Nuus en foto's van ons lewe in Mosambiek!
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News and pictures of our life in Mozambique


Saturday, 17 September 2011

Nuus in Afrikaans!




Liewe vriende, Augustus 2011

Die afgelope paar maande was omtrent vol gepak! Hier volg ons nuus…

Christiaan het gekies om sy 12de verjaarsdag in Mei by die meer te vier! Eers was daar net twee gesinne wat saam sou kom kamp, maar gou was daar vele meer heerlike maats!! Die strand en water het krioel met kinders, ma’s en pa’s en selfs ’n ouma en oupa! Die keer was dit nie die vermeerdering van die brood en vis nie maar die vermeerdering van die Verjaarsdag Koek!! J Almal het ’n heerlike tyd gehad!

Claude is ’n jong man van Switserland wat deel is van ons SIM span in Lichinga. Hy het sy jaar nasionale diens kom doen het in Mosambiek. Hy het onder andere rekenaarklasse in Lichinga aangebied. Ons het hom gevra om vir ons werkers dieselfde opleiding to kom gee. Hulle was so opgewonde en het baie goed gedoen! Die verbasing en wonder op hulle gesigte toe hulle “lewensgeskiedenis” voor hul oë uitgedruk word sal ons (en hulle) nog lank onthou!! J Ons hoop dat hulle later kan help met vertaling en literatuur vir die Yao mense. Claude was ’n seën en bemoediging vir ons!

Claude se pa en broer uit Switserland het ook ’n paar dae hier spandeer en Beat het die stoorkamer se deur die mooi pers laag gegee! ’n Perfekte kleur om na te kyk deur my kombuisvenster!

Colin! Hierdie 70-jarige sendeling staan vir niks terug nie!! Colin het alleen al die pad tot by ons gery en dit met ’n seer skouer (wat ons later uitgevind het ’n rotatorkraag skeur gehad het!!) Hy het gekom om te help met die bouwerk van ons nuwe stoor en waghuisie – die ou stoor en huisie het nou na 2 jaar heel skeef gestaan en moes vervang word. Colin het ook ’n hele wa-vrag lekkernye uit SA vir ons opgery! Dit was Kersfees in Junie! Buiten die bouwerk het hy ook allerlei klein werkies in en om die huis gedoen en was hy ’n baie aangename skottelgoedwas-maat vir my! J Dankie aan Witrivier gemeente wat bygedra het dat hy vir die maand na ons toe kon kom!

Boskamp…… in en om Lichinga is daar heelwat sendeling-kinders. Een maal per maand hou die Cranes in Lichinga ’n jeuggroep waarna al die 10jariges en op gaan. Ons het gedink dit sal lekker wees om die groep van 20 kinders hier by ons te hê vir ’n naweek Boskamp! Henriette, Normand en Claude het kom help om die program aan te bied! Dit was vet pret! Morse kode met flitse, nagmars, knope, brood bak, noodhulp, kompaswerk en kaartlees, vêr stap die veld in, saam sing en lag was deel van die naweek. Die kinders moes ook ’n hoender slag en gaarmaak tot almal se vermaak of skok!!

Klaus en Monica en hul seun Rudi het vir 5 dae hier by ons kom inspring met harde werk! Hulle gemeente, Florandia, het hulle gestuur om ons te kom help en wat ’n seën was hulle nie!! Toe ek hulle by die lughawe gaan haal het, het ek prober om hulle voor te berei vir die lang lys wat Alfred reeds uitgeskryf het! J Voor aandete reeds het Alfred en Klaus al klaar twee deure gehang en Rudi en ons seuns was orals besig om ligte reg te maak en drade te skuif en wie weet wat nog! Monica het my gehelp om die kombuiskaste klaar te verf, kos te maak vir al die honger manne en dit was heerlik om te gesels en lag in Afrikaans!!! Ons het hulle besoek terdeë geniet en sê dankie aan Florandia! Ons was omtrent besig met besoekers, maar dit was lekker! J


SIM Konferensie
: Eenkeer per jaar hou ons SIM span ’n konferensie van 5 dae. Die jaar was dit my en Alfred se beurt om dit te reel. Ons was op Muapula – 4 ure se ry van ons af en diep-inniebos! Dit was harde werk, maar ons het dit geniet! Al die kamers moet van niks af regemaak en ingerig word. Alfred het gehelp met allerlei werk om dit gemakliker te maak vir die sendelinge – soos die “donkie” se pypwerk, teels insit, ligte koppel en 100 ander dinge! Ek en Nickey het onsself geniet deur met dit wat ons gehad het die kamers mooi te versier. Die seuns het ook fluks gehelp – kamers moes uitgeverf word, allerlei goed moes aangedra, vashou en inkap word! In die week het ek 30km op en af met my fiets gery! Ernst en Catrha Muller was ons gassprekers van die Mozambique Hub en Charlene Franken van KSM het ons kinderklub kom aanbied. Dankie aan KSM en Moz Hub wat dit vir hulle moontlik gemaak het om te kom! Hulle was ’n groot sëen!

