The Christmas Drama

The story begins with children wanting their father to tell them a once upon a time story ... not make believe and something with power and excitement.  Caesar Augustus enters (Barry) and everyone breaks into giggles.  

The children sang a song called "Taxes to the King" and then the story continues.  The innkeeper's daughter (Emily Schwenk) did a superb job sharing why there was no room for the young couple.  All the kids joined her to sing "No room in the inn".  The 3 shepherds enter the story and Jonas (4) and Ariana (5) mastered their lines along with Joel (7).  It was well done though we did have to ask them to put their staffs down when they said their lines or they would use them to vault into the air!!  They sang "Twinkle Twinkle Little star".

Kalia and Emily both used their piano skills to play some interlude songs on the piano and Joel had the most costume changes - boy, shepherd, wisemen, shepherd and then wiseman for his closing line.  
The wisemen spoke their lines with great clarity and then sang "We three Kings".  The angels brought the good news to the shepherds and then sang "Angels we have heard on high".  Kalia and Emily memorized a lot of lines for their different parts and I was so proud of them.

The shepherds share their thoughts on baby Jesus and then the angels come back to sing a very sweet song called "The Best gift of all".  Actually there were several practices where I got tears in my eyes as the singers lifted their arms up to heaven when they sang "the Father has given the best gift of all".

After Emily plays "Away in a Manger" on the piano, each of the actors came out with a line about Jesus and then they ended the drama with "Go Tell it on the Mountain".  This is also a very moving song especially in this context.  We live in the mountains and there are still many Gumuz who have not heard the good news of Jesus.

The actors took a bow and then we had a coffee break with pumpkin "birthday" cake.  Demis' family thoroughly enjoyed the drama and stayed for the 2nd showing!  What fun ... I already look forward to our Easter performance.

I believe our little dramas (that have very small audiences) are already giving our homeschooled children excellent skills in memorization, public speaking, singing and the importance of discipline/practice!  The Gumuz were amazed that children as young as Jonas and Ariana were brave enough to perform.
The neat thing is that the Gumuz evangelists had just presented their first skit in church to help in teaching the Sower and the seed.  Drama is a unique way of teaching especially in a culture that is mostly non-literate.

Christmas Eve lunch

Before the drama, we enjoyed a tortilla meal with the Schwenks and the Moores.  We had a nice array of cookies which we all enjoyed even though they are a little more work than home.

Harvest Time in Ethiopia

I am always amazed at the length of the harvest season in Ethiopia.  Coming from Manitoba where farmers have a very small window of time before winter arrives.  In Gesses, harvest begins in July with the maize crop and it will end in February with the sorghum crop.   It was beautiful to see all the fields being harvested as we travelled to Addis this time.  Everything is harvested with hand tools, stacked into piles, threshed with cattle or by hand and carried home.  

We also passed by a mystery factory.  It is an Asian factory but does not have a sign to share what it is.  Any ideas?

Addis plans

Next Tuesday we will travel 2.5 hours to a retreat centre in Sodere. It is warmer than Addis and has a hot spring swimming pool. We will be attending the SIM conference from the 2-6^th which will be a good time to connect with other SIM missionaries in the country. I am looking forward to some good talks with other ladies as I haven’t been in Addis since September!

It will also give the children a chance to have some new playmates (if they get over their shyness quickly enough) and participate in some kids programs. Do pray for them in this.

After that we will spend 3 nights at Babagayu (SIM retreat centre) which is en route to Addis. It has a crater lake to canoe in and cabins to stay in. We will have to prepare our own food but it is a beautiful spot. We will return to Addis on the 9^th and spend a few more days doing some business before heading back to Gesses.  

And this weekend I will attempt to update our blog with pictures and several entries ... I guess I will be going backwards since it is easiest to write about things that have just happened.  I trust it won't be too confusing.

Road adventures ... time to go ...

