Jannetta

This is Jannetta. She is 12 years old and lives in Machava with her two older sisters, Tamacha and Saugina I asked her to take photos of the things that are important to her. She ended up photographing the salon in the center where she and her sisters and the other girls in the center spend a lot of time. The salon means a lot to the center because its a way for the girls to learn a skill that they can later use when they leave the center as well as provides jobs for people living off of the center. The salon is symbolic for growth, sustenance, and hope.

This is Jannetta!


This is Tamacha, her older sister.


working in the salon


more women working in the salon


The view from the Salon


The inside of the salon


Some of the work the girls can do.




Thanks you all for reading! Let me know if you have any feedback!

Ramito

Ramito also lives at the Zimpeto base. I met him while we were on hospital ministry. He plans on going to University in South Africa in the fall!

Alvin Americo

This is Alvin, he lives in Zimpeto, Mozambique. I met him during my time in the Zimpeto base and here is his story.

Back

So I am back in California now and im looking at my blog and I wish I posted a lot more. Anyways, I couldnt post a lot of pictures and videos because the bandwidth is so low out there, so i am going to post them today. Again, your comments and your feedback is really important! Thank you all for following!

New Post-- Finally!

Hey everyone!

So I have left Zimpeto and headed for Nelspruit, South Africa. I spent a day in South Africa and then headed back to Mozambique to the new center in Machava. It so good to be back here. A bit unexplainable, but I feel its like I've never left.

Today, me and my team went to my friend Carol and Otello's house and cooked lunch. I learned how to shave a coconut down, ate sugar cane, and learned how to make a traditional Mozambican dish-- Chicken!

Pictures soon!

Week 3

On Friday we went to the Boccaria in the city. The boccaria is the city’s dumpsite that people spend all day sorting through to find things that they can sell or keep. There’s also a small community at the bottom of the giant hills of trash where Iris Ministries has built a church. The plan when we arrived was half of us would go up to the top of the dump and the other half would walk around the community praying for people, and then we would meet at the church to have a small service.
The smell was so incredibly strong and there was smoke from the burning trash everywhere. Its one thing to see large piles of trash everywhere, and to smell years of rotting trash, but it really broke my heart once I saw people sorting through all of it. I decided to go with the group that went to the top to pray for people and invite them to the church service. About ten minutes after reaching the top, the people were getting upset that we were there. They said they didn’t want prayer and they didn’t want us there if we weren’t going to give them money or food. They started to make violent threats, so we decided to leave. We met the other group at the church and passed out food after the service.
This is one of the most difficult outreach I’ve done. We couldn’t give them money because that isn’t going to change their situation. We couldn’t bring food up there because it would start a riot. The whole thing is really hard to process and I really don’t know what else to say about it, but I’ll never forget that smell.






You can see more pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/cksoundgirl/bocaria

This weekend, I had an opportunity to stay out in the bush and see how people in Mozambique really live. We stayed at Pastor Pedro’s house with his wife and two girls. The whole thing was a bit awkward because Pedro was the only one who spoke English, but it was interesting nonetheless. We watched the England V. USA game and totally sung along to the national anthem out in the Mozambican bush!
That night Pedro’s daughter got really sick and at 2 a.m. him and his wife left to go the hospital. The next day it was just us four Americans and an 8 year old Mozambican who didn’t speak any English. A woman we had met the day before came by and helped us with breakfast and took us to church. Because Pedro wasn’t there, they asked us to start by leading worship. Thankfully my friend Michael has had a bit of experience in that, so he picked up the guitar. I think you all will be happy to know that I picked up the Jimbe and helped lead Mozambican worship! (Adam Chavez—you should be proud!)



Pastor Pedro and his family.


Ill post again next week! hopfully with a viedo this time!

Boccaria

Google "Boccaria Maputo, Mozambique" for pictures of the city dump I visited. Ill post a new blog about that next week.

Week One

Week one is finished and its been quite an experience. The first couple of days were spent relaxing and recovering from jet lag, but the rest of the week was pretty great. The Internet is pretty limited here, so it will probably be a couple of days before I can post any pictures or videos at an internet café. So I’m just going to post what I have now and follow up with pictures later!
Saturday was children’s day in Mozambique. Children’s day is a pretty huge celebration where kids get presents and candies and what not. And because I’m living at an orphanage, Children’s Day was that much more important. During the day, we went into the city and did some outreach for Children’s Day. We met a family at a park who live on the streets with four children. We had some time of worship and prayed for them and also gave them food. We had to be really careful when we were giving out food because people can start to riot and steal food. I guess last year, there was so many people at the park that they started throwing rocks at the people giving out food. Thankfully the whole thing went smoothly.
One distinct thing I remember about that day was talking with one of the mothers while we were waiting for the food truck to come. I was sitting next her talking about her baby and having a pretty good conversation (especially considering the very little Portuguese I know). Once the food came she kind of just stopped talking to me, stopped making eye contact, and just watched the cart of food as it passed by in front of her. I tried to ask her another question, but I don’t think she heard me. She was just so focused on the food; it really hit me how hungry she must had been. She wasn’t trying to be rude or anything, in fact I don’t even know if she realized she was doing it—it just had been that long since she had a meal. We gave out about nine meals, hugged them, said goodbye, and got ready to move on to the next group of people we would hand out food to. But the small interaction was just a glimpse of the hunger and the need of Mozambique.
One person I’ve met that has seen that hunger and that need is a missionary named Laura. She has been so kind to my team and I by inviting us over for dinner and taking us into the city. She used to work at Vanguard as an RD has sort of taken us under her wing and shown us a side of Zimpeto that not a lot of visitors see. She tells us stories of how some kids got to the center and the different things that the center does with abandoned or abused children that come through. Anyways, I’ll post some pictures as soon as possible! Have a great day everyone!

Getting Excited!

Hey everyone!

So I decided to start a blog to document all my adventures in Mozambique and to keep you updated with what I'm doing.

While I am in Maputo, I will be traveling between two orphanages, getting to know the kids, and listening to their stories. I titled this blog Stories of Mozambique, because I want to equip the orphans to tell their story through the medium of video and photography. But this isn't only about me, its about including you in the whole process! Yeah, thats right-- YOU!

I want you all to have an active part in enabling these kids to tell the story many turn a deaf ear to. What is a story if no one hears it, right? So I'm asking you to be the ears that enable. Many of these kids have experienced incredible suffering and injustice-- but also have an incredible amount of joy!

So expect to see videos posted about some of the people I meet. Get to know the people I am building relationships with. Be apart of a child's life by reading the blogs, giving feedback, and asking questions.

Thanks for your support everyone! I've never really blogged before, so I hope you all enjoy this one! I'll leave you with a quote:

"When love beckons to you, follow him,

Though his ways are hard and steep.

And when his wings enfold you, yield to him

Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.

And when he speaks to you believe in him

Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.

For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you.

Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning."