. 

 

Andrew & Maureen being themselves

Andrew was kind enough to bring a box of cigars which we enjoyed after barbecuing a goat here.

All in all the last two weeks has been quite adventurous and tiresome.  We are looking forward to rest but will head back to work at Kasese tomorrow and hopefully we will be living there by tomorrow or Tuesday.

No More Rest

It has been a bit since we have had our relaxing day of wine, cheese and bread.  And since then life has picked up even more.

Kasese is fully underway now and we are fully restoring everything now.

One aspect which I have noticed about this restoration is that the construction materials and methods used before were not very good.....and because of that there is a lot more materials which we need to replace.

So before we had already chatted about the termite and cockroach infestation. 

We had to go to Lilongwe the other day and on our way we stopped out and dropped off some roach foggers and set them off.  They are pretty much roach bombs which kill them for about 2 months.  We came back the following week and it was a roach graveyard.  I mean there was dead roaches everywhere....it was awesome.

but there are still more

 

Olivietta working on the windows and me preparing to cut some wood

After sweeping up the dead roaches we got to work.  One of the things we had to accomplish was cleaning up the windows and to remove all the bad cement from the walls.  Instead of using plaster here (which they do not have) they use cement.  Unfortunately you need the correct mixture of sand and cement to make a strong material, which was not done before, so a lot of the walls had to be removed.  Revealing the brick underneath.

Luckily the brick underneath is quite pleasing to look at and itself offers a nice aesthetic.  So instead of covering it up again I think we will just leave it revealed.

When we were leaving that day we picked up a dog from a litter of 6.  We decided that eventually we would need a guard dog at Kasese and guard cats so why not get them now?  (Guard cats for the rats)

So we brought a dog back and he has been staying at Bowe, getting used to the kittens here.  They have not been too fond of him as they always hiss and swat at him.  Surprisingly their mother has been quite accepting of him.  the other dog does not like him at all.

 

The dog bothering while the mother is nursing

The next group comes in on Thursday and we have been preparing for them to come here along with working on Kasese.

 

Timeyo preparing a mixture for plastering

we just returned from Kasese not too long ago.  We are putting new putty around the windows and got to fill in the holes where the bad cement was.  along with that I got to build our bed frame today which I was excited about.  Also we got to build a tool storage area with a work area.  So it was a good day although quite a long one.

 

Araceli and Olivietta looking at the work

We can only work 1/2 a day at Kasese tomorrow because we have to come back to Bowe and prepare for the group so we will leave here at 5 and work until around 12:30 and leave.  And hopefully have some time to take it easy.

 

The girls are too short to work on the windows and need some help

I made an interesting observation at dinner tonight.  I was telling Little E that when I worked construction and worked for somebody I was always looking forward to work ending and counting down the hours.  but now that I am on the other side of that I am looking for more hours to work in a day but cannot find them anywhere.

In any case, there is a lot to do at Kasese and we will take it day by day.

We have hired a girl to work with us here.  Her name is Olivietta.  She is 21 and recently married.  Turns out she is a good friend of Little E and she is a great worker.  Her and Araceli have been getting along well and I am happy because she is a nice girl and works hard.

 

Timeyo working on installing a new door

 

The temporary storage on tools and equpiment

We are gearing up for a busy week.  Unfortunately I am too tired right now to write much more.  I am sure there are a bunch of stories I am forgetting but pulling these long days is making me go to bed earlier.

I thank everyone for their prayers and support.