It is quite likely that we all feel the same in regards to road trips.  When the trip is in the distant future, I look forward to the visit or holiday with anticipation.  It will be so good to get a break from the regular routine and environment.  As the trip draws near,  I begin wondering why we are leaving after all.   Maybe we don’t really need to go, maybe we should just stay home.  Then the day arrives that I need to pack.  Why are we going again?  Isn’t it more work than it is worth.  And I spend ½ a day or more packing and I get little sleep that night wondering what I might all have missed.

Then it is time to go.  Kalia and Joel find a spot along with the luggage, the 3 girls are in the middle seats and Rolf and I in the front.  If it stayed that way, it would go well.  But Sonia hasn’t been in a moving vehicle for months and is not happy.

So we do some rearranging (Ariana goes into Nadia’s car seat, Nadia into Sonia’s carseat and Sonia on my lap).   Joel is feeling carsick so he moves to the front seat.  And we are set ...

The road is still bumpy, there are still drop offs without warning and it is still a challenge to keep everyone happy but it was a pleasant drive compared to the last one.  The vehicle we now own has better suspension, parts of the road were fixed and we could travel  double the speed and we have air conditioning! 

Road Adventures Day One...

Since we had several tasks to do in Gesses on Tuesday, we only left at 3pm.  We knew that the road had been graded (after the rains ended) and that we would be able to travel more quickly.  We were able to arrive in Finota Selaam at 6:30 (just before dark) and settle into our usual hotel.  (It took us 1.5 hours less time due to the road improvements!)

We settled into our rooms and went down to order supper.  As usual, though the menu has some nice possibilities, they don’t actually have those items available.  So we ordered some burgers and pasta cooked and coated in plenty of oil.  The cold fizzy drinks were nice though.

 I was in a double bed with 2 of the girls and Nadia was in the playpen.  I wondered how Rolf was faring in his double bed with the other two children.  We both agreed  the night was long and the beds were very hard.  In fact, I wonder if it was a bed with 2 box springs. 

Though it was nice to stay at a familiar hotel, we agreed this will likely be the last time.    Time to try something new. 

Road Adventures Day Two...

We left at 8 am and expected the trip to take about 6 hours driving time.  We are just never sure how many stops we will have to make.  I believe it was our best trip so far.  We only made two bathrooms stops both of which had the usual frustrations attached to them.  We can stop in the middle of nowhere and within 2 minutes people appear.  This would be fine except we are taking bathroom stops and they don’t seem to understand that we would appreciate some privacy.  We need a 4 door vehicle and no car seats to be able to actually get the privacy we need.  Rolf is very gracious in his appeals to our onlookers and sometimes they actually continue on their way.

Going through the gorge I was able to actually snap some pictures of baboons!  Usually by the time the camera is out, we can only see their backsides.  The windy roads are enough for even the best travellers to feel ill but our children managed until the last hour.  A different child this time and we were given warning so that a bag was ready.

And then we arrived.  By 3:30 we were at the CMF compound where we are able to stay for the next 5 days.    It is a compound about 15 minutes out of the city and has a large area for the kids to play. There is one family living here and then a 4plex for their missionaries or other guests to stay when they are in town.

So instead of our usual 2 small bedrooms at the guesthouse, we have a spacious apartment with 3 bedrooms, bathroom and a living area.  It is actually bigger than our house in Gesses and has hot water and electricity (most of the time).  Apparently a line fell yesterday and so we actually only had candle light last night!

Successful Christmas Drama & One unexpected “interruption”...

On December 24^th, the children did their first performance for the Moore family.  We had a tortilla lunch together and after the drama, the kids played together and had Christmas cookies.

Our children did a super job and everyone was thoroughly impressed by all the lines and songs memorized.  Even the costume changes went smoothly.   There was just one unexpected event.....

As we were entering the second last scene, we heard someone approaching.   Sure enough ... Wotak had arrived.   The video camera was recording and the actors were changing into their final costumes (while the audience was singing a Christmas chorus.)

The doors were closed and we all knew what would happen next because his ways are by now very familiar.  He began to call loudly.  When we didn’t answer, he began pounding on the front door with his walking stick.  I couldn’t contain myself ... I started to giggle.  What would happen next?   If he knows we are in the house, he has just opened the door and walked right in.    Would Wotak enter at the final scene where the shepherds gather around baby Jesus?