Alfred het die kans gebruik toe NTM se taal konsultant by ons kollegas was, om self ook ’n verkorte taal evaluasie te ondergaan. Die resultate was baie bemoedigend! Alfred doen regtig goed met die taal. As ons nou die hoofman gaan besoek met ons besoekers het hy amper nie meer ’n tolk nodig nie en gesels al te lekker! Ek kry nog swaar met die taal! Om tyd te vind om regtig myself in te grawe is baie moeilik! Ek doen wat ek kan, maar sal julle gebede waardeer!

Tuisskool is ook weer aan die gang na 3 weke vakansie! Ons het nog 14 weke skool oor en vorder goed!

Alfred word so nou en dan gevra om te help om ’n mielie oes te gaan help inbring met Anthony se klein wit trokkie. Gister sê hy so ewe vrolik dat hy teen half een terug sal wees, want dis naby die sandgat en dus nie so vêr nie…wel, die mense hier kan STAP en vêr ook! Vir hulle was die mielieveld regtig sommer naby, maar op die ou end was dit meer as 5km diep innibos in met die trokkie! En twee vragte later was Alfred eers lank ná 3 terug! J

Kinders:

Ons kinders word groot in ’n mengelmoes van tale en kulture. Sommige van hulle sêgoed is in Engels, verstaan tog maar en onthou hulle word groot in ’n ander wêreld – Afrikaans, Portugees, Yao, Engels, ens!

Stefan lees vanoggend in Bybelklas "Paul's letters were copied and pasted to the churches"...beslis ’n kind van die rekenaar era! :)

Bernard het ’n nuwe woord in Afrikaans opgemaak - naadel – hy wou sê naald...en bars toe saam met ons almal uit van die lag en sê toe ewe sedig “Wat verwag julle? Julle vat my Engeland toe, toe ek 4 was, ek was 5 in Portugal , 6 in Mosambiek, wat verwag julle?” Ja, ons praat soms baie snaaks! :)
Ek haal ’n redelike groot sandvlooi uit een van die seuns se tone en sê toe “Uit jou varknek!” waarop die meneertjie toe vra of “varknek” ’n woord is wat ons mag gebruik!!
Christiaan sê met ’n vreeslike dramatiese stem nadat ons kar se matte erg nat geword het… “The Paetzold’s have undertaken the great task of dismantling the car!” Sy pa was nie baie opgewonde hieroor nie!!
Stefan verjaar die 27ste Augustus en word 9!! Ons sê elke dag dankie vir ons kinders – hulle is ’n vreugde!!

Snaakse stories……??

’n Vriendin het voorgestel dat ons so ’n paar snaakse stories deel, maar soos ek begin terugdink oor die laaste paar maande kan ek net aan hartseer stories dink – moslem-begrafnisse van ’n klein baba en ’n ou man wat hier naby ons gebly het, siek mense wat net geen hoop het nie. Dit mag dalk idillies lyk vir die stadsmens wat hier kom kuier, maar regtig, die sê-ding “Stille waters, diepe grond, onder draai die duiwel rond” is waar vir hierdie plek, hierdie mense. Hulle het Jesus nodig! Bid asb vir ons dat ons hul taal gou sal leer! Dat God hul sal red van hul doodsbestaan!!

DVD Ons het so ’n kort DVD gemaak van ons lewe hier – as jy dalk lus het om dit te sien laat ons asb weet dan kyk ons of ons ’n DVD by jou kan kry!

VoorbiddingOns het onlangs heelwat situasies beleef waarin ons magteloos was of waaroor ’n mens geen beheer het nie. Die Here het dit gebruik om my opnuut te laat besef hoe belangrik voorbidding is. As jy voel die Here lê dit spesifiek op jou hart om gereeld vir ons te bid, laat weet ons asb, sodat ons met jou daaroor in kontak kan kom. Ons dink daaraan om weekliks ’n kort gebedsbrief uit te stuur aan voorbidders (dis nou bo-en-behalwe ons gewone nuusbriewe wat ook gebedsversoeke bevat).

Nou ja, dis reeds meer as genoeg nuus van ons kant af! Mag die Here jou seën!

Baie liefde,


News April


Greetings from us here in Mozambique!!

April - Homeschool conference!

This is already our sixth year of homeschooling! Definitely a good time to attend a homeschool conference and a good reminder what a privilege it is to homeschool our kids! About 12 families attended the conference and it was good to build stronger relationships with other homeschoolers and realise you are not alone!

Anchor education/SIM presented the course here in Lichinga. While the moms were learning new things and were again reminded of others, the children had a wonderful time playing with their friends for 4 full days! I also had our three boys tested to see how they were doing and if there were areas where we needed to work more on, but they all did really great! I am proud of them! The exams were even fun for them as they did it with their friends and the ladies who tested them made sure that they were never really stressed! J It was more stressful to me, the teacher, to see what I have taught them!!

To homeschool in your own country is nothing compared to homeschool here in a cross-cultural situation and so some of the sessions included - dealing with lots of transissions, dealing with the unique needs of Third culture kids (that’s the missionary kids!), parenting, etc! It was a wonderful week of recharging our “school” batteries!

