Travel Notes III - Maphutseng, Lesotho

Coming to Lesotho (pronounced Leh-SOO-too) after being in equatorial Uganda amazed me. I didn’t know Africa could look like this! Check out this photo:


Nope, this isn’t Arizona or Wyoming. It’s Africa!

Oh, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that it’s spring here! I was sad to have missed spring at home, but now I get to watch the peach trees blossom, enjoy the fragrance of wisteria and witness to transformation from brown to green.

The old stone mission house where I stay.

What am I doing here? I'm staying at Growing Nations, whose mission is "transformation through sustainable agriculture." I'm learning about conservation agriculture, Farming God's Way (www.farming-gods-way.org), transformational development, and accumulating a myriad of tidbit lessons. :-) I'll write more specifics about what I’ve been doing here, but for now you can enjoy a few photos.

One of the many incredible sunset evenings.

A hike into the hills above our place.

Digging planting holes with local farmers.

Turning the compost pile. It was overdue for turning, so it was a steamy, smelly job.

Soil erosion is a serious problem around here. The gullies you see are called "dongas", created by serioius run-off from overgrazing and ploughed soil.

This donga is over 20 feet deep!

Some of my Growing Nations buddies - Stephen, Adriaan, Petrus, me, Christiaan, and Kitty.

Travel Notes II - Pemba, Mozambique

I went to Iris Ministries in Pemba to see what God is doing there, to learn, and lend a hand where possible. I found my visit to be full of contrasts:

• Excitement to see new places, but longing for familiar places.
• Gorgeous turquoise Indian Ocean and the orange, parched dust of the land.
• Five star beach resorts 100 yards from a poor neighbourhood of tiny houses and shacks.
• Quiet, reflective times in the visitor center, and games with a hundred excited children.
• Lots of questions about the future, yet intimate and powerful moments of worship.

The Iris Ministry base, overlooking the Indian Ocean.

I’ll just share a few snippets and photos here. If you want to know more about Iris Ministries, you can visit their website at www.irismin.org.

House building looked a little different: digging post holes using machetes.

The posts are lashed together with split bamboo and rubber-coated steel threads from old tires.

The first Sunday as I worshipped in church, I sat with bowed head, tears silently rolling down my cheeks. Soon I felt a small hand reach into mine. A young boy (maybe 6 years old) was beside me. He didn’t want my attention, he just sat there. He was there for my benefit, ministering to me. I was humbled and blessed.

The last Sunday each visitor was at Iris, the children prayed for us during the church service.

One week I travelled with an Iris team to a rural village for pastors’ training and children’s ministry. All of our supplies, sound equipment, etc., was loaded onto the back of a covered flatbed truck, then we piled in on top of it all, creating “beds” as comfortable as possible for the six hour ride. On the return trip it was so dusty, that our Mozambican colleague looked like he had died his hair orange!

Our mode of transport to the rural outreach.

The bumpy 6-hour truck ride.

Any time during the rural outreach when we left our “camp”, we were followed by a mob of children. One day I brought out my Frisbee and football. Oh, what cheers of joy and delight. It turned into a massive fetch game. I threw the Frisbee as far as I could and the swarm of children ran after it to bring it back for me to throw again.

The lovely "mob" of village children.

The faith, worship and prayer is beyond what I’ve seen almost anywhere else. People pray simply and with certainty, and God responds with healings, food multiplication and people coming back from the dead. In exuberant praise (lots of dancing!) and desperate worship, it is obvious that people recognize that nothing and no one is more important than God. I want this passionate pursuit of God and the fruit of it to become commonplace in my life.

Sunday church service. Lots of dancing and exuberant singing!

The children would have taken photos with us all day long if we let them!

Travel Notes I - Nairobi, Kenya

I’ve been on the road since August 11. My first stop took me through Nairobi, Kenya, to see old friends from Daystar University. It was so fun to recognize the same smiles and laughter I had known 7 years ago, and to see what they are doing now. My friends are making the most of every opportunity: one teaches film making to at-risk youth, another coordinates clean water projects in a “slum” neighbourhood, and another trains church leaders in strategic planning. I am challenged and motivated by their dedication. (To Peter, Rickson, Simon, Dickens, Lucy, and my Kenyan parents: Thanks so much! What wonderful moments and memories.)

Visiting Rickson and his siblings

And I saw some animals! The hippo kills more people each year than any other animal in Africa.

At the national museum in Nairobi

And the rhino is way bigger than I ever imagined!


Fingernail painting proved to be a bonding moment with my roommate’s children, but you should always make sure there is adequate remover nearby before allowing small children to use old polish on your nails. :)

I learned a valuable lesson about allowing extra time to get to the airport. Let’s just say that four days after that lesson I made the flight to my next destination – Pemba, Mozambique.

Mt. Kilamanjaro in the clouds. I flew over it between Kenya and Mozambique.

Where in the World is Emily Bean?

A friend from home recently asked me, “Where exactly are you, and what are you doing?” In case you’ve just tuned in our have forgotten, for the past year I’ve been in south western Uganda working for a small organization (ACTS) that brings safe water to rural communities. My role has primarily been to coordinate the health and environmental education programs that run concurrently with the water project.

Bwesumbu Football (Soccer) Club, the team I played with near the ACTS camp.

I speak in the past tense because this is all about to change. Yes, it is not what I had planned, but through various circumstances, prayer and wisdom from those I respect, it has become apparent that it would not be beneficial for me to continue with ACTS for another year.

So what’s next? Well, if I could answer that, where would the excitement of life be? If you read the previous post you’ll see that living here requires extreme flexibility, and I’ve become almost comfortable with the unknown (note, almost). What I do know is this:

• I am still sensing a call and desire to work amongst the poor in Africa. As hard as it’s been, this place lodges itself deeper and deeper into my heart.
• I am becoming increasingly interested in agriculture work amongst subsistence farmers (there’s an awesome conservation farming program called Farming God’s Way and I’d love to learn and teach it).
• I need more knowledge/training in agricultural and community development. Grad school perhaps?
• I am torn between the wonderful family, friends, church and life that I left at home and the opportunities I see before me here.

As the days pass, plans slowly fall into place, with many questions still remaining. In the next three weeks I am planning to visit friends in Kenya and Iris Ministries in Mozambique. After that I’m heading to Lesotho (a small south African country) for 6 weeks of training in Farming God’s Way. Then I’ll be returning to “home” here in Mbarara, Uganda for a week-long conference on transformational development. Then the plan is to return to good ol’ PA in November.

Emily's travel map for the next two months

Although most of my plane tickets have been purchased, I hesitate to put this “itinerary” into writing because a wise person once said, “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.” Hopefully God’s not laughing too much right now.

I will do my best to keep you posted as I travel over the next few months. I may have to resort to more emails and less posting/photos, as I don’t know what internet access will be like. Until later…

Saying Goodbye to ACTS

Yesterday I bid farewell to my ACTS colleagues and the Bwesumbu community members that have become friends over the past year. (Read the post that follows this one for more information on the transition from ACTS.) These 10+ months that I have spent with ACTS in Bwesumbu have contained much learning and stretching, tears and laughter, loneliness and belonging. I must confess that many times I just wanted to be in a familiar place where people don’t stare at me, where I can understand the language, where I know how the culture functions, and where I can walk in the woods or ride my bike. However, I have no regrets of coming, and I believe that somehow this year and all it contained fits beautifully into a bigger tapestry of intersecting lives and God’s purposes.

Colleauge Pidson (one of our amazing mechanics) and Patrick, a volunteer and soccer friend.

Speaking in terms of work, I can look back and see that I was able to contribute to the efforts of ACTS and the impact it will have in Bwesumbu. Thanks to all of you who have been a part of this endeavour whether through encouragement, prayer or finances. Here’s a brief summary of the work I (and therefore you) have been a part of:

• Along with my counterparts, Rose and Jovanice, I coordinated the health and environmental education programs. This was mostly administrative, managerial and logistical support, particularly when it involved anything with a computer.
• We completed a home-to-home survey, and I wrote a report on the demographic, health and environmental status of homes in Bwesumbu.
• In February and March I conducted an impact assessment study in a previous ACTS project area that was able to demonstrate significant positive change for the community as a result of ACTS’ work.
• I led 18 of my colleagues through a discipleship class that met weekly to discuss basic aspects of following Christ. I was excited to be able to finish the last study in our book the night before I left!

Teaching discipleship class

The ACTS staff discipleship class

• In the past couple months I’ve been introduced to a conservation farming method, and I taught it to ACTS’ widow cooperatives by planting two demonstration plots.
• Throughout all of this, my hope was to equip and empower my colleagues to better manage the health and environment programs. I taught basic computer skills, gave driving lessons, and have been working with Rose and Jovanice on program evaluation and encouraging them to dream and develop their programs.

The ACTS Bwesumbu water project and its programs will be finishing in September and the ACTS team will move to a new area to start the process all over again. Pray for the team’s transition and for the community in Bwesumbu to care well for the resources and knowledge that has been entrusted to them.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for standing with me through this year. The words from one of my favourite songs run often through my head: “This has been a long road/harder than I anticipated/but it was good.” (From Megan Bream’s “Conclusion”.) I don’t know exactly where the journey of life is taking me, but I am looking ahead with much hope and expectation.