Rolf intervened since his lines were over and motioned for him to wait.   The drama ended without any further interruption and I was almost disappointed that Wotak wasn’t able to see it.  Maybe next year he will get a special invitation. 

Christmas Drama: performance 2 and 3

The Williamson family arrived back at supper time on the 24^th after 6 weeks away and so we planned Christmas lunch with them and the Schwenks.    Mesalech and Adasay also joined us for this meal (though I don’t think they thoroughly enjoyed our chicken with mashed potatoes, stuffing and corn as much as we did).

At 2 pm, the children did their second performance which was supposed to be for the Williamsons. We had also invited our 2 guards and the Gumuz family that lives near us.   We were just ending scene one when we realized the Williamsons had not actually arrived!   Well we decided we may as well go ahead and finish it and then perform it again.  (Their son Micah was having a nap and so they were delayed).

We had coffee and birthday cake (to celebrate Jesus’ birthday) and then the Williamson’s arrived.  I was amazed at how happily the kids agreed to do the whole drama again.  The Gumuz enjoyed it so much that they all stayed for a second performance.  And I believe the last performance was their best.

Brr....it's cold...

We arrived in Addis yesterday afternoon and we are freezing!!!  I should not have packed in the middle of the afternoon when it was 38C (100F).  I took one look at our fleece jackets and thought, we won't need those even in Addis.  Well it didn't take more than a few minutes to realize that I was wrong so we are layering.  It is about 18C (65F) during the day and drops to about 4C (39F) at night.  It is not so cold when you have proper clothing and have a heated house or a roaring fire. 

Thankfully our children are extremely adaptable and spent most of the day outdoors anyways.  And they are all sporting windburn faces as a result!  

An inconvenience

I am thankful to be mostly an optimist and that is why sometimes it is best to write after an event is over.  Later one often wonders why it was so difficult to endure a particular challenge.  We arrived in Addis and were very happy with our large apartment where we would be able to enjoy some family time.  

What pleasure it was to be able to take hot showers and baths.  But the convenience was short lived.  The power was cut off and with it went the hot water.   A generator was set up for the fridges and freezers on this compound but we had to light candles for the evening.  Our home in Gesses was looking really good to us. 

Well 48 hours later and the power is back on.  Maybe it will even stay for awhile.    Okay ... that wasn't funny.  Just as I wrote that last line, the power went out.  Seriously.

A sad tale

We have 4 daughters and a son. With that comes plenty of emotions most days. This morning, I wasn't quite prepared though for my oldest daughter's tears. She burst into the house, tears streaming down her face, saying “our bunny is frozen.”

We decided to bring our rabbit to Addis since the weather in Gesses is so hot and we were finding it particularly challenging to find food suitable for her. We had plans to leave her with friends for a few months and bring her back to Gesses in May.

The children next door and Kalia played most of the day with the rabbit, dressing it up in a homemade dress that they sewed and then in a ballerina dress. So this morning, Kalia had plans to once again play with our bunny, Vixie.

And so it was rather traumatic for her to go to the hutch and find her frozen. And of course it was only found out after Rolf had left for the day. I must admit I didn't have the heart to go and see it. I have shed my share of tears as a child over the death of a pet. I don't think I have the energy to do it all over again. Still, I was sorry that Vixie died.

Rolf is back and he gets the same role as my own father had many years ago ... digging a hole for a dear pet.

Little girl at church

Each Sunday, there is always an image to take home.  The majority of the people that come to church are barefoot and wearing their best (or only) clothing.  For children this is often just an adult shirt hanging to their knees.  Usually the color of their clothing is brown either because the clothing hasn’t been washed in a long time or because it has been washed so often.  Most shirts are ripped at the shoulder or along another seam.  Clothing is certainly not a priority.  In fact, it is not even a necessity.