Wild@heart!

While Belinda and the boys were at the homeschool conference, I (Alfred) visited a friend that stays about 1 ½ h drive from us further north. As Belinda had the car, our friend came to pick me up to go and help with a small project. To ease matters for him, I loaded my bike on his Land Rover and off we went! (yes there are Landies here that still actually go!)

The next day, instead of him driving me home, I jumped on my bike and started the 55km rocky road back home. I am by no means a fit bike rider and the terrain is really not good for riding any bike on, but I was ready for the challenge! Many Mozambicans only have bikes as transport and their bikes are far worse than mine! My language helper travels this road every second week and I wanted to find out how it will be and I also thought it would help me to identify more with the local people.

It is 11:00 and cloudy when I depart. All along the road I greet people friendly and receive friendly, though surprised reactions of the people which help me to keep going! After about 10km I left the third village and my encouragers behind. Now it is only me and my bike and the rocky road. Every now and again a motorbike passes me, but mostly I see no-one now and I’m getting really tired and hot as the sun also came out behind the clouds!! In 2 hours I reach the 35km mark – a small town where two friends live. I use the opportunity to rest while I visit with them – they were really surprised to see me and even more so when they looked for the car but only saw the bike!

After resting a bit, drinking some water and practising some Yao, I am on my way again! I still have 20km to go and certain areas were getting really painful to sit on!! ;) About 6km from home I visited another friend, who was so surprised to see me on my bike that he didn’t even offer me any water! (Tough guys don’t need water? J) Another pit stop at the Chefe do Posto (The local government official) and I was home in 4 ½ hours! I thank the Lord for a safe trip, but also in giving me a glimpse of the hard life that the people around us face daily! I also pray that it would help me in my relationships with the villagers!


Language learning:

My main “job” is to learn the local language. Yoa is not at all like Portugese or English! It is a very ancient complex Africa-language! Here and there I see some similarities in the Yao grammar that is the same as the Swazi grammar which I studied when working in SA. I am progressing well, but as I really need to speak very fluent, lots of hard work still lie ahead! Speaking about abstract things like religion uses mostly more complicated language! Here is a glimpse of some sentences for you!

J

English

Portugees

Yao

We have a big vegetable garden with many beds. There are lots of weeds.

We have lots of carrots, tomatoes, onions, spinach and lettuce. We also sowed beans which sprouted. One pumpkin is ready, but the tomatoes are not growing well during the rainy season.

Nós temos uma orta grande com muitos canteiros. Há muitas folhas. Temos senorra, tomate, cebola, abobra, espinafre e alface. Também semeámos feijão que já germinou. Uma abobra já está pronta, mas os tomates não crescem bem no tempo chuvoso.

Uwe tukwete ditiimbe dyekuluungwa. Dyana mabeedi jejinji. Pana makoonde n’nope. Mutiimbe dyana senora, mpweteceela, anyesi, diwuungu, dipoonda ni alface. Sooni twapaandile mwbaanda. Mbwaanda jimisile. Diwuungu dimo dikumala, naambo mpweteceela ngasikola cenene ndaavi dyacuku.

Last month I visited a friend who lives on his field in the deep bush. We travelled together on our bicycles. It was very far and it rained. There was lots of mud. When we arrived we ate green mielies (corn). Afterwards we went for a walk to look at his crops. He has lots of corn and beans. I came back at 17:00 and was very tired.

No mês passado eu fui visitar um amigo que vive na machamba no mato. Fomos juntos de bicicleta. Foi muito longe e choveu. Havia muito matope. Quando chegámos, comemos masaroca. Daí fomos passear para conhecer a machamba dele. Tem muito milho e feijão. Eu voltei ás 17:00 e estava muito cansado.

Mwesi sicipatile wune nabiite kukwalola ajaango ku miguunda wawo. Twapiite umpepe pa njiinga. Nikweeta dice ni wuula janyile. Gaapadi matope n’nope. Pa twayiice, twadile yimaanga yiwisi. Pele twajerile-jerile kumaanya nguunda wawo. Akwete yimaanga yejinji ni mbwaanda syejinji. Nawurile ma 17:00 ni nabesile n’nope.

We hope to have learnt the language by middle 2013! Please pray us to progress well!!

Practical work in and around the house:

The building work has been finished now for quite some time, but we still have some work in and around the house that needs to be finished. We need to make some inside doors, some cupboards, make curtain railings, put up gutters, etc! Alfred usually works on these things on a Saturday and some afternoons during the week. At the end of the month we will have Colin with us again! He turned 70 last year and still serves the Lord with all he has – what an inspiration!! He is coming to help us build a new storeroom (which is sloping quite a bit now!) and a new guard house for our workers. We are very thankful for his help! Next week we will also have Claude here for a week. He is a SIM short-termer who will be giving computer classes to our workers and Alfred’s language helper – we pray that one day they will be able to help more with translation projects in the future Y church! He will also host a Floorball week for the older youth in our villages! Busy, busy!!

And on this high note….Greetings from the 5 of us!