Colleague and budding guitarist Hannington. I helped him figure out chords for some of the his favorite songs, and he's taking care of my guitar while I travel so that he can practice.

It's a Gong Show

[Note: this post was written near the beginning of July.]

They say that to be a missionary you need to be flexible. But I’ve concluded that a new word needs to be invented – one that goes way beyond “flexible.”

Take this morning for example: Steve and Brittany (two volunteers) and I were supposed to be headed back to the village for work at 8:30am. Mind you, we were supposed to have returned three days ago, but plans changed (not surprising at all). But this morning when they came to pick me up in one of our ACTS pickup truck, we discovered a seriously leaking radiator and a water pump on its last leg. So we called our mechanics and asked for another truck option. We got differing opinions, but finally decided on one. So Steve went to return the broken truck. While he was away my phone rang. It was Steve asking “How important is it to have a working emergency/hand brake?” Seriously?, I thought, but I answered politely, “Yes, we need a working brake. Any other options?” After multiple phone calls, we found that none of the five trucks here could be taken! So, it looks like we’ll be working from town for at least another day. I had just closed up my house in preparation for being gone for three weeks. I had emptied my fridge, given away food, and packed all my clothes to take back to the village. [Sigh…] I guess I should now pull some food out of the freezer and bring my bags back inside. Oh, and call our colleagues in the village and tell them a second time that our arrival will be delayed. Flexibility? Somehow it just doesn’t fit anymore.

Driving one of our ACTS trucks. I love this little Toyata Hillux. I wish they sold them in North America.

These types of situations are not an anomaly in my life. Rather, I’ve come to count on them. (I’m not saying they never bother me.) I picked up a phrase from Steve and Brittany which is the most sutabile one I’ve found for describing situations like the one above. I simply say, “It’s a gong show.” Originally a TV show reference, the Urban Dictionary now defines a “gong show” as “an event marred by confusion, ineptitude and shenanigans”. Basically it’s a situation that has gone way out of control. What a perfect fit!

In trying to find a replacement word for “flexibility”, I decided its definition must be “the ability to live within a perpetual gong show.” Therefore, to live here we concluded that one must possess not just flexibility but gongability. Maybe I should start marketing the word to mission organizations.

Steve, Brittany and I with the small July ACTS team. (The rest of the team was on their annual leave.)

What You Sow...

Freshly dug holes where the maize (corn) will be planted as soon as the first good rain falls.

I felt like Noah yesterday. The land was dry; there has been no rain for months. Yet a few colleagues, four local widows and I were preparing the land for planting. People walked by on the path above us and gawked, chattered curiously, or laughed. (Granted, the laughter mostly stemmed from seeing white women wielding a hoe.) Not only were we working the land before they usually do, but we were doing strange things with it. I can imagine what they were saying: “What are those rows of holes, pegs in the ground, and the red rope strung across the soil? Why aren’t they turning over all the soil?” I was not bothered by the onlookers. Instead, I wanted them to watch – not only now, but as the crops in our plot grow.

Me unleashing the pick ax on a stubborn root clump of elephant grass.

We are teaching a method of conservation farming that has the potential to produce yields which will boost struggling to subsistence farmers to those whose families are well-fed with extra money for education and health care. The method is not magical, but works on a few technical principles: do not burn, do not plough, and practice crop rotations. Additionally we teach management principles of doing everything on time, to a high standard and with minimal wastage. Applying these standards and maintaining a constant mulch cover preserves and enriches the precious top soil, holds moisture, and reduces crop diseases and pests, all of which produce healthy, plentiful crops.

Demonstrating how to place the fertilizer and bean seeds in the furrows.

Our fertilizer - cow manure! (Don't worry. It's sat a long time, so it's just like rich soil now.)

I was excited to see the eagerness of the widows to implement this method, and I am praying that it will spread throughout Bwesumbu and beyond. And as a Christian I pray that it is not only the farming practices that will change, but that Christ will transform hearts and minds and communities. I long to see the poor recover their identity as deeply loved and highly valued sons and daughters of the King, and for farmers to discover the dignity of their vocation. Because of ACTS’ funding sources I am not as free to speak of Christ as I would like to be. Please pray for wisdom and opportunities despite the restrictions I work under. Pray that there will be a rich harvest from the land and the hearts of people.

Me with the four widows in the farming cooperative. The height difference is not an optical illusion. I'm pretty much a giant in these lands.

Doggy Tricks

I'm peacefully minding my supper of rice, potatoes and beans when I realize one of my colleagues at the table is talking to me: "Nokorera nkahi?" (Where are you working?) I answer "Ninkorera Bwesumbu na ACTS." (I'm working in Bwesumbu with ACTS.) My colleagues all laugh, mostly out of pleasure and amusement of a mzungu speaking their language. Then other questions start to come in Runyankore (the local language): Do you have a husband? What are your parents' names? Do you have children? Fortunately these are all questions I learned from my language tutors the night before, so I mostly answer correctly. As each new question comes, I can’t help feeling like a dog being taught new tricks. It’s if they throw a stick and think, "Let's see if she can catch this one." Then, my colleagues realize that I am only answering questions so they inquire of my tutor, "Can she ask questions too?" Yes, it turns out that I can! I say, “Oine emyaka ngahi?” (How old are you?) “Abamuka nibarara bata?” (How is your family at home?) They all laugh – another trick learned! This is all in good humor, and their fascination only helps me learn more because as they throw new phrases at me, I either surprise them with my knowledge or learn new words.

My colleagues Rachel, Yorokum and DJ. Rachel and Yorokum have been my language tutors for the past few months.

Although language study has sadly gotten pushed to the side too often during the past nine months, I’ve made some progress. I can now often catch the basic jist of a conversation. One language highlight was last Sunday when for the first five minutes of my colleague’s sermon I could understand everything he said! It was awesome! I’ve found knowledge of the language quite practically useful too. One day I was driving a truck full of people and overhead a young man in the back asking one of my colleagues in Runyankore if I was a “woman” (i.e. married) or a “girl” (i.e. single). I spoke up, saying I had heard what he said, and we all laughed. Oh, what a life... :-)

Caught on Film

During the past few months I've been joined by three volunteers from Canada - Steve, Brittany, and John. Since foreigners are more likely to have cameras easily accessible during our work days, they've managed to capture me in action a few times.

Here are a couple glimpses into my recent days:

Me teaching the children their ABC's. (I had a video, but it's not working.
I'll post it later if I can.)

Spontaneous lessons. While waiting for a meeting with the ACTS widows group (an agricultural cooperative), the typical crowd of children gathered. I've found school children to be the most pesty, forward and sometimes rude. They stare, make comments and don't go away. This time I was determined not be passively swept into their schemes, so I took action. I thought, "They are supposed to be in school, so I'll make sure they keep learning." I got up, found a small stick and a patch of dirt. I had small children so I started with the basics: writing letters in the sand. Then it progressed to the ABC's song, and spelling words for the older students. The children got a kick out of it, and I much preferred this interaction to simply being stared at.

Surprise! Mzungu (white) women actually know how to use a shovel!

Ugandan Citizen. My colleagues have been quite surprised that I know how to use a shovel and hoe, and they are amused when I get all dirty working in the gardens. As much as I try to explain that I grew up in the country, so I know how to work the land, it still stretches their imaginations. After seeing me work tirelessly clearing large piles of weeds from a soon-to-be garden and shoveling sand into the back of a pickup, my colleague Johnson decided that I should become a Ugandan citizen because I know how to work hard!

One of my favorite days here because I got to work alongside the widows and get dirty!

Just Because

I want to share these photos with you because... well, just because.  Some of the sites I witness remind me of you, my friends at home.

For example... Heinz Ketchup! Yes, Heinz is known around the world. My British friend thought Heinz was a UK company, but I assured her it originated in Pittsburgh.  Here's a shout out to all my yinzer buddies in the 'burgh. 

And for my vegetarian friends, I found this little "Tofu and Takeaway" shop in Kigali Rwanda. It's the only time I've ever seen or heard the word "tofu" here.

And for my biking buddies, this is a bike shop - Ugandan style. Pretty sweet, huh?

 

Other pictures I'm including because you wouldn't see them in the U.S.  In Uganda, signs for shops and businesses provide lots of entertainment.  This is my favorite: "His Mercy Driving School."  We certainly need God's mercy on these roads!

And this one was too picturesque to leave out.  It's Semliki National Park on the border of the Congo.

In case you're forgetting what I look like, don't worry. Here I am with Zillah (an AIM missionary and friend) enroute to a wonderful birthday weekend on ACTS' ecotourism island getaway. (www.busharaislandcamp.com)

You can take me half way around the would and put me in a remote village, but I'll still find ways to climb mountains! This is Mt. Elgon, between Kenya and Uganda. 

I botched my attempt at Mt. Kenya 7 years ago with snow blindness, but I summited this one!

And what would life be without sports?  Boring, in my opinion. Some of my most enjoyable moments happen on the soccer field. "Friendly matches" between local football (soccer) clubs occur frequently.  To set up a match, one team delivers a written invitation to the other team, and they must respond in like manner. This was ACTS' first match back in January.

Recently we've begun playing matches in a more populated area. There is always small mob of children pressing in as our team tries to prepare for the match.  It's easy to feel like the pied piper here.  School children even crowd around to watch me tie my shoes! There is no hope of anonymity here.

That's all for now! Hope you enjoyed these few glimpses into my life.