This Sunday, the image that is so strongly imprinted in my mind is a 3 year old girl.  This little girl came marching into church with a mission.  I have mentioned before that we meet in a large circle.  Benches line the outside walls of the church so that we all face each other.  This little girl marched across the circle and headed to the furthest bench away.  It is the bench where the elders and evangelists sit.  She climbed up on the bench and sat down.

Her body was dusty and dirty and her hair was tangled.  Until this point, I have only seen men, women and children with hair kept about ½ inch in length.  She really stood out with her 3 inch long dreds.  She kept a serious expression on her face the entire service and remained perfectly quiet.  At the end, she marched out again and I assume went home.

I do not know if this was her first church service or who she belonged to but I do know the Lord loves children such as these.  She made me smile and I am sure our Father in heaven smiled also.  And I will be looking for her next Sunday.

Language challenges: Sleeping language teacher

Last week, I waited for my language teacher to show up at the usual 9:30 am.  (Well, actually I am usually scrambling to be ready for him by then as I have a number of things to do before he arrives.)

He showed up a few minutes late (after having missed the previous day).  I asked him where he was yesterday.  A wedding.  That explained a lot including the yawning mid sentence.  Weddings are a several day affair and involve walking the bride to her husband’s village at the end of the party.  This can be many miles.

We proceeded with our language time (which is self directed since there has never been a formal Gumuz language acquisition class nor a person trained to teach foreigners to learn language).  He was obviously struggling to stay awake.  I gave him water.  I gave him tea.  I even gave him water to wash his face.  We started with some Gumuz songs that I have had him translate to use with preschool children (and for language lesson time for our kids).  While we practiced the songs, his eyes would roll back but he did try singing.

As I would ask him a question, his eyes would close and he would answer albeit very slowly.  I would ask another question and his head would nod forward.  Still he answered.  But I wondered, how accurate are the answers he is giving me?  Finally I decided to end the lesson and try again the next day.

Language challenges: Sleeping teacher 2

Incredible.  It made me laugh this time.  My language teacher was absent again this Monday.  Where was he?  Another wedding.  He along with others had brought the girl to her husband’s village on Sunday morning.  The party continued.  Time is of little value in this culture and the Gumuz do not waste time thinking about the future.  He didn’t realize that he would miss work on Monday so he didn’t bother asking for permission to be absent.

After living with Sudanese for 11 years, I understand this concept.  It is kind of hard to identify with since we spend so much time planning or talking about tomorrow, next week, next month or next year.  But I was happy to see that he did come to work on Tuesday even though he didn’t sleep all night (again!)

He made it until 10:30 and then started fading fast.  When his eyes started rolling back, I decided we may as well go and do some games with the kids.  Though I am doing language classes with him, I am also training him to be the trainer for preschool teachers.

The preschool program: preparation & outreach

Our teammates have several projects that they oversee in Gesses.  The main one until this point has been a grade 1-4 elementary school for Gumuz children.  Highland Christians who speak Gumuz are the teachers this May though the school will be handed over to the government to run while we take on several other projects.

They also oversee non formal education which is a fairly small program at the moment.  There are actually very few Gumuz that come to school and one of the reasons is that they have to walk ½ hour -1 hour to school.  Another reason is that it is held from 9-12 which is 3 hours that these children don’t help in the home.  There are goats and sheep to herd, water to fetch, planting and weeding and harvesting.  There are babies to care for, and the list goes on.

The preschool program until this point has been pretty basic and so I am fleshing it out a little with games, songs and stories.  These extras will also be adapted for the adult education classes.  Not only does this preschool program help children integrate into the “public” school, it is also a way to share the gospel.  A Bible lesson is always taught along with the writing and reading lesson.  These classes are usually held from 7-8 am in the morning so that it doesn’t interfere with daily living.

Training my language teacher to be a Preschool teacher trainer

I am using our kids to help teach my language teacher songs and games (only I orally translate them from English to Amharic and then he orally translates them into Gumuz and I write them down).  Then I help him teach the Schwenk kids and our kids the Gumuz version.  Since they already know the song or game in English, they learn it quickly and are able to show it to Gumuz.

