This past week was a rather busy one. On Saturday, Dionisio and some other guys and myself went to collect materials to make stoves that are new in the local area. We needed clay dirt and a sand like dirt as well. Thankfully we didn’t have to go far, we in fact didn’t have to go almost anywhere. We would go on the west side of the main road just a few yards off the road into the bushy area and we came across a huge pit that had already been dug. That pit being the spot where the guys and Jacob gathered clay dirt for their building material of their house. We loaded the ox cart full, of course only using shovels to scoop it up, we all got our share of a workout. After we unloaded the clay dirt, we drove on the east side of the road, which is where Jacob and Jaynie’s house is and the pit we went too was practically close to their back yard. Once again we filled the cart and brought it to the house. We decided to call it quits for the day concerning hard labor, and we all deserved it. The dirt is very heavy and plus we were heaving it up into the cart that was about 5 to 6 feet above us. Later that evening Dio came to the house asking for my help to gather banana tree trunks. We set out in the land rover and headed to a local home that was a ways off the beaten path. Only using the foot paths to get to the home, needless to say we were heavy in the bush. I always feel like I’m on a safari whenever we go into the bush with the rover. Once we reached our destination, we met up with a young man, who also attends the church, and we set out to go to a low valley where there is still a water source during the dry season. We came to the banana trees and we had to have a specific diameter, due to them being used for the construction of the stoves. It was getting dark quickly, but we had the moon to light what we were doing. We cut down 3 trunks and carried them back to the rover. It was really peaceful being out in the bush in the cool night air and having the moon to light our path. Of course the idea of a lion came across my mind, but hey if anything, I would’ve really experienced Africa, but since there are people, no need to worry about lions, especially one’s called The Ghost and The Darkness. The only worries were either snakes or malaria filled mosquitos. We got back to the rover safely and we left for home. Dio and I stopped at a hut just a little ways up the path, where a church member had malaria. We talked a little and then prayed for them. Even though I didn’t understand much of what was said, I still knew the good from it, especially being involved with it my whole life, when it comes to calling on people. Sunday came around and every 3rd Sunday of every month, many of the English speaking people who live here in the Chimoio area, meet at a home and have church. Many of them are missionaries, but a few are just Christians who live here. I was the honorary speaker for the day. I preached on how no matter how far we are in our walk with the Lord, we still need to remind ourselves that he is the one in control and we need to use humility and humbleness. Needless to say it hit the nail on the head because apparently that was their theme for the year. After we had church, we had a pitch in dinner and bbq. I enjoy being with the Mozambicans, but it was nice to actually have several people who spoke English. We had people of all different types, everyone from South Africans, to Irishmen, to Zimbabweans, to Americans. I made a friend there and his name was Leonard. He had both Mozambican and Zimbabwean in his blood. He and I talked most of the time and got to know quite a bit about each other. Of course there being Irishmen there, I had to talk with them for a little bit and talk about my adventures in Ireland. They knew of some of the areas in which I had been, they also enjoyed making fun of each other, which I thought was pretty funny. When Monday came around, we were going to start our stove. For my internship, I need to have a project that is new in the area. When we went north, we saw missionaries that had something called Lorena stoves. The stoves are built to be more efficient with firewood and they also cook better than an open fire. On one end of the stove is the open area in which the firewood is placed and burnt. The heat travels up and onto a big pot and cooks the materials. There is a hole that passes through to another pot in which the heat travels to heat that pot as well, then another hole that goes to the chimney. We had our materials ready, but we still needed cow manure and bricks. When collecting the manure, we don’t use the actual whole patties, we would rake out old manure that was practically like dirt and haul it back. We had some extra bricks and so we used them as well. We would put the 3 ingredients together, using a delicate formula and add water and would mix it up and create our cob. Our test stove was going to belong to the guards, so we built it where they wanted it. We built a thin foundation that we had to carefully measure out and then we added bricks and filled in the space with the cob. The banana trunks, which are only a few inches in diameter, were placed carefully to be used as spacers for when the cob dries, they can be removed and thus would create our holes needed for the firewood and the heat to travel. We also did the same thing with the pots to create a space for them to sit once it was dried. We built most of it within 2 hours, which was nice for it to go smoothly and quickly. We just had to let it dry a few days before we could mold the chimney, which was for sure going to be the hardest part. Tuesday came around and we had to go and do some supply shopping. Jaynie had a women’s devo group, so we dropped her off and Jacob and I set out for our errands. It’s interesting how something simple like paper can be bought at a certain store, nails at another store, and chicken feed for Dio at another store. We needless to say we don’t have a Wal-Mart here, but it does make it fun to travel around the town. We finished our errands and headed back home. Thursday came around and that was our busiest day of the week. One of the plants that is grown here on the farm is called Moringa. The leaves and stems of the plant have so many nutrients and vitamins that it can be your multivitamin supplement and it also protects you from over 300 different diseases. Needless to say it’s quite the plant and Jaynie has a personal testimony about how it helped her with cancer. Jaynie demonstrates plants here as healthy things to use too help people, but her main plant that she advertises is Moringa. If you’re interested, I’d highly recommend looking it up on Google. Many people are very unaware of the plant and it grows everywhere here so it’s readily available to almost anyone. In the morning we collected some branches off the trees here and Dio and one of our guards went up the road to a little town between here and Chimoio to gather more branches as well. Dio came back with the whole rear end of the Land Rover packed full. People even went up to them and asked them why they were collecting trash, little do they know. There was a whole process that went with the prep of Moringa to be ready to eat. After we pull the stems off the branches, we then would wash the stems that had all the leaves, then we would separate the leaves from the stems, but since the stems contain the same amount of nutrients as the leaves, having some stems wasn’t bad, it just made the end product more roughage like. After several hours of separating, we then had to lay them out over screens in the workshop or used table sheets over beds to thin out the Moringa and let it dry. It takes some time drying, but we are still in the midst of doing so. After the leaves and stems have dried, we grind it up into powder and put it in zip lock bags or containers to keep for a while. Since you can harvest the trees several times a year, Jaynie frequently hands out the Moringa to different people as a sample. It’s good to take a teaspoon a day, however it does taste a lot like hay and can dry up your mouth. I’ve ordered some and have had it sent home along with empty capsules to stuff the Moringa in so I don’t have to feel literally like a cow eating hay. Even though I don’t like it straight, as a personal witness, this stuff does work amazingly. It gave me more energy, helped me sleep better, and gave me all the proper vitamins that I need daily. Today, I plan to finish the chimney on the stove and in a week or so, fire it up and see how it does. Until next time, I ask that you continue to pray for our safety and to keep opening the hearts of the people. The church, ever since the first Sunday that has had baptisms, has had at least one every Sunday with people wanting to join the church. We even had witch doctor dedicate his life to Christ this past week while we were at the English speaking church. God is doing well here in Mozambique.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Jul 2013 08:57:35 +0000
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