There is no Kindergarten in rural Ethiopia and so children enter the school system at grade 1.  Most Gumuz do not have a single pencil or pen in their home and they do not speak the Amharic language.  The teachers though all teach in Amharic (and if they know Gumuz, they will try and explain things to the children).  This preschool program will also help the children to learn Amharic (with songs and games).

It is a challenge though to find songs and games that have both a teaching purpose and can be adapted into their culture.  I don’t want to introduce games that involve lots of running because then we will also have to teach first aid (as the ground is rocky).  I can’t introduce games or songs that have complex ideas or Western ideas.  It is a challenge but it makes language learning much more interesting and helpful for others.

Why I decided not to teach “Johnny can’t cross the river”

One of the games my children love to play here in Gesses with the Schwenk kids and especially if other children come to visit, is Johnny can’t cross the river.  I have been looking for games and songs to teach the different concepts:  numbers, colors, days of the week, time, etc. 

This week, I decided to translate Johnny can’t cross the river with  some adaptation.  Obviously I would change the name Johnny to a Gumuz name.  We chose Wocay.  That was easy enough.  Hmm ... no rivers around here though they do have a word for it.  I couldn’t seem to find the equivalent word to “cross the river”.  I tried changing it to cross the road but it also just didn’t fit the translation I was looking for.   As I was struggling to adapt this game into Gumuz, I realized that I needed to scrap the game.

If you are familiar with the game, you will know that “Johnny” can’t cross the river unless he is wearing a certain color. (This can be adapted as well to include things such as Johnny can’t cross the river unless he has a rainbow face.  It gets sillier as the kids go along.)  Well this brings a rather large problem.  Most preschool children don’t wear clothes or if they do, it is a long colorless t-shirt. 

Suddenly the game was looking pretty dull.

If you are not wearing the color stated, you have to run and try not to be caught by the person calling out.  This brought another difficulty.  I don’t want children falling down and scraping their knees.

We did play the game with my Gumuz language teacher and he loved it but ... it will not be an official game taught.

What’s the time, Mr. Wolf? What’s the time Ato Bolowa?

I thought I might include a game that is successful (so far).  What’s the time, Mr. Wolf was easily adaptable and not too dangerous.  Hopefully no one goes home with nightmares.  Our kids quickly caught on to the new version and were able to successfully memorize the Gumuz lines needed.

It is a brilliant way of learning to use time and counting skills.  The only problem I can forsee is that Gumuz children get too involved and have nightmares.

Relative peace & God’s hand of protection

Thank you for praying.  Things have settled somewhat though the situation is not yet solved.  A peace talk has taken place (not initiated by the actual clans) but without the Lord at the centre, it is a very fragile agreement.  So do continue to pray that many Gumuz would turn to God and understand the great sacrifice Jesus made for the forgiveness of sins.

Yesterday we saw God’s hand of protection on our neighbour’s son (also the head elder).  He fell from the top of a tall tree and landed on his face.  He was swollen and full of scratches but he had no broken bones and no concussion.  He hit some pieces of wood but missed all the large and small boulders.  It is a miracle that he was not severely injured and so we praise God.

Prayer for peace

Do pray for peace here in Gesses.  There is a situation which could result in revenge but we ask you to pray for forgiveness and reconciliation.  Pray especially for the safety of believers – physically and spiritually ... that they would not be tempted to return evil for evil.

We praise God for his son who was sent to this earth to bring peace to our hearts.  This peace is only possible by the work of the Holy Spirit.  This is the kind of peace that we desire to see spread throughout Gumuz land.

Homemade decorations

We brought a few small items with us to help us recreate some Western traditions.  One of these was a 3.5 foot Christmas tree.  It has been placed on a bookcase so that it’s height is enjoyed more fully and is out of reach of our little one. 

This children enjoyed decorating it last Sunday with a few ornaments brought from home and some ribbons.  I then made clay and the kids cut out shapes with Christmas cookie cutters.  After baking and cooling these, the children have spent many hours painting them and decorating them with glitter glue (I was wise enough to throw in a red and silver bottle).  They are beautiful and everyone is very proud of their work.  Of course the 2 strings of lights bring beauty to our home each night as we listen or sing Christmas carols.

We also cut out leaves and berries and made a construction paper wreath.  It adorns our front door.  Paper chains, a small wooden nativity scene and some countdown red and green paper chains finish off the decorations.  It may not be much but it has been fun creating things out of almost nothing.

Homemade gifts

And then there is gift giving.  It is a tradition that is hard to break so we aren’t trying too hard.  But, there are no malls to go to ... so it is certainly more time consuming when you have to make your gifts.

It is also a challenge to find the time as our days are full and our kids are up early.  My evenings (aft er the kids are in bed) are when I am either found baking or sewing.  Rolf and I have fallen into the tradition of each making a gift for the children (or at times making one together).  I have one more gift to complete ... and then I have to help the kids finish their gifts.  To simplify things, our kids have Christmas box with each other but of course they all need help in making something.  And then they each want to give a present to one of the Schwenk kids.  

It is a neat opportunity though to teach our kids skills.  Rolf helps Joel with some projects involving wood and nails and I have been helping Kalia learn to sew.  (I will make sure to post some pictures after Christmas of some of the finished products).

Baking

This is my weakness.  I love to bake and I love having my children bake with me but ... time is a challenge, ingredients are a challenge and little freezer space.   But I am happy with I have been able to accomplish despite all the cookies that have already been eaten along the way.

The recipes that I was able to do this year  include:  oatmeal thumbprint cookies, gingersnaps (though Rolf couldn’t find molasses in Addis so they had to be adapted),  oatmeal date cookies/squares and sugar cookies.   And of course I always make 7 dozen perishky (yeast dough with fried hamburger or farmer sausage inside).  No farmer sausage this year and I try not to think of all the dozens my mom has made. 

Nicole did have a small jar of molasses and was able to make gingerbread houses today.  The kids will decorate them today and eat them tomorrow.  Nothing is made in this context just to look at!  And I provided the icing sugar by grinding up cane sugar in our little grinder.

Yes, it is a homemade kind of Christmas but in the meantime our children are learning where things come from, how to create and enjoy the time put into the decorating, eating and making.

Christmas drama

We are all excited.  Our Christmas drama is coming together and we have found enough cloth to put together some makeshift costumes.  (I am not spending hours for this and so they are indeed very makeshift).     We will need a whole week just to rehearse the costume changes (because they are many) but it is all part of the fun.

This week, during our practice, I enjoyed observing Joel who seems to be the most dramatic of the bunch!  When the angels appeared, he reacted with such vigor that the angels were reduced to a pile of giggles!  

We will have the opportunity to perform the drama for the family that has just moved to Yamp and the performance will be the 24 of December! 

How using excluders got rid of bats

I asked my mom to google how to get rid of bats and this is the article she sent me.  It worked.  I am not sure I want to know the number of bats that were living in our south wall.  Early each morning, we would hear the sound of many many bats returning home from a night of hunting.  Each evening, we would hear the sound of them leaving.  This sound was the rustle of wings and lots of squeaking.  In fact the sound could be heard almost all day in our office walls.

What you need:

• Excluder (window screen)
• Screen cutter
• Stapler and staples
• Small pieces of wood
• Caulk, steel wool and cement

Find where the bats are roosting and then look for the entryways, usually an attic, chimney, under shutters and siding, in roof tiles, and eaves. A bat can get in trough an opening as small as 1/4-inch by 5/8-inch. Go out at dusk and observe where they are emerging.  (NOTE:  we knew where they were emerging just under our eaves.)

Attach excluders over every opening. These devices allow bats to exit, but not re-enter. They consist of small pieces of window screen stapled over the opening at the top so the bats can push out to exit. After the bat exits, the excluder flaps shut and he can't figure out how to get back in.

Leave the exclusion screens in place seven to ten days to give the bats a chance to exit. This will ensure that you get rid of every bat.  (NOTE:  It worked in 2 days.)

Remove the screens and seal all the openings with caulk, cement, or steel wool or nail small boards over them.

Our walls are now silent.  It is almost eerie.  I am not sure I want to know how full our walls are of bat droppings but for now we are bat free.  Interestingly, the following day, a pigeon found its way into our roof.  Our home is obviously very inviting!

Dubi Kitcha – exciting outreach and a hot breakfast

Dubi Kitcha is a village about 40 minutes away by foot.  Rolf and 2 young Gumuz elders visited this village on Monday at 6:30 am (before everyone left for their fields) to begin building relationships with the community.  This village has received biblical teaching on several occasions by highland Ethiopians or foreigners.   We are in a new stage where Gumuz can do the evangelism.  The leaders of the village were happy to receive Rolf and the Gumuz men and they were invited back to teach on Friday.  When Rolf arrived home at 8 am, I was greeted with a kiss.  And I asked him with a smile:  How was breakfast? (I knew it must have been interesting!)  He was served a delicious breakfast of  fermented keya and a bowl of small bullet hot peppers with onion and garlic.  Rolf says that the hot pepper concoction made the keya taste sweet.

Tomorrow, Rolf will return with 3 Gumuz to do some teaching and discuss planting a church in this village.  What should that look like?  Where will they meet?  Who will teach?  This community is also very open to teaching on health and literacy and so in the new year, these programs will begin as well.

Pray for Dubi Kitcha,  pray for the chief of this village, for the elders, for the believers and for those who have not yet received Christ.  Rolf is only a catalyst in this process.  Ultimately, we see an exciting future as Gumuz begin reaching their own people with the good news of Jesus Christ.

Language Challenges

I am very familiar with language learning.  This is the 4^th language that I am attempting to learn in a village environment without books to assist me.   I am not fluent in any of the previous 3 languages but at least reached the ability to comfortably interact in and even do some teaching in.  So my present goal is to be comfortable in the language by May .  It would take a miracle to reach fluency and you are all welcome to pray for this miracle to take place.

One of the challenges of learning in this context is that my language teacher is a male.  This is the first time that I am learning in this way and it is only because of necessity.  There are no Gumuz women who speak Amharic and so I would not have a second language to use as a medium for communication.   There are many reasons that I prefer learning from a woman (building a long term relationship is one of those reasons) and so this is a temporary arrangement.

A second challenge is that my language teacher has never analyzed his own language and so cannot clearly explain his own grammar.   So I am in charge of getting the language that I need.  It helps that I have learned other languages.  It helps that I am an ESL teacher but it is still a challenge.  There are no books to learn from.

The third challenge is that I am getting older and have 5 children to care for and my mind is occupied by many other things.  I find that by the end of my 2 hours with Wohiis, I am wiped.  I still try and study another 2 hours during the day or evening but more often than not, my eyelids become heavy and my session ends.

Presently I have several hundred words memorized, key phrases, questions, and a dozen songs.  But I am presently at the frustration stage where I can understand what someone is saying but am slow in my responses.   It is like someone is holding down my tongue.   Do pray that I can persevere and not be discouraged.  Pray also for boldness in visiting ladies or inviting them to my home.

Christmas practice: Once Upon a Time

I have 5 willing children participating in our first Christmas performance and 2 willing fathers.  We are presently preparing for a Christmas drama called Once Upon a Time.  There will be a few costume changes but the children learned all their lines and the songs in 2 weeks.  Shocking.  I thought I was going a little too far in my attempt to prepare for a Christmas performance in just 3.5 weeks.  They are doing well and we are having lots of fun too.

Kalia, Joel and Ariana are the kids who listen to the Christmas story told by their dad.  He makes the voices come alive (ie - the drama begins).  Kalia and Emily are angels and wisemen.   Emily is also the innkeeper's daughter.  Joel, Jonas and Ariana are shepherds.  Joel is also a wiseman.  Barry is Caesar Augustus.

They have learned several new songs including The Best Gift of all, Taxes to the King,  At the Inn in Bethlehem.  They will also sing Twinkle Twinkle Little star, Angels we have heard on High and We Three Kings.  It should be fun and hopefully the grandparents get to watch the video in JanuaryJ

The audience may be small this year though as the Williamson family may not arrive back in time for Christmas due to car troubles in Addis.  

Sonia’s One Year Old Habits

We are not sure what happened since Sonia turned one but she has become a very busy girl.  Her naps have been reduced in length and she has more energy than ever.  It is a stage that is very familiar.  Anything within reach is brought to the floor and ripped apart, chewed on or dragged around.  With her increased mobility, she seems to be into everyone’s projects.  Cruising is her favourite pastime, “running” to open arms, finding the bathroom door open and playing in Nadia’s potty, ripping up my language notes, and the list goes on.  She also brings us much laughter and joy. 

Rolf & Barry’s Present Project: Front Porch & Addition

We can foresee that for the next year there will be hands on projects for Rolf and Barry to work on in their spare time.  There are also times when they can really focus on a project.  This is one of those weeks.  It is time to harvest sorghum and so the men Rolf has been working with each morning are occupied with this presently.  

Meanwhile, for the past couple of days, Rolf and Barry have been working each morning and some afternoons at building our front porch.  Our house had 3 cement steps at the front door and our roof already had enough overhang to do this project.  Now it has a porch running the length of the front of our house (which is the short end) and the width is about 5 feet.  I will post pictures in a few weeks but the plan is for ½ of this porch to become a room for Kalia and Nadia and the other half of the porch for visiting (or treating those that come to our front door).

The hope is that this project will be done by Christmas so that we can move 2 little girls out of our roomJ  

The Difficulty of Saying No, the Difficulty in Saying Yes

I imagine many of you are like me and have a hard time saying no to a request.  I have met a few who have no trouble saying no but they seem few and far between.  Here in Gesses, it is even more challenging because the requests don’t come by email or phone but rather to our front door.  They are also more numerous.

Some requests are easy to respond to positively while others have long term repercussions.  Today, a young woman came with her 2 year old and her 4 day old baby.  She wanted clothes for her baby.  Of course I would love to give clothes but if I say yes, it means word will quickly get out to all women with newborn babies.  So, I have to decide.  Do I want to provide all newborn babies with clothing?  This is not North America.  Women do not just have 3 children ... and there are hundreds of women within walking distance.

It was difficult saying no.  It was much easier treating her 2 year old daughter who had a oozing wound by her ear which had caused a lot of swelling.  Above all else, I desire to show Christ’s love to those that come to my door even if it means saying no.

What is cooking

Rolf's return from Addis several weeks ago brought an abundance of veggies and fruit.  Now all that is remaining until we go to Addis at the end of December are several wrinkled carrots, a dozen wrinkled beets that I need to use, one bowl of tomatoes that need to be eaten or processed, one avocado,  a dozen oranges and lemons whose skin is hard but are still filled with juice, and our staple potatoes, pumpkin, onions and garlic. 

So ... we do a lot of cooking with potatoes and pumpkin.  This causes an extra challenge for my 2 children who do not like potatoes and pumpkin.  How do you disguise these textures?  It is a challenge since they even notice pumpkin pureed and put into pancakes, cake or cookies! 

We eat a lot of legumes – white beans have just been harvested by the Gumuz and are among our favourites.   We have 3 okra plants that Joel has grown on our back porch along with some spinach.  All the rest of our vegetables were consumed by a rat or bushbaby since we still have some gaps in the screen.

I will include a few recipes soon and if anyone wants to send me a favourite Christmas recipe or two that would be super.  My cookbooks are few and there's no access to the internet so I could use some ideas.  They will have to be chocolate and nut free since these ingredients are not available to us.  Icing sugar is only available if I make it myself by grinding our unrefined sugar and I may be able to borrow some molasses from the neighbours (none available in Addis last time).  Needless to say one has to be creative in this environment.

And when I might be tempted to complain, I just think of the Gumuz.  Their supplies are even more limited than ours as they eat only what they grow.